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

I dont know if I am happy or mad that we havent had any snow storms?? We had one little covering topping out at 4" while last year I think they said we had nearly 60" by this time! Dont get me wrong I had to go to work late numerous times and missed 2 or 3 days last year, I definetely do not miss that but a little snow would be nice. With this kind of winter I am glad I didnt dump 800 on the SS I was contemplating........

Anyone think I am nuts wanting snow?

 For Fredericton , New Brunswick:    Weather forecast  is snow flurries starting at 6AM tomorrow morning, turning to light snow then heavy snow tomorrow evening,

but a total of only 15 cm (6-7 inches) , but if this is correct, it will be the biggest snowstorm  for the 2011-12 winter, yet.     Much more snow in the forecast

for southern New Brunswick:   Moncton.

aa335 wrote:

I just finished paying off my Toro 826 that I purchased last December, after such a bad winter I was so close to buying a SS for the smaller storms and for cleanup even thou I didnt have the room to store it. Sure glad I didnt cause it would have been a real shame not to be able to use the darn thing!

Very light snow falling here right now but it's not supposed to amount to anything substantial. There's an outside chance I might be able to use my HS621 SS machine but that's a longshot.

stresst: This spring will be a good opportunity to buy that nice new SS machine at the end of the season and score a good deal at the same time. I was at cheapo depot the other day and there were a bunch of SS machines. They'll most likely start to discount them the closer spring gets to make room for lawn tractors and mowers

Last year, Home Depot dropped the price of a 221QRE from $799.00 to $599.00 in January.   The local (out of his mind) Toro/Ariens dealer was charging $999.00 for the same machine!!  Unbelievable.  That guy has to get out more.  

When I  picked up the 221QRE, I put it in the back of my pickup and tied it down.  The big price tags and stickers fluttering in the breeze.  The route home goes right by the Toro/Ariens dealership and being on a corner lot, he's got a set of traffic lights just outside his place.  As it was, I got a red light and ended up stopping the truck right in front of the Toro dealerships main entrance and display window, not much more than fifteen feet away.  The only people in the store were the sales staff who were peering out the window obviously interested in what I had in the box of the truck.   With red/black and blue combination, I'm certain that they recognized the machine. 

Four hundred bucks difference is a lot of cash which I prefer to keep in my pocket rather than theirs.   Hey, a man can buy a nice Echo chainsaw for $400.00!  

I know the Toro/Ariens dealership is feeling the pinch this year.  With very little snowfall, nothing is moving and he's got a lot of inventory sitting around.  He's started to shell out big bucks for abundant TV advertising.  I know things are tough when that happens. 

borat wrote:

That's effen priceless! Nice score!

I should start looking around again see what is out there, see who has what left.....I really have my eye on the big simplicity SS with its 208cc engine! But my issue is I have no friggen room, I guess if I buy it unassembeled I can stick the box on a shelf....But I definetely dont want to deal with it on the garage floor all summer....We will see.....

The Storm in Fredericton was only 15-20 cm, drifted some , but was about 8 inches in most of the driveway. then it turned  very cold this morning  -20 C

 The end of driveway was about 2 feet deep , the plow had gone by twice in the night, but with hydrostatic drive, my Husqvarna  , 27 inch, B&S   14.5.   went through it easily., not even changing engine speed or sound

throwing snow 50-60 feet high and with the wind , the snow was travelling   100 ft or more  in distance

Then I noticed my neighbour with his  new 26  inch Toro was having problems with his  joystick chute control, seemed frozen , couldn't move the stick.

So I did his driveway and parking lot before putting my blower  in the garage.

Heh, nice, glad it worked well for you! Hydrostatic must be really nice. We were supposed to get some snow yesterday. Earlier in the week they were talking about 3-6" (which, sadly, at 6", would have been the biggest storm for me so far this season). Then it changed to 1-3". And when yesterday actually came, we got nothing at all. Feast or famine, I guess. Last year we got slammed. This year, nothing.

RedOctobyr wrote:

Yes, last winter we got 4 heavy snowstorms in February about a week apart.   30 cm (12 inches) ,    2  storms were 35 cm (14 inches ) heavy drfting,   and another one had  45 cm  (!8 inches) wet snow.

So this winter so far we have had only 3 snowstorms that were 4 , 6 and 7 inches.and very little drifting.  No snow really, could have used a snow scoop , but end of the driveway

is much easier with the blower.     I really enjoy the hydrostatic drive, and the heated grips were nice this morning,  -20 C

royster wrote:

Quite often on new Toro's the cables can be adjusted incorrectly by the dealer. Once they are adjusted he should be fine. Mine wasn't adjusted all that well when it first arrived so I went over it and it worked fine after that. Often the cables are set too loose and the joystick won't work. It's an easy fix.

royster wrote:

Good move to clear his property with your functioning machine.  Way too cold to be fiddling around fixing a chute.