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We avg 10 feet of snow / year , sometimes as little as 4 feet and up to 15 feet ( both in the last 5 years) 2010-2011 179.4
2011-2012 50.6
:laughing:
Gravel driveway 150 feet long , clear out an area next to it on packed dirt lawn for extra parking . The road I live on is narrow and private so we pay for a pick up truck to plow it and if it is too warm early in the season they can't push the snow back much past the edge of the road or they will get stuck in the lawns , and the soft area at the end of the road where a lot of the snow ends up.
So in addition to just doing my driveway and extra parking area ( 1 1/2 car wide x 60 feet ) keeping the banks from the plow cut back till the ground freezes up each time we get plowed in the early season is something I need to be able to do most years.
The other , and very important , thing is that my wife ( maybe 120# suited up for winter ) also be able to move , turn , this blower when I'm not here to do it .
So I think I'm in the market for :
Something easy to operate , auto turn or similar
The ability to do some heavy work when needed
Ease of both starting and maint.
Longevity of the machine and engine

Unfortunately , the move up to a pro model is way out of the budget of just over 1k and definitely under 2k . No used machines need apply.

Look into a Toro 926 with the turning clutches.

This is the one I'm planning on buying. Just about the same conditions you describe. Making do right now with a 1995 MTD 22 incher.

Ariens Deluxe 28 in. Two-Stage Electric Start Gas Snow Blower with Auto-Turn Steering-921030 at The Home Depot

That's a good choice. For a gravel driveway install a set of Armor Shoesand set the clearance between the scraper and the gravel at least 3/4 inch. Just set the scaper on a one by board that fits in between the shose. Show her how to replace the shear bolts. A cab is also a plus when blowing snow. If you install a cab bolt about 7 pounds of cast iron weights ( $3.50 ea. from Walmart) on each side of the housing when the drift cutters go. This will balance the weight of the cab. You could spend $60 for an Ariens weight that bolts on the top of the housing.

Stevie-Ray said:

This is the one I'm planning on buying. Just about the same conditions you describe. Making do right now with a 1995 MTD 22 incher.

Ariens Deluxe 28 in. Two-Stage Electric Start Gas Snow Blower with Auto-Turn Steering-921030 at The Home Depot

Click to expand...

My dealer has that one for the same price , seems like a good machine .
Also looking at the platinum sho 24" for about 400$ more . Little larger engine and heated grips .

Platinum

They also have the cub cadet line as well.
Since I bought my mower from them ( cub zero turn ) maybe I can get the price down on the 30" sho.

Also , any users of the newer cub blowers ?

So I am a Ariens dealer and I am going to buy the deluxe 28+ it has a bigger engine then the deluxe 28 and it also
has better tires. it can also got may accessories with it that is why I am going with the ariens brand and they are also
a tank and will last for ever

Tonight I just ran my Ariens 28" Deluxe around my drive way for the first time this year. I like the brand and recommend them.

Picks of the fleet. The 28" is the smaller of the two on the right.

jross said:

That's a good choice. For a gravel driveway install a set of Armor Shoesand set the clearance between the scraper and the gravel at least 3/4 inch. Just set the scaper on a one by board that fits in between the shose. Show her how to replace the shear bolts. A cab is also a plus when blowing snow. If you install a cab bolt about 7 pounds of cast iron weights ( $3.50 ea. from Walmart) on each side of the housing when the drift cutters go. This will balance the weight of the cab. You could spend $60 for an Ariens weight that bolts on the top of the housing.

Click to expand...

I looked up the Armor Shoes , they look to be a foot long and have a good curve on the ends , they look like they might be helpful on varied terrain .
I wonder it they would have a tendency to ride up on the packed snow when cutting the the banks back that the plow leaves along the sides of the road ( parallel to the road ) ?

tigercat said:

Tonight I just ran my Ariens 28" Deluxe around my drive way for the first time this year. I like the brand and recommend them.

Picks of the fleet. The 28" is the smaller of the two on the right.

Click to expand...

On the machine on the left , are those two brackets ( ? ) in front of the handlebar housing for a snow cab ?

Also , how did you mount your lights ? I doubt the one on my platinum housing isn't going to work well when I put a cab on it.

1894 said:

On the machine on the left , are those two brackets ( ? ) in front of the handlebar housing for a snow cab ?

Also , how did you mount your lights ? I doubt the one on my platinum housing isn't going to work well when I put a cab on it.

Click to expand...

Hi Phil
Yes I put a snow cab on the bigger 30" machine. It's the platinum 30" with a 12 HP Briggs engine. The snow cab will be used for the first time this year, when I get the cold January blown snow, then I will try it out. The cab was a bit of a pain in the neck as I needed to weld the brackets (of the snow cab) to reinforce it so it won't drop on my head as I was testing it out. I think it will work well now, and it pulls off with a simple wing nut on each side.

The brackets on the machine are drift cutters. I used them last year so I ordered weights and the drift cutters for the 28" machine yesterday. The weights fit under the shovel and they weigh 10 LBS. It bolts on by pre existing holes stamped into the blower housing. It helps hold the machine down so the packed snow won't push up the machine as I travel around the walks.

The 28" machine is my spare machine if something happens, I won't be SOL. I have way too much walks to tend and I rather have a spare and service the machine the next day if something breaks down. So far knock on wood, the Ariens 30" machine is a tank with no issues yet.

The Ariens built in light I hate. As I walk around blowing snow, the light shines right into my eyes. (I'm 6' tall) So I went to Northern Hydraulics website and ordered lights for 20 bucks a piece and wired them up, with it own switches (one switch per light). I removed the existing light and sanded the plastic lens down, then painted it black. I mounted the "new" lights around the dash so it fits nice. The new lights throw light like the old tractors of years ago. Awesome improvement!
No worries on the electrical system as the new Polar Force engines put out enough electrical power, so even with both lights and hand warmers on the lights still shine brightly.

I added my own "roller shoes" on these machines to help out on wear from the cement sidewalks destroying the standard skids on the snowblowers. Now the bearings simply roll down my walks. The skid plate don't need to be adjusted any longer so the snow is always scraped just right down the walks...

Here are the pics.







On youtube I made a short movie how the roller shoes work.
http://youtu.be/VG1giQ0heaY

Thanks Tigercat . Did you put the snow cab together yourself or have the dealer do it ? The reason I ask is that I ordered a cab when I ordered the blower ( Ariens plat sho 24" ) . The machine was ready for delivery when I wanted it here . I was heading to camp for a few weeks and wanted the machine here just in case , and if that wind was just a little more Southerly we would have gotten snow along the lines of what buffalo ny got while I was away so I had it delivered. Cab was out of stock and the dealer really wanted for them to put it together and instal it before delivery. So I wonder if I should pay the 25 $ for pick up and instal the cab or try it myself ? If it would take me ( not very mechanically inclined ) much over an hour to go from package to installed I may try and see if I can get them to do it .
Your , or anyone else s thoughts on the cab set up and instal ?

Re the new lights , did you just use the wires from the dashboard light and extend them to the switch (s) and lights or a new set of wire from wherever the power feed comes out from the motor ?

There is a movie on you tube of a guy with his Ariens cab as he put it together. I will try and find it and edit my post. The cab went together in about an hour. Becaue of my add on lights, I had a harder time with the brackets and the final locations. You put the brackets on the machine first, then you assemble the snow cab, but leave the final brackets loose so you can fit them into the frame. It just goes together like pressing pipe ends into each end.
My problem with the snow cab was if you look at the inner view of my picture you will see where I welded the thing together. At that point it would slip and the top of the cab would drop on my head as I would bump the machine around testing it out.
Well I drilled a hole thru the bracket and inserted a 1/8 inch screw into the collar that was slipping. Then I welded it up to add insurace it won't fall apart as I'm using it. I think it's solid now, but I haven't used it yet. You can see where it's welded on the picture.

For 25 bucks they could put it together (but that's just my lazy side talking). The cab is big when put on the machune. Transport could be tricky with the cab on the machine.

Oh yes on the lights. I extended the orginal wiring and switched the lights and added the lights. The lights are the single best thing I done for the machine. Winter time, you clear snow in the dark and now with house spot light on or not, I can see easily where I'm going. I also can see where my tires are as I walk down the walks too!

First movie is the man I seen before I put mine together
The next movie is more brief.

http://youtu.be/PK6Vni3V0sA

http://youtu.be/_cIgfnRPBmc

Thanks again ! I saw the first video before and that was what made me worry a bit after watching him struggle . I think I got more info about his phone than the cab in that hour long video :laughing:
The second one helped a lot more , thanks for finding that one.
In the first video the guy talked about needing spacers to keep the nuts far enough onto the threads of the bracket bolts. Did you find you needed anything like that ?

And thanks for the info on the lights as well

The studs are long so I just used a metric ton of flat washers under the nuts. Otherwise your screwing the nuts all day long and you will run out of threads before it tightens up.

See my pictures, you can see on the frame (bottom side of cab) the brackets are 'full" looking... Full of washers. :laughing:

Got to use the machine the last few days
Glad I went with the 24" with the 306 motor. I needed the extra power to do what I need done. I've cut banks back along both sides of our 150' section of road that the plow truck left after 18"+ of heavy snow , did a bunch of just regular snow , cut back some corners where the plow left bigger piles , and just spent time learning the machine and snowblowing. We'll see how it handles the season , so far so good :thumbsup:
You can keep track of our snowfall here in syracuse ny by checking these two pages :

GoldenSnowball.com | The Golden Snowball Award is a contest between 5 cities in CNY – Upstate New York. The contest is based on which city receives the most snowfall for the snow season. The cities that compete are Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton, R

Golden Snow Globe National Snow Contest Snowiest US City Pop 100,000+ | A fun national snow contest for the snowiest city in the United States with a population of 100,000 or more! Check to see if Your city winter snowfall totals are listed.

It's good to hear you found a blower that you like. Maybe you post pictures of your blower at work?

Will do gfp55 .

gfp55 said:

It's good to hear you found a blower that you like. Maybe you post pictures of your blower at work?

Click to expand...

No pics yet , been a very light snow season so far .

I live just east of Rochester and its been a very lite year for snow so far. That can change over night. I do get different brand snow blowers in my shop for repairs. I have found that Ariens seems to be the most popular brand snow blower in this area of the state. I have found the biggest repair I have made on them is just a very simple drive linkage adjustment. On some of the older models I have replaced axle bushings. Other then that they are a very easy machine to work on and the front blower attachment removes very easy. You wouldn't be sorry you went with Ariens and if taken care of should last you for many years of service. I have found for myself that when operating the Ariens snow blower they are much easier to handle in one drive mode then the two wheel drive mode. This is something you will have to try yourself to see what you prefer.

Just a note to say if you install a cab on the Ariens which very simple to do even by your self, add 14 lbs of weight on the front end or you'll have the blower lifting up and the cab banging your head. You could buy an Ariens 10 lb weight for $60 which bolts inside over the auger, or you could install one 2 lb and one 5 lb steel lifting weights on each side available from Walmart for about $14 in the drift cutter holes. You'll have to buy stove bolts,fender washers and nuts. You can still install drift cutters inside the weights.

I may add some weight to the front , haven't decided for sure yet . I added the armorskids and the cab. I was just playing around the other day and really like this machine . Great power to width ratio




The auto turn works great :thumbsup:

Never did get mine-needed a quad, so bought that. Then it became a question of new snowblower, or plow for the quad. $340 for the plow, or 1K for the snowblower seemed like a no-brainer. I'm keeping my old MTD in reserve and also for the finer stuff.

Never did get mine-needed a quad, so bought that. Then it became a question of new snowblower, or plow for the quad. $340 for the plow, or 1K for the snowblower seemed like a no-brainer. I'm keeping my old MTD in reserve and also for the finer stuff. Snowing today for the first time.

Toro power max with the easy steer 8-10 hp great machine mine handles wet heavy snow great in new england