# Tried a Husqvarna ST230P, returned after <10mins of usage.



## LS3C6 (Jan 31, 2011)

Hey guys, I live in west michigan and have the typical 3 car garage very minor decline driveway with sidewalks. I currently use a 22" Snapper I55224 2 stage, it has a Tecumseh 5.5hp and I keep it going... it's nothing special it's not fast it doesn't have a lot of throw it's not particularly great at anything.

So anyway, I decided I wanted something more powerful with a wider mouth and nothing could be worse than the 20yr old Snapper... therefore I went and picked up a ST230P it was between that and an Ariens 28 SHO but due to dealer closing times and was going to sell the snapper to a friend before a storm etc I ended up with the husky.

I got home with the husky and had maybe 2-3" of snow but excited to try it out, first I set the scraper bar to 1/8", ensured the tires were both at 16psi, got familiar with the machine and went on my way to see how AWESOME my new BEAST was... immediately I noticed this thing had NO traction! While the snapper has this problem SOMETIMES it's also much lighter and easier to wrestle when it does occur, however the husky was just terrible... not to mention the cut seemed higher than the snapper and it wasn't saving me any time due to all the tire spinning... also there must have been a cable adjustment or friction disc problem because 1 out of 10 times i'd pull the go lever it wouldn't do anything.

At any rate, thinking maybe the surface was the problem I went and grabbed the ole snapper and finished the job... no traction problems and was a much better experience, I returned the husky and explained the above to them, they wanted to fix the traction cable issue etc I said even when it works it's still a piece of crap so I don't want it.

Now my question is if I go buy a 28 SHO am I going to be in any way similarly disappointed? Why did my lighter seemingly much less valuable and quality snapper do so much better?!


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

Hey there, from my experience with husqvarnas the belt shield doesn't properly keep snow and water off the friction disk and it slips until it can shed enough of the water. Annoying but easily resolved with a little time. 

Brand new and especially metal skid shoes tend to bite the pavement leaving he drive wheels or in my case tracks slipping and sliding around. I'm gonna build some nice robust uhmw skids for that purpose.

Personally if I was in the market for a wheeled snowblower I'd go with a toro powermax hd. 

The quick stick chute control is so fast, smooth, and dexterous.

Ariens auto turn works quite well but didn't leave me wowed.

Try them all! And weigh your options.


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## LS3C6 (Jan 31, 2011)

drmerdp said:


> Hey there, from my experience with husqvarnas the belt shield doesn't properly keep snow and water off the friction disk and it slips until it can shed enough of the water. Annoying but easily resolved with a little time.
> 
> Brand new and especially metal skid shoes tend to bite the pavement leaving he drive wheels or in my case tracks slipping and sliding around. I'm gonna build some nice robust uhmw skids for that purpose.
> 
> ...


this one had poly shoes, my 22" has new this year metal shoes... the husky still sucked way worse!

I'm reluctant to do anything but keep using my old pile at this point.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Big and relevant question: Where did you buy it? dealer or big-box?

Both are capable of poor assembly and adjustment, however that is much less likely with a dealer..(although not impossible)
Big-Box stores however are infamous for it.

Its probably safe to say that 95% of problems with brand-new machines on their first use is due to poor assembly and/or initial adjustment.
yes, they _should_ be perfect on the first use, but they sometimes arent, and the fix is usually minor, and the dealer should take care of it.
(the big-box often cant take care of it, because they don't know what to do in the first place.)
this case sounds like that is likely what was wrong.

Scot


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## LS3C6 (Jan 31, 2011)

sscotsman said:


> Big and relevant question: Where did you buy it? dealer or big-box?
> 
> Both are capable of poor assembly and adjustment, however that is much less likely with a dealer..(although not impossible)
> Big-Box stores however are infamous for it.
> ...


Dealer, I adjusted everything, fixing the intermittent drive action wouldn't have made a difference since when it DID work even in 1st gear it'd just spin worthlessly anyway. I don't condemn something until some engineering sense and comparison have been made... it's trash.


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## 69ariens (Jan 29, 2011)

I second the toro


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## LS3C6 (Jan 31, 2011)

69ariens said:


> I second the toro


Toro over Ariens 28 SHO?


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## Eafoxjr (Feb 24, 2016)

The Toro HD trigger steering really works great.


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## LS3C6 (Jan 31, 2011)

what caused the awful traction with the husq? weight balance?


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## nwcove (Mar 2, 2015)

i would have lowered the tire pressure to 8-10 psi before i condemned the machine. jmo


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## LS3C6 (Jan 31, 2011)

nwcove said:


> i would have lowered the tire pressure to 8-10 psi before i condemned the machine. jmo


It was delivered at 11, I increased it hoping it'd help... my snapper is near sidewall max and grips fine.


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

i would return it and by the sho, ayp is junk in my experience


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