# 826 OXE or 824 QXE



## at1127

Hi everyone, I'm a new homeowner looking to invest in snowblower. I've been doing a lot of reading and research and I've basically narrowed it down to the PowerMax 826 OXE and the SnowMaster 824 QXE. I live in the suburbs near Boston where I believe we average over 50". Seems like everyone loves the Snowmaster and I was leaning towards that one, but I'm worried I'm going to need a 2 stage for my area. They are priced almost the same, so price is irrelevant to me. Would love to see what you guys thought. Thanks.


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## UNDERTAKER

*Have you looked at them in person??????????? That is really the only way to get a feel of them. Other wise it sounds like you have made up your mind. where are you planning on getting said machine???????? Anyhoo, ALOHA from the Paradise City.:smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027:*


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## JLawrence08648

You definitely need a 2 stage. The Powermax 826 OXE has been discontinued, you'd be better off with the Ariens ST24LE 254cc or the Cub Cadet 3x28 357cc. With the Ariens you are putting the same HP into 24" instead of 26" so it will be more powerful.


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## drmerdp

The snow master has exceeded many expectations. You are in a tough location though. I think the general concensus has been that the snowmaster is great for snow amounts up to 9-10 inches. Two stage machines might be better suited to the Boston area.


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## at1127

No I haven't look at it in person yet but definitely something I was planning to do. I plan to pick it up at Home Depot and that's only because I have a bunch of credit and gcs I need to use. That's also part of the reason I narrowed it down to these two machines. Looks like general consensus is 2 stage is the way to go. The Ariens Deluxe 28 was also one I was considering. Thank you for the responses everyone, I appreciate it.


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## ultimatejimmy

I'm pretty confident that the Snowmaster _would_ be enough for you in Boston, but I'm in the Midwest, not the Northeast, so trust your own experience in your area. My lower-powered Snowmaster 724 has outperformed all of my neighbors' two stage machines handily, so I'm quite sure the 824 would be more than enough.


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## LouC

I think it depends on the average depth of your storms. If the great majority are a foot or less the Snowmaster will be fine and faster than a 2 stage. If most are 1-->1.5 feet then the 2 stage may be better....


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## RIT333

2 Stage all the way ! But, I have never run a single-stage. I guess my decision would be based upon how much show you get at the EOD from the plow. Any snowblower can do a foot of regular snow, but it takes a "man" do handle the EOD stuff.


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## Snow Gone

In addition to the EOD issues you should also consider possible drifting problems on your property. Personally I would lean towards a 2 stage blower. A 2 stage blower is better at handling EOD and potential drifting issues.


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## 524SWE

check out some of the YouTube videos of the Snowmaster, seems "to punch well above it's weight" as they say


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## wow08816

Unlike Midwest powder Boston snow is generally wet in addition to being deep. 2 stage blower all the way for New England area snow.


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## 69ariens

JLawrence08648 said:


> You definitely need a 2 stage. The Powermax 826 OXE has been discontinued, you'd be better off with the Ariens ST24LE 254cc or the Cub Cadet 3x28 357cc. With the Ariens you are putting the same HP into 24" instead of 26" so it will be more powerful.


The 826 OXE has not been discontinued and hand down I would never tell any one here to buy a cub cadet blower. As an owner of a 926 OXE hd ( dicontinued) toro does not need the high cc engines that the mtd's need as mine is an absolute monster with only the 265cc in it.
I say get the 826 OXE and if you go to a dealer you can get the 826 OXE HD but it will cost you more but you get bigger tire's and stronger auger gear box.


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## JLawrence08648

69ariens said:


> The 826 OXE has not been discontinued
> 
> I say get the 826 OXE and if you go to a dealer you can get the 826 OXE HD but it will cost you more but you get bigger tire's and stronger auger gear box.


I Googled 826 OXE and went to SnowBlowersDirect and it said it was discontinued. Checked now, same. I'm now thinking maybe the discontinued is by SnowBlowersDirect and not the manufacturer.


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## UNDERTAKER

JLawrence08648 said:


> I Googled 826 OXE and went to SnowBlowersDirect and it said it was discontinued. Checked now, same. I'm now thinking maybe the discontinued is by SnowBlowersDirect and not the manufacturer.


*Well now that explains everything. just checked TORO'S hot sheets 1400 bucks plus tax shipping and handling and whatever else there is nowdays. maybe a gas guzzler tax.:tongue4::tongue4:*


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## 69ariens

Ya home depot sells OXE for $999. A lot of on line dealers are out of them as well as 826 hd. 
I for got to mention for extra you pay for the hd you get a taller bucket and bigger auger for those bigger storms we get here in MA.


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## NJHonda

snowmaster.. two stagers are not needed for 90% of areas including yours


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## NJHonda

Home depot has the 724 QXE on sale for $699 now. Its $160 LESS the the 824 which is the exact same blower with one more hp.


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## AbominableSnowman

NJHonda said:


> snowmaster.. two stagers are not needed for 90% of areas including yours


I'll second this and add that, when you're comparing a true 2-stage to the SnowMaster, they're apples and oranges. One isn't necessarily better, but they both serve legitimate purposes and are good machines. I've got a SnowMaster now. My old 2-stager was an Ariens, not a Toro, and it did what it was supposed to do. But that thing was cumbersome in tight spots and mostly overkill in snows less than 8 inches. The SnowMaster is great for 95% of all work. Where it suffices, but doesn't excel, is in frozen, chunky, dense icy stuff at the end of the driveway. The SnowMaster doesn't have a serrated auger that grinds at low RPM and high torque. But it does have plenty of power and can clear snow really quickly.


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## Bluejoe

We got our first shipment of Toro snowblowers several weeks ago. So far the 8 OXE models are sold. Out of Snowmaster models 2 8QXE and one 7QXE have been sold. Including a leftover model. If it were me I would go with the larger model 8QXE. It’s slightly bigger but still compact. The personal pace system is nice. It appears you like the compactness of the QXE models over larger OXE models.


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## ultimatejimmy

wow08816 said:


> Unlike Midwest powder Boston snow is generally wet in addition to being deep. 2 stage blower all the way for New England area snow.


FYI: I'm just north of Milwaukee, and we definitely get some wet snow. We'll frequently get lake effect snow, though typically not as deep. The storm that pushed me to buy my Snowmaster was a solid foot of heavy wet snow. The Snowmaster had no issues.


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## sunlight99

I am facing the same question. Basically our city here in upstate NY gets about 50 inches of snow too, city plow clears the road at the end of the driveway and this creates problem when the snow is 10'' or more. Any issue with using the 824 QXE?


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## ultimatejimmy

sunlight99 said:


> I am facing the same question. Basically our city here in upstate NY gets about 50 inches of snow too, city plow clears the road at the end of the driveway and this creates problem when the snow is 10'' or more. Any issue with using the 824 QXE?


Should be ok.


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## 10953

toro powermax is the way as boston and nw nj get about the same amounts of snow falls. 
if you can afford to pay more for the powermax ,go for it just for the extra push should you get hammered like a few years back


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## NJHonda

Bluejoe said:


> We got our first shipment of Toro snowblowers several weeks ago. So far the 8 OXE models are sold. Out of Snowmaster models 2 8QXE and one 7QXE have been sold. Including a leftover model. If it were me I would go with the larger model 8QXE. It’s slightly bigger but still compact. The personal pace system is nice. It appears you like the compactness of the QXE models over larger OXE models.


I recommend saving the $100+ and go with the 7QXE. Never had ONE issue with mine lacking power under any condition


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## sunlight99

My 824 QXE was delivered today. For oil any brand of sythetic 5w-30 would do right?


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## Doylee4693

Almost got an 824qxe but ended up with a powermax 824oe, just bought it yesterday. Cant wait to comapre our experinces.. also it should have oil in it already


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## 43128

use cheap supertech for first 10 hours then switch to synthetic. this is called the break in period


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## sunlight99

Yeah it's got some kind of oil (dinosaur?) in it. Just want to keep an extra bottle in the garage.


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## Doylee4693

Question is do we let our anal attitude make us change the oil anyway. I was thinking about it, toro oil is 5 somethin a quart at the depot. Or do i just put synthetic in it right away? Or do I just wait for 10 hours then switch it to synthetic and trust whats in the crank case now. Im also wondering if I should check the gearcase to make sure its filled properly from factory.. Guess you never know right...


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## tdipaul

Congrats on your new machines!

I recommend running on petroleum and changing it at the end of the season [OR} 10 hours of use, whichever comes first. 

then switch to synthetic. 

My 824 is 2 years old and has only ~3 hours of run time. 

For a regular Joe non-commercial Operator like me in NJ (where there hasn't been that much snow), the time limit usually occurs before the use limit


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## sunlight99

Just to clarify, the manual says change oil after the first 2 hours, so are you saying to do it after 10 hours instead, or 2 hours, then 8 hours of dino oil, then move to synthetic?


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## tdipaul

Pardon me 
I meant 2 hours or the end of the season, whichever comes first.
I saw the 10 in the previous post.


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## 43128

10 hours on dino to seat the rings then you can run whatever you want


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## Slinger

I have an 824QXE and an Ariens Platinum 24. Night and day difference in the way these two operate. The Toro is so easy to maneuver and the job gets done very quickly. The bigger two stage has never come out of the garage since getting the Toro. It would take some major deep heavy or hard crusty snow to make me use the 2 stage or a n excessively large hard crusty EOD pile. The Toro can handle all but the heaviest storms, and it can even handle those if you hit it before it accumulates to an unreasonable depth. You can also just take a half cut on each pass and still probably get done as quickly as with the 2 stage. But that's just my experience. YMMV.


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## Sparkland

I am trying to decide between the *Snowmaster 824 QXE 24"* ($779) and the *PowerMax 826 OAF *($899) for use on our church sidewalk and entryway. The area is not that large, except for the 150' x 6' sidewalk that is along the street.

The appealing part of the Snowmaster is that it cleans to the pavement and is much lighter (131 lbs) than the PowerMax (180 lbs). We don't need to use the blower for the parking lot, etc.

I ended up ordering the *Snowmaster 824* directly from Toro and they are going to ship it the dealer in the area for setup.

Thanks, Brad


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