Knowledge me up on snow blowers.

With my pending home ownership, and my continuing laziness, I'mma going to want a snow blower (or snow thrower... your choice).

It's summer so I'm sure the deals are out there, but I have no idea where to start. What's the 1991 Miata of these things?

buy an Ariens.

slightly pricier, but usually built to higher standards to the MTD Clone farm.

Dual stage FTW. That's the kind with the secondary auger behind the front tines. Keeps the chute from getting clogged like my single stage. Most of the new ones are cheaply built unless you spend commercial dollars. I think the pinnacle was probably the 70s-80s for quality. Mine was built in 1963.

I bought several of them this past winter. Most modern ones are dual stage. There's a big difference between a snow blower and a snow thrower, which are basically for clearing sidewalks and decks.

Many of them were manufactured by a single company (MTD, I think) and were rebadged for a bunch of different sellers like Sears, Agway and others. Tecumseh engines are fairly common, as they have a primary drive shaft, as well as a secondary drive shaft that turns at half speed. One drives the wheels and the other drives the auger.

Overall, they are very simple, but don't assume that you can buy one with a bad engine and just drop any Briggs and Stratton horizontal shaft engine into one.

Don't replace the shear pins with regular bolts, or you will pay for it with a broken auger shaft.

I currently have this one on Craigslist, but unless you're moving to New England, it won't help you.

I usually buy 1 or 2 machines in the summer, use them all winter and sell them towards the end of the season.

Watch for leaks around the head bolts on any the motors. As the others have said, 2-stage is the only way to go.

Keep an eye on the augers and have someone turn them on so you can watch how they rotate. The bushings on the side might be wore out. Also, keep an eye on the scraper blade (rides on the ground behind the auger) and it may need to be replaced. The side hight adjusters on each side of the front auger may also need to be replaced. Basically, anything that turns or rides on the ground may need to be serviced.

Those are all things that you can use to get the price lowered. If the motor runs and the augers turn, those things will toss snow wherever you want it to go.

Try some out before buying if you can. Borrow someone's.

My driveway is ~150 feet long, + sidewalks around the house + we get a bit of snow here = 10 hp Snapper. Mine threw a rod late last season, only one storm to go; my next door neighbor let me borrow her 5 hp Ariens. Meh. It moved the snow except for the end of the driveway where the plow left a huge pile of really packed stuff. The little 5 hp just climbed over it, didn't have enough weight to bit off snow.

Still better than shoveling.

My experience with snow-blowers:

Honda #1: Bought in about 1992, it started every single time as long as we remembered to put gasoline in it, and was so easy to start that my mother could pull the cord--back then Dad was travelling a lot, so this was the biggest selling point. This was a single stage, not a huge one, but it got us through 18 Chicago winters with 3 boys/young men to take care of the snow plow gunk at the end of the drive.
It finally rusted to the point that it didn't make sense to fix it anymore, and we just replaced it. The engine was still as good as it was the day we bought it. We gave it to my uncle, last I saw it it was in pieces next to a go-cart chassis also in pieces.

Honda #2: Bought in about 2005 on our recommendation by the lady down the street, then used exclusively by me on her driveway. Similar to the 1992 Honda, but it was a little bit taller, and if anything, a little bit easier to start. This one is still going strong.

Ariens single stage: Replaced the Honda that rusted out. A little harder to start, doesn't run as smoothly, but it is built with better metal and will last longer. Moves the snow just as well.

Ancient Toro 2 stage: My neighbors that he never used (had a service). The thing was brand new, just old. He got tired of the service, and started paying us to move his snow. We tried to use this, but it would never start. We fiddled with it, he fiddled with it (and he's rebuilt a Spridget at least three times), the shop fiddled with it. Just didn't want to work consistently. When it did, it moved the snow like it should.

New Toro 2 stage: Replaced the one above. This one starts, and works like it is supposed to.

I will say this: The 2 stages are not worth the extra money to me. For 95% of the snows that we get, our little single stages go faster and move the snow better. When we get the Snowpacolipse snows, well, then it takes a long time.
My only other bit of advice is that if you are buying new, make sure that you can move the sprayer direction without moving to the side of the machine. It gets annoying. Most if not all of the new ones have a little knob that you can use to move the spout without getting out from behind it.

Mine is an old Craftsman model, kinda like the one pictured below, that was apparently made from leftover Sherman Tank parts. It uses no belts, only gears and chains. It is a two-stage, and it once swallowed a red brick and spit it out as dust. The engine sat for an unknown number of years, but started with fresh gas and a wipe down of the spark plug. The old ones run forever, but they weigh the same as a Civic and the chains tend to rust out and break.

Older two-stage snow blower. Check!

How would one try it out when it's 103* out?

Buy a slightly bigger unit than you think you'll ever need. Less stress on the components, and if last year (for some of us) repeats itself, you'll be glad. Check your thurs/fri newspaper yard sale listings--often buried in the listings, and those people are usually the ones who are easier to deal with (sell it cheaper) than someone who takes out an ad for the blower alone.

Osterkraut wrote: How would one try it out when it's 103* out?

Pumpkin patch.

Woody wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: How would one try it out when it's 103* out?

Pumpkin patch.

Wet Sand?

Work good on loose leaves. I had one of theose Craftsman the pinchvalve talks of. What he said is true, unfortunately rust started to get too it. The chute fell off. I bought my MTD in '95. still working great. Just have to keep up with replacing worn parts. I order parts direct.

I have found that the larger models work better. The Tecumseh always start easily, almost never use the electric starter. After 15 years it is starting to use a little oil. And in spite of all of the rhetoric about ethanol. I have had zero problems.

When mine died last year I started doing homework and looking around, I like TroyBuilt.

http://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_14102_10122_55003_-1

They don't refer to them in Horsepower anymore, it's CC. Someone contested the validity of the hp rating, the Mfr. didn't produces dyno tests so now everything is in the engine's size, not power.

Dan

My old single stage flappy paddle is ok up to 4 or five inches of snow unless its wet. It usless on the dirt and gravel section of my driveway.

My neighbors laughed at me when I offloaded my 10 horse 2 stage snowblower after I moved in. They stopped laughing when I showed them how it would clear 15" of snow in a single pass and leave the driveway looking like a 90 degree day in July. Its a bit overkill for a 60', 2 car driveway but I wouldnt trade it for anything.

Sure it sucks gas, takes up a lot of space, and isnt the most maneuverable thing around, but man can it move snow!

... and it has enough ass to put all the snow in your neighbor's driveway.

I have a two stroke Toro, single stage, with 110v electric start. It is very good for what I need near Detroit.

You realize that with global warming, these devices will no longer be necessary?

Two stage is the only way to go.

I've never thought any snowblower was too big, but plenty were too small.

Raw engine horsepower isn't as important as I thought it was.

Having an exit shute I could easily clear is darn important. Especially with slushy snow. Every time you stop, it blocks up. An open bottom plastic shute self clears. A solid steel tube requires you to punch the snow back down through it.

A pocket full of sheer pin bolts for the augers is important when doing gravel driveways.

110V Electric start sure helps when the engine is cold and oil is thick. Pulling that rope fast enough to start it is darn hard to do then. And you break the rope a lot.

Tracks seem cool, but wheels actually work better. Even in muddy barnyards.

Chains sound like a good idea, but aren't. Good tread works better.

A quick turn shute will spoil you rotten. You become much better at avoiding face fulls of snow.

You will get snow down your neck.

I use the headlight more than I thought I would.

Almost all brands for many years seem to be an MTD machine underneath. There are exceptions.

Buy belts before the big snow storm.

Run the carburetor dry before you put it away. They are very prone to rusting and gooing up in the bowl. Especially during the summer.

Start in the center and work your way out.

Aim high and throw the snow over the edge.

foxtrapper wrote: Start in the center and work your way out.

My neighbor is from the middle east and I had to teach him this lesson one Chicago winter; not a lot of snow growing up. He started on the outside edges and worked in......then did it all over again.

Well, I started out looking for huge, cheap, ancient monsters. I missed out on a $50 mid-60s Ariens, and after returning my first phonecall, the seller of a 15hp Craftsman vanished.

Then I found out I will be deploying in December. Whoa, that's right, I'm not just shopping for me, I've got a 96lb fiance who's going to need to use it too...

Around this time I contacted a guy selling a Toro two-stage. Turns out he does commercial snow-clearing, and got tired of the two-stage taking up room in his trucks. He uses Toro 3000/3650's exclusively. Our region just doesn't get the snow for a two-stage, and the single-stages are easier to use, and faster.

End result? I got a very, very good deal on this:

A 7hp Ariens 722EC. Electric start, for laziness. It's very personable former owner, confirmed while chuckling, that this thing will throw snow far enough to satisfy my testosterone-fueled need to one-up the neighbors.

We had a "Commercial" MTD(Yard MAN) '99-'06(?). That thing was a TANK, and not in the good way Because it was the special extra heavy duty version, proper parts were near imposible to find, like belts and sheer pins. This resulted in thrown belts and busted sheer pins at an assinine fequency. When it was running, it was near imposible to manuver. The one saving grace is that thing could move snow second only to a plow.

The end of it came when we took it in to get it fixed up. It would have taken close to $700 in repairs to get it running properly. At that point we traded it in for well above srcap value and picked up a nice Husquvarna. This past winter when I went to the shop to pick up some sheer pins it was finally fixed up and sitting outside for sale. When I asked about it it was listed at IIRC, $695, and they where losing money on it

Our Husquvarna has been a dream. The only issues I have had was the Hydro-stat, and the start rope.

At the end of the first season/ begining of the second the Hydro-stat drive wouldn't move and needed a tune up, and has been fine since. The other thing about Hydro-stat on a snow blower is that it needs time to warm up.

This past winter the pull cord broke on me around Febuary. This was only a minor inconvenience as it has an electric starter. It just means I can only start it as far out as my extension cord reaches.

Otherwise it moves snow as well as the MTD Tank, manuvers FAR better, runs perfectly, and only breaks sheer pins thru operator idiocy.

Bought this at Lowe's tonight, $759.

http://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_14102_10124_55007_-1

Been researching online for a while now, pretty much limited to Lowe's, HD and TSC around here. To me, this model looked well built and had the right stuff for a decent price compared to the rest plus good reviews. Downside is a plastic chute and non-steering, guess I'll hafta live w/ that.

Was holding out for a sale but that didn't happen. I have six 5 gal buckets of ice melt, shovels are ready... I guess that means we'll only get a total of 2" of snow all winter.

Osterkraut, there are times where we get the kind of snow that requires a 2 stage, here in Omaha. In fact, the first time was about a month after I bought mine. LOL. But, yes, for most of our snows, what you bought will be perfect.