Are craftsman snow blowers crap?

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: tfinch2
What kind of engine does it have?

Kohler > Briggs & Stratton

lol, Kohler > pretty much everything. They are an extremely high quality, but extremely expensive small engine.

Kohler > Honda > Briggs & Stratton = Tecumseh > Cheap Chinese crap

The difference could be in the engine. Don't necessarily let that deter you, though. Briggs engines can last for a very, very long time.

If this machine is only going to be used for a few hours a year, if that, don't worry about it too much. Worry more about the quality of the snow thrower itself.

LOL...I wish. If this winter has been any indication, I expect to use it at least two hours a week.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Captante


This dual-stage full-sized 8 hp Ariens is $1019 This one will handle just about any snowfall you can reasonably expect to deal with & is enough for even long driveways.

this is basicially whe we have ours is a 8.5 HP Ariens that is humm IDK 15 years old and still runs like a fing champ, its prob seen more snow then most as i used to SB a 1/4 mile long driveway (1.5 cars wide) with it about once a week back when i lived in Maine when i was younger

How long did it usually take to blow that length? How much snow generally? I can't seem to get any solid answers when it comes to speed.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Captante


This dual-stage full-sized 8 hp Ariens is $1019 This one will handle just about any snowfall you can reasonably expect to deal with & is enough for even long driveways.

this is basicially whe we have ours is a 8.5 HP Ariens that is humm IDK 15 years old and still runs like a fing champ, its prob seen more snow then most as i used to SB a 1/4 mile long driveway (1.5 cars wide) with it about once a week back when i lived in Maine when i was younger

How long did it usually take to blow that length? How much snow generally? I can't seem to get any solid answers when it comes to speed.

when there was less then 6in you could run it in 4th or 5th and do it in less then an hour

when we used to get feets of snow it would take a few hours cause you had to run it in 1st or 2nd

the 1st pass is always the slowest, after that it speeds up because you dont have to put the full width of the mouth in the snow

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: AnnonUSA
They are crap, Never seen one make it through a snowy winter without breaking at least once.

Had mine for 3 years now and it has started each time on the first try after sitting all summer long. I have had a Craftsman lawn mower that's 5 years old that's the same way. It just depends on where they're stored and if you do maintenence on the things (I like to use Sta-bil in the gas tank if it's going to sit for a few months and change the spark plug every year).

 

[PingSpike]

I think I'm going to get a toro blower. The craftsman are cheaper, but I keep finding reports of retarded things breaking on them. I'm sure the motors are comparable since they seem to use the same briggs or tecumseh engines as ariens or toro, but I frankly don't want to deal with the rest of the blower breaking all the time.

Ariens seems good, maybe even a little better bang for the buck since they have 3 year instead of two year warrenties, and seem to be maybe a couple hundred bucks cheaper for a comparable model to a toro. The trouble is, there don't seem to be many ariens dealers/repair places around here. I don't know if thats a big deal or not. I still haven't ruled ariens out yet though.

I can't really decide between the 10HP or the 11HP OHV. The only thing the bigger model has besides the engine is a adjustable scraper thing on the bottom, which apparently some people had complaints about. I'm just not sure if the extra 1HP is worth $200 more. Or am I missing something with the OHV versus the other design?

After hearing that Anubis blasted through a 1/4 mile in less than an hour with an 8HP I'm thinking the 10 may fit the bill though. I may just buy some tire chains.

 

[Ramma2]

I've got a Craftsman Trackdrive snowblower. I think its about 18 years old or so, all I know is it looks like a tank, drives like a tank, and destroys snow like nothing else. Push button electric start, pops off every time. Only thing thats ever broken on it is a shear pin!