I have been researching, comparing, reading reviews and of course opinions from this forum. I think I spent more time looking at snow throwers than looking at cars before I pulled the trigger. There are many plus and minuses for every brand and model. I wish I was able to pull the features off of one machine and put it on another and build the perfect snow thrower " a la carte".
When I thought I made up my mind, I would see some other feature or fault that would change my decision. I have been removing snow from the same drive way for 33 years with 2 Sears Craftsman machines. Since Craftsman doesn't make its own machine, I searched for a local dealer and narrowed my choices.
The winner was the Ariens 28 SHO. What impressed me most was the build quality. It was built like my first Craftsman which lasted 23 years. Of course the Craftsman didn't have all the bells and whistles of the Ariens, but I felt I got my money's worth from it. And the Ariens has a lot less plastic than many of the others. I added hand warmers because I never had them before and this will be my last snow thrower purchase in my lifetime. It will be assembled and delivered next week.
I want to thank all of the forum participants for their experience and opinions that helped me decide.
When I thought I made up my mind, I would see some other feature or fault that would change my decision. I have been removing snow from the same drive way for 33 years with 2 Sears Craftsman machines. Since Craftsman doesn't make its own machine, I searched for a local dealer and narrowed my choices.
The winner was the Ariens 28 SHO. What impressed me most was the build quality. It was built like my first Craftsman which lasted 23 years. Of course the Craftsman didn't have all the bells and whistles of the Ariens, but I felt I got my money's worth from it. And the Ariens has a lot less plastic than many of the others. I added hand warmers because I never had them before and this will be my last snow thrower purchase in my lifetime. It will be assembled and delivered next week.
I want to thank all of the forum participants for their experience and opinions that helped me decide.