Some of you know that I've long been a fan of these units since they came out about 10 years ago....... (HS, has it been that long?) Their system for recirculating snow that the impeller can't throw is the only major improvement to the 2-stage design we see so much of today. This video does a great job of showing that feature in action.
They aren't real fancy units with heated hand grips or electric chute controls, but they are exceptionally well built units that perform as good or better than anything else on the market. At least for units that sell for under $2000. There are some units made to last forever but they are usually much more than the average homeowner can spend on a machine that gets used part-time each winter.
I wonder where ariens fits on the scale of snow throwers, even vs Toro. After the winter we have had so far I'll be in the market for next year for sure. The only reason i ask is that the ariens prices are decent and I have had good luck with some of their other products.
Ariens makes a few different "tiers" of snow blowers. They all are decent product (some are excellent) and perform well, just know that they compare well with other machines in the same price range. Ariens likes to tout how so much of their machines are all metal parts. Cast iron gear cases, metal chutes, metal deflectors, etc. which is a philosophy I don't readily agree with. I could care less what the gear case housing is made out of as it has little bearing on it's real world reliability. I actually prefer the composite/plastic chutes on the Toro machines because of the area I live in and the real-world conditions here. We get snow, more often than not, that is wet, heavy, and sometimes barely frozen. It makes impressive snowmen and lethal snowballs but those same properties that lend so well to frozen aqueous combat work against you when you are simply trying to move the stuff out of the way. Part of the reason wet snow clogs blowers is because it readily sticks to all the metal parts of the machine. It slows down in the chute, big time, so you get poor throwing distance and the machine has to work just as hard. The composite chute and upper impeller housing on the Toro machines allows that slop to slide right out of the machine much easier than an all-metal design. Durability has never been a concern with the plastic either. The PowerMax design has been around for about a decade now and it has proven itself to be exceptionally solid. And all of us here in the Northeast know what happens when steel meets snow/salt/slush mixtures. Just look under our cars...
I'd almost swear you were a Toro rep, you made some really great points there. The steel when it gets cold sticks the snow, so true. I have some time to research all of this before game time 2014. I'll put Toro on the list of look see's. TY!
To be fair, I did used to sell 'em. But this is simply my opinion and I am in no way compensated to say what what I've said. Just dammed good equipment. There are ways to mitigate the snow sticking to steel. Lots of different sprays and home remedies that work great.
I certainly like my 826 and we have the snow (white dirt) to blow. The only time I have had any issues with it was when we had 18 inches of ice pellets in mid December. The 826 had no problems blowing, but I had problems actually moving. The wheels would just spin (like trying to drive in a pile of ball bearings). I was tired out pushing a 300 pound snow blower through the deepest crap. Next year, I'm going to see my local dealer and get a set of chains, maybe with 3 inch spikes?
Good question, I don't really know. I bought the thing brand spankin' last February and the dealer prepped and delivered it. The tires felt pretty hard. This fall, when I made sure everything was good to go, I kicked the tires and they still felt hard, but I never actually gauged them. However, the only traction issues it had was with ice-pellets, snow doesn't slow the beast down. I could let out a bit of air I suppose, or call the boss at work and say "I can't come in today because my snow-blower is stuck". Then I sit and drink coffee, throwing wood in the fire all day.
My honda manual said to keep the tires at 8 psi, seems low but traction is good. Might make a difference for you.
That's an awesome machine in the video, what size engine in that? Is it a 36 inch? I have a 924DLE I bought in the 08/09 season during the ice storm of that year. It's been a trouble free unit since I purchased it. I'm hoping it will be the last unit I ever need to purchase. I bought the Ariens based in friends recommendations and a strong dealer reputation. But the Toro is a nice looking unit.
Toro doesn't do anything wider than 28" in a walk-behind unit. Beyond that they get a little unwieldy. I LMAO every time I walk by the 42" dual wheel "monster" the Sears puts out every year. I believe the machine in the video is a 10HP unit. Rest assured the 8/9 horse units are nearly just as hungry.
That's one BIG driveway you got there. Driveway like that would be a lot of guys excuse for a plow, or a tractor or at least something you could sit down on. Is the recirculating snow thing exclusive to Toro? Is it that it will just keep the snow circulating around the blades till it makes it up the chute? ...I'm not sure I get the concept/benefit over what others do?
That's not my machine/driveway. The idea of the recirculating snow is to provide relief for the impeller. No machine throws 100% of the snow through the chute on the first rotation. What doesn't make it out is forced to go around for another lap. The more/heavier snow you feed it, the more snow that gets recirculated before it makes it out the chute. Obviously the more snow that impeller has to carry around with it, the more power it requires from the engine. Also, the more crowded the impeller housing gets, the slower the snow travels as well, reducing throw distance. Think about trying to escape from a crowded room vs an empty room. By giving that extra snow somewhere to go instead of forcing the impeller to carry it, the load on the engine is far less. Not wasting engine power carrying that excess snow allows the impeller RPMs to stay up, dramatically boosting throw distance in the tougher conditions. Anybody can throw powder 50+ft. It's the wet, heavy stuff that gives older machines a lot of trouble. That's where the PowerMax shines. Not only does it out throw other units in the nasty stuff, the snow re circulation and composite upper housing and chute combine to make it dammed difficult to clog. I've yet to really plug one up. Now if only Toro would go all-out and build one with a hydrostatic trans and tracks.....
Ah! I didn't have the sound on last night as Mama was watching TV, but I watched again this morning and see where he explains the recirculating concept. I didn't really see it that well, but it sounds like the snow gets pushed to the back of the blade housing and suspends there before it finally exits the chute? Interesting.
I've had two Toro Power shift 1028's at my work since around 2003 (IIRC) They have outlasted all of the Gravely, Ariens, and Honda;s we've had, and we recycle old busted machine every 4 years or so. These things are built like a tank, they actually shift the rear wheels back about 10" to increase the wheel base and traction.
They were indeed tanks WP. Believe me, that shifter assembly is a major PiTA to rebuild. A good tech will have no problems keeping all that shift linkage and the PowerShift mechanism working. Unfortunately the transmission was the Achilles heel of that unit. Very strong but was prone to seal leaks allowing moisture inside and when that freezes........ Bad ju ju. The trans is $$ too. They were drift busting monsters tho.
Not a biggie, but I have a Toro two stroke for the deck and walks. The auger has rubber/fiber ends on the blades that go right down to the surface but don't scratch. The only propulsion is through friction of auger and surface. Once did the entire driveway with it. I like it for what it is.
Also excellent little units! I do not have much experience with Honda but I do know the cheaper MTD/Poulan single stage units do not compare to the Toro units. Sadly they are no longer available with the two-cycle engines. The Suzuki two-cycle that was in the larger single-stage units was a beautiful machine. Toro marketed it under the name R-Tek. They built a large (24") single stage unit called the Snow Commander that was perfect for anyone looking to clear 8-10" or less of snow from hard pavement. It would clear circles around a two-stage and do it while chucking the snow 30'. Did I mention I'm a HUGE fan of that machine? They also did a limited run of two-stage PowerMax blowers with that engine. That was a pretty cool, sub-$1000 machine that also was very low maintenance.
