I have read the 826 and 826D are both decent machines. The one to avoid is TRS model. I bought a 826D to work on last month. What a piece of junk! There is no comparison between 826 and 826D. I will stay away from it in the future.

What brand snow blower are you talking about? Many if not all have a 826 model.

They are John Deere brand.

AH I'm no expert on the JD blowers but the two models may have been made by two different makers, I know Ariens made them at one point and then I think it was Murray which is the ones people say to avoid. Not sure of the years but I know there are a few on the forum who know the JD blowers pretty well and will be posting at some point.

the 826d appears to be an ariens compact model which i tend to avoid

The 826D is an Ariens built machine and are well built and sturdy, IF YOU MAINTAIN THEM. More than likely you got one that was not maintained well. John Deere stopped producing snowblowers in the late 80s and outsourced to Ariens and Murray. The Murray built machines are ok, but no where near as good as the Ariens built ones. Murray = TRS/TRD I work on both. My church has an 826D that just goes goes goes, and a few TRS-27s which were good initially but problematic after 10-15 years. I also have a TRS-32 which is ok, but not built as well as the Ariens.

Does not matter who built the 826D, it is no where near as good as the 826.

Thats very likely not true. A sample size of one is not statistically significant.
In reality, both are considered perfecty good. You cant judge an entire population on only one machine.

Scot