Was at Lowe's and saw all the new snow throwers out on display. One style had a new design: a white circular auger surrounded by traditional augers. The other had a traditionally designed auger. Both were two stage throwers.
Does this new design have any advantages? I'm not currently in the market for a snow thrower, but this new design is interesting... but how well does it work in heavy snow?
I can see an advantage with it pulling snow into the chute. It might help when you come up to the end of your pass. I know my conventional auger leaves a small pile of snow along the garage door when I stop forward progress. If this can help prevent that, then it is worth it. Other than that my conventional auger has no problems clearing snow. So I guess it's left to be seen if this is useful or just marketing hype.
Cub Cadet came out with the 3X blowers last year. I've sold a few but have not used one myself or heard any feedback (I work a few days a month for a Cub dealer). I think it would work good at the end of the driveway where the snow plow fills it in.
Since the center white auger turns 10 times faster than the red augers on the side, I'd say the odds increase that the center auger will tear up something and or bend big time, because of it's increased speed.
Last year, I bought a Cub Cadet 26" wide 3 Stage snow blower with this auger design and a 11.5 HP engine. It does not bog down in heavy packed snow. My old 27" 9HP NOMA snow blower would bog down and want to stall in heavy packed snow. I have a 300 foot long driveway and the 3 stage auger design works great.
I watched the video it looks like the center "Third Stage" augured threw 8 lot of snow every place except backwards when operating in lower snow amounts. It looks like it works okay and deeper snow. It also seems like that center auger could cause problems if it ever hit something hard unlike the normal first stage augurs.
Other than marketing hype I'm not sure how they can call it a third stage. It's actually just an extension of the normal second stage. It's unfortunate that Troy Bilt who used to build a great product that been taken over by a firm who believes in marketing hype instead of good engineering!
That doesn't seem like anything special to me but I wouldn't know until I tried it. We just bought a Toro 726OE snowblower in February and it blasts through anything found in our 60x40 driveway, the best one was the 6" of "heart attack" slushy snow we had late last winter that everyone else was struggling to move with their snowblowers while mine powered right through it no problem.
I looked into that unit last week. What stopped me from buying it is the powdered aluminum transfer case. I'm looking at an Ariens Deluxe 30" model as my likely choice.
I looked into that unit last week. What stopped me from buying it is the powdered aluminum transfer case. I'm looking at an Ariens Deluxe 30" model as my likely choice.
The Ariens machines appear to be the most highly rated. We're taking delivery of the 30" Platinum (model 91029) this Friday. We wanted the bigger engine because my wife has to deal with the driveway when I'm traveling and I felt there would be less chance of it bogging down and clogging. The included handwarmers were just icing on the cake.
I have a Boss 9.6 V-Plow for my truck, but she won't touch it
Traditional augers dont work well after hours of freezing rain after 12 inches of snow. Maybe this design will revent you from having to chop and break up the snow with shovels and picks before moving it with the snow blower. If the snow/ice is too hard, the snow blower just rides up onto the surface of the snow and no snow is captured/moved.
I looked into that unit last week. What stopped me from buying it is the powdered aluminum transfer case. I'm looking at an Ariens Deluxe 30" model as my likely choice.
Just bought a house this year, plan is to get a Yooper Scooper for the winter, hope it doesn't snow too much, and then look for a end of season discount on a single stage, maaaybe a two stage, with electric start option in the spring.
We have a small drive, not much sidewalk, so really don't need a lot, just don't want to shovel.
I looked into that unit last week. What stopped me from buying it is the powdered aluminum transfer case. I'm looking at an Ariens Deluxe 30" model as my likely choice.
Love my Ariens. Just runs and kicks ass...
+1
Replaced my MTD (Canadian Tire house branded) blower with an Ariens 28 Deluxe 3 years ago. No comparison...
Ariens is a beast, starts first pull; and just works - we had a bad winter last year, and it had no issues at all.
We've always had an Ariens and from what I've seen either Honda or Ariens are the only brands worth considering. They are more expensive up front but well worth it in performance and longevity. When either of them adopt this new design I might give it some credence but until then it sounds like it's just a marketing scheme.
The Ariens 30" we're receiving Friday (and mentioned previously in this thread) is replacing a Simplicity 555 we bought over 20 years ago. Only major work on that was new bushings for the transmission drive shaft 15 or so years ago. The main auger is bent to hell but it still runs and works. I don't think they're made anymore, but it blew a lot of snow over many Maine winters. That model was only 5HP but it was 2 stage. With the chute angled to the right, it could blow the medium to light density snow about 25 feet. angled to the left, about 5 feet
I'm looking forward to something with real muscle.
Not to hijack, but I currently have a Toro single stage. It works OK unless the snow is wet are over 12" deep. I may be giving it to my father and get a larger two stage. I'm looking at Ariens and Toro. Toro still has B&S motors, but Ariens has gone to there own branded engines. Does anyone have a newer Ariens with one of these engines, and how are they holding up?
I lived up there long enough to pillage and steal one of their womenfolk
We just got back up there during the "Week of Michigan Great Weather That Won't Be Equaled" at the end of September. Got to see family and took our boys camping at McLain's.
Their self branded engines are actually made by LCT (Liquid Combustion Technology). They are a good engine, reliability speaking. They are a US based company, but do all their manufacturing in China and are thought of as a Chinese engine. It's important to note that Toro uses their engines as well, on some models, as do many other companies. »www.lctusa.com/
As Lurch77 said, the Ariens engines are made by LCT. I bought an Ariens last year and the machine worked great. Throws wet snow easily. Can't speak to it's reliability as I"ve only had it for one winter, but I did have a thread here on choke not being usable at all and having to use it in the same position as when started or the engine would start shuddering and stall out.
Edit: Also Ariens support from a company itself is extremely poor, takes forever to get an answer and when you do it's a stupid follow up, that resets the process. Make sure you have a reputable Ariens dealer nearby, because that's who you'll need to deal with if something goes wrong.
Make sure you have a reputable Ariens dealer nearby, because that's who you'll need to deal with if something goes wrong.
That's the case with any small engine tool. If you have to depend on the manufacturer for support you are SOL, the local dealers are where you get your support. That's one of the main reasons not to buy equipment like this from the big-box stores!
Ariens is a beast, starts first pull; and just works
I have to admit that I liked the idea of an electric start on mine (ariens 24") I don't use it, is too easy to start it with one pull, takes more time grabbing the cord and plugging it in, starting it and unplugging.
Ariens is a beast, starts first pull; and just works
I have to admit that I liked the idea of an electric start on mine (ariens 24") I don't use it, is too easy to start it with one pull, takes more time grabbing the cord and plugging it in, starting it and unplugging.
I have a heavy-duty retractable reel cord hanging from the ceiling in the garage so it's 5 seconds to grab it, hook it up and start the Ariens then detach it. Normally I pull the cord and hook it up when I finish with the unit so it's ready to go next time with the push of the button. Ariens makes great machines!