GaryBy

It's not so much that the 924DLE is a limited edition, but that it's only sold through dealers, while the 1130 DLE is sold both at dealers and big box stores. 

I think I've said it before, but the issues are roughly analogous (but not identical) to spending more to get a lighter weight laptop.  The extra width is probably more of an advantage than the extra HP, but it weighs ten pounds more, and would be harder to maneuver in tight spaces.  Two reasons we went with the 924DLE were a) we didn't want to ding our car doors against the snowblower, which has to fit between the two cars in the garage; and b) we have to clear a hairpin turn on a a steep grade to get at our oil fill tube.

But as someone else said, if you have the space and the maneuverability isn't an issue, go with the bigger one.

DSIMONE1 wrote: There's no standardization on these terms.  Ariens uses the Snow-Thro brand name,  John Deere uses snowthrower,  Toro uses snowthrower on their home products page, but then uses snowblowers.  The real distinction is between single stage and dual stage.

Brad wrote:
A bit late, but we've been using two-stage blowers on a gravel driveway for twenty years.  Generally we keep the skids down (i.e., scraper up), so we're never clearing all the way down.  For light snows, especially early season, this clears enough that the remainder will melt or sublime in a day or two.  Once we have a heavy snow, it remains packed down and it's safe to raise the skids.  As long as it remains as packed snow, traction is fine, but if we have moderate temperatures (28-40), the surface will turn to ice and become treacherous, forcing us to sand it.  It helps to have an AWD car, but we still have to walk the driveway for mail and trash.

We don't have a problem with the snowblower destroying the driveway.  It's very rare that a rock will come through, but that's mostly a problem of denting the blower.  I can't remember the last time we had to add material to the driveway, other than right up against the garage.  It helps to have a good driveway mix, such as star pack, containing both stone dust and stones, compacted down.

We're getting older, and would benefit from the features on current models, particularly the differential and electric start.  The 's' suffix on the 824s means it has a solid axle, no differential at all.  While we added the light option, we didn't get electric start.  Also, the handles on the newer models are higher, giving better leverage.

The alternator for the light is shot, but since it was a dealer-installed option, I don't consider that a fatal flaw for resale/tradein purposes.  But we're on a wooded rural road, so we do need the light.

I do agree about it being good fabrication.  Other than the alternator, the only other problem we've had with it is a leaky tire and having to clean and tune the carb more frequently than I'd like.  We have some rust showing, but otherwise the system works fine.

We have an Ariens ST824s, which I think we got around 89-91.  We want to see if we can trade it in on a new one.  Any idea about what we should expect to get for it?

Thanks,
Gary