Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire snowblower question... please educate me.

Two stage is the only snow blower.

One stage are for women.

Ariens will make short work of snow, and dead hookers. Hint.

Don't forget the chains and hangover.



Travis

What's snow?

You already made your decision but I bought a cub cadet at the beginning of the season. I can already see the weak spots but it always starts, throws snow decently ( the wet stuff not so well) and over all runs good. We're just under 100" so far and I'm happy.

If it gets stupid snowy, I'm gonna grab my dads massy with the hydraulic 48" blower and quit messing around.

My Ariens ST824 has been a champ since the late 80's and I move a bit of snow. It's never seen a dealer since my dad wheeled it out the showroom.
For small engine repair, there's a lot to be said for a small engine guy who operates out of his garage if you can find a good one, and there are 2 guys here locally who get my business for the snow blower, lawn mower, and weed whacker. Excellent work, and waaaay less than the dealer. Ask some of your buds if they know a dude.
Also, get set up with some shear pins, and belts. Not hard to replace, and sometimes your only option after a good snow fall.

70hp and up tractor, chains, cab and an 8ft rear blade unless it gets deep, then stay home

I had an Ariens 824 LE that I bought new years ago. Well, a part let go while the machine was a few months old and under warranty, or so I thought. Neither the dealer would not honor the warranty, nor would the people at Ariens. I had to pay to fix their POS. Needless to say, you can't give me any Ariens products. I got rid of it afterwards.

I bought a Troy-Bilt 3090 XP Storm to replace the Ariens. There's NO comparison between them either. Troy-Bilt is a much better unit.

when living in MN, I had a 2 stage with a 10 horse motor on it... a batch of neighbors were so impressed with mine, over what theirs was doing.. they went down and bought one just like I had...

large driveway, deep snow and big snow banks courtesy of the snow plows as soon as you finished cleaning out your own driveway...

This is my neighbor about a month ago. He cracks me up.

Not complaining, we never have much of a snow problem on our street!

Holy balls, I need that rig this morning..

Yep, and Amana, Kenmore, Roper, and a few others actually.

With regard to a snowblower, don't be afraid to buy an older used unit. Anything with from Deere, Ariens, or Simplicity will last a lifetime. I have a 1975 Simplicity 8hp, 24" that throws snow as good as any newer blower I've used. Newer will get you more features like a head light, heated grips, etc but that's just more stuff to break in my opinion

I think you'll be happy with your Craftsman 26" because I have one just like it. It handles everything but the very heaviest slush, which clogs the chute. For me, that's just the stuff the snowplow driver piles up at the end of my drive and then partly melts/refreezes in the gutter. I've had this one for three or four years now and the only maintenance needed is the occasional replacement of the shoes - and they're designed to be sacrificial anyway. I do run ethanol gas in it, but I also fully drain it and run it dry between seasons. No sweat so far.

One helpful hint: spray the rotors and chute with WD-40 or silicone spray before every blowing session. It really helps prevent clogging and caking.

Edit to add: Just looked out the window. I'll be blowing before long.

I had a Craftsman two stage walk behind for years at the last house, and it served me well. It was the 30" model with a 12 horse and had levers on each hand grip that would turn the unit. Very handy, and it was reliable. I let the guy keep it that bought the house. I agree that dual stage is best for walk-behinds.

As far as single stage goes, I have one on a 40 year old Cub Cadet 169 (a 40") at the north lake farm and one on a 40 year old Sears/Roper 16ss (a 42"). Both tractors have hard cabs which makes blowing at least semi-comfortable, and I have never clogged either one regardless of depth or wetness of snow. Both driveways at the farms are nearly a 1/4 mile long asphalt plus all the area around the buildings. They throw the snow a good distance. I would not condemn single stage, at least when mounted to a good tractor.