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

Well I've spent a lot of time researching new blowers and came very close to bring home the JD 1330se today but got cold feet after reading about the slipping drive issues. I'd be very interested to hear any long term reviews on this unit as it appears unchanged since 2010. I do have a JD dealer 10 miles from home so prep and support should be better than a Lowes units? Also if there is another blower 30ish inches I should consider please let me know. I live in northern MI with a 150' drive see a fair amount of snow. I dont mind paying a premium for quality if it makes for years of trouble free operation. Thanks for your input

Hi John...don't base your choice regarding the ARIENS machine from users who bought them at Home Depot. First of all, I would never purchase a snowblower at Home Depot. They don't have the know how and proper after sale training needed to make sure that your machine will be running properly after delivery. Secondly, they are more expensive...I purchased my ARIENS ST28DLE machine at an authorized ARIENS/GRAVELY master dealer and paid $1800.00. Meanwhile, Home Depot was selling them online for $2159.00 with no support. Dealers, have the training and proper know how on how to prepare a machine properly with replacments parts. I don't want to sway you towards ARIENS...its just that I did my homework and checked out most of the models mentioned in these thread. The best bang for the buck is the defainetly the Pro 28 machine...Honda is good machine..but is it really worth almost double the price...what to they have more?...they don't even have a straight auger shaft from side to side...Before you decide...go see the machines for yourself..By the way, we had 5" of snow about 1 week ago...it was heavy and really wet...and it threw it with no problem...I was used to an old Toro from 1978...and would not have been able to blow wet snow at all...Good luck! scopes01

Yo Scopes01:

Just for your information, I bought my Toro 221QE single stage machine from Home Depot for $599.00 plus 13%  tax = $676.87 out the door.  The exact same machine at the local Toro gouger was selling for a non-negotiable $999.00 plus 13% = $1128.87 out the door.  That's a substantial difference of $452.00 that stayed in my pocket. 

As you can readily see, not all dealerships are the same.  The arrogance and hubris of the local dealership is beyond comprehension.  Their service and parts pricing is as ridiculous as their prices for equipment.  How they stay in business is beyond me?     I can only assume that people who are either too lazy to do their homework or blinded by brand loyalty and dealership schmoozing keep the gougers in business. 

borat wrote:
LOL  So...they pay PREMIUM prices from the dealer so that.....they have the "privilege" of paying PREMIUM prices when it goes in for repairs.  What is wrong here?  Actually, if you get a good blower to start with and have just a bit of mechanical ability you probably wont ever have to take it in for repairs.  And you can even redo the mistakes made by the Home Depot peeps.  My JD 826 was bought new in 1982 and has never been away from home - for anything.  Still runs along like new, tho I rebearinged it a few years ago.  Still like the Honda 928 better, but the 826 outperformed the JD 1330.

Based on the recommendations the Ariens Pro 28 seems excellent, but back ordered around here at the moment. Dr Woof and Others, Do you feel the poor performance issue with the Deere 1330 was attributed to the Easy-Steer feature? I'm wondering if the similar Snapper/Simplicity models without the Hillard Auto-lok would have the same control issues? If the tried and true trigger release works on the Snapper/Simplicity this still may be a viable option.

Musta been the easy steer system on the JD 1330.  In loose snow, it tended to wander left and right (the steering was very "loose") but was not hard to control.  In a partial cut thru denser snow, it forcefully veered  into the deep snow on the unblown side.  Looked like it was due to the uneven resistance on the bucket front producing its own steering direction, which required to be balanced by me on the handlebars - and that was very hard to do.  Another poster points out that all these Hilliard systems are not installed the same way so this may not be a problem for all models - but, not having experience with other models, I can not comment on that.

My neighbour bought a new John Deere  JD1330  With Easy-Steer in January 2011.,  he kept it  only  few weeks, did  (3)  8-12 inch snowstorms with it. He said  that he was fighting with it all the time, to

get it  to go where he wanted.   He returned it and got a full refund.   After trying out  my son's Husqvarna/ Craftsman 27 inch 52993 , and later my Husqvarna  30 inch 16530 EXL,  He bought a Husqvarna 14527.

You have to ensure the Easy Steer mechanism is fully engaged or disengaged when using it.  I use the easy steer function only to move the machine around.  Never when actually working.  After disengaging the drive to maneuver the machine you have to ensure that it fully re-engages before going back to throwing snow.  If used properly, it works well and the machine is no more difficult to manage than any other machine that has both wheels driving when moving snow.  What's important is to ensure the drive engagement mechanism has the proper lubrication.  Too thick of a grease will either slow the re-engagement or not allow it to engage at all in real cold weather.  I've got grease on mine and I'm going to be cleaning it off and will be trying motor oil.  That's what's recommended for lubing the shaft that the friction wheel slides across.  Considering that the easy steer operates in a similar manner, oil should be fine there as well.  

Excellent info guys, thanks for all the input! I'll see whats available locally and report back on my purchase.

Well, now I'm literally loosing sleep over this decision....

Based on everyones input I have narrowed down my options to 3 or 4

Please weigh in on the list, snow is coming and I sold my old blowers...

In no particular order

1. Ariens Pro 28 – ST28DLE (out of stock everywhere)

2. Toro Power Max – 1128OXE

3. Husqvarna Hydro - 1830EXL

4. Honda Hydro- 928WAS (Break the bank and pi$$ off the wife)

Thanks Again!

Then buy a Honda.  There is nothing wrong with a John Deere snowblower but it will never be as maintenance free as a HONDA.  If cost does not dissuade you from owning the best, then get the HONDA.  The other machine I'd consider falls between the two, a Husqvarna Track Drive with a Hydrostatic Transmission, they run about a thousand dollrs less than the Honda.