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

I currently have a Toro 826 OXE snowblower that I bought back in Dec. 2010.  The unit has been good but it tends to bog down in the stuff the plow leaves at the end of the driveway.  As a result, I was thinking of moving up to the Toro 1028 unit with the 302 cc engine on it.  My current toro has the 250 cc engine.  My dealer will give me a pretty decent amount on a trade in.  Does anyone know if moving up to a large more powerful motor will lead to better performance with the stuff left at the end of the driveway?   Also, how have those Loncin engines on the toro snowblowers held up?  Thanks in advance for all responses.

joed wrote:
I would go ahead and upgrade to the 1128 Powermax HD with the 342cc engine.  That's Toro's top dog model so you would never yearn to upgrade again.

On the other hand, if you want the absolute beast, check out the Ariens Pro 28 with 420cc.  It's in the same price range as the Toro 1128 HD.  The Ariens is serious with the large 14" blower section and an engine to match.  You'll be looking forward to 12" or more of snow and EOD piles because this machine is that much fun.  :)

420cc?? Holy crap :)

My Ariens 1024 Pro has a Tecumseh 10hp OHV engine (318cc), and is 24" wide. I've been happy with the performance. I was looking for a high-power, narrow-cut machine, to help get through deep/wet snow.

But you can *never* have too much power

My last machine was an Ariens ST824, Tecumseh 8hp L-head engine (also 318cc), and still 24" wide. My current one feels like it has some more power, but the difference was admittedly not overwhelming (who knows if the OHV engine actually makes another 2hp from the same displacement).

As the saying goes, there is no replacement for displacement; go big if you can! I'm very happy with my current machine, but it will still bog down when driven into heavy deep stuff from the plows (this winter has been hard on snow-clearing equipment here in MA). The 1028 you mentioned is fewer cc's, and another 4" of clearing width, compared to mine. That's not to take anything away from it (!) but putting the full width of the bucket into heavy snow will still work it hard. The Loncin engines may make more power per cc than my OHV Tecumseh, of course.