snow blower

[BroadHopper]

I have a Snapper 26" and extremely reliable! Bought in 1982 and still put to good use! Driveway is 50 feet long and two cars wide. I even clear the neighbors every year!

I bought an Arien 28" a few years ago and never liked it. Sold it for half what it is worth as no one wanted a used one. Even if it is only used one winter.

Best accessory I bought was the tire chains. Worth it!

Snappers are not made by MTD. Last I heard they are USA made including USA parts. My Snapper lawn mower is just as old and still use today!

Pays to go to a dealer, service and sales are second to none!

[songkrai]

The Big Box Stores.

Skip the big box stores. Purchase from a local authorized dealer that also has an on sight repair. Yes, warranty work is warranty work. Fine. Just purchase for a local shop.

Craftsman.

Skip anything Sears. All of the Craftsman snow throwers have engines made in China. Yes, some do have good luck. All Sears warranty work is done in Connecticut. The local Sears repair shops are long gone.

I'd also skip any brand made by MTD.

Stick with a snow thrower with an engine Made in USA.

[Merrymeeting]

Clearly you are already getting opinions that run the gamut. But I'd echo a few consistent ones.

Bigger and more hp is always better. This is an area where some extra money will save you in the long run. Handles bigger, heavier storms better and will last longer due to not straining so much. Not to mention the extra hp you need to expend just using a smaller machine.

Not sure I agree with avoid the big box stores. As has been mentioned, most machines are actually made by the same company. The difference is in the bells and whistles that most of the time either don't matter or break soon thereafter.

My snowblower is a Noma (made by Murray, used to be the OEM for many, including Sears). I bought it at Home Depot. It is a monster, 12HP, 30" wide. I had a 400+ foot driveway at the time and needed to move a lot of snow. It was the same as the comparable John Deere and Chraftsman models, and made by the same OEM, but not as "fancy" and therefore cheaper.

30+ years later it is still going strong, despite being used for almost every New England snowstorm since that time (27 of them doing that 400' driveway). Started yesterday on the first pull.

[AB_Monterey]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

I have a Snapper 26" and extremely reliable! Bought in 1982 and still put to good use! Driveway is 50 feet long and two cars wide. I even clear the neighbors every year!

I bought an Arien 28" a few years ago and never liked it. Sold it for half what it is worth as no one wanted a used one. Even if it is only used one winter.

Best accessory I bought was the tire chains. Worth it!

Snappers are not made by MTD. Last I heard they are USA made including USA parts. My Snapper lawn mower is just as old and still use today!

Pays to go to a dealer, service and sales are second to none!

Snapper is made by Briggs.

[tis]

Do you have to drive backwards to make that work Slick???

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by tis

Do you have to drive backwards to make that work Slick???

Yes but not too hard to do. A front mount blower would require adding a mid power take off (PTO) $$ and removing the front end loader (FEL). The tractor already had the standard rear PTO and I did not want to lose the use of the FEL. We use the FEL all winter for driveway sanding and other things. The rear mount blower won the trade off.

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by Slickcraft

Yes but not too hard to do. A front mount blower would require adding a mid power take off (PTO) $$ and removing the front end loader (FEL). The tractor already had the standard rear PTO and I did not want to lose the use of the FEL. We use the FEL all winter for driveway sanding and other things. The rear mount blower won the trade off.

Yes, I have a Kubota L3430 cab model with front. I can leave the frame on and put tbe loader on but it is a bit of pain! Thedriveway and barn roadare 1/2 mile sodoing t hat in reverse would get old fast!!
Nice rig Slick!!

[Kamper]

Tips:

Get a couple packages of "Shear Pins" when you buy your machine. They lock the blades to the turning shaft and will break if you hit something hard. If you replace them with regular screws, you may break a belt or a key-way instead. Both of those jobs are a pain...

There are usually two belts in a snow blower. A drive belt (makes the wheels go 'round) and an auger belt (makes the snow go away). You may want to get one of each at time of purchase. Not just so you have them if needed but so you will have the part numbers on the sleeve if you need to get them twice.

Power is your friend. I suggest at least 5hp unless you are doing just a little bit. If you get bogged down, shift the drive to a lower gear and stop the drive to allow all the power to be used for clearing the mouthful it has. Start off slow then use the higher gears until you are comfortable with what your machine can do.

Don't clear the minimum area. If you have space, do it wide so there will be space for the melt-water to drain.


Good luck!

PS: I have a "Yardman" from Home Depot. It's identical to most store-brand machines regardless of HP. If anyone needs a copy of the manual send me a PM and I will forward it as an attachment.

[Little Bear]

Here's my entry into the virtual snow blower show. Complete with a heated cabin and tunes.

[Slickcraft]

Nice LB, I can't get a cab into the garage so I am jealous. I do have chains on all 4 for the winter.

[Dave R]

Best value in a cheap snowblower is a well maintained used Toro from the 80s to mid 2000s, IMO. They are ruggedly built, easy to work on, powered by Tecumseh, have real transmissions, and don't use shear pins. The mechanisms for shifting, chute movement etc. seem far superior to MTD/NOMA stuff.

[DickR]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Best value in a cheap snowblower is a well maintained used Toro from the 80s to mid 2000s, IMO. They are ruggedly built, easy to work on, powered by Tecumseh, have real transmissions, and don't use shear pins. The mechanisms for shifting, chute movement etc. seem far superior to MTD/NOMA stuff.

I may agree to a great extent with that. Back in the mid-late 90s, I bought a used John Deere 826 (8 HP, 26" width cut) machine, built back in the mid 80s as best as I've been able to find out. And, yes, it's green and yellow. The thing is a beast, ruggedly built. The engine is a Tecumseh, and it starts easily after a pull or two, even after sitting in the garage for 9 months. The tires came with chains on them.

During a period last year when I was having trouble getting it started and running well, I did use the electric starter for the first time. I had to remove that first and work in some lubrication, as it had been a couple of decades since it had been used, if at all. The starter itself ran well after that, except when I tried to use it during a power outage. Wondering if the cord had failed, I plugged a light into it, which is when I felt really stupid, as I had known the power was out before I went out to move snow.

Thinking that the carburetor might be gunked up from ethanol fouling, I replaced the carburetor, which it turns out was not the problem. Later, in troubleshooting a failed clutch linkage spring, I found a small spot on a wire connecting to the on/off key switch that had been rubbing on a threaded rod connected to the forward speed lever over the years. There was an intermittent grounding of the electrical system, and that was the source of all the trouble. It starts and runs well again now. Although the carb didn't need replacing after all, I've taken to shutting off the gas valve at the tank and letting the engine run through whatever is left in the bowl.

Over the years, I've replaced the drive friction wheel and a couple of belts. Parts are still available for it, so I've no particular reason to get something newer. My only complaint is that with very wet snow, practically slush, the chute clogs, and I have to shut down and clean the chute. Any wetter and I have to get out the shovel.

[chipj29]

I bought a 10HP (Tecumseh), 24" MTD at Sam's Club back in 1997 for $697. I used it until 2012. It handled everything I threw at it, and only busted 1 shear pin. I sold it for $200, and it always started on the first pull.

[Dad sold the C * C]

A few tips That I'm sure most know, but if it helps one person ....

I have an old hunk of Parrifin wax that I use to rub down the shoot and auger area. I have also used Pam, but get questioned by the wife at dinner time. (ONCE I went and got the cold can from outside and when she pushed the button, it just sputtered and dripped down the can)

Always clean the machine when your done, no matter how tired or late you are. Lost 2 hours last year because the wheel axels were frozen. Heat gun on mid temp made me nervous near the gas.

On wet heavy stuff turn the shoot in the same direction as your discharge auger rotates, since it's all the same direction it clogs less. Not always convenient but neither is the snow in the first place.

I've had 2 Ariens and very happy with both. I help a friend that has a horse farm and clears over a acre each storm, all grass, dirt or crushed stone; she has a 24" Honda for the tight spaces and I really like it. For the bulk of the yard she has a Honda tractor with a 40" blower on the front. Unfortunately they stopped making them years ago, we had to go to NJ last spring to buy a used blower attachment, we limped through last year, but only with the help of the service guy at the Honda dealer in Manchester. Can't say enough nice things about him.

[Kamper]

Originally Posted by Dad sold the C * C

... Always clean the machine when your done, no matter how tired or late you are. Lost 2 hours last year because the wheel axels were frozen. ...

Last year I was lazy and that happened to my augers. By an odd twist of fate, I had a spare snow-blower on hand and whenever my primary machine had a 'casualty' I was able to switch to a functional unit. This year, my wife 'loaned' #2 to some friends who moved to a place where they have to do their own cleanup. I really hope they look at Craigslist sometime in the next 9 months!

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

Yes, I have a Kubota L3430 cab model with front. I can leave the frame on and put tbe loader on but it is a bit of pain! Thedriveway and barn roadare 1/2 mile sodoing t hat in reverse would get old fast!!
Nice rig Slick!!

My neighbor has a B3030 with the front mount blower. Really slick setup. Envious... That said, it seems to waste a lot of power throwing the snow quite far (I'd estimate it at 80 feet). I would have designed it for less distance and more volume so you could go a little faster.