Snowblower Forum banner

what happened to snowblowers?

12K views 47 replies 31 participants last post by  reader2580 
#1 · (Edited)
i haven't really been to a dealer to look at new blowers in a long time. i usually deal with older blowers from the 80's and early 90's.

i am just surprised on 2 things how much plastic is used and how thin the metal is that they use now for these things. i feel that they wont have the shelf life and will rust through faster then the thicker older snowblowers?

not to mention they are as expensive as ever. what do you guys think?
 
#45 ·
And some of it is the market driven by big box mentality, cheaper, and cheaper. A case in point:
In 1998 I bought a Toro 3000 GTS, with the Suzuki engine and electric start. About $750.
Now, 21 years later you can buy the top of the line Toro single stage, with a more powerful engine, weighs in at 20 lbs more, for the same money. So what's changed? Quality! by rights allowing for inflation it should cost much more if everything was the same quality. But it doesn't and it ain't! That's why I kept this one so long. I don't mind putting some money into it every 5 years or so. I can't stand spending good money on something that looks cheap and the plastic on modern Toros does not impress me. Nor do made in China engines.
 
#46 ·
In my opinion, this is also in part due to customers. I believe today's machines CAN last pretty long, but very few people actually want to maintain them so they can last.


My late 90s Craftsman works ok for now, but I doubt I'll still use it in 15-20 years even if it gets there in good working order. As it gets older, so will I and I will certainly want something lighter so handling it is easier. This Craftsman is pretty heavy.


At work, we use only flat screen LCD computer monitors. Depending on the quality, they all fail within 2 to 8 years. My employer has about 10 companies in different complementary fields, but my building has the oldest monitors. Why ? I'm the only guy that fixes them. Others throw them away and pay $100+ to replace each one. A few years ago, after our first LCD monitors failed, I decided to open one up to try and diagnose it. I do have an electronics degree, but haven't really put it to use for 20 years and therefore forgot a lot of it. However I discovered that 9 out of 10 times the faulty part is one or a few capacitors that cost a few pennies each. The first time it took me an hour and a half of work, but nowadays they get fixed in 15 minutes. We saved a LOT of money as I repaired countless ones over the years.

But how many people actually fix things instead of replacing the entire unit ? This way of thinking certainly got lost in the last decades.
 
#47 ·
Yes.......maintenance does help! And at other times such as a monitor, it begs to be thrown out. I had an 18’’ monitor on my desk for years which I gave to my grandson when I replaced it a couple of years ago with a 32’’ TV for a monitor so I could view more windows on the screen. That TV came from my boat where I replaced it with one with a higher definition for better viewing.

IT SUCKS!

The definition on large screens is important when reading numbers... is that an 8 or a 6, is that a 5 or a 7? Yeah the TV remains my monitor as I type but it ain’t got much life there (king’s English)! Sometimes I have to use my printer to be sure of the numbers being shown.
 
#48 ·
My Troy-Bilt 42050 snow blower was purchased in Dec 2000 and I recall it cost around $800. That $800 is worth about $1,200 today. There is no new snow blower I can find for $1,200 that matches the thickness of steel and quality of my Troy-Bilt. This was one of the last Gardenway Troy-Bilt snow blowers before they went bankrupt. I looked at the Toro Professional for $2,300 and the steel is not as thick as my Troy-Bilt.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top