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I bought this one from Home Depot (I know I know), it has served me very well last year so I hope it will last for at least a decade.
There is ZERO reason to apologize for purchasing from Home Depot. I'm sure some others love the power and performance of their premium blowers. I bet you love the $700+ that's still in your wallet.
Best one for a small piece of property like that is a smaller two stroke. A three hp two stroke will outperform a four stroke double the size. While it won't do through a 18 in pile of snow, that's rare. You might have to make a few passes. But what's going to take. maybe ten minutes.
Get a large 8hp and you have a large piece of equipment you need to store out front. Four strokes need some heated area to start reliably in colder temps. Moving them is a pita and need maintenance to stay reliable. There aren't as many as their once was unfortunately. I had one and it easily cleared my 50 feet of walk plus almost every else on the block. the driveway was sloped and forty feet. no problem.
While now I have a 9hp for over two hundred feet of driveway, the issues keeping it running reliably can be a pain. Thankfully we have a lot of small engine repair shops. another thing to think about. If you need service , you either have a trailer, a pickup with a ramp or pay for pu and delivery.
There is ZERO reason to apologize for purchasing from Home Depot. I'm sure some others love the power and performance of their premium blowers. I bet you love the $700+ that's still in your wallet.
Agreed. My blower is used Murray (MTD) I picked up for $50 because the owner thought the motor was bad. All it needed was a good carb cleaning and a new air filter/spark plug. Show me someone who says box store OPE is crap and I'll show you someone who doesn't maintain their equipment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rscalzo
Get a large 8hp and you have a large piece of equipment you need to store out front. Four strokes need some heated area to start reliably in colder temps. Moving them is a pita and need maintenance to stay reliable.
See what I mean? ANY piece of equipment needs maintenance to stay reliable. How reliable would your car be if you never changed the oil? Of course, I shouldn't complain-I've yet to buy a single new piece of OPE. Everything I have I bought dead on the cheap or got for free and revived with little work and even less money. Also, my four stroke 8HP started without a hitch below 0 with no problem every time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rscalzo
While now I have a 9hp for over two hundred feet of driveway, the issues keeping it running reliably can be a pain. Thankfully we have a lot of small engine repair shops. another thing to think about. If you need service , you either have a trailer, a pickup with a ramp or pay for pu and delivery.
If you're going to pay someone else to maintain and fix your snowblower and pay for pickup and delivery you may as well just say forget it and pay someone to do the driveway for you. It's probably cheaper that way. On the other hand, you could make sure you always have fresh gas, use Seafoam in every tank, make sure to run the carb dry before putting it away for more than a month, and regularly change the oil, spark plug, and air filter. Follow that regimen and you'll never get robbed by a small engine repair shop again.
ANY piece of equipment needs maintenance to stay reliable
That's why the two stroke was so great. Almost zero maintenance. No belts, no chains, no gears. All I had to do is drain the gas and run the carb dry. No oil changes or lubing chains, adjusting belts. To move it, I picked it up with one arm.
Now yearly my machine is transported in by the engine service company for service. All I do is oil changes and spark plug changes. Valve adjustments and belt changes and all the other items are handled by the company. The two stroke wouldn't come close to doing the job but it was a great machine. Ten years, zero issues.
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