I'm also in the market for a single stage snowblower. After years of looking at 2 stage and never pulling the trigger on one I decided this year to seriously look at single stage models.
I've gone to three shops to look. Shop #1 carried Honda and Toro. Salesman said Honda engines are the best on the market, neither need electric start so save the money, he liked the new Toro controls, said Honda chute control can sometimes extend too far out to the side and get in the way. Bottom line: he preferred Honda.
Shop #2 carried Simplicity and Toro. He said Toro has been in the market a long time and is real popular. Nothing wrong with them. He pointed out the auger on the Simplicity and said that the amount of metal on the auger of the Simplicity really helps. I asked him which brand and he said "Simplicity 2-stroke". I personally didn't like the way the chute crank worked on the Simplicity. It seemed kind of stiff and cheap when rotating 180 degrees.
Shop #3 carried Toro and Ariens. Again, he said nothing wrong with Toro and many people buy them and in fact he had the largest single stage Toro available which he likes except that for having to reach over the blower to swing the chute (similar to Honda) as this model didn't have chute controls near the handle. He talked about both the 5 and 7hp Ariens and said if I was looking at blowers of this size then he'd go with the Ariens over the Toro and he'd spend the extra $60 and go with the 7hp over the 5hp.
So, 3 shops, all carried Toro and "something else" and everyone said that they'd go with "something else".
What I'm leaning towards is the 7hp Ariens as I really like the lever that controls chute rotation vs. the crank on the others in that price range. I also believe that they'll replace (parts only) the rubber auger when and if it wears out. My 2nd choice would be the Honda based on it's great engine reputation.
