Recommendation on Snow Thrower
- Thread starter Big Daddy
- Start date
Electric snowthrowers are a waste of time unless you have a heart condition or otherwise cannot do any lifting. They only work with light snowfalls. For heavy accumulation gas powered is recommended. I use a shovel but I don't have much of an area to clear. If I get sore muscles from shovelling I get a massage.
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I bought one about 8 or 9 years ago when I lived in Northern Ontario. I bought an 8 hp gas one from Sears. I thought I was getting lots of machine.
Well guess again. If the snow was dry it was great. But, if it was wet, 8 hp is just barely able to cope. Forget electric ones, they are hopeless in any more than a few inches of dry snow.
If you live in a snow belt area get a 10 hp at least. Sears are good machines. Except for Honda almost all of them use the same engine, a special Briggs and Stratton for winter use. Just look for features and price unless you want Honda, then get a second mortgage on your house.
Well guess again. If the snow was dry it was great. But, if it was wet, 8 hp is just barely able to cope. Forget electric ones, they are hopeless in any more than a few inches of dry snow.
If you live in a snow belt area get a 10 hp at least. Sears are good machines. Except for Honda almost all of them use the same engine, a special Briggs and Stratton for winter use. Just look for features and price unless you want Honda, then get a second mortgage on your house.
All of the different brands of gas powered snow blowers have the same engine, except for honda. The others have a brand named Tehcumseh. Made in the USA i think. I have a 8hp, it works great, I am happy with it. If you live in a place like Barrie, then a 10 might suit your needs better, Electric won't work, its a waist of money.
crocket said:
I guess now that I think about it my engine was called a Snow King (or something similar) and I thought it was by B&S but you are probably right that it was a Tecumseh. Anyway, mine was a special engine designed for cold-weather-only running. I think thats why most manufacturers use it.
Sheik is right about two stage machines but most gas powered blowers of any significant horsepower will have this feature.
Mine had a neat feature of track drive that could be steered like a tank with the use of two clutches (sp?) one on each handle. A 90 lb weakling could operate it as you did not have to horse it around in tight spots.
Also look for lots of gears as this controls the rate at which snow is fed into the machine. You want to control it with a gear choice and not the engine speed. You need the engine speed up to throw the snow.
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OnTheWayOut
Sears works for me
I've had a Sears for years. 8 HP, 22". 6 forward speeds, 2 reverse. Electric start is nice feature too.
Got it used for $75 to hold me over until I got a new one .... no need to buy another. I've had it for 7 years, must have been at LEAST 5 years old when I got it, I suspect older than that as they guy had just put on new tires (they never wear out, age gets to em).
Key point is, it's been around for years. Runs like a champ. I do agree for wet snow a few more HP might help but if you slow down the forward speed it does ok.
I've had a Sears for years. 8 HP, 22". 6 forward speeds, 2 reverse. Electric start is nice feature too.
Got it used for $75 to hold me over until I got a new one .... no need to buy another. I've had it for 7 years, must have been at LEAST 5 years old when I got it, I suspect older than that as they guy had just put on new tires (they never wear out, age gets to em).
Key point is, it's been around for years. Runs like a champ. I do agree for wet snow a few more HP might help but if you slow down the forward speed it does ok.
Let's keep this post alive because many shops, including Canadian Tire, don't have their machines in for another couple of weeks.
I live in the GTA burbs but don't want to go through another winter like last year.
I live in the GTA burbs but don't want to go through another winter like last year.
https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=208031
Just took mine out of the box. Bring on the snow!!
Just took mine out of the box. Bring on the snow!!
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OnTheWayOut
Big Daddy said:
Just started shopping around and found many dealers are sold out, especially of the single stage Toro's. They're being bought out by local snow plowing companies because they're portable and pretty good quality.
Two stage easier to find, but have larger size and weight issues.
poonhunter said:I've been doing some research off forum, if you're in the snow belt within the GTA and have a large lot, get yourself a two-stage machine, at least 22" width and 16" height.
If Sears continues to carry machines with "Briggs and Stratton" engines get it as it seems online concensus, they happen to be the most reliable!
Toros with the same engines are also a buy but seems like the newer ones have Tecumseh engines which some are complaining of reliability issues.
Toros are also popular because of past reliability with the older B&S engines not sure about the newer ones, they are also popular because of the vast number of commercial contractors including government that use them, so visible advertisement is a factor here.
Honda's are the most expensive in the consumer domain most praise them but if you bought a $5000 machine, wouldn't you?
Toro's are great. Ariens are also great. The most common HP are 5, 8, and 10/11. Most common engines are Briggs and Tecumsesh. Tecumsesh makes the Snow King. It is normally a horizontal model with a different carb and muffler. Sheik is right about getting a two stage.
I have a 5HP Tecumsesh SnowKing on my 20" noname snow blower. It is closing in on 25 years old. Engine runs great but it is absolute the smallest you would want.
My father bought a John Deere in the early 70's when they were a completely new concept. Anyway, that thing is built like a TANK and is in service to this day. It's on it's second engine but otherwise in good shape. If you think you will use it a long time then its worth spending extra money on a good one. Trust me, I am cheap and have already made that mistake.
I also have a 5HP/24" 2 stage Tecumsesh MTD from K-Mart which was purchased in 1984. It runs great and still starts on the first pull. Back then I looked at a Sears model but another customer warned me off it, saying he had one and it was a dog.....but that was back in 1984.hairyfucker said:
Thought of getting a bigger one but with global warming and all, I'll wait.....only had to use it about 7 times all last winter.
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