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, Sat, 4 Jan 2014 06:35:46
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I'm no expert on what brand to get, but I just picked up a used craftsman (1 year old, never ran) and used it for the first time yesterday to clear our foot of snow. It's a 2-stage, 208cc (8.3hp) with electric start, joystick chute control, powered wheel drive with steering--26in width. It breezed through the job--including shredding our newspaper that was buried in the snow. The joystick chute control is a little tough to get used to for me, because my last snowblower had a screw-type crank handle for chute direction and a lever for the upper chute deflection control. That snowblower lasted me 18 years before the motor finally quit. That was a Yard Man 2-stage, 5.5 horse with a 24" clearing width. It had a Tecumseh Snow King motor that was bulletproof. Never failed to start for me. It finally just got tired and the piston rod broke. I've read that Tecumseh no longer makes motors. We'll see how well my new snowblower motor fares. It is a joint venture between Sears and MTD. Budget was a concern for me so I went used (paid $475 for a $850 machine). If it wasn't, I'd have probably bought a new Toro machine.
I like the size of my snowblower, it is manageable to move, even when not running, and I can fit it in tight spaces between obstacles. One other thing is that it has wide skids that go the full bottom length of the intake hood. That's good for me, because I have a gravel driveway. Narrower and shorter skids just dig into the gravel instead of floating on top, and I throw a lot of gravel with the snow. Not good for the longevity of the machine. The longer skids are better if you are clearing an older sidewalk with many irregularities as well.
Both my machines came with lights. A good feature that is worth having if you can't clear until after you get home from work.
posted by 69.204.166...
, Sat, 4 Jan 2014 06:35:46
, Sat, 4 Jan 2014 15:17:41
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