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

I am looking at replacing a 25 year old snow blower. I live in Iowa and have a driveway that measures roughly 70X30. I do get some nice drifting, last year over the bed of my old truck, and some nice piles at the end of the drive. I am looking at the Toro Power Max 2-Stage 26 in. Snow Blower and the Ariens Deluxe 2-Stage 28 in. Snow Blower. They are the same price so I am not really sure which one to buy. Any help would be appreciated.

 

JGtravelor,

You sound so much like NJDavid and New_Yorker.  BTW: Your Ariens snowblower video was pretty good.  Looks like the friction disk on the Ariens was working just fine. 

MN_Runner wrote:

I think that video was done by a different anal-retentive guy, not DavidNJ who complained about his MTD and then went out and bought another one. If I had that many complaints about a product I wouldn't go and buy another one.

rubinew wrote:
I'd say that 95% of friction wheel powered snow throwers work flawlessly for the life of the machine.  

Anyone making statements that friction wheel systems are unreliable and/or maintenance intensive are exhibiting their ignorance.  They know not of what they speak.

And, by the way, I'd bet that Yamaha will soundly spank any equivalent Honda in every imaginable operational aspect.   There's a new king in the snow blower world and it's painted blue.  

Why are you pitting Yamaha against Honda?  The RED is trying to get along with the BLUE and learn to coexist without name calling and incorrectly referring certain terminology that is totally irrelevent.

I have the Ariens Deluxe 2 Stage 28 inch.  It's built like a tank. It's a great machine.  I considered the Toro you're referring to but ultimately went with Ariens.  Given the opportunity again, I'd make the same decision.  Both the Toro and Ariens are fine machines.  However, with its all steel construction, the Ariens felt like it  had more of a solid feel to it than the Toro...a better build quality over all you could say...that's the perception I had.   Also, if the Ariens has a more powerful engine, then the choice is clear, go with the Ariens. 

MN_Runner, if you google GC vx GX you'll get some good info.

>>>MN_RUNNER, "Why are you pitting Yamaha against Honda?"

Borat hates Honda.  Blue was the greatest thing to come down the pike for turning a Honda hater into a Honda basher at the slightest oppertunity. 

Borat dosen't open his wallet that much and has to treat it with anti-sieze so it won't lock up.  The cost of a Honda or Yamaha would give him a heart attack.  His was under doctors orders to get a snowblower to replace the shovel or he never would have bought one.  

>>> There's a new king in the snow blower world and it's painted blue.

   Well sort of.  There are big Hondas out there we don't see.  What about those to Blue? 

>>>Yamaha will soundly spank any equivalent Honda.

"Equivalent Honda"?

  If you're going to stop at the HS1132 that's not the "equivalent Honda".    Take the HS1132.  Is that the "equivalent Honda"?  Bucks wise, power wise, build wise & etc.  There are a lot of considerations for comparison.   It would be tough to consider, "I'd bet that  in every imaginable operational aspect." to be true without knowing more about the Yamaha.  If you know what's under the hood post it.  Which model are you comparing to what Blue?  I can't find much other than marketing lit on the net.

>>>There's a new king in the snow blower world and it's painted blue. 

So the question is what is the "equivalent Honda"?  Are you drawing the line at HS828, HS928, HS1132 or what? 

I love the guys on here that are all about Honda machines. While no one will doubt that they are great, the OP is looking in the low $1k price range and asking about 2 particular machines. Someone almost always comes on who loves and/or owns a Honda and suggests they spend almost 3x the money that they were asking the question about. If they were considering spending close to $3k on a machine I'm sure they would have posted that in the first place.

I am perfectly happy with my $700 Ariens, and while some may scoff at it's lack of headlight, differential, non heated grips and small engine it does the job well enough for my needs. To me I was not crazy with the chute mechanism on the deluxe (ice drill I think it's called), I just found it kind of awkward to reach over the control panel to crank the chute. Had the deluxe had the same quick turn chute on the compacts I might have considered it. The toro stick does look pretty slick although I've never actually used one other than playing around in the stores.

It would appear that the Honda aficionados might be feeling a little inadequate. 

Maybe now we'll be hearing a little less crowing about the "end all and be all Honda".

A refreshing change.  'Bout time.

trouts2 wrote:

http://www.honda.co.jp/snow/products/hss970i_1170i.html

That's the Honda equivalent.

I had a similar decision to make last month.  I ended up going with the Toro 826 two stage.  So far, it's been a beautiful machine.  Very well-balanced, fast, blows the snow a long way, and really easy to turn.   I tried out an Ariens platinum deluxe before choosing.  It's a nice machine too but tougher to move even with the auto differential lock.