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

Last year I bought a John Deere 1130SE snowblower and for the most part I was extremely happy with it's performance. I love the hand warmers, electric chute rotation, easy steer and the front end weight just to name a few.  The only problem I had, which was pretty significant, was the intermittent transmission slipping.  After sealing the transmission housing with silicone and some weather stripping, the problem was completely gone.  The remainder of the winter was very pleasing and I always looked forward to using the 1130.  I also had a second snowblower that I'm trading for a new 1330SE.  So now I'll have the 1130 and the 1330.  The 1130 will be for my business parking lot.  Some of the interesting features of the 1330 is the addition of an electric deflector control and dash area integrated headlights.  So now the chute is totally electric (both rotation and the deflector).  The slipping transmission should be resolved from water getting into the rubber/aluminum disc drive.  To fix this problem, Deere added a rubber gasket between the engine mounting plate and the transmission housing.  I'll try to post some pictures in the future.
BTW, my second choice would have been an Ariens since they seem to give people on this website support from at least one poster.  I wish Briggs, Simplicity or Deere would give the same support.

Modern snow threads are designed to work well without chains.  If you need chains because of glaring ice condition, change to less knobby tires and put on the chains.

Yo Stainless:

Woofy lives in Saskatchewan where the wind turns snow into concrete.  If where you live in Michigan has miles of open fields all around your house, you may experience similar problems.  If however, you're in a relatively enclosed area with lots of windbreaks (homes, trees, shrubs, etc.) you likely will not have much of an issue with drifting hard snow pack.  That is a bit too much machine for your needs.   My driveway is 18 'wide at the narrowest, 35' wide at the widest and 110' ft. long on a 10% grade.   I have a Simplicity 9528 that is more than adequate.  You will find that wrestling one of these things (particularly if you pull it backward uphill because reverse is insanely slow) will be very tiring.  Matching the machine to the job will go a long way to saving your energy and health.  Buying down a bit will also save you a few bucks.  Maybe enough to buy a decent single stage Toro or similar to take care of 90% of the snow you will see.  That's what I did.  My single stage machines see 95% of the snow removal work I do.  The Simplicity only comes out when there's over a eight inches or more of heavy wet snow.   I don't use chains and have never needed them. 

borat wrote:

Saskatchewan?  He needs to go buy some potash and help out one of my investments. 

Oh well.  My thinking was that I'd rather have too much snowblower as opposed to not enough.  I'm already making plans for a turbocharger.  I may end up using it for more than my driveway.  I believe a lot of the streets in the neighborhood where I built are currently considered private.  Based on my observations during the build, snow removal last year did not seem very timely.

In this neck of the woods they use potash instead of salt on the roads in winter.

Stainless wrote:
No such thing as too much snowblower!

Bill_H wrote:
I beg to differ. 

As long as it's powerful and light and it doesn't work me half to death, I'd agree with the above.  However, due to the laws of  physics, from my experience, that's not been the case.   Hence my sudden interest in single stage machines.  In most cases, I can clear reasonable amounts of snow just as fast using an SS machine vs. the two stage without anywhere near the fatigue. 

I concur with Borat.  Don't feel like wrestling with a big, heavy, and powerful snowblower when I don't have to.

Snow accumulations less than 8 inches and if the EOD isn't frozen solid, I take out the smaller single stage snowblower.  I can move around easier, get into tighter spots close to walls and things.

Bill_H wrote:
Video Link

aa335 wrote:

I think he needs a single stage for that amount of snow and for the size of his driveway, that might be considered overkill as well.

Looks like he's throwing the heaviest stuff a good 3-4 feet.

When my budget allows, and if deemed beneficial, I might pick up a single stage.  Right now, I wanted to prepare for as many scenarios as possible with a single solution.