snow blower

[Lakeboater]

Originally Posted by brk-lnt

This is not a universal truth my any means. Yes, large retailers sometimes negotiate to have a model made specifically for them. Many times this is for "price matching" guarantees. If Home Depot is the only one selling the Home Depot model of an Ariens snow blower then of course they can guarantee they have the lowest price because nobody else has that model.

In some cases cheaper/alternative parts may be used. A dishwasher might have a plastic tub instead of stainless steel. A snowblower might not have heated handgrips or might not come with an accessories kit (shovel to clear clogged auger, spare shear bolts, etc.).

As others have said in this thread, a snowblower is one of those things that if you try to get the absolute cheapest model or version, you'll likely pay for it in the long run. Major brands also don't want to risk their brand image on selling garbage products, so it's not like every product at Lowe's or HD is going to be cheapified unit that can't be repaired.

I bought my latest snowblower, an Ariens, at Home Depot about 8 years ago. I've purchased replacement parts (belts mostly) at the local outdoor equipment place that also sells Ariens without a problem. I've also repaired an MTD unit I had in the past, as well as done some repairs and tune-ups for friends and neighbors on snow blowers. They all have pretty much the same auger drive components, same mechanisms and setups for the transmission and so forth. I took apart a 25 year old Ariens that was pretty much the same basic guts as a modern Craftsman or MTD.

If I were buying a new unit today, I'd look for power to width ratio (eg: biggest engine for a given clearing width) and the engine itself. I've had very good luck with Tecumseh cold-weather engines, so that's my personal preference.

Pretty sure that Tecumseh is no more....they are out of business unfortunately.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Lakeboater

Pretty sure that Tecumseh is no more....they are out of business unfortunately.

This is accurate--most machines I've seen use Briggs, Honda, Kohler, or a Chinese engine (which, according to my non-big-box mom-and-pop high-end repair shop, are "gosh darn good values.").

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[Airedale1]

About 7 years ago we bought a Poulan Pro dual stage that has 11 h.p. a 30" cut and electric start. We have never used the electric start as it always starts on the first pull. We have been very happy with it. It's a beast!

[tbonies]

Ask yourself how long you need the blower. The reality is that an MTD big box blower, if you take care of it (change oil, etc.), will typically last 12-15 years with an average driveway. If you want it to last 30 years, go with one that is 3x the cost. As stated earlier, the resale value will be low so consider it a disposable asset.

[Slickcraft]

To answer the original questing as stated, my wife recently got a very basic Troy-Bilt Storm 2410 to do the walks and our large wrap around low deck.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_189194-270-3...d=3255746&pl=1

It is a 24" two stage with elect start and that is about it. Small enough so that she can handle it and it appears that it will do the job. Probably could handle a small short drive way. Will have to wait and see how the Troy-Bilt Chinese engine holds up. She did really like it in the 1st small storm.

OK this is just a BTW talking about snow blowers. Towards the other extreme I do the 600' steep driveway and have used a plow truck for many years. Not a typical homeowners situation. As I already have a JD 3320 tractor, I picked up a 64" Frontier PTO snowblower this fall. Waiting for a real storm to see if it can replace the plow truck.

[ishoot308]

Now THAT'S a snowblower Slick!!