How This MTD Snow Blower Changed My Life
Written: Dec 10 '08 (Updated Dec 11 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Since becoming a snowblowing fanatic I chuckle at snowdrifts, and laugh at ominous snow forecasts.
Cons: With most snow falls the snow blowing is usually all finished too quickly.
The Bottom Line: I was once opposed to using snow blowers, believing that those who live in Northern climates should be purists, suck it up and get out the shovels. I was wrong.
|
|
|
| the_gas_man's Full Review: - Mtd Two - Stage Snow Blower with Electric Start ... |
I've never been one to shy away from hard work and living in a Northern climate simply means one has to get used to shoveling snow. I've always taken pride in clearing my driveway the good old fashioned way, even when some of my younger neighbors began turning out with their fancy new gas-powered snow blowers. In response to their dandy machines I would usually pick up my pace and through the sweat and steam that rose from my face, I would snort semi-silent derogatory comments at them, "pansy", lilly livered, polluters". All the while giving them my friendly neighbor wave.
Last winter was the worst in my memory, or perhaps it only felt like the worst. By the time the last snows fell in March of 2008, my back was ready to throw in the towel, even if mentally, I wasn't. Chance and circumstance led me to the showroom floor of this MTD two stage, snow blower. As most people who have ever shopped for snow blower or a snow thrower know, the choices of makes, models and price ranges are endless.
Single Stage versus Two Stage:
There is no mystery about this terminology, a single stage machine is like one big paddle wheel that both drags the snow into the mouth of the machine and throws it out the chute. The auger is generally made of a thick rubber material, very similar to a car tire and it is designed to literally slap the ground as it rotates at high speed. These machines are ideal for people with interlocking brick driveways as they can clear the snow without damaging the surface of the drive or walkway. They also tend to be a little smaller and easier to handle. I found a few models with 21 to 22" wide mouths. They still offer electric start, but must be pushed as the wheels are not self-propelled. Since the paddle wheel type auger is digging into snow and slapping the ground, it will somewhat gently pull you forward when you engage the auger to turn. However, they do tend to be designed with very short mouth heights not making them the most ideal machine for clearing deep snow.
For those with small garages and precious little storage space, these are ideal as the handles can fold up, making the whole machine little more than 21" by 30".
The only other drawback to this style of machine is that the auger is not designed to handle the ice chunks and frozen snow drifts that your friendly municipal street plows tend to leave in front of your driveway. Attempting to plow ice chunks with these high speed rubber augers is almost certain death for the machine. For that job, you really do need a two-stage machine.
With two stage machines, the first stage utilizes heavy metal augers with serrated teeth, attached to a drive shaft with shear pins. The shear pins are designed to break if the machine encounters a rock, a chunk of wood or even a frozen newspaper in the snow, thereby protecting the auger and drive shaft from serious damage. The shear pin can be replaced for a couple of bucks and replacements actually came with this unit.
The second stage is comprised of a metal impeller that rotates at approximately 10 times the speed of the front auger blades. The sole purpose of the second stage impeller is to throw the snow and chopped ice up through the chute. In this unit the second stage is also made of a heavy gauge metal. When shopping around this is something to look closely at, as at least one machine I looked at had a poly impeller and although it "looked" robust, I don't think I would trust even a heavy plastic in this application to last very long.
The two stage models also come with two adjustable shoes on the bottom sides of the mouth, these can be replaced if necessary with optional thick poly sliding shoes that allow you to raise the mouth of the machine for uneven interlocking driveways and avoid scratching or chipping them.
This unit as with almost all snow throwers also comes with a small poker type shovel attached to the top of the mouth for clearing ice and snow from the chute. It should go without saying the manufacturers do not recommend sticking your hand down the chute to remove any chunks of ice.
Sizing Up To Meet Your Needs
It's incredibly easy to talk yourself into a bigger and better machine, especially when they're all laid out in front of you. Bigger engines, bigger wheels with better traction, bigger mouths (yes, even a big mouth can be attractive at times). However, I rationalized that this MTD 24" two-stage model with electric start was more than sufficient for my double wide driveway, that can comfortably park up to four cars.
All of the snow blowers I looked at have 4 cycle engines now, which means no more mess mixing oil and gas. These machines all take regular unleaded gas and use 5w30 oil. Just like your car, you just need to check the dip stick now and again. A handy oil drain nipple and cap are located on the bottom rear of the engine allowing for fast and easy oil changes once a year.
Like most units in the two stage category this model has 6 forward speeds and two reverse speeds. One being good for heavy ice and six being the fastest, that I use to get it back to the garage when I'm done.
Most manufacturers of these machines no longer rate them in horsepower. There was a U.S. court challenge in which apparently the courts agreed that manufacturers of these machines could not guarantee the horsepower ratings under all snow conditions, as the horsepower is measured against a fixed resistance and snow can be light and fluffy or wet and heavy. So now most manufacturers only publish torque power (TP) or engine displacement size in c.c.'s. To most people who are accustomed to HP ratings, TP and CC's specifications are not much use. Torque power is measured in foot pounds and there is no formula that relates it to horsepower. However, most engineers at companies like Briggs and Stratton agree that a properly designed engine should produce about 1 horsepower for every 25 to 30 c.c.'s Therefore you will now find sales people saying a 208 c.c. engine is approximately 7 HP. 250 c.c.'s roughly equal a little over 8 HP etc.
For a 22 to 24 inch wide mouth you need the equivelent of a 5.5 to 7 HP engine and the engine size should increase in proportion to the width and height of the mouth. Personally, I am always more comfortable with engine types that I recognize from past machines, such as Briggs and Statton, Tecumseh, Honda, and Kohler. However, there are a few generic engines made by companies like MTD that have had several years of good performance history, so they shouldn't be ruled out altogether. Tecumseh is currently going through a restructuring having gone into bankruptcy this year, but I imagine things will turn around for them.
The wheels on this unit are about 13" high with nice wide, deep treads for good traction. Some of the machines I looked at had smaller 10" wheels and looked like they could get stuck pretty easily.
If I had a long driveway that could hold 8 or more cars I would likely have looked more closely at the 28" and 30" models with 305 to 350 c.c. engines (about 10-12 HP) so that I would have to make fewer passes back and forth. Some of those machines also offered optional free wheeling or differential unlocking to allow the operator to turn the much larger and heavier machine with less effort. If you find yourself looking at these bigger machines, that can be a labor saving feature. It isn't required on this machine, which is easily manipulated.
Let's also remember you need to be able to store this machine for most of the year in your garage. If your garage is anything like mine, floor space is already limited.
Ultimately, the machine you choose should not only fit in your garage, it should be suited to the size of your driveway and be one that you feel comfortable handling. It's also kind of nice if the one that best suits you fits your budget, which this one did for me.
I was surprised to see how much work this machine could accomplish while using a very small amount of gas. This aspect is hard to quantify in terms of gas usage, as it depends on the amount of snow that falls, and the weight of it.
Other Options:
There were no fancy options on this machine, a simple crank handle that allows me to turn the chute 180 degrees as I'm walking. One handed controls that free up one hand to direct the snow either at my neighbor's cat or onto his driveway. (Just kidding I like cats.)
While some of the machines I looked at offered hand grip warmers and headlights, I didn't find such tricks of interest. I wear gloves and plan to have the driveway cleared before the hand grip warmers have a chance to heat up. I also don't plan to be out there in the middle of the night plowing snow. It can always wait until morning.
Still other models in the higher price tag category came with fancy joy sticks that gave the operator full left, right and up or down control over the direction the snow was being thrown. Nice to look at and play with in the showroom, but I wondered about all the plastic bits and just how long they would last.
This machine has a chute that is fabricated out of a polymer, which the manufacturer claims has been tested in Alaska. I have heard arguments from both camps about which is better, a metal chute or a plastic/polymer chute (they don't like to call it plastic). Some claim the poly chute will crack from the cold, some argue the metal chutes freeze up faster in cold weather and rust from stone chips. Since it's not actually working much, but rather just directing the snow and ice, I am willing to see if it lives through the two year warranty without damage and if I have to replace it, I will. It seemed that about 70% of the machines I looked at in this size and price range had poly chutes.
Service and Support
MTD offers a two year parts and labor warranty on all of their machines.
This can be a big concern, what do I do if the unthinkable happens and it breaks down in a snow storm? (I think I may still have a shovel in the back of my garage, but will I remember how to use it?)
MTD have a 1-800 customer service hot-line and over 1200 authorized small engine repair dealers. I found two within a short drive of my home. Although nothing has gone wrong with my Ferrari Red MTD snow blower, I called their hot-line anyway, as a test. The response time was less than five minutes and they were extremely helpful. I'm satisfied that this company is serious about providing customer service.
How Did This Machine Change My Life?
Despite my previous Rambo approach to snow storms, using shovels and pick axes to clear snow and ice (especially the piles left by my ever-loving street cleaners, usually in the middle of the night) I secretly hated having to go out there and toss tons of snow by hand. I will never forget that very first time, in my garage, having pulled off the plastic wrapping, tucked away the manual for future bedtime reading, checked the oil level one last time, I plugged in the 120 volt electric starter, set the choke, primed the engine and pressed the all systems go button. It roared to life and I felt the power trembling through me as I set it in forward gear and gave the order to engage. It surged into the driveway like a demon dragon hungry for snow to munch on and then it's seductive red mouth swallowed everything in it's path, shooting it over 20 feet, (it was a bit light and fluffy that day).
It can toss heavier snow, (the kind we called packing snow as kids, because it was perfect for packing into solid snowballs), up to 10 or 15 feet.
Letting out a loud laugh, the frightening kind of laugh that often comes with new found power, I adjusted the angle of the chute and shouted at the darkened sky, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" "Is that the best you can do?"
Within mere minutes I was finished, the driveway was completely cleared and the engine was barely warmed up. Then I noticed my neighbor still hadn't arrived home, (or perhaps he was hiding with the lights out, having heard me laughing and shouting at the sky) so I set course for his driveway at warp factor six. Having completed my good deed for the day, I headed back home and realized that not only had I just cleared "two" driveways in record time, I wasn't winded, tired, sweaty or cold. In fact, I'm not too embarrassed to say, I thought it was fun. I enjoyed it so much, that if I smoked I would have had a cigarette when it was all over.
The weather forecast is calling for another heavy snow fall this coming weekend, I can only hope that they're right.
Regards,
The Gasman
I paid just under $800.00 for this machine.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
the_gas_man
|
 - Top 200 |
|
Location: Where I Need To Be
Reviews written: 57
Trusted by: 248 members
About Me:
Still venting after all these years.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.