my dad has a fascination with craftsman, he bought one and its a dog. Its the only one we've ever had but it was so easy to overload the poor pig and it loved the shear pins.

 

I use my 4wheeler for a bulk of the snow and use a 15 yr old Ariens for rest. The Ariens is rock solid and I never had a problem with it since I bought it....

 

Anywhere from 10-15 ft at the 6000' where we are.This year is only probably 6ft so far but we do have quite a bit of time left for hopefully a lot more to come.

 

IM 27 YRS OLD and never seen a snow blower in my life , Oh well gotta love west texas

 

You are missing out on some serious fun. If you want to get up close and personal with one then come on up here to Iowa. I have one that I'll let you test drive free of charge.

 

i have a yamaha 2 stage blower with the tracks. its the best snowblower ive ever used

 

How about a picture,we don't see any Yamaha's out this way would be interested to see one.

 

x2.

 

Found a pic of a yamaha SB on www.oldnabble.com

Link:
http://old.nabble.com/file/f16437/snow.jpg
If link don't work copy and paste to browser.

 

my simplcity 870 has a briggs on it its 22 years old never had an oil change and we just changed the spark plug this year....you tell me what part is junk and ill go buy a new one

 

Ah yes grasshopper, but you have a Briggs made back when they made good engines. I too used to be a big Briggs fan, but no more. Why? Let's see, there was my 5 HP (Briggs powered) Sears Chipper / Shredder where the motor expired after 3 years and less than 10 hours of running time. Both the piston and the cylinder bore were totally shot. (And I'd changed the oil every season.) Briggs answer - buy a new motor.

Then there's my friend who owns a landscape business. He too used to be a big Briggs fan. Then he bought a few Honda powered blowers and saw the light. A couple of years ago he got talked into buying one (on sort notice) with a Briggs instead of a Honda. It lasted less than one season, got rebuilt, then didn't make it through that season. It's been replaced with a Honda. In short, they used to be a great motor, but no more. Hang onto the one you've got!

 

yeah they dont make um like they used to. i should prob do an oil change soon eh?? haha

we had a push mower old school with an old brigs on it same thing never changed the oil just put gas in it and ran. thing fired on the frist 3 starts every time. and ran like a champ. still ran fine when we threw it out.

same can be said for all motors take ford motors the 4.9 I6 you cannot break it heard storys of no oil driving for 150-200 miles. and the cash for klunkers no oil they had that sand crap ran for 5mins at WOT and 6K RPM the whole time. try that with a 4.2 V6 no oil itd lock up in half a mile. and with sand itd lock up in less than 1 min.

plain and simple they dont make stuff to last any more. the dealer and shops want a motor thats not strong so you have to keep bring it back. its crap i think but its the sad truth.

 

Redneckhunter,
I too have a '93 Ariens 9HP, 24" blower, and with decent maintenance I have only had to replace the shoes, and the cutting edge.
I live on a cul-de-sac with 6 houses, there are 3 Ariens, a John Deere, a Toro, and one guy has a Crapsman.
That one is the only one to constantly bog down, and we see him cursing and clearing the chute with a handle or something.
Whatever brand you do choose, look for the following.....
1) Cast-iron gear case. It's in front, and transfers torque to the augers.
Many newer models come with rivited, aluminum cases that aren't as
durable.
2) A locking differential-type transmission that drives the rear wheels.
3) Heated hand grips....gripping handles for a long time freezes your
hands....even with ski gloves on.
4) Definitely go for more horsepower than you think you will need,
and opt for the electric start.
A tip...wax the machine inside and out...it will keep it looking good and keeps the snow from sticking to it.
Fuel-stabilizer and an oil change at the end of each season will help it stay working properly when you need it.
Good Luck with your purchase,
Post a picture of what you decided to buy.
MB
PS..."Track" type are almost impossible to move if they won't start, or if it runs out of gas at the end of the driveway and you want to drag it back.

 

Ended up using the Craftsman this last storm, my brother came by and stole the Honda. His Tecumseh still isn't running right and I refuse to work on it anymore lol. Says he would have took the Craftsman if he could of lifted it lol, damn thing is heavy. The Honda is light as hell.

Oh well, the Craftsman did pretty well, I think I fixed everything that's gonna break on it. Removed the tarp, damn thing still looks bran new. -



Oh wait , I take that back, something did break. I noticed the plastic choke lever kept going around in circles while running her lol. Never used it anyway, just hit the primer bulb 5 times and she fires right up.

 

^^ my point.

Jbrew how old is that thing?

my simplcity hasnt needed ANYTHING but gas and air in the tires the last 21 seasons and this year we put a spark plug in it. nothigns broke. runs ok with choke half on. all the way off it dies.... i need to clean the carb.