Hi I'm new to this forum but I have been actively reading it off and on for a couple of years. I want to share my experience that I have recently had. maybe they will help others. I started looking last year for a snowblower. We have New Hampshire winters andon top of that we are up higher on a hill so we always get more snow than the rest of the city. We now have economy cars to save on gas and while our neighbor is a nice guy and plows us for free he just does a couple of passes and after 5-6 storms we have no room left in the driveway.
A truck isn't an option because we simply don't need one except for snow and an ATV with a plow is just too expensive. That pretty much just leaves a snowblower. So after a lot of hand wringing and reading all the comparisons on the Internet we went to the local dealers.
Our driveway is 230 feet long with a slight grade up to the street. The EOD is really awful and even with a small storm we can easily see 5-8 feet back into the driveway and up to 2 feet high. I should take pics. This road gets a lot of snow. Our driveway is about 16 feet wide and we have a wide section off of that that is 30 feet or so wide and 40 feet deep. The 230 foot section ends at the driveway. To the right of the garage is a dropoff and if you plow over too far you'll drop off about 11 inches which will require a tractor to pull you out if you get stuck. So when he plows he can't push it over and a lot of it ends up being in front of the garage door and he won't backdrag the snow, so it's a LOT of shoveling after we get plowed. Plus his skids are set high so the snow that's left can make a few inches of ice that we see until end of March anyway.
Back to the snowblowers. My wife is small, 4'10" 83 lbs. Tried the Ariens models. Dealers here really push the Ariens line. We both tried the Ariens Pro 26 with it's limited slip diff and my wife used all her strength (on a dry parking lot) and no way she was going to turn it under power by herself. The dealer felt it was just too much for her even with the limited slip diff. Ariens off the list. Yes, I know they make a one sided skid steer version but it didn't impress me in any way. It only locks one wheel and if you want to turn the other way, oh well.
Next up was my favorite the Toro 1028. It had a lot going for it. True skid steer and that chute was a marvel, very easy to use. My wife could control it with no problem. The dealer didn't want to deal so we shopped other dealers. We found a place that would offer free delivery and charge us $25 less to pick it up and deliver it back to us. The local dealer wouldn't deliver it intially to us and wanted $65 round trip if and when it needed service. No negotiation possible.
Honda was insanely priced and we looked at them in the showroom but didn't try them. The Toro 1028 was $1,699.99 delivered it was a 2010 model. The dealer assured me it would handle anything we could throw at it. We get a lot of slush when it's warm, mostly from the plow leftovers. The dealer dropped the Toro off in the early morning and it was warming up so a lot of slush. About noon I went out, fired it up and gave it a try. Here are my impressions:
The Toro started right up, 2 pulls drove it out of the garage and noticed the unit was set a bit too high to move slush. Ok just adjust the skids and it's ok, right? My socket set disapeared when I was overseas and I have no idea where it went. So a 1/2" wrench will have to do. Three of the 4 bolts were a bear to undo. My Gosh! The 4th was impossible and rounded over. A call to the dealer and I was told they put the skids to the factory height and then use an impact gun to make sure they don't move, wh... what?! They said it's so you can bang the box without the skids moving down. Ok... Nothing they could do, so I had to borrow a socket from a neighbor. Done, ok. Back to blowing.
The Toro just does not like 2 inches of slush most of it blops out the end no matter which way the chute is pointed. But once anything of size enters the box it spits it out with a vengeance! I had some plow drifts that I drove it into slowly it just ate up and spat out. It did ride up, I'd back it off after 3 times it was bare ground. One thing I did notice was that it wasn't very easy to manuever on the ice and I had to use the gear lever to the point it was easier to just pull it back manually rather than shift it with all those detents. I know I'd probably get used to it, but my point is that it's different in the showroom than it is in the driveway dealing with ice, slush and snow. But since we have a layer of hard ice with slush and we tend to have that a lot for us it's a factor. I had mentioned that to the dealer as well since for my driveway it's a concern. I was walking around in slush that wasn't going to be going anywhere. I did notice that in practical terms the skid steer while brilliant on bare tar is a whole 'nother beast on ice. Frequently the single wheel would not be enough to turn as it was slipping and we do have a grade that is enough of a grade that driving up it isn't fun in a small car. The Toro still needs to be shoved around. The skid steer helps when it works but on slick surfaces it's hit or miss. I was pretty unhappy about the slush at this point. I called up the dealer and was told it just wasn't enough slush for the unit and to try running it faster. I did and it didn't really help, and I had to run on ice behind it, not fun. I've just spent $1,700 and it's not doing what I wanted. So I'm kicking myself for not buying the Honda. I called up the Honda dealer and asked them a few questions. They told me I could come down at the next storm and I could use their demo on slush or whatever fell and I could do their whole driveway if I wanted to. I explained about the Toro and they said that if I had bought the Honda and really didn't like it they'd take it back.
Well long story short, I called up the Toro dealer and amazingly they agreed to take it back. I had a little over an hour's use on the Toro and they picked it up the next morning. They told me they will sell all the Toro's they have without a problem. Honestly I'd highly reccomend this dealer they sell Toro, Simplicity and Ariens which are 3 of the top brands. I'm spending an extra $800 for the Honda but I think it's the right choice for my needs.
My wife can move the 928 around on tracks and I don't think slipping on ice or throwing slush will be a problem and the Honda literally pushes into the ground. After a demo which even the salesman learned a few things and he owns that model, I was very impressed. We did try out the 928 with wheels and the 1132 with tracks since that model only has tracks. Plus the Honda dealer gave us the 120V electric start for only $50 and we added the Light for $88. They are local and are not only giving us free delivery but will also pickup and drop off at our house for free if we need maintainance or warranty work. I will post about how well the 928TAS does and hopefully it will impress me. This is my first year to own a snowblower and I hope writing about this will help out others who are looking for their first model. Honestly I think if Honda's price hadn't been so offputting I would have bought it first after trying it. It's really hard to justify that much money, but after all these years of shoveling after a storm even with plowing I've had enough. My back isn't what it was and my wife who actually likes to shovel can't do it all by herself.
If you're looking at buying a new machine and you get a ton of advice on the Internet you'll find that top brands like Honda, Toro, Simplicity and Ariens among others will in many ways be equal in the showroom but it's when you actually get it in the snow, ice and slush and deal with it that you will find what is and isn't important. In the end I found it all boils down to what you are comfortable with and how well it works for you in your driveway. Wheels slip, treads might grip too much, cost is always a factor Options that you might or might not use etc... But whatever model you buy, make sure that you and whomever will use it, can use it, and will be happy with it.
Sorry for the intensely long first post, I guess this is my first novel. 
This message was modified Dec 17, 2009 by Steve_Cebu
"If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England." "If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England."
