i purchased my first snowblower in '98 right after we had a blizzard here. i got lucky because a truck load of toro powerlites were being unloaded at H&R hardware. i stood in line and bought one but had to wait an extra day because i wanted electric start and they didn't have any electric start models assembled

 

Don't have any pics but was an MTD that was purchased at Lowes back in '94. Was an 8/26 if I remember correctly. I kept it for 18 years and I have to say it was a good machine and moved tons and tons of snow over the years and never let me down. I'd usually have to use the electric start feature to get it running at beginning of season. I had to replace the rubber drive and also the belts just one time, and that was only a year or two before I sold it. i also added a headlight because we had a driveway ( lane) that was about a hundred yards long. I never did the whole thing with it but I did make passes to ease the burden on my JD 332 with a Berco 48" two stage blower. That MTD was a good machine.

 

My first blower was 20 inch reo single stage that clog a lot and it had a wind up starter. I was about 14 yrs old and had plans to be king of the hood with my $50 blower. That old briggs ran good but the auger was a poor design.

 

Yamaha YS928J bought a few weeks ago.Hope it performs as good as it looks?

Jamie.

 

First snowblower was a Craftsman 2-stage bought in 2011. I survived the 2010 Superstorm with just shovels, but that was not fun! We got 41" in 4 days!

 

27" 9hp NOMA

This is about a 2002. It's a Murray built blower. I like it and hate it. It's heavy and awkward and moves a lot of snow. Small snowfalls are not what it's made for. It's all I've got, so I love it. This isn't mine, I stole the picture off Craigslist. Mine doesn't have as much rust. I was going to dress mine up, this summer, but I hurt my hand, so it will have to go as is. This is the only blower I've ever had. I used it a lot, last year.

 

My first snowblower was given to me by my dad, it was an Atlas single stage, had an auger similar to those on 2-stage machines but it ran at ludicrous speed, the thing really threw the snow- might have pics of it if I look...

Dad bought in either '71 or '72, to clear the predicted 24" of snow, which ended up only being 20"-- I remember because I was cooking graveyard shift at Denny's while in school, and woke up at 10pm to dad blowing snow with the thing-- It survived a broken fence post which sheared the flywheel key along with the auger pin, and 3 railroad spikes at 3 different times later in life. I replaced it with the MTD 5/22 I have now (which just got replaced with my new Cub Cadet 26" 3-stage) back in 1995. The only reason I replaced it is because it wouldn't start. I gave it to a neighbor who figured out all it was, was bad gas, and I believe he's still using it!

 

My first (and only) is a Honda HS720AA I just got a few weeks ago. Already used it three times and in some wet, heavy stuff. It works awesome. Soooo much better than shoveling. I motored on through two full Utah winters with only a shovel. Never again. LOL

 

My first Personal snowblower is 2006 MTD gold 26" my father in law gave me. But my "first" snowblower I grew up using was an early 90s ariens 24".

Oh Memories.

 

I bought my first snow blower in 2013 an Ariens Deluxe 28 it's a great snow blower never had a problem with it.

 

Grew up using a 28" Craftsman with horrendous single drive wheel until you put the pin in to lock them both as drive wheels.

During the second storm this season in CT I found myself outside shoveling and ranting out loud to myself. 48 hours later I had purchased a Ariens Platinum 24 SHO EFI. 72 hours after that it was delivered and I was craving a real storm

 

My first and only machine so far is a Yamaha YS-624 I purchased used for $300 in Nov 2014. With a limited budget, or at least how my mind works pay less now and worry about the rest later, I couldn't justify dropping $1000+ for something shiny and new that I'd really want. I had a decision to make, use it in the current condition for the winter that was fast approaching, or rebuild it. Of course, like a kid on Christmas the latter ensued which can be see here in my Yamaha YS624 Rebuild.

During the second storm this season in CT I found myself outside shoveling and ranting out loud to myself. 48 hours later I had purchased a Ariens Platinum 24 SHO EFI. 72 hours after that it was delivered and I was craving a real storm

I laughed a little reading this as I know exactly what you mean. Here I had this perfectly good machine rebuilt, both while living at my apartment and recently at the new place and it wouldn't start. I'd be cursing and so aggravated with each large dump of snow the only weapon for removal was a shovel. No doubt I loved the exercise but I was nearing my limits as it consumed so much time. Thankfully everything is up and running and I can't wait for the next big snowfall!

 

My first machine was a "Cub Cadet by International Harvester" that I bought used for $225 back in 1982. 26 inches and 5 hp. I used it for 24 years with no other maintenance than replacing the friction disk twice. It was just too small when I moved to my new home with the long driveway and eventually got a 10.5 hp machine, although it was still functional when I gave it up.

 

My first blower I got was in 2013 an early 80s Ariens st724 it taught me a lot about 2 stage blowers. Needed new belts, auger tensioner pulley was broke, scraper, muffler. I put an impeller kit on it as well.

It was a great machine I just sold it last week. Never let me down once i fixed all the stuff when I got it.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

 

When I was a kid I think we had an S200 Toro, but when I bought my first house, I got an old IH (CUB) 10/28 at a garage sale for $80! That thing was a tank and I used the heck out of it the first year. I actaully ended up twisting the splined shaft that the auger engaged with and mad it difficult to disengage. I had to pull start it with the auger on! lol Ran and worked great! Wish I had kept it - but they are very rare now. I haven't seen one like it in 15 years at least.

 

A John Deere 826 with Tecumseh back in 1996. Should have kept it, I am sure it is still throwing snow today-6 snowblower purchases later. This one is not mine, but in case you were living under a rock the last 40 years and never saw one. They were built like a tank:

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My first and the only snow blower is a Ariens 24 Deluxe, bought only last week!.

 

My Dad had a Snowbird in 61 that he let me go around the neighborhood with....I don't remember if it was a single or two stage, but it worked great...once you got it started! My first blower of my own was my father in laws who died in 78, and my mother in law gave me his blower which had been sitting from 78 till 99. It's a Allis Chalmers 7 Sno thro from 71
and a great blower. It was always garaged and lightly used so it's like new. I've got it put away and never use it though...its too pretty!

 

I bought my first snowblower in the early 90's.It was a used machine that I paid $175 for.I don't remember the model,or much else about it,really.It was a small Ariens 2-stage,made sometime in the early to mid 70's and was in pretty good shape.It had a 6 hp Tecumseh engine and ran well.

However,it turned out to be the most worthless snowblower I ever owned.On a good day,dry snow,it might throw it 15 feet-wet snow,8 or 9 feet if it didn't clog instantly.It had a standard sized impeller but the ejection hole was unusually small with a real narrow shute-very poorly designed.

I had it about 5 weeks and sold it to the owner of the local NAPA for $200.He saw me a couple of weeks later and remarked at how poorly the thing threw snow.He also got rid of it shortly,IIRC.

 

Mine was a Craftsman 30" 14.5 lb torque rating, what ever that means. Wish they'da left the horsepower ratings alone!

 

Yard Machine 24" that had a 10HP Tecumseh engine back in 1997 from Sams Club. The only thing I ever did to it was change the oil and replaced a valve stem that eventually split. Sold it after 16 years a few years ago and it was still in sound shape. A little bit of oil burning from the engine but nothing drastic, just enough to smell it when using. I bought an Ariens 24" Platinum to replace it, worst decision I made in a long time.

 

My current 2016 Ariens Deluxe 28 SHO

 

1991 Honda HS828. Never used a snow blower before.

Got a piece of property with a 450' driveway and two parking areas, then 600' of paths to the woodshed, LP tank and compost pile.

It's still going strong after 25 years. 30-50 hours per year, pretty wet snow a lot of the times.

I do think brushing the snow off after every use, and storing it in a garage (unheated) does help prolong the life.

I painted the augers, chute liner and inside auger bucket once, about 4 years ago, other than maintenance, I wash it once at the end of the season.

 

Mine is my current, until I get the one on the JD rider going. It's a 8hp B&S safety orange Simplicity 860

 

We moved into a new home in 1993. I bought a new Toro CCR2000 and a new Toro lawnmower that year. The lawnmower, for whatever reason, still runs pretty good...

 

what happened to the ccr2000?

 

it died, then consumed a bunch of $$$ parts and things went down hill from there...


There are a couple threads on those machines and how expensive they get when they're in need.