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If I needed a new machine and Ariens, Honda or Toro weren't available Husqvarna would be my choice but reluctantly. I feel they are hanging their hat on their name and expecting people to pay a premium for their machines that dont stack up to the other big players. They have done the same with their home owner hand held equipment too with many of the cheaper models being rebranded Poulan's or made in china. Their pro stuff is still top notch but they have cheapened their brand in the last decade or so.
 
I don't mean to be an arse here but I read a lot of comments based on gut feeling/ biased opinions made by others , not actual personal experience, I do agree the older model blowers with plastic panels hurt Husqvarna's reputation due to premature breakage of the un lubricated linkages but honestly even those models would have served their owners better if more diligent maintenance were followed.
I read complaints from all makes and models from Toros,, Ariens etc. it seems every brand has a weak point. Husqvarna blowers are no better but no worse compared to other snow blowers of the same caliber or price range, I have had my ST224 for 2 years now and when I compare it to my other blower(2012 model Ariens) that died after10 years of good service, both machines have good features and bad ones.
I am very happy with my ST224.what else can I say ? it has not given me a single reason to complain about, I love it's powerful engine the most. although it consumes more gas than my Ariens but I can live with that,.lol..
 
I’m somewhat interested in the st430t blower. Older reviews are quite bad but it seems the biggest complaint now is the chute that is part aluminum? I have a friend who got one this winter and he said there is no snow condition it can’t handle and we have had a few big dumps of snow, so at least I believe it is a capable machine. Just some other things to possibly worry about.

These machines are feature rich and around a grand cheaper than comparable hydrostatic models from Ariens and Honda.
 
I have a ST330 2018, first year with friction drive (~1000$ sheaper). Overall happy with it. But the new ones is not exactly the same, my has a lct414 while the new ones has a smaller lct389. I wantet looong throwing, big engine, sturdy design and big wheels. THE BAD Wires suck, from time to time they will freeze up. If you use force, you will break the plastic. Sometimes i get water on the friction wheel, frustrating as f.... Chute can turn only 180°, i would like a bit more. Closed auger bearings, if a rope or something gets wound up, its loads of work to remove it. It would be better if i could remove the bearings from the outside. -for me in norway, made in america with 3/8 bolts instead of metric is a downside (engine is metric). THE GOOD 14" cast impleller and long chute, throws twice as far than my neighbours similar size ariens. Eats everything, from water too fluffy. You neee to really feed it with the wet stuff, and it won't clog. Lot's of power from the lct414. Good traction from 16" wheels. Today the 200 series are "low tier" cheap stuff. 300 is more solid, can't find anything that's really cheap and crappy.
 
If my memory serves correctly, and it may not, most complaints with Husqvarna were with parts availability, plastic dash which was prone to breaking, and the use of cables instead of rods. I recall some owners being unable to get parts on machines only a few years old. This was pre-COVID. Of course most everybody has had supply issues of some sort the past couple years.
 
If my memory serves correctly, and it may not, most complaints with Husqvarna were with parts availability, plastic dash which was prone to breaking, and the use of cables instead of rods. I recall some owners being unable to get parts on machines only a few years old. This was pre-COVID. Of course most everybody has had supply issues of some sort the past couple years.

A replacement plastic dash console is about $50 on Amazon as I type this. I am in my eighth season with lots of use. While some have managed to break theirs, mine has been fine with well-lubricated linkages and cables. It also gets stored inside, out of the sun. And covered during the off season, so maybe less ultraviolet epoxidation (read: hardening and cracking) of the plastic.

Parts availability has been interesting, even before the Covid years. Stupid-simple wear parts could take weeks or even months sometimes from online suppliers. My local dealer keeps some pieces like belts, but scraper bars took a month in the first year after I chewed one up nicely. A "steering shaft" took almost three months after the planetary steering gear units chewed on it some.

Meanwhile, I've had much better luck searching Amazon and eBay by part number only for things. The parts are shared among the several "brands" that come out of the same factory, so a replacement like the lower plastic chute section labelled as a Craftsman part, same part number, is an exact match.

In its eighth season here now, I've upped the PM and inspection effort a bit, after identifying the weak spots discovered so far and reported by others here. I stock belts and a friction drive ring, made some much more durable poly skid shoes. I have spare drive section bearings after going through the planetary steering gearboxes a few times now, but also know to replace the grease in them annually. Cables and pivots get annual lubrication. I should probably start looking casually at spare cables soon, as there have been reports of failures trickling in lately. Mine has turned into a bit of a science project at this point, an exercise in seeing how long I can keep it alive, reliable and happy with carefully-planned PM's and a minimum of actual repairs along the way. Only once has the machine been unavailable for service, and that was while I had needle bearings in the little planetary boxes delivered.

The whole spellbinding saga is documented in the 'ST227P Running Blog' thread in this forum.
 
Late to party here but I'll throw in my 2¢ as well hoping it might help someone.

I bought my ST224 new in the fall of 2015 from the local dealer and was put together properly. (Note, not a big box store.) While it hasn't been used frequently any use it does see is almost always in deep heavy wet snow, hard deep snow drifts, and some very cold prairie temperatures. Going on its 8th winter now it's been working great and has never needed any repairs. The only thing I've improved upon it is changing out the crappy OEM Torch spark plug for a NGK. That small inexpensive item made a very noticeable improvement in the way it both starts and runs. As for the plastic dash if you keep it lubed properly it'll last. I feel most the complaints are from those who didn't lube and maintain their equipment well enough. Like most things mechanical they need preventative maintenance. Parts that rub, spin, or slide against one another need an appropriate lube. Seems most 'reviews' I've seen on the web never tell the whole story as to how well they were maintained before they needed repair. Yeah, things will break prematurely if not looked after properly but that's not necessarily a design fault. A good dose of common sense goes a long way.

Any-who, I'd buy another if need be but at my age likely not. More likely I'll be worn out before the blower.

(Disclaimer: Due to inflation my 2¢ is now probably 4¢ but only worth 1¢ if even that much.) Cheers.
 
^^^ Lots of wisdom in that post. ^^^

Can't say exactly how many times I've heard the "It worked just fine at first, then [something happened] and it's not the same anymore". Too often the [something happened] is really something that didn't happen, like needed maintenance. Or something that was done that shouldn't have. Happens on all kinds of mechanical stuff, and leads to frustration when it no longer works as needed or as we might remember from when it was "new".

I'll point the finger of blame on the user and service manuals as much as anything. No manufacturer really wants to scare off a potential buyer with a long list of mandatory service tasks, especially a buyer who may not be able to perform those services themselves. I could probably make a nice wine-budget contribution if I were willing to make service house-calls in the fall, especially considering those services should be done in the spring, at the end of snow-blowing season.

Back to those manuals -- they tell owners a little bit of what to do but not really how. On mine, there's no discussion about oil, break-in, change intervals. Only the guidance to check the level. When? Nope. Change it? No good guidance. The included engine manual has more, but that's TL;DR territory once the engine starts and runs the first time. Until it doesn't start when needed. For the rest of the machine, "common sense" is pretty much the guiding force. Fix things after they fail I guess. I casually preach professionally that 'good sense isn't common' especially when it comes to run-to-fail strategies on critical mechanical stuff. Things never seem to 'fail' on schedule for some reason. It seems to happen most when the need for not-fail is greatest. Hooda thunk?

So what does a comprehensive PM plan look like for a snow-blower? Some combination of regular inspection and mild care during the season, another for annual end-of-season service and PM, and a third for hours- based PM services. The third one also includes a K multiplier for the severity of the duty demanded from the equipment.

In my casual judgement, there's also a serious need for a list of use 'commandments', rules that need to start with "Thou Shalt Not..." and include such bad habits as ignoring skid shoe wear, 'shifting' friction-drive speed with the drive engaged, leaving slush to freeze in the bucket, leaving untreated fuel sitting in the machine, using 'old' fuel under any circumstances, expecting the augers to break up EOD ice by crashing the machine into the berm at speed... It's a pretty extensive list when you start thinking about it. Sadly, the only way that most users learn about such commandments is the suffering after the violation. The "weeping and gnashing of teeth" stuff. What's the best way to deliver the commandments to the new owner? The spectrum of users ranges from the wide-eyed optimistic new owner, the owner who buys cheap and just replaces, the cynic who suffered with all the good that mere common sense delivered, through the pseudo know it all online experts like myself, to maybe the fanatical replace every wearing part every year zealot who can then brag up how perfect his or her equipment happens to be. I write user manuals these days based on the Reader's Digest standard, which targets maybe a fifth-grade reading and comprehension level. That's the lowest common denominator these days. Then ASSume that the reader knows absolutely nothing about the subject matter, so lots of footnotes and references are included.

With some careful maintenance, I really do expect to get $thousands in work-performed from my $hundreds invested machine. Some of those $hundreds invested are actually post-purchase, and include hours as well as the dollars. I can easily increase my longer-term margins with those prudent post-purchase investments. I hope. Just respect those commandments.
 
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