They are not horrible, but they are not Ariens, Toro, Honda or Yamaha either. Cub Cadet is the Cadillac of the MTD brands, Troy-Bilt is the Oldsmobile of that group, Craftsman is the Buick, and Yard Machines/MTD are the Chevys. But they're really all pretty much the same with different paint schemes.

 

hahaha...I forget is /was Oldsmobile "better" than Buick??? yes?

 

sooo....according to tabora's reference above...Craftsman (Buick) would be a step above TroyBilt(Oldsmobile)...?

Nope, they were both in the middle tier in the GM world. There's no hierarchy within the tier.

 

Buick was marketed between Cadillac and Oldsmobile.

Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet

 

sooo....according to tabora's reference above...Craftsman (Buick) would be a step above TroyBilt(Oldsmobile)...?

I used to drive a Chevette....

 

Lol ... Lateral move .....

In my opinion, just about any new machine you get, the care, operation and maintenance it gets will be key to its longevity ...... People can ruin an Ariens in short order, and others can make a Craftsman last 40 years ....

 

Welcome to the site. How large is the motor 208cc? They are ok, make sure you remove the wheels and put anti seize on the shafts. What size driveway/property are you on? You will find the smaller snowblowers with engines on those may give you an issue on the EOD (End of driveway) snow. That's why I upgraded myself this year.

What type of price are you getting for the snowblower?

 

I bought a Storm 2410 in 2017 and have had no issues other than those of my own making and regular maintenance resolves those. The paint does seem a bit thin as there is rust here and there but I hit that with a wire wheel and some rust preventer every spring. I treat my fuel but still end up needing to clean the carb of deposits, I'm finally going to install a fuel cutoff in the spring and drain the carb post season.

 

It depends on the price whether buy it or look somewhere else.

 

I was at Menard's the other day and the Troy Built machines are light years ahead of the Briggs & Stratton Snow blowers. The B&S machines are cheap and poorly made, might last about 3 years.

 

I've used my son's 2410 several times an found it easy to use (I'm in my seventies). It bit off 15 to 18" without issue and tackled some 24" drifts as well (just has to slow down a little more and not force it or it tended to clog a little). Some will say that the motor is on the small side but I was surprised on how it handled the snow amounts previously mentioned. It's probably ideal for amounts less than 12". For the initial new price of around 6 to 700 bucks it's more than adequate moving snow. Possibly the best in that price range. Just keep the carb clean (proper fuel and spring draining). My son failed to properly prepare it after his first season and the carb jets did clog up (any machine is subject to this). The clean-up, however, was straightforward and relatively easy. Now that he's learned his lesson, he hasn't had any issues the past two seasons. If the price is right, the machine has been cared for, and it won't be asked to clear excessive amounts of snow all the time, I'd say go for it.

 

Oneacre and GKK pretty much hit the nail on the head. Some people can break a anvil. Does not matter what you have, When it is being used, take your time, let the machine do the work. Do not push it. MAINTAIN IT.

 

Quote from Wikipedia:

Alfred P. Sloan established annual styling changes, making previous years' models "dated". He also implemented the pricing strategy that all car companies use today. The pricing strategy had Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac priced from least expensive to most, respectively.

 

I haven't had an "american-bulit" since my Chevette, but I was always partial to the style of the Buick Regal.

 

I have the Crafsman version of the machine...its fine.
I use alcohol free fuel with a little seafoam added..no problems yet.


Sent from my SM-A115U1 using Tapatalk

 

I like the style of the Buicks however a woman I know, her last 4 cars were Buicks, now she owns a Honda CRV, the Buicks were in the Dealer's Shop all the time.

 

IMHO, GM should have kept the Pontiac division instead of Buick.