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

I am shopping for a snowblower and cannot find anyone with accurate reliablilty of any of the major brands. I read consumer reports, but they do not list anything about long term investment. I am leary of thier top pick as I have seen issues with that brand of motor elsewhere. I am likely to buy a 2 stage 9 horse (300cc ) as i live on a cul-du-sac adn get plowed in pretty regualrly.

I also am trying to be considerate of my 5'9" wife and her ability to use anything, and my over eager 11year old son that is 5'

Anyone that can help?

borat wrote:
For 2009, the Toro 2 stage snowblowers are equipped with Briggs OHV engines.  Their model designation changed from LXE (L-head) to OXE (OHV).   For the average homeowner, they may not realize, know, or care about the difference between side valve and OHV.

My experience with Toro is only with 21" walkbehind mower.  It is not cheap or is too expensive.  Toro isn't the last word in robustness or power.  However, considering the price, they do make a well rounded product with some user friendly gizmos that makes operating it more convenient and enjoyable.  Around my area, Toro service support by small dealerships are everywhere, supplanted by Ace Hardware.

I do agree with you that Toro prices are a high when compared to similiarly sized and equipped snowblowers.  Part of that price difference maybe due to Toro's wider service support and the inclusion user friendly and evolved gizmos that are either loved or chastised.  For whatever reason, that is a personal preference.  I don't find that Toro 2 stage snowblowers are questionably flimsy.  In fact, I personally think that they are sufficiently robust.  They are designed smartly and Toro has not chosen to go the easy route by using thicker material and adding unnecessary weight, both of which are not always a true an indicator of robustness, but more of consumer perception of quality and reliability.

With that said, I am a fan of Simplicity higher models, Toro, and Honda.  These 3 brands have good focus on specific market of consumers.  Ariens is a good name and makes good products also, but the market focus too large and diluted with a dizzying array of product lines.  You really have to research hard to find which product suits your requirements and pocket book. 

Having a broad range of dealer support might add a few bucks to the cost of producing a machine. However, I'm not buying that as a sufficient reason for their out of line pricing. It would also appear that Toro's "license to steal" attitude has influenced the local Toro dealer to act the same. Unfortunately for me, I had to buy an air filter for my Husquvarna lawn tractor from the local Toro dealer. While I was there, a fellow was looking for a bolt that had fallen off of his lawn mower. I was completely shocked when the dealer asked $5.95 for a ten cent bolt! And he did it with a straight face. I actually told the dealer that he was sticking it to the customer. How could he charge that kind of price for a bolt? He said that they go through the trouble to keep them in stock and that's what the Toro parts price is! Another guy walked in looking for a crank for a B&S motor that he was rebuilding. The dealer quoted him $395.00 just for the crank! The guy almost keeled over. He said he just missed the same brand new crank on Ebay for $30.00. I asked the dealer why so much for the crank. His reply was that B&S jacked up the prices so that people wouldn't repair the older engines and prompt them to buy a new one. Give me a break..... Consumers have to stand up to this crap. As you can plainly see, I have no use nor respect for the local Toro dealer. After those two episodes, I've never and will never set foot in that dealership again.

I would never support any local dealer with that kind of highway robbery practices. I don't mind paying extra for the convenience of not having to drive to hardware store to find nuts and bolts. But when the price is 3+ times the actual price, forget it.

I also don't care for local dealers that bad mouth big box stores. I dont mind buying throwaways stuff when local dealers are charging me for repairs that amount to 80% of a new one.

aa335 wrote:

That is an excellent, excellent point.  Unless you have the ability and/or time and patience to do repairs yourself, repairs too often do not cost-benefit.  Even Consumer Reports flat-out tells people not to bother repairing lawn mowers -- just buy a new one, they say.  The situation creates a vicious cycle where everything becomes disposable.  At that point, unit cost, retail price, and volume trumps everything.  And under such circumstances -- where the consumer has an expectation of disposability and limited service life -- the big boxes serve the market better than any small dealer can.  It's sad, but true.

Yes, it is a vicious cycle. I try not to contribute to this. But shellac happens and people learn.

My brother in law bought a used $80 Craftsman mower with a Honda GC160 engine from a garage sale. He was told it was recently tuned up, whatever that means nowadays. It didn't run or start consistently. He took it to a local OPE repair shop. $200 and 4 weeks later, still didn't run very well and hard to start. Dealer blamed it on bad gas. So that's $280 down the tubes. Now that was not the best purchase and decision to put $200 towards repair of a $80 mower. But would it serve him better if this local dealer advised him to consider a new mower altogether or a new engine transplant? Or $xxx/hr shop rate means he's not going to get an engine. I don't know what kind of service was performed for $200, but I would have walked out with just paying for the diagnostic cost and call it a learning experience.

Sorry, not to rant too much. But there are people that are not mechanically inclined that gets ripped off. In their case, it would serve them better just to throw away and get a new one. I'm sure with todays tough EPA regulations, using fresh gas and properly maintain your engines is more important than ever. How about OPE dealers educate people on proper feeding and care of their engines instead of sticking the shaft to people for their ignorance?

How about OPE dealers educate people on proper feeding and care of their engines instead of sticking the shaft to people for their ignorance?

An honorable gesture. However, there's no money it that.

I know it's not fair to paint all dealers with the same brush but, the number of straight shooters in dealerships of any kind are relatively rare. They are in business to make money, not friends. In smaller communities where word of mouth travels fast and victims are far and few between, dealers tend to be good people. In the larger urban centers where potential customers are in sufficient numbers to perpetuate even the sleaziest dealers, you will find greater concentrations of deceitful dealerships. Ignorance is expensive. If more people participated in forums such as this and shed their fear of the unknown, they could invest the money they squander at a dealership on some decent tools instead. The nice thing about making your first repair is the confidence it inspires in a person. Most of the problems encountered with OPE can be fixed with minimum investment provided the person has taken the time to do some research, ask a few questions and obtain clear instructions. I know of two instances this year where two neighbours paid big bucks to have some oil drained from an over filled engine and another to have a carburetor replaced when in fact, it only had to be cleaned. Both jobs were doable by any novice with basic tools and good instructions. I actually offer to help one of them but they decided the mower needed a tune up and brought it to the dealer. Two weeks and $400.00 later, they got their mower back. The mower had sat in a heated garage unused for several years. All it need was to have the carb cleaned. The dealer told them that the carb had to be replaced..... Hence the $400.00 repair bill! I offered to fix it for free. Live and learn.

I don't see a difference between any of the brands anymore (except honda). Even Simplicity is starting to cheap out, and their older machines are tanks compared to what is being sold. They're pulling the same crap as Ariens now, with a stripped down model. Still, the "dealer" machine feels pretty rugged.

Honda is over-priced. I think their machines are 3x as good as the junk sold at Home Depot, but I don't think the actual act of snow removal via a snowblower is worth what they charge. At full-price, I'd just as soon buy garbage every 2-3 years and keep money in the bank in case global warming picks up speed.

That being said, my 1132TAS is still sleeping under its tarp in the shed, waiting............

Can't say that I agree with buying garbage every few years rather than laying out the cash for a decent machine. First of all, we're supporting sub-par quality production and more importantly, having a failure prone, poorly designed machine that can barely blow your hat off would be frustrating indeed. I have no problem paying the right price for a good quality snow thrower. The $1500.00 that I spent on the pre-Briggs and Stratton Simplicity two years ago, was money well spent. It was a very good value and I'm certain that neither Simplicity nor the dealer didn't lose their shirt selling it for that price. I'd say that knowledgeable people know that a premium must be charged for quality. However, when the premium remains and quality slides as we are seeing with the leading domestic manufacturers, the consumer is being taken advantage of. Particularly brand loyalists who have trusted a manufacturer for decades. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have purchased the last of the well built, reasonably priced machines would be wise to take very good care of them. The future is not looking too bright for high quality, reasonably priced domestic OPE. If the domestics continue to cheapen their products, we'll be left with no choice other than to shell out big money for Honda, Yamaha and who knows, maybe some new Chinese or other foreign upstarts!

Borat,