brake4beaver

Thanks guys for the response. It didn"t really hit me till I read your response Paul, but it makes good sense. I am only 38 years old, and my back problems will never get better than they are now. I looked on EBAY and I can find lots of (I think) chinese machines for less money but would much rather buy an American made machine. It is a real shame that Tecumseh went out of business, I wont buy a smaller machine since B&S builds their smaller engines in china. Money is an issue for me, but I will shovel instead of buying equipment that is not made in America. (or Canada). This might be irrelevant till next fall anyway, since there are no machines available around here except for Toro, and they are too expensive and in my opinion not as well built as a Simplicity/John Derre.

Hi everyone. I stumbled on this site a few days ago and I love it.  It's great to read real, honest assessments about new machines. After years of back pain the doctor told me I have a couple of crushed discs and arthritis in my back. So shoveling snow is getting to be less of an option for me. After reading this great site I am sold on Simplicity, but I am wondering about durability between the Large frame and Professional models. I don't have much of a driveway right now, but I don't want to have to trade up when that changes in a few years. I have ruled out Honda, they are too expensive and parts are absurd. I also want to buy from an American company if I can. My area gets an average of 80 inches of (usually) heavy wet snow a year. I am leaning towards the L1428E, or actually its John Deere cousin, the 928E, since the JD is $250 cheaper, and the dealer is only 30 miles away, vs 65 miles for the nearest Simplicity dealer. Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated.