Its easy for me to spend other peoples money !
I'd get the CC of the two you have listed. That being said, at 1200 bucks I'd be looking at an Ariens Compact. I think they are similar money.
Good Luck !

 

It depends on what your needs happen to be. Can you get by with a 24" bucket width? If you want a 26" wide bucket you are better off with the 243cc engine. The 208 engine is about 6.5HP and in my opinion it is under powered for that bucket width. Things like lights and power steering are personal preference. They will be pretty similar machines otherwise.

 

Cub Cadet offers engine better suited for 26". Steering and steel chute other features. Seems worth the premium. Its just now youre in Arien compact territory price wise I think. Thats the ticket! Compact is a 24.

 

the cub cadet would be the better of those 2 options. quality wise they are he same but where you would really benefit is the slightly larger engine.

 

Agree with everyone above, CC for the bigger engine, 208cc is fine for 24" but underpowered for a 26", look at Ariens, better machine.

 

Cub Cadet over the Troy Built because of engine size.

 

I know your question was Cub cadet vs. Troy bilt but people have brought up a good point about the 24" Areins compact.. It is a better overall machine than the two you are looking at and in the same price range. I believe it has a 7 HP engine. My friend replaced a 28" Troybilt with the 24" Ariens compact and he says he can do his drive way faster now. Go figure.? Certainly designed more robust than the MTD offerings.. It will be lighter and easier to handle. Unless you have some physical limitationations, you wont need power steering on a 24" compact. again a lot comes down to needs and preferences. If you are willing to look at used there are a lot of good used ones available for half of the price of new.

 

The Ariens Compact comes with Auto Turn, a nice feature.

I would check out the Compact, if there are any available in your area.

 

I like the cub cadet machines, if the cub with the bigger engine is available , crazy times and shortages, go for the larger engine. For the occasional larger storms, more power is always better.

 

I have never heard of anyone complain their machine has too much power. Mayby too large or too heavy. The complaint is often not pwerfull enough. If you only had to deal with light dry snow no problem. But when you come to the end of the driveway it is nice to get that done fast and easy.
MTD use to make a 10-24. I have never used one but That sounds like the best of both worlds. Small enough to get between parked cars or through a gate but poweful to handle wet heavy snow quickly.

 

If you intend to buy from Home Depot (or any other big box store) just make sure there are authorized service centers near you (for whatever machine you get) should you need one. I agree with previous comments about considering an Ariens Compact. They're usually available at Lowes and priced similar to the machines you listed. I usually have no problem recommending "base" Troy Bilt machines for their "bang for the buck". They, however, begin to lose their price advantage as they get bigger and begin to compete with better quality machines.

 

I just sold a YardMachines 10HP, 24 inch, to a neighbor... great machine .. I would have kept it, but I already have too many in my fleet that I have restored ...