Recommend a workhorse "no frills" snowblower

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After the recent storm that blew through on Thursday, friday morning my blower at my shop would not stay running. Even though it was running well in September, when hit with a load the engine bogged and couldnt keep up. I had to choke it at about 50% to keep up, and had to work on speed 2 even though it was less than 6". Was not a nice morning, especially since I stay on top of my machines, plus tons of work to do. The blower is a freebie from the neighbor from about 5 years ago. A late 90s Toro Pro 8 hp with 24" path, so its overpowered and works well at the shop since I have a 50 foot wide drive way that gets hit with the plow wash from the main road that Im on, so its often wet and heavy along the apron that I need to throw forward and pile on my parking space. It does have a few other issues, the traction wheel slips and skips under very heavy wet snow, so I am considering not dealing with the problems here and buying a new one I can just maintain. I need something reliable so that I can get there at 6:30 and blow out the lot and sidewalks first thing so I can start the day.
Im looking at many online but most have so many bells and whistles that I dont want or need, power steering, warmers etc. that add additional cost. I was looking for any thoughts on a basic, no frills blower that gets the job done and is easily serviced. Id like something along the same lines like an 6 or 8/24 so its manageable. Any thoughts or experiences?
 
If I were in your shoes I'd repower what I have and adjust the friction wheel and make sure there's no oil on it. If you have tire chains, get rid of them so the tires spin when it gets stuck. Snowblowing still takes a little wrestling here and there.

Do you have a tecumseh motor? Because mine failed as you described. Put a HF "chonda" on in place and vroom, vroom!

The husqvarna pro line is a joy to use but $1200, 2x the price of the big box store one.

I'd stop at your friendly local OPE dealer and see what their more rugged line is like.
 
Seems like new snowblowers are like new cars. Very hard to find anything that doesn't come with all the bells and whistles. IF the rest of your machine is good, I would just clean the carb, and possibly put on a new rubber drive disc, and keep it.
 
It actually is the older tecumseh, which I thought was a good thing! I sent the carb to the carb guy a block away, Ill see what he comes back with. I will look at the wheel again, but the actual drive rubber was chunking and all over the larger drive wheel, like its melting or breaking down.
I found this guy on Amazon, seems decent, but almost too cheap to be good. 7/24 for 525$. Says the 26" has a cupholder and light also, but cant find it.

https://smile.amazon.com/YARDMAX-YB...p_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=
 
Despite being light and slippery, plastic has no place on a snow blower. I'm heading into my 6th season with an old Ariens,I re-powered with a a Chonda from HF. If it doesn't start on the 3rd pull. it is because I forgot to turn on the gas. The worst problem to date has been the E-10 attacking the cad plating in the fuel bowl. As much as it galls me to say it, the Chonda is a fine engine. I'm tempted to buy another $99 engine as a 'tuneup" . That is about what a shop would charge to fix yours.
grin2.gif
 
My way of thinking is that a snow blower has to be able to handle the end of driveway (EOD) plow mess without bogging down too much. If it handles that for you, then it'll handle the rest of the virgin snow on your property with ease.

So with that in mind I'd recommend anything from the Ariens Deluxe line and upward. Good power and the only frill is "power steering". Starts at around $1,000 I believe. I have an Ariens Deluxe 28 since around 2011. It does the EOD mess and also about 60 extra feet along the curb all covered with plowed snow with no trouble.
https://www.ariens.com/en-us/snow-products

Here's a BITOG type site but for snow blowers. You can get a lot of info there:
https://www.snowblowerforum.com/
 
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Ariens or Toro if you want the blower to last and serve you well.
The lesser brands will work for a few years but parts and reliability
go down long term.

My 2¢
 
Originally Posted by dwendt44
Ariens or Toro if you want the blower to last and serve you well.
The lesser brands will work for a few years but parts and reliability
go down long term.

My 2¢



Agreed!
 
You can buy a new carburetor off ebay for that tecumseh for $10-15.
The friction drive wheels are pretty much a maintanance item. Not a lot of fun to change, but not the end of the world and pretty inexpensive.
If you do decide to retire it and get something new, I'd be looking at Simplicity, Ariens or Toro.
 
Ariens or Toro will be a great buy.

I'd stay away from Honda. They are very nice to use but when they break it is a nightmare to repair (the track drive transmissions).
 
I just bought a 9 year old craftsman snowblower. 9.5 hp with 29 inch clearing capacity for about $350. Tecumseh motor, runs well, but have not run it in the snow yet. I like the electric start feature, but pulling it is just as easy. Seems like the PO took good care of it, but I won't know until I give it a good once over.

Anyway, consider a used snow blower too. I found an ariens 22 inch for 300 near me. Most older blowers come with no frills
 
Originally Posted by THafeez

Anyway, consider a used snow blower too. I found an ariens 22 inch for 300 near me. Most older blowers come with no frills



Definitely this. You can find awesome deals on used machines. I've seen Ariens and Toro blowers for half the price of new with only a year of use on them because the sellers are moving south and just need it gone.
 
None of them are built like they used to be. Even the "high end" machines are loaded with plastic and only a few can be had with a domestic (Briggs) engine on them.

I don't mind the import engines, although the soft parts tend to be horrible on them. Fuel lines, primer bulbs, fuel shut-offs, gas caps, etc.. These items can and will fail when you least expect it.

If you're going used, I'd personally avoid older MTD machines with the twin shaft engine. They're about impossible to re-power without lots of hassle.

For cheapies, I prefer Husqvarna group machines or Murray designed.

Some will knock the Ariens Sno-tek line. Compare them side by side with an MTD or Husqvarna and they blow them away for less cost.
 
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Originally Posted by JTK
None of them are built like they used to be. Even the "high end" machines are loaded with plastic and only a few can be had with a domestic (Briggs) engine on them.

I don't mind the import engines, although the soft parts tend to be horrible on them. Fuel lines, primer bulbs, fuel shut-offs, gas caps, etc.. These items can and will fail when you least expect it.

If you're going used, I'd personally avoid older MTD machines with the twin shaft engine. They're about impossible to re-power without lots of hassle.

For cheapies, I prefer Husqvarna group machines or Murray designed.

Some will knock the Ariens Sno-tek line. Compare them side by side with an MTD or Husqvarna and they blow them away for less cost.



I have noticed that the Chinese haven't quite figured out how to make lasting rubber parts, paint that doesn't fade too.
 
Originally Posted by JetStar

I have noticed that the Chinese haven't quite figured out how to make lasting rubber parts, paint that doesn't fade too.

Perhaps, though Ford hasn't been too good either the past 15 or so years at figuring out how to make car paint that doesn't flake off.

I've had a low-end 26" MTD with a 208cc Powermore engine for seven(?) years, and it's still running great despite never having changed the oil in it until this summer. It doesn't have a huge number of hours used on it since we tend to either get mild snow that can be driven over, or get completely dumped on, but it gets put under plenty of stress when dumped on. And when the road plow makes a 2-feet-high wall at the end of the driveway and it turns to ice.

Has an electric starter, but I've never used it since the pull cord is easier to pull than on a walk-behind lawn mower.
Has a plastic ejection chute too.

Some chain store this week had a 24" 208cc of some kind for $399.
 
On the side I fix snowblowers for $, also sell used snowblowers I've completely have gone through.

My favorites in this order are Simplicity then Toro. Those are the two I would buy. Then Ariens. Even the low end of those brands are quality sharing many parts of the higher priced of that brand.

Before you buy, check the clearance, space, between the impeller and the housing. Most times you will get substantially better throwing by installing rubber flaps attached to the impeller blade to fill in this space, called an impeller kit.
 
"My favorites in this order are Simplicity then Toro. Those are the two I would buy. Then Ariens."

Just curious JLawrence08648 why those 3 and in that order. Is it better build quality, easier to repair, ease of getting parts, long term durability, something else?

Thanks in advance.
 
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