I recently purchased one of these machines at Sears. It seemed to be a good value for a 9hp blower.
The salesman was very helpful when I was looking. I had no idea what to look for and did a lot of research. Craftsman has a good reputation and I have several of their products.
He showed me several higher priced models but the explained this model might work for me. After purchasing the blower the salesman in detail showed me what to tighten up and the assembly procedure. Basically everything needs to be tightened and oil check before use.
Using this machine was trial and error, but very easy to use. It is powerful and cuts through the snow with ease. It tends to be a little jumpy at the higher speed settings with the auger on. Use the higher speeds to move it point a to b and use the lower speeds to plow with.
The electric start is nice and works great. I found using the pull worked as well and started on the first pull every time.
The path the thrower makes is wide and removes almost all of the snow with ease any lower setting would make contact with the pavement or sidewalk.
This is a big machine. It cuts a nice wide path but also takes up a lot of room in the garage. It also has a lot of vibrations and can be tiring after a long use. It is also noisy. It has the manly roar of power that would definitely drive your neighbors nuts at 6am on a Sunday.
You won't need ear protection, but without them it can be annoying.
Everything seems laid out OK except for the gears, which are hard to reach while moving, although you won't need to shift them much. They even include 2 shear pins in a case on top of the thrower. They are used in case you make contact with something you shouldn't have and shears the bolts on the auger blade so no further damage can occur. The pins make it easy to repair and keep on moving.
Overall I like the snow blower and would recommend it to anyone. Shop around and do some research. A smaller machine might work better if you have a small area to plow.
UPDATE
My snowblower bit this dust after last years season. I am very disapointed in sears customer service in regards to the machine. They wanted $600+labor to fix. Thats more than I paid for it. I took really good care and changed oil/plugs every year. It should have lasted longer than 6 years. My neighbors chraftsman is almost 20 going strong. A bolt sheared off somewhere in engine causing the terminal damage. Very leary of buying a new now. I loved this machine when it ran and I am  disappointed to see it go. Good luck


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