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

Finally got some snow here so I took out most of the fleet to have some fun and put the machines to use.   Beautiful weather.  Crisp, clear with a bit of a breeze but not too bad.   First up is the Craftsman SS then the Toro 221 and finally the Simplicity.  Not too much snow maybe 5 or 6 inches but nice consistency. Fine, fairly dense and dry.  Here's a link to the video:

http://youtu.be/p7U9Jk8s8VM?hd=1

Borat,

    Discounting power differences how would you rate the throughput and distance of the two SS's?  Going by the video it seems the 221 is about the same as the Craftsman or slightly less potent at least on distance but it's hood was at a lower angle.

I'd say the Craftsman throws the same amount of snow about 20% further when cranked up.  If used at stock rpms, it would be about 75% less than the Toro.   The Craftsman gives a lot away because there's not a lot of rubber left on the paddles.   If it had fresh rubber, it would be much better.  I kind of like it the way it is.  The Toro pulls too hard going down hill and can be a handful to hold back if the driveway is even a bit slippery.  With the worn  paddles, the Craftsman is easy to control, up and down the hill and moves snow good enough.  Hard machine to beat for the amount I paid for it.    

Borat - Check out this one for sale down here....You scored BIG time!

Snow Thrower - $325 (Lexington)

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Date: 2012-01-26, 9:37AM EST
Reply to: sale-n5ahu-2813942352@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

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PostingID: 2813942352

If it's as lame as the machine I bought, it's going to be tough to sell. 

I remember the guy I bought mine from didn't want to give me a display of the machine's ability.  Remember, it was in stock condition with a cracked engine mount and questionable belt.   I got the guy to fire it up.  Started and ran well but shook quite a bit.  I asked him if I could try moving some snow with it.  He said "Too late.  I already did the driveway."  So I said "How about we try the snow  bank?  It's fresh snow right?"  He paused, looked at me for a while then pushed the machine into the snow.  It was truly laughable.  I swear that machine was barely throwing good snow eight feet.   I looked at him in a curious way and said "How much are you asking for it?  He said $125.00.  I offered him $75.00 and he jumped on it.  

I'd say the price I paid was pretty good if you consider what a Tecumseh HSK850 engine alone costs.  

I''d like the ex-owner to see how it works now.   Limp Dick Willy turned into Jack the Bear by adding a piece of string!

Nice video.  Nice machines.  Nice neighborhood.  Are those Sasquatch tracks I see on your neighbor's lawn across the street?

manjestic wrote:
I wish they were sasquatch tracks. 

Unfortunately, they're the tracks of the "world's tallest rat".  The white tail deer.  The deer population has gone right out of control.  Their numbers are so high that they've achieved "vermin" status.   The upside is that the wolves are on the rebound and their numbers are increasing as well.  Once the wolf/deer numbers reach a balance, the deer numbers will come down.   In addition to that, after 500+ auto/deer collisions annually within City limits,  the municipality has also implemented necessary control methods to assist in getting the deer numbers down. 

You cannot imagine how much damage and disease high deer concentrations can cause.   We never had ticks in our area when the deer numbers were reasonable.  Now, you'll be infested with them if you take even a brief a walk into the woods any time after April.  Lyme disease is also on the rise due to deer ticks becoming more common.    

Here's a picture of a wolf "getting it done" in a neighbour's back yard, not too far from where I live.

Borat,

   What’s the paddle shape on the Craftsman?  I can’t get an exploded view for that model.  Is it flat right under the chute or the smooth curve type of paddle?

    What are you tossing there?   Most of the time the EOD big or small here is very difficult for any machine to toss.  I don't think any Toro 2000 or 2450 I've had would do as well by quite a bit. 

trouts2 wrote:
Yes.  Flat across the center with curved edges fastened with rivets.  In case you're interested, I'm using a $7.00 belt that I bought from NAPA rather than the $53.00 belt that Sears sells. 

Yes that's the EOD that was piled abough 18 to 20" high.  Lots of slush mixed with normal snow.  As you can see, I was leaning into it pretty good to keep forward momentum. 

It's amazing what doubling the horsepower will do for a machine's performance. 


Here's a pic:

   Thanks Borat.   The flat type opens up MTD models which use the HSK850.. 

    It's interesting that the 221 and Craftsman seem to be doing a similar job and possibly the 221 slightly less.  It would be nice to know just how much of a torque difference there is between the two.  The snow you're clearing seems to be fairly easy but neither machine sagging.  I did not hear any sag when you're doing shorter runs at the top of the drive with the Craftsman.  I would not expect that to happen for the EOD like in the picture I posted above but it looks like it's haveing a pretty easy time of thing there also.

At full throttle, it takes quite a bit to slow the Craftsman down.   As I've been saying all along, I'm thoroughly impressed with the machine and in particular the HSK850.  If the engine can sustain that kind of performance, and I'm confident it will, I'll be even more impressed.    The Craftsman's controls are not as nice as those on the Toro but other than that, it's more than a match for the 221.   Head to head, the Craftsman will definitely out work and out throw the Toro.  Now, if I were to jack up the Toro to even 4500 rpm, things would be closer.  However, at those speeds, the Toro  has far too much pull going down hill.   Even at the 4100 rpm setting it's at now, it takes some effort to hold it back.  Not a good thing on a slippery downhill grade.

Anyone looking for a good SS machine would do well with a cheap Craftsman/Murray and a piece of string.