Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I have been in the market for a snowblower for the past month or so. Having bought a new home last winter which we completely furnished and remodeled in the last year, my budget for a snowblower is noit a kings ransom. While I have finally convinced my wife that we will not be buying a single stage like the one she grew up with, we were a bit turned off by the price of the big 2 stage models. Going to are equipment dealers, I found that the smaller 2 stages are in the price range we are lookin for. With a smaller drive (50x25) I think I should be OK with a smaller HP. Living in the NW suburbs of Chicago, we can get some good lake effect snow at times however. I have been thinking about the Aries 5520 but have come across a left over, never used 520 at a local Ariens dealer for an even $500. Seems like a great deal.

Question is, while I really want a 7HP and went down to the 5.5 budget wise, I am wondering how capable a 5.0 will be. While everyone on my block owns single stages and I was the only one with a shovel 9 months ago, I have to think that to 5.0 2 stage will perform better that a 5.0 single stage.

Does anybody have any experience with these small 2 stage models?? I realize with a big snow fall I may have to blow twice in storm but with such a small drive, I dont mind.

Great site by the way!

Thanks guys. We had about 4 inches here in Chicagoland last night so I am out to shovel, or bribe a neighbor to snowblow, my drive! I am defintatly off to the equipment dealer tomorrow. If your MTD 5hp does you well, I may go with the Ariens 5 myself. I was watching my neighbor with HER single stage toro throw quite well. I'd imagine a 2 stage would do even better.

I guess my last concern was if 5hp would be able to power both the 520's auger and discharge effectively?

Thoughts.....

Matt,

         Yes, read Martys post above.

As he says, just takes a little longer with a 5 than a 7 or 8 HP.

                                              Fred

If throwing distance and capacity is extrememly important you may want to opt up for the ST5520. It's not the extra power that will be of great benefit, but there were discharge improvements made to the compact units for the current model year to increase performance. The impeller was improved and made larger, and the chute geometry was optimized. These increased performance to the tune of approximately 20%.

PK

Matt,

Snowman above  is an Ariens engineer!

                         Fred

I'm in the NW Chicago burbs (Lake Co.) and my Toro 3650 worked like a champ on last night's 3" snowfall. The advice that folks tend to dish out is to buy the high end for what your budget allows. In other words, don't buy a 2nd tier dual stage in lieu of a high end single stage. Dual stage units are more complex, so you want a quality brand. Remember that the low end dual stage units do not have the steering capabilities of the high so you will be stuck trying to maneuver a 150+ lb unit.

For a graph of annual snowfall in Chicago check out this site: http://home.att.net/~chicago_climo/CHISOW.gif

Note that the last time we had more than 40" of snow was back in '99!

Matt,

2 stage blowers are better than single stage machines.

                     1.  No torque steer.

                      2. You can raise the scraper bar and blow snow on your lawn. (A doggie path)

                      3. Weight is not a problem turning when you have snow on the ground !

                      Ariens blowers are quality machines.

                                                          Fred

Well, you guys wont believe it. I was put in touch with a guy in Glenview (a suburb near Chicago) that was moving. He had an Ariens snowblower he wanted to get rid of. He was not sure what kind it was so when I called him, he went out in his garage and took a look. It was a 5520. Said he bought last winter, used it twice and was selling it because he was purchasing a condo. Needless to say, I was at his home an hour later. We put some fresh gas in and it started in 1 pull!

And the best part, it came with all the documents and I only paid $250!!! He was thinking $220 - $270 range. I still feel guilty!

Thanks for all the advice guys. Now I look forward to contributing to this site as an owner....

Matt

Matt,

You are going to love it!!

When you went there to see it did you wear a mask and a gun???

Marty,  who posts here, always wears his when he is shopping!!!

I used to hate the words "Heavy Snow Tonight".

 Now that I have a blower,  I look forward to it!!

                           Fred

Luckey bastard, sounds like a great deal. Should do a great job for ya. If not you could always sell it for more and buy the bigger machine.

Regarding steerability....never seem to have had a problem in that category!!! I replaced the 5/26 (30 years old) with a 10.5/29 (now on its 4th season) - and even with my drifting problems, steerability has never crossed my mind as a concern.  Ultimately, to place it on remote control and it clears the required area without supervision is probably the target, but until then, mild guidance from an operator is to be expected.  Actually, the Honda pictured in another thread on this forum is probably the way to go - the size of machine makes the steerable tracks worthwhile.

*(:>)*