# Width vs. Horsepower Ratio?



## Jaysen123 (Jan 19, 2016)

Hello all-

I am trying to determine the most ideal Horsepower to width of opening ratio. I would tend to think the more snow it can take on, the larger the engine it would need. With that said though, I am sure there are certain points where a blower doesn't have the most ideal engine for it's width capabilities and vice versa. For instance, the Ariens Deluxe 28" (254cc) compared to the Ariens Deluxe 28" SHO (306cc). Is an engine around 250cc not strong enough for a 28" opening? Thoughts?

Thanks!

Jay


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## Geno (Nov 29, 2011)

*width/hp*

Welcome aboard Jaysen. I really don't know the ideal ratio but early years they (Arien,s) and others, had 6-7hp models with 32" bucket. As time passed they increased the power to 8 and 10hp. I had several and still have one but re-powered. The 7hp was bit underpowered and bogged down in certain situations. I think 9hp-11hp is ideal for 28". This is just my opinion. They all will work but optimum ratio.. someone else better chime in.


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## knu2xs (Jan 6, 2015)

Excellent question.

I took it one step further, or should I say smaller......... 

Even though our driveway is over 200 yds long I opted for the 24 SHO last year 
thinking, "rightly" or "wrongly," that a 24" with the 306cc engine would give 
me more umph when dealing with the drifts we end up with on a regular basis.

When I went to the dealer I was initially looking at the 28" Deluxe. 

Welcome to _The Site_!!


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

I've had the question in my head many times. In fact, like you, when I went to buy my snow blower, I could have gotten the 28" Deluxe with the 250cc engine, or the 24" deluxe, with the same B&S engine. I chose the 24" for the same reason you are are considering the smaller bucket.

The auger size might have something to do with it as well. I would think that the 14" auger on Ariens machines would be able to move more snow than a 12" auger powered by the same engine. However, who knows if the rpm of the larger auger, which would be lower at the tips (logically speaking?) would result in enough of a difference that it would effect the amount of snow it could throw?

Then there is the impeller itself? There are a bunch of different variables there that could effect the "ideal ratio" too. 

This whole thing is for much smarter people than me. :dizzy:


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

There is the whole reason HP numbers are hard to find anymore and the argument that torque matters more, but...
Some popular numbers out there. Just off the cuff.
521 = 4.20 inches per HP
622 = 3.66 inches per HP
724 = 3.42 inches per HP
826 = 3.25 inches per HP
928 = 3.11 inches per HP

I'm not pretending to try to use math or science to this reply, just offering some popular ratios that are out there.


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## bad69cat (Nov 30, 2015)

The real determining factor is primarily what load the gearcase and or bearings (if any!) can handle. Some of the older machines had a beefy gearcase and bearings or bronze bushings on the augers rather than the newer machines with whimpy gearcase and plastic bushings on the ends of the augers. Also note that the newer OHV engines are a fair bit more powerful/efficient than old flat head models. There has been quite a bit of funny business going on with how manufacture's rate the HP of the machines in the last 10 years..... so it's hard to comparea pples to apples. That being said, a new OHV 250cc is pretty decent power for a 28". I don't think you will be horribly dissappointed. I have a Honda 219cc on a 24" and it easily handles wet heavy stuff at about 4" anyways......


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

My 1971 Ariens has a 24" wide, 21"(?) high bucket, 16" diameter augers with a 12" impeller . I repowered with a Briggs 342CC 15.5GT. It has very good chemistry now. It handles any thing put in front of the bucket. 

I personally would not consider anything under 300CC's. And I am speaking being a 24" wide bucket owner and with my experience on my own property. I see a lot of videos on Youtube where a lot of machine with less than 300CC's just sound a little too weak for me. I really do not think a sno thro should be made with anything less than 300CC's today. 

So if you are talking 26" 28" or 30", I personally would never consider that 254CC engine. Even if there is a 14" impeller because there will be even more snow being thrown out.


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## 1894 (Dec 16, 2014)

Jaysen123 said:


> Hello all-
> 
> I am trying to determine the most ideal Horsepower to width of opening ratio. I would tend to think the more snow it can take on, the larger the engine it would need. With that said though, I am sure there are certain points where a blower doesn't have the most ideal engine for it's width capabilities and vice versa. For instance, the Ariens Deluxe 28" (254cc) compared to the Ariens Deluxe 28" SHO (306cc). Is an engine around 250cc not strong enough for a 28" opening? Thoughts?
> 
> ...


:white^_^arial^_^0^_

Welcome Jaysen123
Lots of information and helpful people here at SBF . 
All I can do is offer my :2cents: for free so you get no change back. :icon_whistling: Just an opinion from someone that just bought my first snowblower a year and a few months ago. 
Don't over-complicate things , it is easy to do and I did that myself .:blush:
1st is the " well it depends " part.
How much / deep of snow do you get where you live and plan on blowing.
2nd , is it usually light and fluffy or wet and heavy ?
For me , I live in a lake effect area and average 10 feet of snow / year. Some years it is as low as 4 feet others 15 feet. I also live on a short dead end road and have a guy in a pickup plow it. By the end of the season the road can get pretty narrow because the guy can't push the banks back once they set for a bit. He drives a pick up not a bulldozer .
I wanted an Ariens and bought the 2 foot plat sho with the 306cc because I new that sometimes I would need to move a hundred yards of plowed snow banks back a few feet on both sides of the road. For MY needs I wish they offered the 369 cc motor on it last year. Not often do I feel I'm under powered , but once in a while it is working pretty hard even a few inches at a time at the slowest speed. That is not typical for most people.:icon_whistling:
All that to say , what YOU get for snow and how much you may need to move is the MOST important thing. Less power to width machines eat and throw a lot of snow all day long . If you don't need the extra power then you just use more gas in a heavier machine 
:2cents: OK , That was 4 cents , if you want your money back pm me , you can send me a self addressed , stamped envelope and I'll give you a refund.


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## Jaysen123 (Jan 19, 2016)

Kielbasa said:


> My 1971 Ariens has a 24" wide, 21"(?) high bucket, 16" diameter augers with a 12" impeller . I repowered with a Briggs 342CC 15.5GT. It has very good chemistry now. It handles any thing put in front of the bucket.
> 
> I personally would not consider anything under 300CC's. And I am speaking being a 24" wide bucket owner and with my experience on my own property. I see a lot of videos on Youtube where a lot of machine with less than 300CC's just sound a little too weak for me. I really do not think a sno thro should be made with anything less than 300CC's today.
> 
> So if you are talking 26" 28" or 30", I personally would never consider that 254CC engine. Even if there is a 14" impeller because there will be even more snow being thrown out.


Great info and insight! Thanks for everyone's insight and advice! Much appreciated!


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## lee h (Jan 18, 2015)

Just a thought, I think what else needs to be considered would be the
type of snow. Dry fluffy or wet snow and how deep it is. I would say
if you have very wet deep snow you could bog any production snowblower 
no matter the HP.
Last winter where i am we got hit pretty hard on a few storms. The first 
was the worst and it was my first time blowing snow. Using a JD TRS32,
10hp 32 inch wide and i was able to bog it down if i wanted to. But i was
also in snow up near 5 feet deep. The bucket was full all the time. I took
my time and got it done.
Look at Ariens for example, The ST1136 went to ST1236 then ST1336.
Not sure if there were any significant notices in the HP change.


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## LET-UT (Jan 5, 2016)

I recently purchased the Ariens 28" Deluxe with the 254 CC engine and have not had any reason to complain. I ran it the length of the 12-inch wet heavy snowdrift on my lawn today (moving it out onto the dry asphalt road) and it worked its way through without any issues easily pumping out hundreds of lbs. of slushy mess per minute. I had moved the deflector downward, but it easily spread the whole mess across the full width of the road. With the Deflector up, I could have launched it to my neighbors sidewalk across the way.

Would the bigger engine do better, I'm sure the answer is yes, but I don't think I'll need it here. (But, for just a c-note more I probably would have bought it if it had been available in store when I purchased mine. - As "Tim the Toolman" has been known to say, more power is always better!


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## lillbear (Jan 5, 2016)

Here my 2 cent. I had a 12.5hp 33 inch it worked ok but if I had a full bucket for 100 yards it was painful. I put it for sale and got a Craftsman I believe it was 11hp 27 inch and it was much better as far as throwing distance and speed but still painful. After 5 years its now R.I.P probably worked a lot harder then it was designed for as we have an average of 140 inch of snow where I'm at. This December I got a new Ariens Hydro pro track 28 it has a 420cc which I believe is 15hp. Best thing I ever did it I can make prob 2 pass by the time I would have done one with my 33 and by spring I don't expect to have a hard time throwing the snow over the snow bank on each side of the driveway. It's always relevant to what your planing on doing with it. Nothing wrong with power besides it's not a 454 Chevy. If it cost me a couple of bucks more to do my driveway so be it lol


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## E350 (Apr 21, 2015)

Wet auger housing-height snow almost stalls the engine on the HS1132TA. 

After blowing snow every day due to new heavy wet snowfalls from Friday to Sunday, including auger and a half height EOD, I can see why Honda repowered the HS1132TA to the HS1332TA. So, hope that helps, your power to width ratio analysis. 

(Initially I was planning to take the Kimpex 48" 13HP Honda and put it on the HS1132TA, but I am over doing the walk behind thing with wet heavy snow bombs falling from 120 tall red firs which line my "driveway." So, I am definitely getting the Kimpex 48" going and hooked up to the Polaris Ranger 6x6.) 

I will do a proper write-up for Bob Sayre and his company Snowblowerskids.com, but let's just say for now _"Huge Shout Out!"_


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## Jaysen123 (Jan 19, 2016)

Well I decided to go with Ariens Platinum 24" SHO (921038). I was also kind of at the mercy of what my local dealer had as well. I have a tighter 2-car garage so keeping the bucket around 24" is most logical for my situation. Unfortuantely the dealer didn't have any of the Deluxe 24" (921024) remaining or I would of went that route and saved some $$. Will be delivered Thursday just in time for this nasty Nor'easter we are due to get here in the Northeast. Looking forward to using this bad boy. 17.1 ft/lbs or torque should handle anything in its path. Thanks again for all the advice/recommendations!

-Jay


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