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

Hello to all! I'm VERY new to the usage of snowblowers. My whole experience is with the neighbor's 17 year old Ariens 824; I love that machine...
Anyway, I've done a lot of reading on this forum and others, and have narrowed my selection down to three machines, but would like some help making the final selection. First, here's what I'll be using it for:
I'll be using it on at least three driveways: 1. My own, which is lined with 1.5-2.5" river rock, and isn't too long. 2. My sister's, which is fairly steep and not too long. and 3. My aunt's, which is quite long (over 200') and is composed of very packed gravel. In addition, I regularly do the snow cleanup on the sidewalks and handicap ramps at my local church. Some winters we have a few wet snowfalls of a few inches each, and some winters we get dumped on with 2'+ per fall (like this one.) I also own an ATV with a snowplow on it, and my preferred method is to make a pile with the snow and then use the blower to move it to the middle of the lawn. I would also like to be able to use the blower on snow that's been packed somewhat by the city plows.
Taking all this into consideration, I kind of figured anything below 11hp was going to be too small. I originally didn't want to spend much more than $2000, but I'm willing to make a concession in the price for the right machine, as you'll see when I list the ones I'm considering. None of my local dealers have any machines in stock; I've called all of the local Ariens dealers, and both of the Simplicity dealers. No one expects to have anything until next fall. I've got two Simplicity dealers within 50 miles, and four Ariens dealers within the same distance. I'd prefer to buy local, but I don't see that happening at this point. I have found a few dealers online that have the blowers I'm interested in in stock, and they ship for free; I even get to escape the local 6% sales tax as an added incentive!

Here's what I'm considering:
Ariens
11528 DLE - 926016 for $2100
11528 DLET - 926025 for $2490
Simplicity
Signature Pro P1628E for $2000

I looked at Honda and consider them prohibitively expensive, and also considered the Ariens 9526 DLET - 926024 for $2190, but thought 9.5hp was probably too light for what I want to do. Toro doesn't have any more dealers in the area than Simplicity, and I think I'd prefer to stick with a professional model anyway. I am willing to take sugestions, but mostly, I want to know which of the three machines I've listed would be best for the applications I've listed.

Thank you all in advance for your help!

SteveinIdaho

I called Ariens customer support today and talked to them about it, and they said that as long as the auger stops spinning when the lever is released, the small gap won't hurt anything.
I decided to really try to give the blower a workout today and see what it could do. Over the course of the last two weeks in December, we received probably four feet of snow at my house, and the plow has been piling it quite high on my lawn and in the street. My mom likes to park in one particular area, so I've been attempting (and failing) to keep it clear. The temps here have jumped the past 4 days to the high 30's/low 40's, with rain off and on. I figured that snow berm should be one of the more difficult tasks I could possibly throw at this thing...
It ate right through it.
Initially, I was using the tracks in the normal cleaning setting, but the stuff was so packed, it was starting to climb. I decided to give the "deep cutting" setting a shot. HOLY CRAP! It ate right down to the pavement and threw everything a bit further than I expected initially. (It's probably going to take a while for the ice line on the side of the house to melt.) I started out only cutting a swath about half the width of the intake (26"), but when I saw how well it was doing, I bumped it up to 3/4 of the intake and it still handled like a champ. I only ran the blower for 17 minutes including at least 5 goofing off with the differential and I still managed to clear enough room for the car and then some.
Long story short, I don't think it would be possible for me to be happier with my purchase right now.

Hey SteveinID,

Congrats on your new snowblower.  Welcome to the club.  While there are a few Honda owners, you're one of the few Ariens tracked snowblower owners.  I have a Honda HS1132 and I love how it tunnel through EOD pile.  While I haven't had more than a foot of snow to cut through yet, I'm looking forward to more snow.  I do wish I had a differential on mine though.  Oh yeah, the ice scraping mode where it bears a lot of weight down on the bucket is awesome for cutting through thick piles.

At this point, I want another major snowfall so I can judge this thing in its natural habitat. =-) Why is it that whenever you get a tool to handle a situation, the afore-mentioned situation doesn't happen anymore?

SteveinID wrote:

Hehe, and when you don't have the tool working properly, a big dump landed on your driveway.  Murphy's Law applies.

Well, we got a good snowfall accumulation yesterday, 6 inches of heavy wet snow in the midwest.  Got my snowblower all fueled up, scraper bar and skid shoes adjusted to near perfection after experimentation.  The tracks are awesome, pushed its way into packed 18 inches of wet snow that the plow truck piled to the corner.  No lifting the handlebars, just dial in the lowest speed, hold the handle bar steady and let it do the work.

A differential would be nice, some kind of trigger lock/unlock when your turning, but I'm learning to adjust my pattern to the new blower.  With the Ariens I could only blow about 20' so I had a different pattern side to side and then blow it straight again.  Also, I wouldn't have to have any real area to turn around whereas with the honda I need a good 48", otherwise its faster to back up

I find with the honda I have to be careful with the chute because I end up covering areas on the other side of my house I'd already snowblowed.  I literally blew a squirell out of a tree from 20' in the air. 

nhmatt wrote:

Yes, I usually back up if I have less than 15 foot instead of turning around.  To turn it around, I have to step on the pedal, raise the bucket, then turn.  After the turn, step on the pedal again, put the bucket back in normal position.  All this can be done in the same amount of time backing up.  However, with backing up, there's less effort and I don't have to reposition the chute.  Operating this tracked snowblower is like playing a musical instrument.  You have to methodical and practice often.  Reverse is painfully slow, but it is for safety in case you are walking on ice and have a slip or near a wall.  Don't want this thing to pin me against the garage door or a brick wall.  It is pretty strong in both reverse and forward speeds.

About your experience with the squirrel, I love to find a squirrel on a tree for target practice.  Heheh. Just kidding.

aa335 wrote:
Yeah, I keep telling the guys at work they owe me money for stopping the snowfall for them, but for some reason they're unwilling to fork over the dough. =-) Maybe I should threaten to return the blower and see what happens.

SteveinID wrote:
Well, my money is well spent this year.  This area already has received the average snowfall for the whole winter, and it was only January 13.   I don't mind the snow, just can't stand all that salt and dirt that the car bring into the garage.