snow blowers (throwers)

[pwyxit63]

in the market for a snow blower (thrower)
looking for one capable of working through 12-18"
i have roughly 1000sf to clear.

what's workin for you?!

[Rob Paye]

Areins 824 or bigger is the only way to go !!

[TroyFeeken]

Areins, Toro or John Deere hands down. I've got a neighbor with a newer Toro and he damn near throws the snow over my house with a head wind it seems. Dang that thing throws snow!

[IdahoMike]

Honda track drive by far the best unit out there imo. Once you go track you'll never go back to wheel drive.

[Fire Angel]

Get at least an 8 hp

[Mike Peters-labguy23]

Since John Deere's are built by Simplicity/Snapper I would suggest to look for the best dealer in your area.

I formerly worked for Briggs & Stratton selling Simplicity,Snapper, and Ferris, and Snapper Pro. Brigg's bought the Simplicity group around 2002.

The differances in the 3 brands in snow throwers is minimal. I prefer Simplicity's first, JD's second, and Snapper last. I don't like the chute they use on the Snapper. Simplicity also has a commercial grade which is head and shoulders above any Snow Blower in the industry.

Areins makes a good blower but stay away from their low end blowers.

Toro, well I have sold them and the single stages are the best in the industry. The 2 stage blowers are not as good as the other 4 brands that I suggested.

They don't rate most small engines anymore most have torque curve ratings. I would suggest a torque rating of 12-14 and 26"-28". The 24" commercial model is hard to beat and will last you forever.

[Mike Peters-labguy23]

Honda track drive by far the best unit out there imo. Once you go track you'll never go back to wheel drive.

I sold these models also back 9 years ago. Honda has an awesome engine (still rated in HP last I checked).

Tracks are great when you have the machine on. Not so great when you run it out of gas or just want to move it without it running. Honda's tires suck, if over inflated they balloon up and are ruined. Both models have great traction.

They do have Simplicity build their augers.......Funniest story I heard about Honda was one year they ordered 10,000 of one part number. Augers have a left and right side FYI. So the guy at Simplicity says are you sure you don't want 5000 of part X and 5000 of part Y? Honda "know it all" guy says nope we need 10,000 of part X. Well 1 week after Honda got their 10,000 part X's they ordered 10,000 part Y's and didn't need to order the next year.

[meat hunter]

I just bought my wife a troy built 30" with hand warmers, power steering and joy stick shute control for Christmas she loves it.We live in South Dakota and have a 100 yard driveway and she blows out a 150 yard path too our kennel barn it seems to work very nice so far. She is a cheap women and originally wanted to save money on a smaller unit she said after the last 8" storm that she is glad I bought her the larger one. I t has 6 forward speeds but anything over 4" and you can't go higher than 2. It also has electric start and a headlight. There are only a few people making snowblower's and private labeling for everyone . Mtd makes the troy built and the craftsman at sears they are the same machine. I agree that the honda is probably the best but I don't think it worth double in cost if the troy built lasts 10 years and I need a new one it is still a 10 year old machine and the new one should be better by then. I bought her's at Lowe's they offer a 10% discount to past or present military personal. the reason she wanted this is because I leaver her home to deal with the snow January through March while I train in Texas. She is one hell of a good women and I am a lucky guy!

[Howard N]

meat hunter, she's a keeper.

[Darin Westphal]

I just bought an Ariens Deluxe 28" prior to Thanksgiving weekend and so far love it! If memory serves it's got a Briggs and Stratton 249cc engine in it. I haven't had to push it through brutal snow yet, but it should be able to do it. After years of shoveling snow, I keep asking myself why I didn't buy one of these a long time ago....