Just wanted to contriibute since I learned a lot from reading the posts here. Cliff Notes: JD 1028E 2 Thumbs Up.
I just bought a John Deere 1028e on Monday and used it after the last Noreaster on Wednesday. We had about 20" inches of medium density snow perfect for making snowballs not to too slushy and not too fluffy.
My budget for a snowblower was about $1k so I had to strech a little to get the Deere paid about $1170, but don't regret it one bit. I looked at almost everything in the $800 - $1300 range new and used, no loyalty to any brand just wanted the most for my money. Not much for selection in the used stuff around here at this time of year, too much $$ for too rusty of a machine.
So far I'm loving the JD. The snow was over bucket height and was able to take a full 28" swath without even a hint of it bogging down. Doesn't have the greatest throwing distance but it's more than enough to throw the snow across my driveway(2 car wide, 2 car deep), which is all I care for. What impressed me the most was the volume of snow it throws at at a given time. I wonder if that's the reason why Ariens has a small chute opening versus the wide open chute in the JD, is it just for marketing throwing distance? Just watching the thing spitting out the snow left a huge grin on my face. EOD snow was no problem either, was able to do full swath without bogging down or clogging. Finished my driveway in about 10 minutes, took longer to clear out the steps/deck to my front door than it did to do the whole driveway.
The engine. Two pumps to prime and started on the very first lazy pull, was able to take it off of choke immediatley after starting. Most snowblowers in this class have the b&S engine so not much to write about here. It does it's job fine.
The heated hand grips. Couldn't really tell if they were working but I also had thick gloves on so it didn't matter, maybe they take awhile to heat up, I may have just finished up too quickly to notice. Wasn't a selling point for me so I don't care, it's more like a free extra.
The electric chute rotation. I initially thought it was just a gimick and considered it as a con on my pros/con list due to added complexity, but after using it I love it. You never have to let up on the auger while making a U turn just hold down the chute rotation button while turning 180* and you keep blowing snow in the same direction while turning. Now I wish I bought the Snapper model with the electric delfector too.
Pin lock axle, not really the most ideal thing I initially wanted a differential. Using the snowblower I didn't really need to unlock the wheel while there was snow on the ground, just pushing the handles while the wheels were moving was enough to turn it easily. Only time I needed to unlock the wheel was on dry pavement while the machine was off, too much traction to easily turn it. After using it, I no longer consider a differential a must have feature.
Upright handles. They seem like they won't give enough leverage, but they actually do very well becasue of their height, also saved me from slipping and falling a few times as I was able to hang on to them and not tip over the snowblower as I slid under.
Dual lights on the dash are good but again don't care I have flood lights to light up the driveway.
Overall quality of the machine seems to be very good can't spot anything of concern. I guess only time will tell though.
I'm loving this snowblower and even happier because I was going to hold off until next year but glad I bought when I did, it has snowed about twice per week in MA since I bought it.