Entry level, underpowered, alloy gear case, only a 40 ft throw.

Me? I would go for a real Ariens, it will perform better and last longer.

 

Sno Tek has been around for a while. I see a few on CL, not saying that is bad, just a comment.

If your on a tight budget and need/want a 28" width, that's new and comes with a warranty, I would say go for it. Sticking to a 28" width, if you go to an ariens, you would need enter the Deluxe family. When comparing the two, with the Sno Tek, you have no light, the impeller is 12" where the deluxe is 14" But is your neighbors are close, that's not a huge down fall, and you do not get the auto turn on Sno Tek (pros and cons to that)
To some people the $370 savings can be worth it.

I would not be afraid of the Snow Tek. Is there a better machine for $730 in a 28" width? Might be, but I stick with what I know works for me, and that is the Ariens family when it comes to snow removal.

 

Sno Tek has been around for a while. I see a few on CL, not saying that is bad, just a comment.

If your on a tight budget and need/want a 28" width, that's new and comes with a warranty, I would say go for it. Sticking to a 28" width, if you go to an ariens, you would need enter the Deluxe family. When comparing the two, with the Sno Tek, you have no light, the impeller is 12" where the deluxe is 14" But is your neighbors are close, that's not a huge down fall, and you do not get the auto turn on Sno Tek (pros and cons to that)
To some people the $370 savings can be worth it.

I would not be afraid of the Snow Tek. Is there a better machine for $730 in a 28" width? Might be, but I stick with what I know works for me, and that is the Ariens family when it comes to snow removal.

What's the "$370" thing about? From what I can tell a Deluxe 28 (no-SHO) has a current list price of $1,319, so that's $590 more than the 28" Sno Tek.

It may be worth that to some, but never to most "price alone" shoppers.

 

I have seen lots of posts on various boards about Sno-Tek and I haven't seen any complaints.

The only thing to be aware of is some early units were only 1 speed - they stopped making those.
Some early units didn't have the remove deflector - I think they all do now.
I think all the new units have cast iron gear cases now too.

 

I am on private land neighbors are not close.
Drive is 30 foot by 160 long.
Was at Home Depot no 28 in stock yet. I wanted a 30 ariens but at $1500 compared to the 28 snow- tek is almost double the cost.
For 2 inch wider 2 inch bigger impeller.
The only big diff I noticed was tire size. So I may need to add tire chains to the snow tek.

So it aprox a $600 diff if I do chains.
Just wanted to make sure the sno- tek wasn't junk like that Stanley . And figured making one extra pass was worth the savings.
Thank you for your insights, really like hearing from those who know snowblowers. Being joe public sucks. Not knowing ins and outs .
Cheers
Jim

 

Well, Sno-Tek 28 vs. Deluxe 28 for me would come down to this:

A snowblower is a tool. Buying first quality only hurts once. I've been through it with many tools and at my age I'm nearly done replacing all the 2nd rate stuff I bought when I "couldn't afford better."

Or thought I couldn't. In hindsight if I'd saved a little longer and bought ONCE, I would have actually spent less in the long run.

 

Jim, what area do you live in and how much snow do you usually get? What about the Ariens Compact 24? You get the heavier duty components at a reasonable price.

 

I am North of Buffalo NY, in Clarence Center.
South of Buffalo gets beat on.
The Northern burbs usually not as bad.
But this past winter i had days of 12 inches of snow with a 24 inch china made very underpowered machine my dad loaned me after my brand new 36 inch Stanley died after a few uses.. POS.!!
Never buy Stanley.

So after chiming in here i was guided to a Ariens. I figured done deal.
till Yesterday over a few brews my Brother in law who is south of the city and simply got buried. had unreal success with the sno tek. machine.
i was surprised to see the tell tail signs it was an Ariens. the shaft for the shoot rotation.

So that is why i am backing asking questions because i was going for a 30 inch Ariens. till the price came into play.. by this other machine being such a deal...

In a perfect world i would buy a 32 Inch Ariens. but cost is a factor unfortunately.. but my drive being 30 by 160 is large enough for pickup and plow. let a lone a snow blower.
last season with the 24" took 1 to 1-1/2 hours to clear after a good snow.

Thank you for your insights. i agree about the buying tools twice.
tough call. save a bit longer and buy it once or buy cheap and hope like heck its good enough. the nice thing is ariens will back the sno tek for 2 years.

So again tough call. i gave my self till Oct 1 st to decide and buy something.

Cheers
Jim

 

I think the sno-tek 28 is under powered also, the 208cc motor is used on the sno-tek 24. I think ariens dropped the ball on this one

 

Jim I have to agree with some of the other members regarding the Sno-Tek 28" likely being underpowered. It will likely be fine for nearly all snow storms you will encounter when working the easy clearing parts of your drive however when the town plow passes by and leaves that dense icy mountain of snow in front of your drive that machine will likely bog down and you will have to move at a snail's pace to get through it, if you're lucky. If price is an issue as it often is for most of us you may want to go with the 24 inch Sno-Tek it will serve you better overall as you will have more power per inch, which is crucial for the plow pile.

If you need a 28" machine you may want to consider the Ariens Deluxe 28" SHO, it features a 306cc engine with 15 ft. Lbs. of torque and will not be an underpowered 28" machine as many out there are at the lower price point. This unit features a higher speed impeller, special pulleys & belts for even further throwing ability. A good price for this dealer only offered machine is $1199. I have looked at this model first hand and it is very well built and will serve you well. Yes it is a lot more expensive but will likely be worth it in the long run.

Ariens is running some really good promos right now including 0% financing if paid off in 18 months and a 5 year warranty if purchased by November 30, but I'd buy early to ensure you get the machine you want. I wish you the best of luck with your choice.

 

Is buying used an option? I just picked up a platinum 30 sho that probably only got used 3 times, with a cab, front weight, drift cutters, truck receiver carrier, and all records for $1200. It was sure easier to stomach that going to the dealer and buying new.

 

With the width of your driveway you would have to make 2 more passes to go with the 24" size. Like some of the others I think the 28" Snow Tek is a bit under powered. Now is the time to look for a lightly used machine. Got to be lots of them out in your area, of course lots of buyers too. However, the early bird theory....

 

Given where you are located and the size of the area you have to clear, I would seriously consider a larger and definitely a much more powerful machine.

Consider this in terms of total "snow per hour" and overall life of the machine. You have a comparatively large area to clear. You say it took you 1-1/2 hours to clear with a 24" machine, didn't say how much motor it had. You did mention that it didn't last very long. What really killed it, aside from overall quality issues? And in comparison, how much area does your brother in law have to clear and how long did it take him with his Sno-Tek machine? Just as I would tell people 16" of snow doesn't burden my machine, a guy with a bigger machine might question that.

The larger motors will work less to move more snow and should last quite a bit longer. A wider machine would also speed up the process with less passes, though the real gain lies in throwing the snow far enough (clear across at least half the width of the driveway) and that means moving it only ONCE. As the season progresses the more powerful machine won't have a problem "piling it higher", while a weaker machine would likely create a progressively smaller driveway by not being able to truly clear the snow out.

I would either bite the bullet and get into a 28" to 32" new machine with at least a 14 ft/lb torque motor, or find a good late model used one.