slinger

After using my Timemaster 30" for 6 1/2 years now I gave up on getting this question answered, especially since my stock 190cc B&S Professional Series engine still works fine. What I have done to tweak the performance is to bump the rpm up by about 200-300 rpm and use the blades from the commercial version of this mower which provide a much better cut for me. I mulch high at 3" to 3 1/2" and the extra lift of these blades makes the grass stand up better for a cleaner cut for me, even though they are said to be more effective for bagging. I would not want an engine now that would make the mower much heavier, as it is a bit bulky to maneuver in tight areas. I find that I must mow more often as you should anyway when you are mulching, but as long as I do that I no longer get any bogging down on the motor now, especially with slightly higher rpm. I use synthetic oil to try to compensate for any excessive wear caused by minimally greater revs of the motor. The thing runs great, although it is a bit loud.

Well I don't want to say I told you so... but Toro just announced that the new Timemaster will have the engine I suggested (above) 2 years ago. They are putting the Briggs Professional series 223cc 10.0 torque power engine on this mower. Don't know when it will be available but Toro has released video confirming this.

Got my first opportunity to use my Toro 824 Snowmaster on about 4" of the fluffy stuff last night (cold temps here in the Midwest). Not much of a demanding test but enough to get some initial impressions. For your first few uses, the machine can seem kind of "jumpy" with the personal pace system. It takes a few passes before you learn how to initiate the drive by a gentle push along with some upward force on the handle to keep the front end in contact with the ground. It sound complicated but after a few passes it becomes second nature and extremely simple. Handling is as easy, if not easier than my traditional SS machine...truly effortless. The chute control moves SO easily that it takes a while to learn how to NOT overshoot where you are trying to aim at. I'm sure with time the joystick concept becomes second nature as well. The snowplow delivered me a moderate EOD pile of thick chunky stuff (but not big frozen ice chunks). The 824 handled that with no issue, although perhaps not as easily as my 2 stage would have. I never lost traction anywhere, but again this was only 4” of snow. I must say that the scraper bar did catch on a few places where my drive transitions from asphalt to concrete and where there are “step-like”, sharp transitions in pavement height. I have the skis shoes adjusted for a pretty aggressive scrape though. I drove my car out of the driveway to create some packed-down tire tracks and the machine did not clear those tracks to the pavement on a first pass or even a second pass. This is something that even my traditional SS would not always do cleanly and consistently, even with the direct-to-the-ground-rubber auger on that machine, so I’m not holding that against the 824 at this point. We’ll have to see with further snows and differing conditions but so far I’m a happy camper with this machine.

What is the belt size (trade size, example: A46) for the impeller belts on an Ariens 24 and 30 SHO? They both use part number 07200703. Or I'll take the outer circle circumference if that's all you have. I assume they're a matched set. Also they are called "HA Raw edge" belts. What does that imply? Do these need to be aramid (Kevlar) type belts or just polyester cord?

I've got a Platinum 24 model from 2012 so it's not an SHO and only has the 250cc engine. If I had it to do over again I would have gone with a slightly wider bucket, similar to the 28 that you are looking at. that Deluxe 28 SHO has almost everything that the Platinums have except for the hand warmers and quick-turn chute. I never even use my hand warmers although some people seem to like them. My quick turn chute was a piece of $hit when I got it and I had to make my own mods to make it function smoothly. The Newer ones seem to work better. A hand crank is normally quite reliable and only takes 2.5 turns to operate from fully left to fully right. I have a hand crank on my old Single stage and it works fine but some designs get loose and allow the chute to turn on it's own. I don't think that this is a problem on these Deluxes. The throwing distance should be the same for those machines unless you get into some really heavy stuff. Then the Platinums with their slightly larger engines may exhibit better throw distance, but a 306cc engine on a 28 inch bucket should be plenty for good performance. It should be able to throw completely across your 2 car driveway unless it is really slushy, in which case they may all throw a bit shorter than their maximum. they all have Auto-turn which is more important on the larger machines. Most people I see end up releasing the auger and drive levers at the end on the driveway and manually turn the machine anyway to make the next pass. You didn't say where you lived or what kind of snowfall you usually receive. Unless it's fairly extreme, any one of these will do the job quite well for you. If it's any indication, one of the internet direct sellers of snow blowers rates the deluxe 28 A+ for overall value (the platinums rated at A-). The deluxe is the one that is on backorder right now (popular), probably because of it's lower cost but ample capabilities. OK, enough blabbering from me. Hope that helps a bit!