Generac Snow Blowers

Zavie said:

I agree! I would not even bother with my machined extension project.
I'm wondering what mindset he's in this morning about the generac. Is it a keeper?

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Im reserving my comments about it at the moment

I actually had to reach out to the executives at generac. Had talked to the head manager at DR power.

basically all of them have treated me like human trash. But im told im not human trash and when i get a call back it will be better.

They got me my replacement parts. Only because executive contacts reached their executives who forwarded it to the head of DR Power. In fact TSC executives have got the ball rolling on me not being left holding the bag. Even though they offered me a full return if i take it back to the store. I dont want to return it because it is an amazing machine.... On paper. It does have some pretty epic torque. not as much as the white with garden tractor tires. But it also has little 4.8 pizza cutters in comparison to tractor tires.

This is why Tractor Supply is amazing. I wasted about all of my day dealing with their nonsense.


I called them at 8am this morning to find out i was being mocked in the customer service office as the "snowblower guy".
So none of you can claim to be the snowblower guy, until you are being mocked by a company for being the snowblower guy. lol

captchas said:

good catch zavie that yellow plug is oil level don't remove or he will get a mess, the dip stick level is over that level but i wonder what shows on the other side? is there a extension drain with a flat and 10mm headed drain plug? since toro also uses loncin motors i looked at mine and from the toro parts list ,the extension and plug kit is sold if the op wants to put one in latter

121-0341 DRAIN PLUG KIT

1

$10.88

i'ts not a pipe thread like we are all used to .it's a straight 12 mm metric so we can't do a rubgoldberg homemade extension

OP
man do i hear you my toro doesn't have anything but fine mesh in the neck "yes it's cut out now" not some type of gas gauge but it's still a pita to fill with these new gas can fillers CA pushed down our necks ,that plus old age and a bad back forces me to use a pump to fill up my machines , so i use one of these Battery Operated Liquid Transfer Pump still have a little mess but not as much as i do using a 5 gallon can

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I had to use a pump to drain the oil out today. A hand pump. Apparently dr power sells one for $50 but i just used a $10 harbor freight one. Pumped it out and then filled it back up.

Zavie said:

Don't keep using those dangerous "safety spouts". TSC
and other stores sell EZ-Pour spout replacement kits that work with Midwest and Blitz gas cans.
View attachment 170016

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Going to have to get those. Midwest Cans should have a class action over those cans. they are more dangerous than any can i've ever used in my life. Will definitely be picking up new spouts before snow mo season.

For those in the lower great lakes area. . . Blaine's has the 28" DR version. . . .

DR Power 28" 252CC 2x Stage Snow Blower - SB13128DEN | Blain's Farm & Fleet

Mr. JT Monk said:

For those in the lower great lakes area. . . Blaine's has the 28" DR version. . . .

DR Power 28" 252CC 2x Stage Snow Blower - SB13128DEN | Blain's Farm & Fleet

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I actually went and looked at one of the DR power 28" on our way down to pick up the white. Which was past the green bay.


Here is a thing I would buy the 30"/13hp or w.e but I would not buy the 28" 8hp. for 2 reasons.
1 the 30" was roughly $100 more out the door for me. 2: is the power factor Mostly based on if i was going 8hp/28" i think is more reputable brands for $1000usd
Even taking retail on the DR at $1,250. Still a better deal. the 13hp loncin. IDC what it says it's gotta be like 11hp max. I do a grader test. Where I drag the snowblower backward on a pile of sand and see how much it can drag/grade. I know it probably wasn't under full load. But it felt slightly lacking over even the white 855w 8.5hp. It has the torque but it doesnt feel like 13hp. I want to put a 1350,1450 or even 1650 after warranty period to just see how it feels with one we know to be of legit specs. With that said. The engine on the 28" I believe was rated at 8hp like a 252 or something. It would probably be great for light-duty or repowering.

there was something else it had too, can't remember if it was smaller tires? It felt overall smaller. less beefiness. reminded me of like the yardman. Still had the auger. I thought about the 28" with a repower. But I really did want it for the Generac name. But honestly, DR may be the way to go.

Oh, another thing I like the finish better on the generac vs the DR power. IDK the coating on this took a hit form a forklift and scuffed it. I don't think the red/orange paint I saw on the DR would do that. Reminds me of the stuff on my other blowers that's really easy to "key". this stuff is like an orange powder coating. Maybe there's is more gloss vs matte and the same coating though so can't really comment if its same coating material hardness wise or what have you.

after my talks with everyone. I certainly wouldn't buy the generac, again. appears they are going to dump inventory on unsuspecting people and wash their hands of it. I don't see much incentive to support DR power at all after this. Whatever DR power becomes will just be a broker for cheap junk this point on is my takeaway. I have 0 faith in either management or leadership. They will spend the next weeks blaming each other for the products being pulled from retailers. Something will have to give and be blamed. Which is well deserved.


The man who is responsible for stealing their money took accountability. But like I told him don't apologize to me, apologize to all your coworkers willing to do your job who are doing theirs when they cash their paycheck. All those micro-management positions they have between both companies should hang their head in shame for stealing that money they didn't earn. Every single avenue and department I dealt with failed, not because of the workers, but because of cronyism and the fact that none of the managers and supervisors including those 4 executives at the very top are qualified to be in those positions. I can say that with 100% confidence. They have micromanaged the company into the ground. You have to talk to 20 departments to make 1 decision it appears at face value. Maybe a 1970s business model. but certainly not 2020. Which explains a lot about their turnover rate.

There may be a future for DR power blowers and that's what it should have always been. They never should have attempted to rebrand their blowers.

That is why the worst thing people can do for business, especially corporations is cronyism. yeah, that's great it's your best friend and all. But they need to know what they are doing. Every single person who is being paid "real" money to make it their problem all had the same "I have no idea" what's going on statements. Not a single supervisor, manager, executives had any idea. They were so out of touch with their systems and products it made me want to work at generac for free money.



Tell ya I'm happy as can be I got out of corporate life to farm/homestead on the edge of nowhere. Sadly the only person in the scenario speaking that cared about all those workers who need a job that they are failing with such basic things. Was me. That blows my mind that - The only person advocating why they should be better for all those people who need those jobs.... was me. That was the saddest part talking with generac and DR power. They gave the impression in my opinion that if I cared about workers I should let them just rip off consumers unknowingly. The "it's not a big deal if they don't have an issue" feeling/vibe was thick.

my final impression,
apparently, it's unheard of to want people to get their act together and care about the people who actually need those jobs to survive. I suppose when you make $2500-$5000usd a day (not incl. bonuses) for just showing up and not having to care. There is no real moral hazard or incentive to make them care. In the end, they will find it easier to have done nothing and washed their hands of it, than to have taken the opportunity to better themselves. Every department in Generac being blamed is scrambling to blame the other. Instead of just working together to get the job done. Because they have the worst corporate structure I've ever seen. They cant even escalate a problem apparently. The employees gave the impression they were scared and unsure what to do, supervisors told them to hang up on me by transferring me to dead ends that say to call them back. Knowing they would be the ones blamed not the supervisor. That's why I made sure to repeat several times "your supervisor is telling you to do this, You don't want to do this, they told you to do it". now when the chips hit the floor. They will blame the people at the bottom which seemed a real narrative at the start they would attempt with me. Until I explained what management was and how someone at the bottom can never be blamed for not being trained or informed. They get paid to do exactly what they are told to do. Working half as hard as the person above them.

I had to call generac so much that by the next day the start of the shift I was "the snowblower guy" sadly only one person at the bottom of the company probably making one of the lowest incomes in the company was the only one who attempted to escalate it through a physical internal mail system. But within 3 hours executives had already blamed the man who took accountability. But I don't see how 1 guy at dr power can be to blame for all those departments at generac failing? Of all the people who helped it was 3 most likely the lowest-paid associates in the structure. The first woman who could not look up the part, said "what bolts are they let me find some in the system to send you", she sent me both since there were a discrepancy, the 2nd several hours and multiple associates later, told me dr power closes at 5pm but they had to help me and she could do nothing for me. 3rd being the guy the next day at the call center who tried the internal physical paper mail escalation.


I did my part in advocating for consumers.

In summary, I wouldn't recommend consumers spend money with either brand on these products. Because I don't see them supporting the models long term. Because I don't see them having a long term. Generac and their holdings are really just a lifeline in a world falling apart. They are growing and able to be what they are because fear sales are through the roof. It's not because they are great or do a great job. With that generac should stick to generators. and DR power should enjoy being DR power. if Generac wanted to help DR power they should have really helped pushed DR power branding up instead of much less than half-heartedly attempting their own branding of a DR Power product. Because 100% of them putting generacs 247365 support and branding was designed in my opinion to deceive consumers. When you can only get service through dr power from 8:30am-5pm EST.



For those that want to know about the actual machine. They basically took all the components they could from the most popular/best designs of brands and made them just enough in a way it would not be IP infringement. MTD setup trans, auger 1" bigger exact same as Ariens. Which is kind of why I bought it, cause it presents itself like a $2500 unit for a fraction of the price. It is and it's a beast, the problem lies in losing all faith in the people that I have to rely on to support it. I can order parts now and stock up and probably keep myself good for 10 years. So that would be my advice. Buy anything you have broken in the past to keep yourself going. When I hit a certain point I will start stripping it down and cross-reference every part we might be able to source for future buyers as an internet archive of sorts. I'm very confident 90% of the components can be sourced through others, minus the oddball part that may be hard to find, like a 15" auger per se. But how often do you really see a broken auger impeller?

The point of buying new equipment is peace of mind. Unfortunately, this is the situation one is left with when they have no peace of mind over a machine. Not because of the machine itself. Because when you talk to people you start to get the impression they think it's a pile of junk. They never had any intention of supporting so they didn't and "good luck to you".


I am also predicting you might be seeing some of these orange machines for clearance/closeout. if that is the case. id still grab one but knowing all of the above. That it has the potential to be a throwaway piece of equipment when it fails should be the takeaway. At least to the legal aspect if you buy the extended warranty etc, the service center and those provisions can help you out if you end up with a lemon.



edit: ****to avoid any potential legal issues. im presenting just my opinion on my experience and sharing my takeaway. because I'm not a $2.2bn annual company I present nothing as a statement of fact. Since they obviously know this comment is me. sincerely -The snowblower guy

Mr. JT Monk said:

Not being judgemental. . but Generac has not been the best company to work for or had the best long-term interests in running a successful business if you look at past business news articles and/or happened to have worked there. Unfortunately, it is far from the only company that gets a group of executives and upper management that just go for the salary and bonuses for the time they manage to be there, rather than earn what they are being paid for. Many of these survive only because of using temporary workforce agencies at low pay and compensation for the workers years on end or just hiring and firing year after year. Not to mention the trend to utilize two 12 hours rotating day/night shifts which take its toll on workers and family life.

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I own a company that does teach and train them for those very things. Actually we help small businesses with scalability to crush terrible corporations if im being honest about my true intent. Or more so i just want people to treat workers fairly and have moral hazards in place for all the corporate people who steal money by taking the job away from people who will actually do it, and need the money. Fitting we are called Your First Help.

No one is perfect we all have off days, but no one has a "i dont know what my job is day" or shouldnt. I had to take care of my grandfather so I do what I can. From my research yes it does appear they are run as poor as can be defined. One of the highest turn over rates for a company i've seen in some time.

As I told the executives I can tell every management position I talked to was a cronyism hire because not one person had a clue what their job description was or how i knew more about their job than them. They dont even know basic terms. I feel bad for all the workers who depend on them for that income, that i can say for a fact. In my video, I had to change the context because at the end of the day this wasnt about my experience. but it turned into me having to advocate for the lowest workers at generac/dr power for managements complete and utter failures. I dont think any of them thought when they started laughing at me at the start of the day it would end up how it did or they would be talked down to the way they were. I told them I define my successes in the amount of people i've helped and jobs i've saved. any one can make money. Im out here farming to give the most vulnerable people food. To do it.

There are lots of companies that almost every executive structure is hired solely for the money. But they are intended to be people who understand. At some point they grow so big they are just there for shareholders and their duty is to be a face at a table because they sat at other tables during good years in good seats. But they are supposed to continue to define corporate structure to what the most modern examples we have coming out are. They clearly do not. Which is why it turned into a dual consumer/worker advocacy. Seems like they arent giving anyone the right tools for the job. So I can 100% believe everything you are saying having seen it through my career.


if you would have told me at the start when i bought this blower my experience would have turned to this. Id have asked for a shot of whatever you are drinking. Now im just completely blown away by what i thought was an amazing company being a wisconsinite.

edit: I saw the 12/12 thing and forced overtime. What a crazy setup. If they treated good workers right, there turnover rate wouldnt be so terrible and the productivity would be higher. But hey what does all the experts in business know. Im just repeating what they say lol.

I think your comment is basically my summary of why they aren't worth supporting.

By supporting them we are supporting them treating workers like I was treated = human trash

The only way to get them to change whether they have the best product in the world. Is to stop buying and show them they need to care. That's all advocacy is. Unfortunately. they will still be the best in generators as far as brand image. it worked for every other form of sweatshop and bad labor in our history.


I'm looking at their stock and I'm like... Man, how much hyperinflation are they putting on the books. But then when I think about it they run it like a sweat shop. Probably easy to make it happen. If they end up on clearance for $800 buy one. if not its a hard pass.

Today i went outside and all the stickers were peeling off. again not that i care about small stuff. But they literally cut every corner they could cut to get a product out the door in my opinion. even if it is a great product on paper. or dr power is great. what have you