PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

I currently have a 1995 Toro 3521 that I bought from a friend in non-running condition for a mere $20 and then spent $168 getting it running; Now it runs great, but the auger drive is starting to give out after this past storm.

The snowblower probably is easily fixable, but it's old and I have feeling that more parts are going to wear out; I want a snowblower that can sit for weeks or even months at a time and fire up pretty much at moment's notice, and my dad thinks that it's not worth it to put more money into the Toro, so I am actively looking at a new snowblower.

My top choice right now is Cub Cadet; My neighbor let me borrow his 2016 Cub Cadet after my Toro shit the bed, and I LOVED IT. The Cub even has trigger-control power steering, and it didn't miss a beat while clearing my driveway.

The following day, the neighbor with the Cub Cadet was at work, so I borrowed my other neighbor's 2001 MTD Yard Machines; I am unsure of the Cub's HP, but the MTD had 5.5HP and only clogged once with heavy, icy snow.

Yet another neighbor brought over his 2009 Troy-Bilt 6HP machine, and it made quick work of the icy snow that stalled the '01 Yard Machines.

I did have my eye on a Yardmax machine, which was priced considerably less than comparable models from Cub Cadet and Toro, but still had extras like heated grips (which I don't particularly need). I was talked out of buying the Yardmax because these use Chinese engines that are supposedly harder to find parts for.

 

My 1995 Toro 3521...

 

Honda snowblower - any day, all day. Japanese quality, shaft drive.

 

Jerry’s 5-year old Cub Cadet that he let me borrow...

 

Agreed; But I could buy a decent Honda Civic for the same price as a brand new Honda snowblower with all of the features I want! I would love to buy a Honda snowblower, but I don't want to spend more than a thousand bucks on a machine, and I'd prefer to keep it below $800.

 

My other neighbor’s 2001 MTD that he brought over for me to use...

 

Honda’s cheapest snowblower costs $750, and it’s a single-stage; I agree with you that Honda makes excellent power equipment, but there is a 2-stage Toro snowblower at Home Depot for less than this single-stage Honda. I can tell you from experience that a single-stage snowblower is pretty much useless in my neck of the woods...

 

And then, as I stated above, a Honda 2-stage machine costs the same as a decent used Honda Civic; The cheapest Honda 2-stage is almost $2,500, and electric start isn’t even available unless you spend an extra $90 for the “AWD” model!

 

Simplicity. My dad has a 1994, that still runs as if it came off the floor yesterday. Granted he does any And all preventative maintenance on it and has made a few repairs (new tires). But it’s 100%, he does credit a lot of it to ONLY running non-ethanol fuel through it.


Or maybe this? As seen on BearTooth pass,

 

That thing would suck up my Tacoma!

Also where is your dad getting non-ethanol fuel?!?!

 

I never said it was cheap...
But the way I look at it, if you use a snowblower regularly, it will wear out in 5-10 years. And you have to keep buying belts along the way. With a Honda, I expect it to last 20 years, maybe more.

 

“non”-ethanol fuel is very very very common in upstate NY. He lives in CT and always brings back 10-20 gallons to run in all his power equipment when they visit.

Snowmobiles, boats, ect all the recreational equipment we have up here there’s E-0 pumps at every station. Heck if I drive 10 miles I can even buy 87 without ethanol, most stations its 91 however.

check out marinas, also there are a few Apps to help you find it. You must have it around in PA....


https://www.pure-gas.org/

Try that.

 

My neighbor said he was thinking of buying a Cub Cadet and selling this, and I immediately expressed interest in buying it, but he hinted a short time later that he intends on running it until it dies...

 

Grew up in the power sports and lawn and garden dealership world and we sold Ariens and toro exclusively. I highly recommend a new toro they are incredible plus the thing would last you literally your life.

 

If I lived in Alaska, anywhere in the mountains, or anywhere North of NYC, I could justify spending $2,300 or more on a snowblower. However, last year we got almost no snow and none of our neighbors who have snowblowers used them; I cannot afford a Honda right now. My dad could afford a Honda snowblower, but he can’t justify spending that kind of money on something that is only used intermittently for three to four months or so out of the entire year; You say it’ll wear out in five to ten years, but I think that’s with regular use...

What brand would you recommend after Honda?

 

Stay away from Troy Bilt. I have a 24" with 8.5HP 2 stage that is absolutely worthless in anything slightly wet. The auger design must be total crap. It has less than 20 hours on it and the engine is on it's last leg due to camshaft issues. That's easily fixed with a HF Predator engine, but the rest of the machine makes it a throw away.

 

The Toro I’m looking at is like $700! Very reasonable in my opinion!