| Name |
Kerry Maletsky |
| Email Address |
private |
| AIM |
|
| YIM |
|
| ICQ |
|
 |
| Gender |
|
| Age |
|
| Location |
|
|
| Personal Quote |
|
|
| Privileges |
Normal user |
| Rank |
|
| Points |
2 |
| Number of Posts |
2 |
| Number of Reviews |
0 |
| Date Joined |
Jan 8, 2007 |
| Date Last Access |
Jan 11, 2007 11:15 pm |
|
 |
Re: snow blower question
#1 Jan 8, 2007 11:29 pm |
|
I just bought an Ariens 9526DLE. A couple of nice differences in the PRO line vs. the other Ariens models is not so much the iron gear case but the differential axle for easy maneuverability and the Briggs Intek engine. (This link will help you see the features of all of the Ariens models at one time: http://www.ariens.com/pdf/Ariens_Master_Spec_Sheet.pdf). All full-size two stage snow throwers are big and heavy, and this model one is one of the biggest and heaviest. You need easy maneuverability with these machines, and that is why I bought this particular Ariens model. The Pro line is the only one that talks about easy maneuverability on the Ariens site. Bought it sight unseen from a local dealer that I found on the Ariens site. They assembled and delivered it for free. I have not started it yet, but I know that the Briggs OHV Intek engine is supposed to be a lot quieter. The muffler on it is huge. (There is a review on this site about Briggs Intek engines and the person was replacing his old Tecumseh with an Intek. They said it was definitely a better engine.) I also like the narrower width of 26", because when you add the width of the skids, you're over 28", and I was barely able to get it through the side garage door. Also have some narrow sidewalks and other smaller areas and don't want to tear up the grass accidentally. I guess the biggest selling points for me were that no one ever says anything bad about Ariens, it comes with a 3 year warranty, and I plan to keep it a long time. For me, it's worth the extra money not to have to worry about anything going wrong when I crash into those big piles of snow and ice that the snow plow invariably leaves me at the end of my driveway. This puts a lot of strain on the machine and I just want it to work year in and year out. I also want to get the job done fast and easy. To me the extra money will be worth the peace of mind and the ease of use. The hand warmers will also be nice for your father. Since I cannot lift this blower onto my porch any longer like the old one-stage I had, I also got a little electric Toro from Northwest Power Tool for $109 (free shipping). Just enough to do the porch, steps and the deck, so I feel I'm all set. Hope this helps. Indecisive: I'm looking at the 9526DLE, but was also looking at the 11528DLE. I have no sidewalks and will take the snow blower out the main garage door, so the width isn't such a big deal. I don't really suppose that the extra 2 inches will mean any fewer passes along the driveway, but maybe the extra 2 hp would help it get through large drifts. Does your 9256DLE ever bog down if the snow is high? Do you think that I'd ever really be able to tell the difference for the extra $400? I live in Colorado so we know snow - it's usually pretty light but there is always the mess at the end of the driveway when the plow comes along. The Toro web site says that having heavy duty auger gears and box means that the shear bolts don't break so quickly. I presume that means that they use bolts with higher shear strength - do you know if that's the same for the Ariens in the DLE vs LE lines? I've broken a few shear bolts in my day, would be nice if they would be just a little tougher. I bought a Husqvarna 11HP, 30" snowblower last week at Lowes but 20 minutes into a light 6" snow the impeller/auger drive pulley sheared off the shaft. I liked the power and the width just fine, but what's the point of spending $1200 if the thing is going to break out of the box, so I returned it today. (Extra points for Lowes, they were great about both sides of the transaction.) I'm assuming this won't be the case with the Ariens.
|
|
|
Re: ariens or husqvarna?
#2 Jan 8, 2007 9:35 pm |
|
I just purchased a Husqvarna 1130SBE-XP from Lowes last week. Tonight I'm going to return it and get my money back.
Despite the Husqvarna website, the 1130 SBE-XP I got new from Lowes this week (1/1/07) does NOT have handwarmers. It also doesn't have the 6" tires, doesn't have the high speed impeller, doesn't have the ball bearing auger support and doesn't have the grease zerks. In fact, even thought the label says 1130SBE-XP, it's really the 1130SBE-OV with a Halogen light added. But this isn't Lowe's fault. I contacted Husqvarna, they told me the features listed on the Husqvarna website are for a new version of that - only those models made after Jan 7th. 2007 will have those features. So there's no way of really knowing the features of any Husqvarna Snow Blower from Lowes.
This is annoying because the street price on the -OV is $1199 (what you pay at Lowes for the supposed XP), while the street price for the -XP is $1399 or maybe $1299. So what looks like a good deal is really a bad deal, expecially since you can get the identical machine at Sears on sale for $1049. These two, plus Poulan plus maybe others are all made by the same mfr, not Husqvarna. I think this is AYP. It is definitely NOT made in Sweden.
My opinion is that this is deceptive advertising, since nowhere on the web site does it say that there are updates - especially including EVERY feature that separates this model from its lower cost cousin.
But the real reason that I am returning it is that after no more than 30 minutes of use in only 6" of light snow the auger stopped turning. I thought maybe I caught a rock and sheared the bolts. But no, they were fine. It turns out that the engine pulley for the auger is made of two sheets of steel stamped to shape and attached to each other. But the steel was weak and the engine ripped a disk out of the center of the pulley so that it was no longer attached to the engine shaft. On a 2 day old blower! The manufacturer probably saved $1 by getting a cheap pulley, but I ended up with the consequences.
While it worked, it was pretty nice. The chute moves nicely if you properly lubricate things (though nowhere near as nice as the Toro I looked at today). Engine runs very nice, easy to assemble. You'll need to add a few cable ties, on my blower the chute control cables rubbed against the tire. Fast speed is really fast, you practically have to run to keep up. No snowpile I pointed it at caused the engine to slow down, though to be fair there were no really big ones.
I think I'll get the Ariens 9526DLE or 11528DLE - they probably really do have all the features that the Husky claims to have and I'm told that the quality is much better. Plus both of these are all steel. The Husky has some plastic parts (not the chute, but the piece below the chute.) I looked at the Toro, but it just has too much plastic for me. The Toro web site claims that the cast iron gears (like the Ariens DLE models) means that the shear bolts won't break as easily - sounds good to me.
I can't recommend that anyone buy any of the Husqvarna snowblowers - you just can't be sure you'll get what you think unless you check before you buy. And how will you know if you got the high speed impeller or other features you think you should get.
Despite the bad blower, I have good things to say about Lowes - they trucked a snowblower across the country for me and didn't complain at all about taking it back. One week later, the manager from Lowes called me back - he had contacted Husqvarna and they'd agreed to refund the $200 difference between the list price of what it should have been and what it really was. I'll stick with the Ariens, but it's great to know that real customer service is alive and well. If you get your machine from Lowes you can be sure they will stand behind it...
|
|
