Snowblowers... (to buy, cost of, oil)

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by inthetrees

After a bit of research this year we ended up getting a new Ariens Deluxe 28" from Hammond Tractor for 1089 plus tax. They delivered it for free. Woulda been slightly cheaper at home depot, however I'd much rather support Hammond.

And Hammond will support you as well. Any problem and they will take care of it in-house. HD will charge you a fee to send it away without any idea how much to fix it. They just say, they will charge you the difference if the repair is over the fee they collect. Could be 2 weeks, could be 8 weeks to get it back as well. Local is always better than Big-box on something like this. [/quote]

[RMoore007]

This is our back deck in Dover where we need to get my brothers small blower up there about 2-3 times a year. This was a storm we had in late '08 that I just couldn't keep up with. Me in the back, nephew doing the work.



I don't know what kind it is, how powerful it is, what brand it is or how far it throws, but it sure saved my butt several times from not having to shovel all that off. I found a nice ice carpet too.

[namder1]

I have never used a snow blower so I bought a used Toro and took it into a mechanic friend for tuning up. I figure that might be better than buying new to see if I like it. The above pics make me think I might not like freezing my a** off compared to a $25 plow truck.......

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by namder1

I have never used a snow blower so I bought a used Toro and took it into a mechanic friend for tuning up. I figure that might be better than buying new to see if I like it. The above pics make me think I might not like freezing my a** off compared to a $25 plow truck.......

Usually just the feet and face freeze up.

[Robel]

[IMG][/IMG]

Here's a picture of mine. Beats the heck out of the walk behind type.

[retiredtinbender]

Nice. But what's under the tarp? Tire looks interesting.

[Submariner]

We brought a Toro snow-blower with us when we moved here from Ct. At the Toro dealer in Ct, it was the largest model they carried at 6.5Hp. Single-stage, rubber-blade, and totally unable to move wet snow. After I used it a few times in Maine, it made a good boat anchor.

Now I have a two-stage PTO driven blower that mounts on the front of my tractor. I got it last spring for discount price.

I mounted it the day before our recent snow storm.

Wow, it does throw gravel really far!

I snapped two shear pins [bolts]. Nails seem to work well to replace the shear pins.




I blew a backhoe hydraulic hose and took it to the dealership to repair, while there I had a long conversation with the dealership's repair crew. They totally recommend studs on tractor tires instead of chains. They say that if your front tires are spinning loose and then suddenly grip [because of the chains] they often snap the axle. It seems that they commonly get to repair snapped axles from guys using chains on their tractors. They say that studs grip on ice too, but will never snap an axle.

I mentioned this to one of my ever opinionated neighbors, he says that real men use chains, studded tires are for women, and tractor mechanics are lazy.

What say you folks?

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I blew a backhoe hydraulic hose and took it to the dealership to repair, while there I had a long conversation with the dealership's repair crew. They totally recommend studs on tractor tires instead of chains. They say that if your front tires are spinning loose and then suddenly grip [because of the chains] they often snap the axle. It seems that they commonly get to repair snapped axles from guys using chains on their tractors. They say that studs grip on ice too, but will never snap an axle.

I mentioned this to one of my ever opinionated neighbors, he says that real men use chains, studded tires are for women, and tractor mechanics are lazy.

What say you folks?

I say I would be getting studs. The only question I would have is how much of any traction would be lost in snow. I would think very little to none, but that is just a guess on my part.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by retiredtinbender

Nice. But what's under the tarp? Tire looks interesting.

With the height, and fender shape my wild guess is a model A. I want to see too.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Bydand

I say I would be getting studs. The only question I would have is how much of any traction would be lost in snow. I would think very little to none, but that is just a guess on my part.

I do not expect that traction in snow would be effected. The tread stands out pretty far.

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Though I have more experience operating a tractor in loose blow-sand; then I do in snow. I am more concerned about traction on ice.



The last time I was on ice trying to yank vehicles out of snow banks it seemed far to lightweight, all four tires were spinning but not getting any grip.

I have thought about wheel weights and loading the tires; but in the summer much of our ground is soft and deep rutted. I am concerned that being light and trying to 'float' across the top is my only hope of not getting stuck. If I weight it down much more it will have a greater tendency to sink in the muck. So I think I want to avoid weighting it down any more.