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Snow Throwers - Wrong time of year to buy

BigBake

BigBake

Well-Known Member
Mar 17, 2006
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U'dale
Yeah, timing on this one sucks for me. I think my decade old Troy Bilt finally bit the dust. I finally got it running for the first time this winter only for a 3rd major piece to break and I'm not sure it's worth welding to only have it snap again during the next driveway clearing.

Definitely the wrong time of year to be in the market for one but has anyone seen any decent deals around the DSM metro on a two stage?

Anyone recommend a brand they've been happy with? My $.02 is Troy Bilt should be called "Cheap Bilt". I'll be steering clear of that brand for sure.
 
Checkout craigslist. A lot of idiots out there who foul a plug and thing the snowblower is shot. I have gotten a few and replaced a $3 sparkplug and/or cleaned out the carburator and had a basic brand new snowblower. But I am pretty mechanically inclined so know what to look for, but if you have any skills, there are deals out there.

What piece broke on your Troy built?
 
Drive over to Illinois. With as much snow as we've gotten this year, if you haven't already bought a snow thrower, you probably aren't going to. At least that's what I'm assuming, since everywhere I go around here they seem to be having pretty good deals on them right now.

as Cyclonesrule91 said though, check craigslist, you could probably find a good deal on one someone is just trying to get rid of becaus they upgraded. Maybe get you through the next month and a half, then buy what you need at the end of March.
 
Check out John Deere dealers. Many of them are wanting to make room for their lawn products. Try Great American Outdoors a member of the Van-Wall Group.
 
I was just about to start a thread on this. Had ankle surgery last week and decided to finally bite the bullet on getting a snow blower.

Any good advise on what snowblowers people are happy with would be recommended. Want to spend less than 750. Looking for a 2 stage.
 
Cyclonesrule91 said:
Checkout craigslist. A lot of idiots out there who foul a plug and thing the snowblower is shot. I have gotten a few and replaced a $3 sparkplug and/or cleaned out the carburator and had a basic brand new snowblower. But I am pretty mechanically inclined so know what to look for, but if you have any skills, there are deals out there.

What piece broke on your Troy built?
Click to expand...

Let me see if I can describe correctly.

It's a single stage with the hard rubber bands/belts as the impeller. There are two metal brackets at each end of the auger assembly that attach to those bands. One of those metal brackets snapped (when the belt snapped) at the weld joint where it attaches to the main drive rod.

I'm sure I could get it welded but two things concern me about wasting money on that. The weld joint won't be as strong and with my uneven driveway it'll take a ton of abuse as the impeller constantly hits the contract cracks and joints. 2 the bracket got bent some so it'll be tough to weld it back and not have significant vibration from the shaft being out of balance.
 
Sounds like you are on the right track. The throw away generation has arrived. The TV repairmen are long gone....

Lowes might have some deals.
 
BigBake said:
Let me see if I can describe correctly.

It's a single stage with the hard rubber bands/belts as the impeller. There are two metal brackets at each end of the auger assembly that attach to those bands. One of those metal brackets snapped (when the belt snapped) at the weld joint where it attaches to the main drive rod.

I'm sure I could get it welded but two things concern me about wasting money on that. The weld joint won't be as strong and with my uneven driveway it'll take a ton of abuse as the impeller constantly hits the contract cracks and joints. 2 the bracket got bent some so it'll be tough to weld it back and not have significant vibration from the shaft being out of balance.
Click to expand...

The bolded part would tell me not to spend a lot of money fixing that one, unless it was money to replace the shaft that is bent. Mechanical things do not like vibrations. Vibrations caused parts to break like you are dealing with now. Are you looking for a single stage or 2 stage snowblower?
 
Wesley said:
Sounds like you are on the right track. The throw away generation has arrived. The TV repairmen are long gone....

Lowes might have some deals.
Click to expand...

I hear ya but I've tried. I've replaced 4 belts, impeller belts once already, 3 spark plugs and currently the auger engage handle is dangling as it's broke on one side. I had to use a vise grip to lock it in place. Thing has survived a decade of Iowa winters. I think I got my $300 out of it. The belt housing cover is also a constant struggle as the screws work loose and fall off in to the snow and aren't (if I'm lucky) seen again till spring.
 
HomeDepot is honoring those 10 pct off coupons that Lowes has, you can use it online just have to strike up a conversation with the online chat support and they'll apply it for you. Last time I bought something from them, I just made up a code and they accepted it (just has to be the right length). With 10 pct off, you can get a nice Ariens with the Briggs engine on it right around 750. If you don't want to spend that much their Sno-Tek brand isn't bad either.
 
Cyclonesrule91 said:
The bolded part would tell me not to spend a lot of money fixing that one, unless it was money to replace the shaft that is bent. Mechanical things do not like vibrations. Vibrations caused parts to break like you are dealing with now. Are you looking for a single stage or 2 stage snowblower?
Click to expand...

Yep, my thoughts exactly. I can't see getting that bracket welded back on true enough to not have it out of balance. That and the fact that it'll take a beating each time it hits an uneven spot in my driveway (and why it broke in first place) got me thinking winter won and it's time to retire the old girl.

Two stage for sure. Single stage is great is plenty enough for light snows in the 6" range but once you hit a storm with heavy wet snow...no dice.
 
I'm a big Ariens fan as they definitely sell one of the highest quality consumer snow blowers on the market. Since you've already had a troy-bilt, just go in and look at an Ariens 2-stage one and the quality of everything will immediately become apparent. The only downfall is that they are also one of the most expensive ones on the market too, but all said and done, not much more than others and definitely worth it for the large quality difference.

As for price, if my memory serves me correct, I'm pretty sure Ariens keeps a pretty tight ship on their pricing of their products at their dealers so I'm pretty sure their price is about the same year-round no matter what. Might be more an issue of whether they even have them in stock or not. Here is the 22-inch 2-Stage one I've got. As you can see, at least its pretty much in your price range. I've owned it a couple years now and so far so good. The electric start on it works good too.

Ariens Compact Sno-Thro Snow Blower 22" - ST22 LE 208cc
 
BigBake said:
Yeah, timing on this one sucks for me. I think my decade old Troy Bilt finally bit the dust. I finally got it running for the first time this winter only for a 3rd major piece to break and I'm not sure it's worth welding to only have it snap again during the next driveway clearing.

Definitely the wrong time of year to be in the market for one but has anyone seen any decent deals around the DSM metro on a two stage?

Anyone recommend a brand they've been happy with? My $.02 is Troy Bilt should be called "Cheap Bilt". I'll be steering clear of that brand for sure.
Click to expand...

"Snowthrower"? Are you in England, or something?
 
I see you are in Urbandale.... Go to craigslist / Des Moines / Farm & Garden. Here are a few choices.

Toro snowblower Powerlites 150.00 /200.00

Probably some guy doing what I would do. Find one that isn't working well, spend 30 minutes replacing plug and cleaning up carb and it now runs like a top. $150-200

Toro snowblower / Powercurves 200.00 to 350.00

Next step up from the single stage Toro's, so bigger and might be two stage. $250-300

Splenty of the smaller single stage/small non propelled 2 stage on there from $50-120 to pig from. I would stay with 4 stroke, but the 2 strokes foul plugs a lot faster because people use too much oil or let the gas oil mix sit in the tank all summer and then wonder why it won't run. I've had friends bring me these snowblowers saying they wouldn't run and in 30 minutes I have them running like brand new.

If you want bigger 2 stage propelled snowblowers......

2 stage snowblower

8 hp 26" for $275 OBO I wouldn't be afraid of this one. It says electric start doesn't work, but most have Tecumseh or Briggs&stratton engines that are made for cold weather conditions that start in one pull.

JOHN DEERE TRS 26 SNOW BLOWER WITH ELECTRIC START

Bullet proof for $500. 8hp 26" Not a bad deal

MTD snowblower

I rebuilt one of these for a neighbor and it is still running strong.

And I would even offer this. I live in Waukee and would help you tune the thing if you like. It really is pretty simple. You can PM me if you want
 
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I have an 8hp MTD 2 stage that I bought in 98 that started right up this morning (first time I tried this winter).
Best $700 I ever spent.

You feel dumb with that giant thing when there is 3 inches of snow but when you get the big snows and you need to get through a 2 foot drift you look like the smartest man in the world.
 
I have been extremely pleased with the Cub Cadet 526 SWE I bought back in November. I have probably used it 10 times so far this year up in the tundra of Fargo and haven't had any issues.

I've also heard really good things about the 3-stage blower they came out with if you want to spend an extra $100 for the same size machine.
 
Cyclonesrule91 said:
Checkout craigslist. A lot of idiots out there who foul a plug and thing the snowblower is shot. I have gotten a few and replaced a $3 sparkplug and/or cleaned out the carburator and had a basic brand new snowblower. But I am pretty mechanically inclined so know what to look for, but if you have any skills, there are deals out there.

What piece broke on your Troy built?
Click to expand...

SSSHHHH! It sounds like there will be a good deal for Troy Bilt coming up on Craigslist :jimlad:
 
JP4CY said:
I have a Ariens deluxe 28 that is a champ. The thing feels so tough that I could use it to chip wood.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when you compare an Ariens to pretty much all the other chinsey brands, you feel like you are running down the sidewalk with a tank.
 
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