pigglywiggly

I'm sold. Thanks Majorxlr8n and Dave. Ariens it is. I'll update here in a few months once we get some of the white stuff and let all know how it throws.

Just took a look at both of these at Home Depot today. Yard Machines has 8 HP to the Ariens 7.5 HP, and the Yard Machines has some beefier looking augers. Yard Machines also has 26" clearing path to the Ariens 24". Ariens looks a little easier to handle though, and has a nice all-steel discharge chute that can turn 180 degrees in 2 turns of the crank. Yard Machines takes 7 turns to swing the plastic chute 180 degrees. I especially like the cotter pins on the Ariens axle, allowing disengagement of 1 wheel to make for easier maneuvering... I could not see how this might be accomplished on the Yard Machines, does anybody know if that is a feature? Cotter pins were clearly visible on the Ariens, I saw nothing to allow disengagement on the Yard Machines. I'm leaning towards the Ariens for ease of use (wife needs to use it too) and general reputation from all reviews I've read, and slightly smaller size helps for storage. Yard Machines is tempting with more HP and wider path, but it's a bit beefy and looks tough to turn... if wheels could be disengaged on the Yard Machines, it might make me lean more towards that one. Any advice?