Snowblower advice

[timmaio]

I need to buy a new snowblower this year, not sure what to get.

Location: Breckenridge, 3 car wide, 2 car deep driveway

The old snowblower sucks at turning, and snow gets stuck in the chute relatively easily. It's really heavy, which might not matter if it turned easily.

It looks like I can't get away with spending in the $500 range new, starting to look more like $800-1k

We have Husky, Ariens, Craftsman dealers in the county. I don't think the local service shop repairs craftsman.

So, I'm looking at Ariens Deluxe(for easier turning), Husky Power steering models. Width of 24, 27, 28

What do the mags think of Husky vs Ariens, and width?

[El Chupacabra]

There's an older thread on snowblowers here somewhere. IIRC, the consensus was that Honda was the best, but will cost you. I have a 28" width Ariens, and live near Tahoe, so have "Sierra cement" to deal with. It works fine.

If you get a seriously gigantic amount of snow, the tracked blowers are nice. Mine has rubber tires, and it does slip some. I haven't bothered with chains.

[glademaster]

I had an Ariens Platinum 24 when I lived near the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon, so I dealt with a little more than twice the snowfall you do, and it worked well for me. Sometimes I wished I had a wider auger, but even the 24 weighed ~325 pounds, so I decided I would rather do a couple more passes than wrestle and even bigger, heavier machine. I cleared a ~75 foot long gravel driveway with a 4 car parking area at the end of it with mine and never had too much of an issue, although I did put chains on the tires and it made a substantial difference.

Honda might be the gold standard, but my Ariens served me very well and cost less than half of what a comparable Honda would have. The only caveat is that mine really didn't enjoy starting when it was colder than around 0F, so you may want to keep it in a garage, or get familiar with the electric starting process in Breck. My blower lived outside, so that may have contributed to it's balky cold weather starting.

[timmaio]

Thanks. There's no way I'm going to spring for a Honda, good to know the 24 wasn't a big issue. My wife and I are pretty petite, so weight/maneuverability are a big concern for us

[Sirshredalot]

I've got an Ariens 24 that I've used on my driveway and deck in the Summit Park, UT area for 5 years. Probably a similar snow situation to what you have in Breck, give or take.

It's been fine. It had to go in for a major service/repair once for some sort of blown up rubber clutch plate in the transmission.

[XXX-er]

if the auger is really wide you might not get it thru narrow places like gates, walkways & around cars if need be

I have a 24 " craftsmen which has been good but no more craftsmen altho I think i can still get it repaired no problem

[Shredhead]

Craftsman were usually made by MTD, which also makes Cub Cadet.

Last year Consumer Reports rated the 30” Pro the Best Buy.
I’ve been happy with mine, but it is a beast, but I also have a big ass drive.

I got mine on the internet, since they weren’t charging sales tax at the time. Shipping was good, assembly easy.

[Garth Bimble]

I live in the San Juans at about 8K. I've got an Ariens Compact 24, kills it when the snow is dry but in heavy wet it's pretty much worthless so I got an ATV with a plow. Much more effective and fun with all the trails around here. Probably too much for a little driveway like you've got though, mine's significantly longer.

[altacoup]

I have the Ariens 28 deluxe and it kicks ass. Live at the mouth of little cottonwood canyon. Was a caretaker in Alta for a decade and always ran Hondas. Ariens is just as good imo.


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[UTpowder]

I picked up an Ariens 28 deluxe last year and agree it kicks ass. I got tired of the plow driver I hired fucking up all my landscaping at my office so I decided to do it myself. 8 parking stalls and a 60 ft drive. I keep it at home and load it into my truck for transport. It drives itself right up my dirt bike ramp. My neighbor has the Ariens compact 24 and mine throws twice as far. Neighbor on the other side has a larger Craftsman which is not much better then the compact 24. He has told me several times that he wishes he would have got one like mine.

Considered getting the Honda but it was twice as much and thought before I bought the Honda I would buy 2 Ariens so I didn’t have to transport.

[RShea]

Have an Ariens 24 inch also. Picked it up used when a friend of ours moved into a condo some years back. This past winter it went through tons of snow doing a 2.5 width drive (3 cars at garage and narrows to 2 at the street. We got almost 200 inches last year (and then NWS said they could not measure right and in June claimed it was only 160 inches- how in the heck you can be off that much IDK)

It required the first repair since we've owned in just in the middle of the winter. The gear clutch plate went out (other than a few shear pin bolts over the time also).

As stated somewhere on here in tech talk or padded room there was a snowblower thread where someone was asking about electric blowers that were cheap single stage and not worth much for any amount of snow at all... It is all about the number of stages (2 stage at least) 3 stage are getting rare out there now (3rd stage is a drift buster usually). Other thing is stuff like how many gears (2 reverse or just one, and 4 to 6 speeds going forward). Other things are some of the accessories- electric starter instead of pull is pretty much a nice thing to have on a higher end model. headlight for night time blowing, heated handles option to keep the hands a bit warmer, chains for traction, and then the windshield or cab if you are dealing with having to blow it into the wind all the time due to the layout of the drive and yard/buildings near the driveway....

As for keeping it clear and not sticking- wet snow will always be a challenge due to the weight of it and the fact that it will pack down and many times have a slushy base that is hard to send through the auger. A good spray of silicon on the chute area can help a bit as a short term solution. Also keeping the chute painted and smooth. As for the width, that may only help you finish 5 or 10 minutes earlier because the wider of course the fewer passes up and down (if the snow is such that you can cut through it in a single pass and not cut smaller cuts. As you state though the bigger and wider then the harder it is to handle and turn etc.

[SKIP IN7RO]

I live in the San Juans at about 8K.

Me also. Last 4 winters, a shovel has been all that's needed. Hopefully, we get some big storms this year.

[axebiker]

I've got an Old As Fuck Ariens that just keeps on chugging along. 8HP B&S motor. If you can get non-oxy gas, do it and thank me later. Runs like a top until you use ethanol.

[barkcity]

I would agree that Hondas are the best, but for the money I wouldn't buy a Honda new (I wouldn't pass up a good deal on a used one though).

I went with a Ariens 28" Deluxe (254cc engine) 4 seasons ago. Although the 28" Deluxe model I bought has the same engine as the 24", the gear box on the 28" Deluxe has a more stout design, same as the gear box used on the bigger cc engines.

I change the oil, spark plug and lube all the grease fittings every year, and it's been perfectly reliable. It has an electric start option, but I never use it. Keeping it garaged it easily starts with one pull. I live near the top of Parley's Summit, and our driveway is steep. Adding chains really helps with traction when it's icy.

[Flounder]

I've got an Old As Fuck Ariens that just keeps on chugging along. 8HP B&S motor. If you can get non-oxy gas, do it and thank me later. Runs like a top until you use ethanol.

Same machine here. In addition to using ethanol free gas, I added a cut off switch to the fuel line so nothing sits in the carburetor. Learned that lesson the hard way.

[XXX-er]

I finally got around to changing the oil in my craftsmen 8 hp snowblower after 7 seasons and there was a fair amount of sludge with filings in it from the break-in process ... I would suggest doing it soon if you haven't !

I always run premium in small motors and I always run fuel conditioner thru the tanks in the spring and i haven't had any fuel related small engine issues

[El Chupacabra]

I change the oil in the snowblower every season. After a year of heavy use, the oil has thinned out so much it flows out like water. I use a full synthetic oil too. Changed the spark plug only once so far, in 5 years. Lube all the grease points each season too.

I haven't changed the gear box oil yet. How often is that needed?

I spray the inside of the chute and the auger area before each use, with cheap cooking spray. It seems to help with sticky wet snow and cooking spray is harmless to the dogs. I've tried silicone spray and Fluid Film, but those weren't really any better at preventing sticking, and I didn't like the idea of spraying that all over the place.

I use premium gas in all the small motors I have. Seems to run a bit better. I've heard that premium can have a lesser amount of ethanol, so maybe that's why - it sure isn't due to any high compression requirement.

[Meadow Skipper]

My blower (Craftsman, I couldn’t find anything else locally) and my saw both run much, much better with ethanol-free gas. I use gas conditioner and run the carbs out during the off-season. Problem free. I guess it’s hard to find ethanol-free in some places.

No one has a Husky blower? I’ve kind of yearned for one.

[Name Redacted]

I bought a used Troy Bilt about 5 years ago for ~$250. They sell em at Lowes too for $599. I live in Summit too, same size driveway as you. Some years I use it a lot, some years a little. I don't take care of it at all. Put shitty old gas in it, never change the oil, charge it into the piles of chunks from road scraping, etc. Never blew a shear pin, and never had a problem with it starting or running. Had to pump up the tire once.

If you want to drop cash on a Honda then go ahead, I'd rather spend my money on other stuff. I'm waiting for the FIL to die so I can take his. Really though, in Summit, snowblowers have a pretty easy job as long as you get after it soon after it snows.

BTW I'm pretty sure True Value in Silverthorne will work on just about anything.

I have a few friends who have plow companies so if I'm ever in a pinch they'll plow for me for a case of beer or something.

[GeezerSteve]

If you can get non-oxy gas, do it and thank me later. Runs like a top until you use ethanol.

True for all small engines, e.g., lawn mower, string cutter, chain saw, generator, etc. Fortunately, ethanol-free gas is available in Eburg.

[bodywhomper]

Av fuel has no ethanol. More people are using it in my area for small engines. At least one of the popular small engine repair shops strongly recommends it.

Remember to never use it in a road vehicle.

[anotherVTskibum]

I use premium gas in all the small motors I have. Seems to run a bit better. I've heard that premium can have a lesser amount of ethanol, so maybe that's why - it sure isn't due to any high compression requirement.

More likely the converse—ethanol is an octane booster, so all else being equal, I'd expect to find more of it in higher-octane fuel.

We had a 20+ year-old Toro two-stroke, and I'm drawing a blank on the model. Ornery as f***, usually took multiple passes if it was deep enough to be worth breaking it own, stunk like a shitty two-stroke, but still beat the hell out of shoveling a big storm. As noted, if you can store the machine somewhere that's not below freezing, it will probably start easier (plus it's less likely to ice up any part of the mechanism); the downside is that as soon as you bring it out in to the cold and snow touches it, it's going to be wet and potentially start freezing up.

I'm on the hunt for another one, as it finally got to the point last winter that it wouldn't stay running long enough to be useful, and it wasn't exactly worth paying much to get it repaired (let alone moving it across the country).

[XXX-er]

Fuel is SO important in small engines so if I got old fuel i thro it in the ranger when the tank is empty and dilute it with 50 liters of fresh stuff

A neighbor was a HD mechanic at the large bulk carrier out fit in PG where he was mostly he was maintaining B-trains , but he was given responsibility of keeping all the small engines on the site running cuz they were all fucked

What would happen is somebody would take one off the rack and if it started use it or just put it back until they find one that did start, until eventualy none of them worked.

What he did was get them all running properly and mandated that because there were too many to keep track of what was put in the tank and when ALL fuel used in those engines MUST have fuel conditioner because you never know when an engine will run again ... solved all his problems

IME its really important to make sure the auger is very clear of smoo before you shut down other wise it could be frozen to the bottom of the housing the next time you try to use it, so run for 30 sec to clear the machine before shutting down

heated grips are really nice so is the joystick chute operation,

At the olympics I worked the womens DH course at treeline running those Honda tracked blowers, they are nice machines, it would snow 20cm overnight so you got clean your section down to bare track, it was kinda steep so in spite of the tracks I was wearing crampons and still dragging them around uphill

[cat in january]

Try to find another source for non ethanol gas than Av Fuel as it contains lead.

[JayPowHound]

We have a 27" husky.. left fuel in it the first summer I had it and had a hell of a time getting it cleaned out and running again that fall. Just ignorance, now I take care of it and have no issues.

Heated hand grips have been useless IMO, my hands sweat anyways and I have plenty of glove options. Have never needed them.

Electric start is nice and reliable, especially when it's cold.

Turning is pretty manageable, can lock up one wheel and spin donuts with the other one pulling if you wanted.

Not a huge fan of the chute height articulation.. has gotten a little dinged up from little rocks banging through it and now tends to get stuck. I will probably take a mallet to it and flatten it out this fall, but expect it to happen again.