Snow Blower Question (Southerners Need Not Read This)

[1BAD68]

Here's my snow removal tools..
1974 Ariens that refuses to die. As long as it can move forward it will eat as much snow as you can feed it.
1983 John Deere 318 with snowblower. I changed the auger sprocket to a smaller one and now it'll throw snow about 50 feet.
1996 John Deere 455 23hp diesel with a 48" bucket loader. This will run all winter on 1 tank of fuel, can't beat a diesel for fuel efficiency.
1968 Charger. Does not like winter or snow and gets grumpy if disturbed before April.

[resq302]

nice arsenal you got there   I could use that Deere with the bucket 

[Old Moparz]

Here's my snow removal tools..
1974 Ariens that refuses to die. As long as it can move forward it will eat as much snow as you can feed it.
1983 John Deere 318 with snowblower. I changed the auger sprocket to a smaller one and now it'll throw snow about 50 feet.
1996 John Deere 455 23hp diesel with a 48" bucket loader. This will run all winter on 1 tank of fuel, can't beat a diesel for fuel efficiency.
1968 Charger. Does not like winter or snow and gets grumpy if disturbed before April.

Wow, that's what the Ariens I had looked like, but I don't recall the model I had. Should have fixed it I guess. 

[jb666]

Should have kept the Ariens- Best snow removal equipment around.

Agreed. I'm on the opposite side.. I sold my Husky to buy an Ariens. 13HP. Handwarmers, massive machine and I tell ya, the thing is an ANIMAL. I DID, however, break a set of sheer pins this past storm.. My brother in law "dropped" his shovel and never bothered to look for it. This thing found it, swallowed it up and twisted it into a pretzel. Took a while to fix that one....

[1969chargerrtse]

You should of kept the Ariens.  Those things last forever and are super strong.  My neighbor had a little bend in his slow speed auger, I couldn't believe how strong the steel was.  We pry ed and pry ed and couldn't bend a small tip piece back.  My 7 horse Ariens did a great job with the 2 feet of snow we got constantly.

[Old Moparz]

Yes, I am digging up an old topic. 

So I am going snow blower shopping this weekend because of the POS Husqvarna that f****d me over this last snow storm. I don't leave old gas in it & I run the last tankful until it's dry so old gas isn't the issue.

The replacement auger I initially posted about got bent like the original.
The other side that was also replaced, also got bent.
The beginning of last snow season it needed a carb.
The end of last season the electric starter died but I was able to use the pull cord.

Now it won't start at all so I am done with it as well as the Husqvarna brand.   

One thing I am going to make sure of is that the new machine I get has augers that are not made by Fisher Price. 

[will]

When Indian Point closes you can have my craftsman, hasn't let me down in 10 years. I'm not staying in New York.

[BrianShaughnessy]

I pulled the newish Toro 1028 PowerMax out of the shed on Sunday.
All I did in spring was fill it with new 93 octane and spray it down with a new can of WD40.
I plugged it in with the cord,  hit the primer 3 times... hit the button and it started right up. 

I was ready to use it this afternoon when I got home but my neighbor did my driveway whle I was at work.

[J.Bond]

Walk behind, or 3 point, any brand, do not stand up to digesting, wood, metal objects, bricks?, rope and freshly delivered news paper bundle's, period.  Finally got the 3 point on the tractor yesterday morning, due to the wack of snow the night before. I do not know why, but snow blowers have an unique habit of finding everything you have forgotten to put away, and the things you did not know just recently arrived....By the time I made the end of the lane way, I spot a news paper bundle, have not seen a local paper for months, not by the mail box...dead center of the driveway. Another half hour and it would have been undetectable, until , you know, all hell blows out of the shute......80Hp....things get airborne....

Good luck on finding a replacement, had a JD walk behind, years ago, spent more, unit was indeed built better, but still had inherent carb issue's. Most brand name's are usually built by one or two major manufacture's, so most of the hardware is the same from brand to brand. Look at the drive's on units, and you will see a difference.

[flyinlow]

is the auger rusted to the shaft? preventing the shear pin from working?

use a lighter shear pin