Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Many of you know I have been throwing the idea around of either selling my Toro 826OXE or having an 11hp from the 1128OXE installed. Anyway I had it up for sale but people wanted to pay like 600 bucks! Mind you I paid nearly 1600 less then 10 months ago!

So with the first reports of snow falling north and west of the city I have the snow blower loaded in my fathers van ready to go to the dealer. Do I just have it serviced and continue to try and sell it (really dont want to invest more $$) or do I have them install the 11HP engine?

The dealer wants 120.00 + any parts to do the service. Now if they swap the shortblock this 120 gets washed away as they need to do an oil change, new plug, adjust belts, etc once they install the new engine block.

What do you think I should do?

Don't put any more money on the 826OXE.  You have a 10 month old snowblower, it shouldn't really require any service unless it was abused.  I wouldn't do an engine upgrade either.

Get the 1128OXE.  Put the 826OXE on craigslist and hold to your price until you get more snow.  It will be in higher demand and get you better price for it.

But seriously, I think even after you get the 1128OXE, you still be lusting for more power.  The 826 has decent horsepower to width ratio, the 1128 is a little bit better.  Skip the Toro and go straight for the Ariens Pro 28.

Or do the sensible thing and don't overdrive your snowblower when there's 2 foot of snow in front of it.  Slow the ground speed and let the auger/impeller do its job.

aa335 wrote:

1,000% DITTO across the board! Could not say it any better.

stresst wrote:

Well first of do NOT get the 1128OXE unless you want problems not related to power. If you must buy a new Toro (not reccomended) get the 1028OXE. You will never get the money back if you install an 11HP engine on your 826. You will also need an impeller kit so you can take advantage of your new 11HP engine. Craigslist tends to have a lot of low bidders who want to sell for high money. Perhaps a used commercial machine would be more to your liking? They have some monster commercial machines costly but can be repaired anytime they break and even old used ones will last 30 years.

The advice you've consistently gotten is to keep the machine you have and not overdrive it. I agree with that, but like my buddy who always has to have more HP in his Mustang, some people just want more power, he actually needs a way to get more power to the ground but I digress. If you just want more power and don't care about facts or money have the dealer install an 11hp motor onto your 826 and get an impeller kit. You will have a pretty big power to weight ratio but you might not be happy with a mere 11HP afer a year or so.

I see a tracked Honda in your future because you can drive it right into a snowbank and it will spit it out no problem. Of course those are over 3 grand.

Also my dealer charges $79 to do the same service if you go when they are having a sale so your dealer is expensive, normally that service is $99

I have a better idea.  When you get a lot of snow and an immediate urge to remove the snow, use your shovel and convince yourself that shoveling is better than using your Toro 828.  After 5 minutes, if you are not convinced then you can use Toro 828.  You will realize that your Toro 828 is an excellent snowblower.  Shoveling is not that fun when you get wet and heavy snow and Toro 828 will do the job  (although you may think it is underpowered, still it has 7.5 more HP than a normal New Yorker). 

MN_Runner wrote:
Great idea.  Sometimes it takes a different vantage point to really appreciate what you have.

My car was in the shop for 2 days for service.  I had a Nissan Versa rental and it was a pretty decent car, I thought.  Pretty gutsy 1.8 liter 4 cylinder with 120 HP.  Until I got my car back, my first reaction was, "darn this thing is FAST!!!!"  I don't really need 400 HP.  :)

Steve_Cebu wrote:

Many good points and advice in this thread, I appreciate everyones input! I just came from the dealer and they pretty much said they dont want to do the swap. It's funny you said that about your friends mustang, when I was a teenager I was totally addicted to speed! Over the years I had three fox body mustangs which were 1/4 mile track cars with the last one going 10.11 @ 131mph yanking the wheels off the floor about 18"! Those were the days!

As far as the tracked Honda! No way 11HP is not enough, going to go with the Husqvarna 1827EXLT if I ever go tracked! LOL

One thing I want to do is buy a single stage unit to use as a cleanup machine. I have a small piece of property and sometimes the 2 stage is just too big! I want something I can literally throw around! I was looking at the Toro 621's but the salesman they gave me was a young kid who probably sells skateboards and bicycles in the off season. They also had a Simplcity sinlge stage which looked sick but unfortunately had a 899 price tag.

stresst wrote:

Well I'm not surprised teh dealer doessn't want to put an 11hp on it. This is a lawsuit driven society afterall.

I have my video camera fully charged, any videos you want to see of my 1028 doing it's thing? I'm running out of ideas, but at least now the videos will be in Hi-Def.

I wonder how strong an 18hp would be on that Husky you mention. Still I can pretty much do my driveway twice on 1 tank of gas so it's sort of economical.

Why not see how your 826 performs this year and get a single stage for cleanup? Toro makes some decent SS blowers. You can always buy the 1827 Husky and sell the 826 at the peak of the season for decent money as the dealers will have run out by then.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

They guy I spoke to who did the research wasnt available but the lady whom I think owned the place was talking me out of it. I probably could have convinced them but I wasnt totally convinced myself.....She said the same thing you guys have been telling me all along. Gonna lose my warranty, that I dont need it as the machine is NOT underpowered and that if anything I should just sell and buy what I want IF I am not happy.

As far as the videos go NO FRIGGEN WAY! LOL. It because of your videos that I am jealous and want more! ;)

As far as the husqvarna goes I dont think tracks would be good for me as there is such a small area that it would be a PITA to constantly turn. But I would love to borrow one for a storm!

Thats my plan, gonna see how it goes. My main issue is I still owe 350 or so on my Toro cc and really dont want to dump 2K on another Toro until I sell mine. On the other hand very soon everything will be sold out and I dont want to get stuck with nothing. So I actually may go for the SS unit so I have something.......I would assume after one snow mine will sell immediately but who knows!

Did you ever see the top of the line simplicity SS?

stresst wrote:

The most expensive Simplicity SS922EX single stage snowblower is listed for $599.  I've seen them typically sold online for $580. 

I haven't seen $899 or higher single stage snowblower except for the Toro Snow Commander or Honda HS621.