OT: Snowblowers | The Boneyard

OT: Snowblowers

Hans Sprungfeld

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This has been my first year in the 'can't really shovel' category, so we've paid the guy who owns the house next door (we share the car-width driveway from the street to a split at the rear of our houses, and use each other's rear to turn around and exit).

I've never owned a snowblower and am looking for buying tips like minimum specs, after-season sales, where to buy (live in New Haven) and such.
 
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Live in Central NY, snow capitol of the US and I have a simple 24" from Lowes that we bought this year to replace the one we had that died when it turned 10.

I think it was like $600.

That's more than enough. Really. I used it last night to cut through a 4-5 foot snow bank 8 feet long to get to my basement door. That snow hadn't been moved all winter and it went through it easily.

Unless you have a ton of stuff to remove, a long driveway, etc. anything more than that is a waste.
 
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I bought a Craftsman at the Sears in Milford 5 years ago and its doing fine. 26 ", electric start

bought it in August when it was about $150 off......maybe ran me $600/$700

The dude across the street has a Toro and Im often envious of how far his seems to be throwing the snow compared to me
 
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Got a big John Deere for a big ass driveway. Advice is to always get the right machine for the job. To big no problem ; to small for the job problem.
 
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Buy Ariens (NOT from Home Depot) or Craftsman, buy more power than you think you need if you can afford it, and don't be afraid to buy used if you can't. No matter how small the driveway is, if your blower can't handle 15-18" of snow there's no point in having one.
 

Dogbreath2U

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I have a good sized Toro and it is pretty awesome. The absolutely best feature is that it has a Joystick control for the chute so you can quickly and easily adjust the direction and the trajectory of the snow spray. This seemed to be a Toro innovation, but I have seen another with a similar control. If they do not have this, you will have to stop, crank a thingy to change direction and then unscrew adjust, and rescrew the adjuster for the angle you want it to go. The joystick is a really fantastic improvement compared to my old snowblower.
 
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I have a Toro as well and echo the awesomeness of it! And for those with no experience... changing the direction of the shoot IE "throw" with the joystick is somewhat like NOT PEEING INTO THE WIND in the avoiding unpleasant experiences department.
 

sdhusky

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Anybody have some suggestions for how I'm going to get through next Wednesday's San Diego Death Storm?

carlsbad-weather---Google-Search.png
 

Edward Sargent

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This has been my first year in the 'can't really shovel' category, so we've paid the guy who owns the house next door (we share the car-width driveway from the street to a split at the rear of our houses, and use each other's rear to turn around and exit).

I've never owned a snowblower and am looking for buying tips like minimum specs, after-season sales, where to buy (live in New Haven) and such.
I had a Toro with an electric start and loved it> Little bastard threw snow all the way across the yard. Gave it to my son in law when I moved to Florida, but got reacquainted with it when we went to Cohasset to babysit. It was the week of the first blizzard. Spent 10 hours with it.
 
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Have a big L shaped drive way on a culdesac and the city always leaves a fortress on the bottom of my driveway. Bought a 12HP Simplicity and it blows through any and everything - bought it when we built the house in '04 and besides a brush with a garden hose ( :rolleyes: ) the thing only has needed an every other year tune up - really nice machine and worth the dough.
 

prankster

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I strongly recommend that little house that you can bolt onto the handles. I did not get one of those when I got my blower. That was a mistake
 

Dove

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Hans...unless you you bargain basement price shopping and delve into the "You get what you pay for" level of spending then it will be tough not to get a good snow blower. I have a 24" Ariens and it has been great. Will finally get a tune-up this spring as the drive system loses its umph uphill.

Have hear great things from people about Toro.

One feature I regret not having is the hand lever turning ability. Costs more, tho.

Finally...stay away from the Lowes and Home Depots. You get the name brand on a snow blower but with cheap store parts. Go local if you can.
 

SubbaBub

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Have a big L shaped drive way on a culdesac and the city always leaves a fortress on the bottom of my driveway. Bought a 12HP Simplicity and it blows through any and everything - bought it when we built the house in '04 and besides a brush with a garden hose ( :rolleyes: ) the thing only has needed an every other year tune up - really nice machine and worth the dough.

Ask the plow driver (they usually do the same route every time) to push it somewhere more convenient. They are usually pretty good about it. Bribery also works. My neighbor used to tithe a bottle of Jack every winter. Took care of the entire cul de sac.

Oh, Troy-Bilt Storm series 5hp. Owned 12 years, one tune up (after 11 years). Never failed to start and has yet to meet a storm it can't handle.
 
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I've used my Troy Bilt 26" for this season and has not given my any issues. The good thing is that it's got an electric start in case it doesn't start (I haven't used that though).

Make sure you adjust the skid shoes to the right height though. Just high enough to avoid the bumps but not high enough to have you shovel again.
 
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Toro. Hands down the best I have owned. As mentioned above DO NOT buy from Home Depot or Lowe's, buy local, hardware or equipment company.
 

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