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fishhappy

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Cure for wet snow clogging- Go to your local super market and buy a container of acrylic floor wax such as "KLEAR". Take a paint brush and slather several coats on the inside of the chute, bucket and auger racks. It will not wear off as quickly as silicon spray and lasts at least a season . Think of what happens when you step on a freshly waxed floor that has water on it.

Best to let each coat dry before applying the next.

Marc

"Don't mess with old farts...age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! BS and brilliance only come with age and experience!"

In favor of an immediate moratorium on both Commercial and Recreational taking of Striped Bass.

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Get an Ariens. The orange colored series, not the cheaper versions. They use a B&S engine on the orange series.

The big box Ariens are the same as the ones sold by power equipment dealers. Why do I say this you ask?

About 4 years ago I ordered a Ariens from Home Depot dotcom with free shipping. I thought it would be delivered to my house in a box and some assembly would be needed. At least this is how it was 10 years ago when I bought a MTD from HD.

Well, much to my surprise, about a week after I ordered it I got a phone call from my local lawn equipment/ Ariens dealer asking when I would like my snowblower delivered!!! They delivered it fully assembled and then ran it for me and gave me instructions on how to operate it. All at no extra cost. It even came with a dealer sticker applied on it by the local place. So apparently HD and Ariens have some sort of an agreement with local dealers for delivery and  set up. 

Night time is the Right time

SOL #905

 

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38 mins ago, PM Casting said:

Get an Ariens. The orange colored series, not the cheaper versions. They use a B&S engine on the orange series.

The big box Ariens are the same as the ones sold by power equipment dealers. Why do I say this you ask?

About 4 years ago I ordered a Ariens from Home Depot dotcom with free shipping. I thought it would be delivered to my house in a box and some assembly would be needed. At least this is how it was 10 years ago when I bought a MTD from HD.

Well, much to my surprise, about a week after I ordered it I got a phone call from my local lawn equipment/ Ariens dealer asking when I would like my snowblower delivered!!! They delivered it fully assembled and then ran it for me and gave me instructions on how to operate it. All at no extra cost. It even came with a dealer sticker applied on it by the local place. So apparently HD and Ariens have some sort of an agreement with local dealers for delivery and  set up. 

This is why I said the Ariens you buy at Home Depot or Lowes are the same ones sold at smaller independent dealers. I asked my local dealer about it and he confirmed they are the same machines and yes, they sometimes fulfill online orders for the big box guys. 

Some people want to believe that they're getting a better quality machine by avoiding big box stores. They just need to understand the differences in the brand model line ups. HD typically carries the Ariens Deluxe models. Compare apples for apples. Don't compare a HD Deluxe with a dealer Pro model. You can get the Pro at HD as well. You just might need to order it. I prefer to buy from the independent dealers anyways though and avoid buying from big box guys.

 

 

 

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15 hours ago, bospa357 said:

This is why I said the Ariens you buy at Home Depot or Lowes are the same ones sold at smaller independent dealers. I asked my local dealer about it and he confirmed they are the same machines and yes, they sometimes fulfill online orders for the big box guys. 

Some people want to believe that they're getting a better quality machine by avoiding big box stores. They just need to understand the differences in the brand model line ups. HD typically carries the Ariens Deluxe models. Compare apples for apples. Don't compare a HD Deluxe with a dealer Pro model. You can get the Pro at HD as well. You just might need to order it. I prefer to buy from the independent dealers anyways though and avoid buying from big box guys.

By us, HD chewed up and spit out about 3 independents, the closest left is a ACE hardware chain.

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I fully intended to buy a snowblower today from a local independently owned shop today... but they 

 are closed on Sundays... so Home Depot got my money.   

 

     I know stores are closed on Sundays, but If I owned one, and it was the day before the first snowfall of the year, I would flip that OPEN sign

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On 11/24/2019 at 0:28 PM, fishhappy said:

We have gone through several snowblowers in the last 15 years, toro, an orange sears one, and an electric ryobi.

The Ryobi dies after a year, the sears ran out of parts, and the Toro was always tough to start and finally was beyond my ability to repair, I put to carburetors into it. 
Im buying a new one, and I am thinking about 20-24 inch, and it must 

1. be super easy to start

2. not require fuel mixture

3. run without hesitation hear after year in cold at -20

 

Any recommendations? So far I like the Honda, we have a lawnmower and even when my shoulder aches at its worst, it’s super easy to start and push.

I recommend that you put Stabil in your fuel and start your equipment, at a minimum,  once every six months. The other alternative is to turn the fuel off from the tank to the carb and run it dry. 

 

I've had the same snow thrower since 1997 (Kohler 8 HP engine) and she runs like the day she was new. 

America, the country so great that even its haters refuse to leave. 

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2 hours ago, Wayne Tj said:

I recommend that you put Stabil in your fuel and start your equipment, at a minimum,  once every six months. The other alternative is to turn the fuel off from the tank to the carb and run it dry. 

 

I've had the same snow thrower since 1997 (Kohler 8 HP engine) and she runs like the day she was new. 

I think what I learned from this thread is that with better maintenance I should get longer  use out even the cheaper snow blowers 

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On 12/1/2019 at 7:26 AM, bospa357 said:

This is why I said the Ariens you buy at Home Depot or Lowes are the same ones sold at smaller independent dealers. I asked my local dealer about it and he confirmed they are the same machines and yes, they sometimes fulfill online orders for the big box guys. 

Some people want to believe that they're getting a better quality machine by avoiding big box stores. They just need to understand the differences in the brand model line ups. HD typically carries the Ariens Deluxe models. Compare apples for apples. Don't compare a HD Deluxe with a dealer Pro model. You can get the Pro at HD as well. You just might need to order it. I prefer to buy from the independent dealers anyways though and avoid buying from big box guys.

ok the difference is that the ones from 

HD and small Hardware stores are not the good ones.  If you check, you will see that they come with a aluminum gear box  The gears strip easy and to replace it,it’s not cheep. Last time I order one was over 500+.  you have to buy the hole assembly .  You want to check your shear pins that they don’t rust up on you . Very important. If they get frozen , they will chew up your gears   
When you get a good one from Maestranzi Bro’s. In Beverly , The better model  comes with a cast iron gear box , which can be fixed if something goes wrong.   Like hitting a rock or big branch in a storm 

You can’t get the cast iron gearbox in HD.    If you go there ( Maestranzi Bro’s. )  they will show you the difference.  
Now a days they say the Simplicity Is the one to buy .   They do cost a little more .    Hope this helps ccb 

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13 hours ago, Pistol Pete said:

I fully intended to buy a snowblower today from a local independently owned shop today... but they 

 are closed on Sundays... so Home Depot got my money.   

 

     I know stores are closed on Sundays, but If I owned one, and it was the day before the first snowfall of the year, I would flip that OPEN sign

my money too -  Ariens 24" deluxe ran like a charm today. I got non-ethanol fuel at the local airport. 

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Honda!  Out throws every comparable machine.  I bought mine in 2000 and used it today for 1st time this season.  Started on 2nd pull (1st pull in full choke). Still easy to fire up after shoulder surgery.  It's more expensive up front but I see my neighbors on orange snowblower number 2 or 3 during my 20 years with 1 machine.

(*member formerly known as 'SWPaulie')
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i purchased a heavily used Ariens 28' blower a few years ago from a landscaping co and it still run like a champ.  Its a early 90's model.  Have not put a dime into it and i do not do any maintenance on it.  My dad bought a brand new craftsman 24" blower and babied it and it took a **** within 3 years.  

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1 hour ago, ccb said:

ok the difference is that the ones from 

HD and small Hardware stores are not the good ones.  If you check, you will see that they come with a aluminum gear box  The gears strip easy and to replace it,it’s not cheep. Last time I order one was over 500+.  you have to buy the hole assembly .  You want to check your shear pins that they don’t rust up on you . Very important. If they get frozen , they will chew up your gears   
When you get a good one from Maestranzi Bro’s. In Beverly , The better model  comes with a cast iron gear box , which can be fixed if something goes wrong.   Like hitting a rock or big branch in a storm 

You can’t get the cast iron gearbox in HD.    If you go there ( Maestranzi Bro’s. )  they will show you the difference.  
Now a days they say the Simplicity Is the one to buy .   They do cost a little more .    Hope this helps ccb 

The ones I saw at HD a week ago had the cast iron gearbox. I'm really not advocating buying from HD, Lowes or whatever. I'm just stating from what I've seen and from what two independent dealers told me. There really isn't any difference. They would quite obviously have nothing to gain by telling me that. And with that, I have no further desire to keep belaboring the point.

As for the Simplicity, I can only relate my best friend's experience. He gave his 5 year old Ariens to his daughter and her husband and bought the Simplicity. He's had a lot of trouble with it. Mostly due to cables that freeze up because the boots they use on the cable ends allow water to seep in and freeze up. He's had a few other issues. I don't remember specifically what those were, but the dealer was good about fixing the problems. Nothing they could do about the cables though. He ended up packing them with grease and zip tying the ends to keep water out. He tells me constantly that he liked the Ariens better.

 

 

 

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