Pulled the plug on a "new" Craftsman Snowblower

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: gd9704
Ever since I stopped buying Craftsman OPE and started buying Stihl and Echo I've been a much happier man. In the long run, your will spend less of your hard earned money on better quality equipment. They work better and last longer.



So I've been told! Although my BIL has loved all of his Stihl chain saws over the last 40+ years, I have never had any particular fondness for ECHO power equipment. The only Echo equip I have ever had were weed wackers/leaf blowers and they weren't anything to write home about. Beyond those units, I'm not familier with any other products that Echo makes. I think I may have seen an ECHO generator at Big Lot's or Harbor Freight but, I'm not sure!

If before buying, I could open upper cover machine and inspect the pullys/belts and tention arms(I may have called these the wrong items) and inspect the under carrage/lower unit of the snowblower, this would help make my choice easier. Then I could inspect the gearing, return springs, fly wheel, friction wheel etc. The spec sheet doesn't help in this area as they all look the same on paper except the units with chain drive

But, which store employees will let customers do this? Having a unit on display completely opened up would probably scare away customers with their cheapness of build quality.

 

[georgemiller]

"In the long run, you will spend less of your hard earned money on better quality equipment. They work better and last longer."

Very true words. What about your time pussyfooting around with equipment that fails you.

You must take into account the resale value of your item. When you go to sell your Craftsman in say 5 years the buyer will know more than half it's lifespan is used up. An Ariens or Simplicicty still has many, many years left.

 

[CharBaby]

George, you could be right, IDK!
The last blower(MTD) that I mentioned above, had me "pussyfooting" around with it's poor quality and lack of durabililty. Although the MTD started out very, very strong for the first 5-6 years(as I expect the Craftsman to do) and then quickly went down hill from about year 7 thru 11. And too, each time I fixed it, she performed strong. At that age, something was always breaking again. This Craftsman could turn out to be a better unit and I may never know or find out.

I do know folks that buy products by reputation(including myself) and have less than good success with the product that, they'll never buy them again. I also know folks that only buy products from SEARS/Craftsman and run them for years and years without a problem. I swore that I wouldn't buy again from Sears and I still did. Mainly because I too have owned the "better known" products(Ariens, Toro, Snapper, John Deere) and have been less than impressed. The small equipment of years and years ago lasted longer but, nothing new it seems. Not for me anyway! Maybe I'm too hard on the stuff.

I'll give'em one more chance!

 

[HM12460]

Char, I gotta agree with George. Your business minded wife (gotta love 'em!) is way off on this one. A new craftsman 2 stage snow chucker won't be worth anything to speak of in 5 years. You get what you pay for. What I find particulary disturbing is what MTD has done to the Cub Cadet name and reputation. Have you looked hard at a new larger Toro machine? My 20 year old 2 stage Snapper is still going very strong and shows no signs of letting me down.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: HM12460
Char, I gotta agree with George. Your business minded wife (gotta love 'em!) is way off on this one. A new craftsman 2 stage snow chucker won't be worth anything to speak of in 5 years. You get what you pay for. What I find particulary disturbing is what MTD has done to the Cub Cadet name and reputation. Have you looked hard at a new larger Toro machine? My 20 year old 2 stage Snapper is still going very strong and shows no signs of letting me down.


Thank you for your comment! My wife didn't pick the machine that I just bought, she just offered her opinion because I have been disapointed with the quality of new snow equipment lately.

Higher end snow equipment such as Toro and Ariens costing ~double what I just paid, is all I can find that suits my liking for anything resembling quality(tank like). Years ago, all units seemed to be built like TANKS, even the smaller units, which is what I like(nothing larger than 26"). What I think is so cheap on the Crsftsman thus far is the cables for the drive, auger and forward/reverse speeds but, I can fix those.

If I were a bit younger and planned on doing this for more years, I would have purchaced an ANIMAL!...BIG, STRONG like BEAR!

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: gd9704
In the long run, your will spend less of your hard earned money on better quality equipment. They work better and last longer.


It depends on how you use it. For me in Central PA I can "get by" with a Craftsman. In fact, I have since 2003. Along the way I've replaced some cables and belts and done the carb thing. But the carb is because I didn't really store it right. My only real issue is the cable assembly who some genius at MTD decided to use plastic as an anchor for the cables. So every other year it breaks. I made a homemade thing out of wood last year and it seems to be holding so far.

Could a Toro be better? Probably but judging by the POS Toro snowblower my parents have, their stuff is overrated. Every year I have to tighten bolts and adjust the thing. And my Dad hardly uses it. But for my use I'm fine with the Craftsman.

I also have a Craftsman lawn mower. It has had issues, but all the issues have been with the Briggs and Stratton engine on it. Magneto and Carb this year (carb was leaking gas). The deck and drivetrain is fine and it's 3 years old. I'd have those same issues on any other brand as it's the B&S engine that is the source.

We bought a Harbor Freight generator. Why? Got good reviews and it's something we won't use all the time. Makes no sense to spend $2-3k on a Honda when I can get the HF for less. It runs fine, starts when I need it to and will run our house. It may not last 1000+ hours like a Honda but as long as I get 500 (which will probably be 10 years) I'll be happy.

Resale value never enters into the equation as I run them until they die or can't be fixed. Then they go to the curb.


For things that are not used often or you don't make a living with it makes no sense to get the best.

 

[Nick R]

Craftsman stuff isn't the worst I'd say.

Our snowblower has been mildly problematic- this will be the 4th season we've had it, I believe. The cables are all still fine, most of the issues have been with the chinese engine.

Our 4 year old craftsman lawnmower has been pretty great. I've had to replace all 4 wheels, the fronts due to the plastic drive gears stripping out, the rears because they cracked at the hub, but they were cheap and easy to replace. The deck is still completely rust-free, the drive works, the engine burns a little oil (could be due to my oil choices) and the belt so far is fine. No complaints.

 

[Spector]

I have had good luck with craftsmen lawn equipment, recent self propelled mower went 18 years, leaf vacuum about 7 but new one is much larger and more efficient. One thing I do like about Craftman lawn equip is the parts manual that comes with it, basically can order any part easily and get it. many other brands are hard to find parts for.

I did have an Ariens Snowblower 8 HP back in the days I lived up north and that was a workhorse, had a paddle mechanism in lieu of the impeller and could throw water, great machine.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
... To date, I've changed the oil and spark plug yearly, ....
That spark plug should last the life of the engine. But a changeout maybe every 4 - 5 years wouldnt hurt as long as its not a junk plug going back in. The Champ plugs are fine. CAUTION: Absolutely forego the extended nose "quick start" plugs on a flat head. NGK V power are garbage plugs; they utilise a questionable mystery steel, thin ground electrode instead of Inconel. The junk steel erodes super fast conmpared to most anything else. We've had a hard time getting to 30K with BPR6E11 in most any japanese engine Ive tuned up.
- The preceding has been a report from a Professional's Garage.

 

[doitmyself]

That's odd regarding your experience with NGK V powers. Nearly everyone else rants and raves about them. I don't see where the electrode is "thin ground". The V notch is barely perceptible.

Charbaby, everyone seems to be reluctant to accept your opinion that even the "better" snow blowers have declined in build quality. I remember a thread here some time ago that someone (maybe boraticus?) stated that even the Ariens seemed to be less of a machine than past models. I think that with good care, you will get the value out of your machine.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
... To date, I've changed the oil and spark plug yearly, ....
That spark plug should last the life of the engine. But a changeout maybe every 4 - 5 years wouldnt hurt as long as its not a junk plug going back in. The Champ plugs are fine. CAUTION: Absolutely forego the extended nose "quick start" plugs on a flat head. NGK V power are garbage plugs; they utilise a questionable mystery steel, thin ground electrode instead of Inconel. The junk steel erodes super fast conmpared to most anything else. We've had a hard time getting to 30K with BPR6E11 in most any japanese engine Ive tuned up.
- The preceding has been a report from a Professional's Garage.


I prefer NGK plugs for pretty much every application. I'm quite happy with the NGK plugs in both the Briggs L-Head, and the Chonda OHV Snowblower.

 

[boraticus]

Take a look at new offerings from all of the top domestic brands (Ariens, Simplicity and Toro) and compare them to similar machines built 5 or more years ago. If you don't see the decline in build quality, you don't know what to look for. Check out the thickness of the sheet metal. Look for bushings in places bearings used to be (auger, impeller etc.) Check out the auger gear box. Old machines had cast iron gear boxes and the internals were made of higher quality materials as well.

The domestic manufacturers still build a few "pro" models that demand quite a bit more money. However, much of what they sell now is much diminished in overall build quality.

If you want a top notch snow blower these days, Honda and Yamaha are your best, albeit most expensive choices.

 

[boraticus]

Char Baby:

What Echo equipment have you owned that was less than satisfactory? I own two trimmers, one Shred N' Vac leaf blower, one chainsaw and a lawn mower all made by Echo. I've been so pleased with them that I stopped buying Stihl products and I like Stihl.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: boraticus
Char Baby:

What Echo equipment have you owned that was less than satisfactory? I own two trimmers, one Shred N' Vac leaf blower, one chainsaw and a lawn mower all made by Echo. I've been so pleased with them that I stopped buying Stihl products and I like Stihl.


Gee, it's been a while since I owned an ECH0 trimmer. I've had several as have many of my friends whom are on the cheap side like myself with their money have purchaced several ECHO trimmer in the very distant past I'm afraid.

We have all had problematic issues with starting, trigger/throttle control breaking, carb issues, cheap plastic parts breaking and on and on.

I can't answer for all of ECHO's small equip, only the ones that I have purchaced in the distant past and I can't tell ya the model#'s. Basicly, these units quickly ended up in the pond.

That's all I can really say about them. Apearently, you are a very happy customer so they must be doing something right! No hard feelings

 

[boraticus]

I wasn't offended.

I was surprised to hear negative comments about one of the best brands of OPE available today. Echo have taken over Shindaiwa which was also a premium OPE brand. If Echo incorporates Shindaiwa technology and quality they will only get better.

 

[georgemiller]

Char Baby wrote "We have all had problematic issues with starting, trigger/throttle control breaking, carb issues, cheap plastic parts breaking and on and on."


Char Baby you talk such rubbish. Landscapers wouldn't use garbage equipment and almost all use Echo or Stihl. Why??? Because they last.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: georgemiller
Char Baby wrote "We have all had problematic issues with starting, trigger/throttle control breaking, carb issues, cheap plastic parts breaking and on and on."


Char Baby you talk such rubbish. Landscapers wouldn't use garbage equipment and almost all use Echo or Stihl. Why??? Because they last.



It's not rubbish, it's my experience with them. I don't know what landscapers are using "today". The trimmers/leaf blowers I was buying "long ago"(repeat, long ago) was not commercial grade, it was residential grade. I wasn't impressed and have a bad memmory of the stuff I had, that's all! I never said that ECHO was garbage! I said that I didn't have any particular fondness for them based on my experience. I have an 18 year old John Deere trimmer commercial unit today and it's an animal...We're going off the subject here.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: boraticus
I wasn't offended.

I was surprised to hear negative comments about one of the best brands of OPE available today. Echo have taken over Shindaiwa which was also a premium OPE brand. If Echo incorporates Shindaiwa technology and quality they will only get better.


I beleive you but, we're talking about two different times in history. You speek of Echo equipment "Today" and I was talking about less than satisfactory ECHO equipment from my "PAST". I can only answer for the products that I have owned. Maybe it was always good stuff, IDK!

Hey, I know guys that swear by their F-350 PSD's and I know guys that swear at 'em...You understand my point?

I don't want to take this conversation out into left field where it gets lost and brothers don't speek to one another for stupid reasons. This fourm is about teaching and learning from experience.

 

[CharBaby]

Understood? Shake on it!