Bought a new toy yesterday. Let it snow!

[mskif]

My local dealer had a Toro 826LE (last years model) on sale and I have been wanting to replace my 22 year old Ariens for a couple of years. Anyone try one of these?

 

[sedanman]

Whatcha doin' with the old one?

 

[mskif]

Whatcha doin' with the old one?

It is on Craigslist now.

 

[Cutter]

Looks good. Do you think that I could use one of those to combine some soy beans so I can get into my fencerows to start cuttin?
Brad

 

[JustWood]

I agree , let it snow! I just bought this phat snow pushin bastage this week too.

 

[fossil]

I use this toy to move snow around. It's a bit tedious with the front loader...lots of backing and dumping and stuff...but it's fun and I'm retired, so what the hell? Rick

 

[Dix]

Rick, I love the entry way !

 

[quads]

I plowed a heck of a lot of snow with Dad's 1949 Willy's Jeep. It's the vehicle that I learned to drive in:

When Willy the Jeep turned 50 years old, I bought this, a Polaris Sportsman 500:

After 10,000 miles on the Sportsman, I traded it in for a new Polaris (without a plow) and got this, a Husky snowblower:

When the snow is really deep, and there's no place left to push it with a blade, nothing beats a snowthrower, except maybe a tractor with a loader on it.

 

[billb3]

I tried 'plowing' snow with my FEL.
Fine on asphalt, but man-oh-man did I make a mess of the lawn.

 

[Flatbedford]

Whatcha doin' with the old one?

What he said. Where in Hudson Valley? Any where near Croton on Hudson? Maybe post link to CL listing?

 

[mskif]

Whatcha doin' with the old one?

What he said. Where in Hudson Valley? Any where near Croton on Hudson? Maybe post link to CL listing?

I didn't want to use this space for advertising but since I have had a couple inquires on this post, here you go:
(broken link removed to http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/grd/1476728283.html)

 

[fossil]

...I didn't want to use this space for advertising but since I have had a couple inquires on this post, here you go:
(broken link removed to http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/grd/1476728283.html)

That's fair, organic. You're a member, not a retailer, and there are other members interested. You could also post it here:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewforum/13/

 

[PapaDave]

My local dealer had a Toro 826LE (last years model) on sale and I have been wanting to replace my 22 year old Ariens for a couple of years. Anyone try one of these?

My brother had a Husky 11 hp, for 2 winters. He sold it on CL for just a little less than he paid, then got himself a nice quad with the intention of putting a plow on it. Still hasn't done it.
This is my snow mover, although the handle broke at a stress point last winter. Had it rewelded, and now the angle is a little off. Gotta fix that soon before the snow gets too bad. Put chains on it in the middle of the first winter. The turf tires don't cut it tryin' to push snow. :roll:

 

[mskif]

...I didn't want to use this space for advertising but since I have had a couple inquires on this post, here you go:
(broken link removed to http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/grd/1476728283.html)

That's fair, organic. You're a member, not a retailer, and there are other members interested. You could also post it here:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewforum/13/

Thanks Fossil. I wasn't sure of the etiquette.

 

[LLigetfa]

My snow thrower is in a few dozen pieces in my shop. The grease in the auger drive was full of brass grindings from the worm ring gear. After getting a price (OMG!) on a new brass gear, I decided to clean up the old one and flip it around to wear the other side. Took a few different files to it and got all the sharks and burrs off of it. I need to machine and install a thrust bearing where none was before.

 

[Gooserider]

I don't understand wanting to get rid of a 22 year old Ariens - my ~1978 model is just getting broke in...

One product that I do enthusiastically recommend for anyone w/ a 2-stage blower is a (broken link removed to http://smllengns.tripod.com/id1.html). This is a set of rubber wipers that bolt onto the tips of your second stage impeller, and eliminate the clearance between the impeller and the housing.... It increases the tip speed of the impeller, and seals the gap so that the blower can throw harder and faster....

I put it on my old Ariens and found that with dry snow, I was getting 3-5' higher and farther throwing - I could put "blower prints" at chest level on trees that I couldn't even touch before. :coolgrin:

However the really HUGE improvement was when you get those nasty slush storms with snow that acts more like wet concrete... Before the kit, I could barely get it to blow at all, would clog frequently, and found it to be a generally huge PITA to deal with that stuff... With the kit, it throws slush almost as well as the machine used to throw dry in the pre-kit days, and it almost never clogs - when it does, it will often self clear just from the pressure building up on the bottom of the clog. Slush is still not fun, but it's no longer a total pain...

Gooserider

 

[John_M]

My 18 year old Ariens has been a reliable workhorse since I purchased it new. Toward the end of last season the 9 h.p. Tecumseh engine would occasionally stall when under load. It appeared to be fuel related and I seem to have corrected that problem. I'll know for sure at the first big snow.

The machine is still in great shape mechanically and cosmetically so I cannot forsee the day I would sell it. I checked out the "Clarence Kit" recommended by Gooserider and might install one for the like-new efficiency it provides.

My good friends at the farm would love to have a monster similar to the one purchased by Lee's.

Best wishes and happy Thanksgiving to all.

John_M

 

[MainePellethead]

Is that a Cadet under there Papa? I have the 1046 model....love it but I dont use it to throw or move snow... had thought of getting a plow for it tho..... hows it do in the snow with chains?

[quote author="organic" date="1258935699"

My brother had a Husky 11 hp, for 2 winters. He sold it on CL for just a little less than he paid, then got himself a nice quad with the intention of putting a plow on it. Still hasn't done it.
This is my snow mover, although the handle broke at a stress point last winter. Had it rewelded, and now the angle is a little off. Gotta fix that soon before the snow gets too bad. Put chains on it in the middle of the first winter. The turf tires don't cut it tryin' to push snow. :roll:

 

[SolarAndWood]

My good friends at the farm would love to have a monster similar to the one purchased by Lee's.

Proscapes in Manlius had a couple that must have been 15 or 20 feet out by the road when I drove by last week.

 

[PapaDave]

Is that a Cadet under there Papa? I have the 1046 model....love it but I dont use it to throw or move snow... had thought of getting a plow for it tho..... hows it do in the snow with chains?

[quote author="organic" date="1258935699"

My brother had a Husky 11 hp, for 2 winters. He sold it on CL for just a little less than he paid, then got himself a nice quad with the intention of putting a plow on it. Still hasn't done it.
This is my snow mover, although the handle broke at a stress point last winter. Had it rewelded, and now the angle is a little off. Gotta fix that soon before the snow gets too bad. Put chains on it in the middle of the first winter. The turf tires don't cut it tryin' to push snow. :roll:

Yeah, Cub gt1554. Should have gotten a bigger tractor or a quad when I got this. This does a good job since I put the chains on. It's a little slow, but gets it done. The plow is the weak point. MTD quick attach deal from HD, and the handle started cracking the first year. Only paid $300 for the plow, so it's paid for itself several times. Guys around here want $30 to do my drive, and I plowed what seemed like 2x/wk. the last couple years.

Dave

 

[John_M]

Solar,

Thanks for the tip. I'll mention this to my farmer buddies. They might want to check them out.

John_M

 

[mayhem]

Doesn't pay to mess around.

3/4 ton pickup, 8' plow and a load of multi-function ballast and I'm good to go.

Got a free, older Ariens ST824 this past spring. Needs paint, but it runs great and really chews into the snowbanks in a way that the newer blowers just won't do. Been looking for reasonable prices on the Trac-Team attachments to go with it, but anyone selling them wants way more money than they're worth to me.