# Snow Throwing Distance Obsession



## Surge

How important a part does snow throwing distance play in your snow thrower purchase decision?
It seems every video showing snow blowers in action puts a lot of emphasis on how far the blower throws snow. While I admit to finding it fascinating to watch videos showing snow blowers capable of knocking squirrels out of trees, throwing snow on the neighbor's roofs, knocking down flimsy fences, filling up the neighbor's driveway, and so forth it does not seem practical in every day usage, unless you are a bit of a psychopath. In fact, anything that blows more than thirty feet might have to be toned down a lot by the deflector to avoid pissing off the neighbors or causing damage to plants or other nearby structures. Not to mention the increased blow back factor that occurs if there is any wind.
Almost every new two stage blower can blow snow at least forty feet, so for me it does not play any role in my decision. 
But I do enjoy watching those videos! Especially some of the doctored up throwers with the three foot chutes, doctored up impellers and increased horsepower. Sort of reminds me of the old Home Improvement shows of the nineties where a tool could never be too powerful for the job.


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## JRHAWK9

It's not near as important to me as how much VOLUME it's capable of moving. If I were designing a blower, it would have at least a 16" diameter impeller and it would be at least 6" deep. Granted, it would also need a pretty good size motor to power it....lol

Anybody can get throwing distance out of a blower, all you do it pulley it up to increase the impeller tip speed....but that comes at the expense of losing torque. So as soon as you run it into some deep snow the motor bogs right down.


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## Surge

JRHAWK9 said:


> Anybody can get throwing distance out of a blower, all you do it pulley it up to increase the impeller tip speed....but that comes at the expense of losing torque. So as soon as you run it into some deep snow the motor bogs right down.


Good point. I am more interested in the ability to move heavy wet snow at the end of my driveway. So the amount of torque is a more important consideration, and obviously other factors that play a part in that sort of removal.


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## HCBPH

*Distance*



JRHAWK9 said:


> It's not near as important to me as how much VOLUME it's capable of moving. If I were designing a blower, it would have at least a 16" diameter impeller and it would be at least 6" deep. Granted, it would also need a pretty good size motor to power it....lol
> 
> Anybody can get throwing distance out of a blower, all you do it pulley it up to increase the impeller tip speed....but that comes at the expense of losing torque. So as soon as you run it into some deep snow the motor bogs right down.


+1
You want to move snow enough to be out of the way. Throw it too far and you hit neighbors or cars. The Searsasaurus is capable of throwing a bunch of snow a long distance but with proper adjustments it moves alot and puts it where I want it. Auger diameter, impeller diameter along with HP is good, but you also need a decent sized chute and deflector to put it where desired.


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## ken53

My son's "Super Soaker" toy squirt gun can shoot farther then my garden hose. It isn't much good for anything else. 

For blowers I think there is a reasonable expectation to be able to work with the wind. On windy days, one might have to work from one side of an area all the way across. I think 20-30 feet is reasonable, and is easily accomplished by any blower on the market. Working with the wind could double that distance. We don't fight against the wind, it just doesn't work.

Years ago I had a Corvette that could easily accede 160mph. I never went that fast and never need it to. What I had was bragging rights, nothing more or less. My family SUV now goes maybe 99mph. I don't plan on using that speed ether. But I lost my bragging rights. 

Actually, blowing snow flakes is not rocket science. Distance has been at a practical stand still for years, not because they can't do better, but because its fine as is. Manufactures have been successful at 20-30 feet since the 1960s. Millions and millions have cleared their ways since than using those distances, for 50 plus years.

Just like any machine, it has to be looked at as a whole. I think manufactures have ignored distance for more important qualities. Volume is probably #1. Ease of starting. Double belts on the blower/auger. Sheer horse power has went up. Steering is very important, and has improved on most machines. Engines vibrate less now. Paints hold up well too. Tires have improved greatly.

Anyhow... distance is a no brainer for manufactures, it is just where they feel is practical in the real world environment.

Ken


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## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> My son's "Super Soaker" toy squirt gun can shoot farther then my garden hose. It isn't much good for anything else.
> 
> For blowers I think there is a reasonable expectation to be able to work with the wind. On windy days, one might have to work from one side of an area all the way across. I think 20-30 feet is reasonable, and is easily accomplished by any blower on the market. The wind could double that. We don't fight against the wind, it just doesn't work.
> 
> Years ago I had a Corvette that easily acceded 160mph. I never went that fast and never need it to. What I had was bragging rights, nothing more or less. My family SUV now goes maybe 99mph. I don't plan on using that speed ether. But I lost my bragging rights.
> 
> Actually, blowing snow flakes is not rocket science. Distance has been at a practical stand still for years, not because they can't do better, but because its fine as is. Manufactures have been successful at 20-30 feet since the 1960s. Millions and millions have cleared their ways since than using those distances, for 50 plus years.
> 
> Just like any machine, it has to be looked as a whole. I think manufactures have ignored distance for more important qualities. Volume is probably #1. Ease of starting. Double belts on the blower/auger. Sheer horse power has went up. Steering is very important and has improved also. Engines vibrate less now. Paints hold up well too. Tires have improved greatly.
> 
> Anyhow... distance is a no brainer for manufactures, it is just where they feel is practical in the real world environment.
> 
> Ken


Awesome analogy!  I used a similar analogy explaining to someone why the volume of air is more important to power air tools than air pressure. Also used it again when explaining ratings for leaf blowers. Again, it's the volume of air, not the speed of the air that's important. I'm sure the speed of the air coming out of my air nozzle on my air compressor is near that of a leaf blower, but it sure won't blow many leaves! 

Although I want a pretty decent throwing distance too, as part of our driveway is pretty wide. I don't have to worry about neighbors. The only things I'll be hitting if I throw it too far are the trees.


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## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> Awesome analogy!  I used a similar analogy explaining to someone why the volume of air is more important to power air tools than air pressure. Also used it again when explaining ratings for leaf blowers. Again, it's the volume of air, not the speed of the air that's important. I'm sure the speed of the air coming out of my air nozzle on my air compressor is near that of a leaf blower, but it sure won't blow many leaves!
> 
> Although I want a pretty decent throwing distance too, as part of our driveway is pretty wide. I don't have to worry about neighbors. The only things I'll be hitting if I throw it too far are the trees.


So true...
Dust collectors and vacuums also benefit from sheer volume. 

I can blow snow west as far as I please but, east has me limited to about 15 feet. Many blowers are sold in urban areas where distance is not their first concern. I like distance too, but its not on the top of my list. My new Ariens, although I don't need it to, will easily go 40-50 feet with decent snow.

For me right now, my priority is to keep my heating bill down. 

Ken


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## Runner50

ken53 said:


> My son's "Super Soaker" toy squirt gun can shoot farther then my garden hose. It isn't much good for anything else.
> 
> For blowers I think there is a reasonable expectation to be able to work with the wind. On windy days, one might have to work from one side of an area all the way across. I think 20-30 feet is reasonable, and is easily accomplished by any blower on the market. Working with the wind could double that distance. We don't fight against the wind, it just doesn't work.
> 
> Years ago I had a Corvette that easily acceded 160mph. I never went that fast and never need it to. What I had was bragging rights, nothing more or less. My family SUV now goes maybe 99mph. I don't plan on using that speed ether. But I lost my bragging rights.
> 
> Actually, blowing snow flakes is not rocket science. Distance has been at a practical stand still for years, not because they can't do better, but because its fine as is. Manufactures have been successful at 20-30 feet since the 1960s. Millions and millions have cleared their ways since than using those distances, for 50 plus years.
> 
> Just like any machine, it has to be looked at as a whole. I think manufactures have ignored distance for more important qualities. Volume is probably #1. Ease of starting. Double belts on the blower/auger. Sheer horse power has went up. Steering is very important, and has improved on most machines. Engines vibrate less now. Paints hold up well too. Tires have improved greatly.
> 
> Anyhow... distance is a no brainer for manufactures, it is just where they feel is practical in the real world environment.
> 
> Ken


Excellent post Ken & couldn't agree more. I've never understood the mentality of those that brag about their blowers throwing snow 50+ feet & how much enjoyment they get out of it. I mean, so what??
But then some people enjoy watching painting dry. As the saying goes, whatever floats your boat.

Surge,
Good thread & great post.


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## JRHAWK9

Keep in mind though, if the blower is capable of blowing a decent volume of snow, the throwing distance will naturally come with it. I don't think I've ever seen or watched a video of a blower throwing major volumes of snow only to have it throw 20'...lol Usually, at least it seems this way, the more volume of snow it throws, the further it's capable of throwing it.

For example:


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## GustoGuy

Yes, Horsepower and a good tight impeller and big enough chute to allow snow good thoroughfare is what makes a good snowblower. I put a bigger engine on mine and an impeller kit and it throws well and does not bog even at the end of the driveway. However big Honda and top of the line Ariens snowblowers will even throw farther than my snowblower.


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## ken53

TO JRhawk: (I forgot hit Quote)

I agree... Volume has assume some distance. Hard to compare when talking an extra 10ft or a minus 10ft because the snow is so different at times. For example, Consumer Reports uses wet saw dust so it is consistent for all the tests. Also I notice my blowers always throw farther when the blower chamber is more full. When we get down to slush things can be different too. Snow varies form ice to water and everything in between. Even my 20yr old ST824 always seemed to get the job done, but I might have had to blow some slush twice. 

Ken


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## micah68kj

I have impeller kits in both blowers. As long as the snow is out of my way I could care how far it gets thrown. If I needed a blower that throws it 40-50' I would get one to do that. Right now the snow needs to be moved 20' and my blowers do it. Really, how far do you need to move the snow? I realize some places are extreme.


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## jmb3675

I have to blow half of my driveway forward and than can only blow snow to one side when I get to the other half. The farther I can blow it the less snow I have to move twice. If I had on that could blow 75 ft I would still be moving some snow more than once. So I really need distance the first half and power for volume on the second half. 

A 2 speed impeller would be a great solution. 
Since I don't have a 2 speed impeller, I have more than one machine. My Gilson doesn't throw snow real far but it moves volume. The Spirit throws twice as far but chokes on heavy volume or wet heavy snow.


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## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> TO JRhawk: (I forgot hit Quote)
> Also I notice my blowers always throw farther when the blower chamber is more full. When we get down to slush things can be different too. Snow varies form ice to water and everything in between. Even my 20yr old ST824 always seemed to get the job done, but I might have had to blow some slush twice.
> 
> Ken


Agree. One of the reasons I installed my own impeller kit on mine was to make the smaller snow events more efficient to blow (I have since picked up a single stage for these smaller events). With too much impeller-housing gap and too little amount of snow, the centripetal forces send the little bit of snow in between the gap and the snow tends to barely come out of the chute because it's too busy sliding in between the gaps. In my experience, the denser snow blows further because it's packed together and doesn't get affected as much by aerodynamics once it leaves the chute.


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## JRHAWK9

jmb3675 said:


> The farther I can blow it the less snow I have to move twice.


That's exactly my situation as well for part of our driveway. I want the best of both worlds. I want to blow high volumes of snow long distances.  For this one would need a powerful blower with a large diameter impeller. 

I still much prefer volume over distance though.


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## ken53

micah68kj said:


> I have impeller kits in both blowers. As long as the snow is out of my way I could care how far it gets thrown. If I needed a blower that throws it 40-50' I would get one to do that. Right now the snow needs to be moved 20' and my blowers do it. Really, how far do you need to move the snow? I realize some places are extreme.


There is always going to be some scenario that warrants a 50ft capable blower. But then that 50ft blower will come up really short and be totally inadequate when someone says they need to blow 85ft. There really is no end to this distance issue. Most two car driveways are about 20ft wide. I will go out on a limb here, and say an honest 20ft gets the job done for 90% of blower owners. Is blowing further nice? Yes it is, but there are more important qualities in a machine that I look for.

Nice post
Ken


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## JRHAWK9

Remember, some of it is just someone's personality. There are those of us who just like to get the most out of things regardless if they really need it or not...lol It would be a blast to be able snow blow a 15" snow event in 6th gear and have it blow 75'. Is it necessary, no.....but it sure would make snow-blowing more fun than it already is for me!  LOL


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## jmb3675

I should add, I will not be using both snowblowers every time it snows. I will use the Spirit first because its lighter and throws farther. If it cant handle it, or if it's really heavy I will go for the Gilson. Distance is a convenience. Ability to throw volume is a necessity.


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## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> Agree. One of the reasons I installed my own impeller kit on mine was to make the smaller snow events more efficient to blow (I have since picked up a single stage for these smaller events). With too much impeller-housing gap and too little amount of snow, the centripetal forces send the little bit of snow in between the gap and the snow tends to barely come out of the chute because it's too busy sliding in between the gaps. In my experience, the denser snow blows further because it's packed together and doesn't get affected as much by aerodynamics once it leaves the chute.


 I always wondered why the manufactures are afraid to have tight tolerances on their blower chambers to help with distances and plugging. I read some place it is because impellers can freeze to the housing when stored. An unsuspecting operator could cause damage by engaging the blower when frozen. Although, I never had an impeller freeze on me, I did here of it happening.

Ken


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## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> I always wondered why the manufactures are afraid to have tight tolerances on their blower chambers to help with distances and plugging. I read some place it is because impellers can freeze to the housing when stored. An unsuspecting operator could cause damage by engaging the blower when frozen. Although, I never had an impeller freeze on me, I did here of it happening.
> 
> Ken


yeah, that and ease of assembly and maintaining. With how I have my impeller gap setup (~1/8") and with them being metal, I can't remove my impeller without first moving one of the "paddles". If you look at yours, you'll see an overlap of metal just on the front face of the impeller housing. My impeller, with the kit installed, will not get by that overlap. I actually have all three of my "paddles" adjustable so I can slide them in or out to adjust the gap and so I can remove my impeller if I ever have to. I believe the stock impeller gap was close to 3/8" or maybe even more.


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## micah68kj

JRHAWK9 said:


> Remember, some of it is just someone's personality. There are those of us who just like to get the most out of things regardless if they really need it or not...lol It would be a blast to be able snow blow a 15" snow event in 6th gear and have it blow 75'. Is it necessary, no.....but it sure would make snow-blowing more fun than it already is for me!  LOL


Yep. Some of us just have to have the biggest, the most powerful, the fastest, the most expensive whatever.. Me, as I stated in first post. I have a snowblower that does what it needs to do. None of my blowers fits any of the above criteria. And for me, snowblowing has never been fun. I can't stand it. The only reason I have a snowblower is because shoveling is worse yet. 
Above commentary is my humble opinion. You are free to have yours as well.


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## JRHAWK9

micah68kj said:


> Yep. Some of us just have to have the biggest, the most powerful, the fastest, the most expensive whatever.. Me, as I stated in first post. I have a snowblower that does what it needs to do. None of my blowers fits any of the above criteria. And for me, snowblowing has never been fun. I can't stand it. The only reason I have a snowblower is because shoveling is worse yet.
> Above commentary is my humble opinion. You are free to have yours as well.


I can completely understand your P.O.V. You tend to view your blower as a piece of equipment that is there solely to do a job and that's it. Some of us tend to see it as a toy and something to play around with.


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## Thump_rrr

My driveway is only 24' wide and 35' long so you would think that distance wouldn't be very important to me however, on the one side my driveway is common with my neighbors, it is sloping down towards the house underground and on the right there is a wall.
This means I must blow all my snow forward and into a nice pile on the side of the road for the city blower to pick it up.

From the furthest point on my driveway it is over 50' so for me throwing distance was very important.
The other thing is that since it is a sloped drive leading to an underground garage I sometimes need to deal with 3' drifts so the more snow throwing ability the better.


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## Rockproof

I think blowing snow is a blast. The more it snows, the better I say!!! I was out for 5 hours blowing snow last week (in 15 degree temperatures) and loved every minute. My wife thinks I'm nuts or may have slipped on the ice and hit my head That said, I will humbly admit I am a distance junkie. I love seeing big rooster tails off of the Honda and modified blowers. I have an old Honda HS80 which is a beast on volume and good on distance/height...My distance disease is such that I am seriously contemplating a newer (used) HS724, 828, or 928...I want that rooster higher


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## JRHAWK9

Rockproof said:


> I think blowing snow is a blast. The more it snows, the better I say!!! I was out for 5 hours blowing snow last week (in 15 degree temperatures) and loved every minute. My wife thinks I'm nuts or may have slipped on the ice and hit my head That said, I will humbly admit I am a distance junkie. I love seeing big rooster tails off of the Honda and modified blowers. I have an old Honda HS80 which is a beast on volume and good on distance/height...My distance disease is such that I am seriously contemplating a newer (used) HS724, 828, or 928...I want that rooster higher



yeah, I love it too. Unfortunately we live in an area in which doesn't see a whole lot of snow  

I enjoy the distance thing too, but not at the expense of volume. I know I said this on here before, but my previous "Husky" threw it pretty far, but it can't hold a candle to my Pro 32 in terms of the sheer volume. You can see how easy the "Husky" get's overloaded and how it just can't move the volume of snow it's capable of taking in by going -HERE-.

I thought I remembered reading somewhere the newer Honda blowers do throw it far, but don't move the volume one might expect. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? There's no doubt Honda probably makes the best small engine around.


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## GustoGuy

ken53 said:


> There is always going to be some scenario that warrants a 50ft capable blower. But then that 50ft blower will come up really short and be totally inadequate when someone says they need to blow 85ft. There really is no end to this distance issue. Most two car driveways are about 20ft wide. I will go out on a limb here, and say an honest 20ft gets the job done for 90% of blower owners. Is blowing further nice? Yes it is, but there are more important qualities in a machine that I look for.
> 
> Nice post
> Ken


 Yes, I like that my machine can throw at least 35 to 40 feet in any direction. I have a large double wide driveway that is 30 feet wide and about 70 feet long from my garage door to the road. I can toss the snow far enough either direction so I do not undo what I have already blown.


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## Rockproof

Here's a shot of me and my big girl...Need More Distance


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## darcy32171

Rockproof said:


> Here's a shot of me and my big girl...Need More Distance
> View attachment 8185


I think your neighbors might tend to disagree lol


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## 69ariens

My 69 throws about 35 with no mods other than the brigg9.5 on it. It's a nuff for me.


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## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> yeah, that and ease of assembly and maintaining. With how I have my impeller gap setup (~1/8") and with them being metal, I can't remove my impeller without first moving one of the "paddles". If you look at yours, you'll see an overlap of metal just on the front face of the impeller housing. My impeller, with the kit installed, will not get by that overlap. I actually have all three of my "paddles" adjustable so I can slide them in or out to adjust the gap and so I can remove my impeller if I ever have to. I believe the stock impeller gap was close to 3/8" or maybe even more.


That sounds like "just what the doctor ordered". The tight fit makes plenty of sense. I would like to do it to mine, just for the light snows we get up here. I have one problem though. Ariens had a promotion of a total machine 5yr warranty (accept engine) on mine. So I have to think about it. My dealer in De Pere can be a stickler about things like that. Otherwise I would have done it already. I wish Ariens would make a optional kit. Then I would be OK.

Ken


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## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> That sounds like "just what the doctor ordered". The tight fit makes plenty of sense. I would like to do it to mine, just for the light snows we get up here. I have one problem though. Ariens had a promotion of a total machine 5yr warranty (accept engine) on mine. So I have to think about it. My dealer in De Pere can be a stickler about things like that. Otherwise I would have done it already. I wish Ariens would make a optional kit. Then I would be OK.
> 
> Ken


You may have seen this photo before, as I have posted it previously. Anyway, here's what they look like. The slimy stuff you see is a water repellant I spray on it after every use.

Ambrosius Sales...? I actually bought my Pro 32 last year from McHenry Power Equipment in McHenry, IL. Nobody could touch their price and I was able to get it shipped to me in the crate so I could do the setup myself. In fact, their price was so good that I had the head guy over at Kimps pretty much in a tizzy and not believing me...lol He was back in his little area pounding away on keys....lol He seemed to actually get upset. I talked to the local dealer down here and he told me that they would actually LOSE money if they would sell me one for the price I got it for. I'm not big on warranty's. I tend to have things apart rather soon. In fact, I had my Pro 32 split in half the same day I got it. I wanted to measure my pulley sizes and such so I could compute the impeller tip velocity to compare to my old Husky.


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## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> You may have seen this photo before, as I have posted it previously. Anyway, here's what they look like. The slimy stuff you see is a water repellant I spray on it after every use.
> 
> Ambrosius Sales...? I actually bought my Pro 32 last year from McHenry Power Equipment in McHenry, IL. Nobody could touch their price and I was able to get it shipped to me in the crate so I could do the setup myself. In fact, their price was so good that I had the head guy over at Kimps pretty much in a tizzy and not believing me...lol He was back in his little area pounding away on keys....lol He seemed to actually get upset. I talked to the local dealer down here and he told me that they would actually LOSE money if they would sell me one for the price I got it for. I'm not big on warranty's. I tend to have things apart rather soon. In fact, I had my Pro 32 split in half the same day I got it. I wanted to measure my pulley sizes and such so I could compute the impeller tip velocity to compare to my old Husky.


Yep, Ambrosius Sales. No deals from those guys. I here you on the warranty thing. I figure I should probably wait till the engine is off of warranty. Nice sheet metal work


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## Piedmont

Oh boy... where do I begin. I like throw. I've had enough snow blowers in my time (3 so far) that couldn't throw. Here's why I like throw.

1.) I don't have to snow blow the same stuff twice 

2.) Blowers with less throw create high bankings some seasons, depends on the snow fall, type, and frequency. Once bankings on the sides of my driveway hit 3ft+ my wife and I in our sedans can't see over the bankings, and trying to throw heavy snow 12-15 feet just to get it off my driveway and then having to get it over 3+ft bankings to boot... doesn't work well. A blower with distance won't create 3ft+ bankings, and even if so won't have a problem throwing it over the tall bankings anyway. 

3.) The end of driveway stuff is full of crap sand, salt, you name it and a blower with large throw lets me spread it out over much more of my property instead of piling it up within the same smaller area. That's a difference I noticed, come spring my lawn recovers real fast with a snow blower spreading the EOD junk over a bigger area, no more stagnating for about a month trying to recover.

4.) You can always shorten the throw easily, but if you need throw and your snow blower isn't cutting it nothing easy to fix. I'm still not sold the paddles/blades that people add to the impeller do much to throw, one stated their purpose is to prevent clogging the slight gain in throw is an after effect. Physics says extending a 12" impeller to 12.5" translates to a 4% increase to throw distance if everything is perfect which is saying if it throws 20 ft without them it will throw at best 21 ft with. But, I don't have a before/after personal experience with them either just the pen, paper, and science/math. 

5.) When you need throw, it's a pleasure being able to have it. 

It can also be scary at times I'll admit, after getting a Honda HS928 which throws 30ft more than I'm used to I've made a few oopsies the first few times but now I have it under control. There's also the issue with physics again, the more throw the slower you go. All things being equal a snow blower with a 10" impeller will clear a driveway faster than one with a 12" but the 12" will throw further. 

Cheers!


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## detdrbuzzard

it seems that all the manufactures clame their snowblower will throw snow somewhere between 30 and 45 feet. being in the city with houses been close together thats fine with me but once in awhile i have a need to throw snow more than 45 feet


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## uhall

To tell you the truth, I want to throw snow as far as possible. Not because it looks awesome (which it does) or because the neighbors are in awe, but because I don't want the blown snow to land on snow that I will eventually have to snow blow. 

I believe that blowing snow on snow that still needs to be blown just puts more work and extra strain on your snowblower. 

I have a '94 10hp Craftsman, and with the chute in the up position, it can pack snow 18'+ up a telephone pole. And I can shoot the snow from my sidewalk to the other sidewalk, across the street (35'-40'). I love it .


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## dbert

How's that old saying go?
Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.


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## uhall

dbert said:


> How's that old saying go?
> Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.


Exactly! Short, sweet and to the point.


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## nt40lanman

I rebuilt and modded my machine so performance is a matter of pride but also, I need to get snow across a street or across the driveway and upwind.


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## GustoGuy

Piedmont said:


> Oh boy... where do I begin. I like throw. I've had enough snow blowers in my time (3 so far) that couldn't throw. Here's why I like throw.
> 
> 1.) I don't have to snow blow the same stuff twice
> 
> 2.) Blowers with less throw create high bankings some seasons, depends on the snow fall, type, and frequency. Once bankings on the sides of my driveway hit 3ft+ my wife and I in our sedans can't see over the bankings, and trying to throw heavy snow 12-15 feet just to get it off my driveway and then having to get it over 3+ft bankings to boot... doesn't work well. A blower with distance won't create 3ft+ bankings, and even if so won't have a problem throwing it over the tall bankings anyway.
> 
> 3.) The end of driveway stuff is full of crap sand, salt, you name it and a blower with large throw lets me spread it out over much more of my property instead of piling it up within the same smaller area. That's a difference I noticed, come spring my lawn recovers real fast with a snow blower spreading the EOD junk over a bigger area, no more stagnating for about a month trying to recover.
> 
> 4.) You can always shorten the throw easily, but if you need throw and your snow blower isn't cutting it nothing easy to fix. I'm still not sold the paddles/blades that people add to the impeller do much to throw, one stated their purpose is to prevent clogging the slight gain in throw is an after effect. Physics says extending a 12" impeller to 12.5" translates to a 4% increase to throw distance if everything is perfect which is saying if it throws 20 ft without them it will throw at best 21 ft with. But, I don't have a before/after personal experience with them either just the pen, paper, and science/math.
> 
> 5.) When you need throw, it's a pleasure being able to have it.
> 
> It can also be scary at times I'll admit, after getting a Honda HS928 which throws 30ft more than I'm used to I've made a few oopsies the first few times but now I have it under control. There's also the issue with physics again, the more throw the slower you go. All things being equal a snow blower with a 10" impeller will clear a driveway faster than one with a 12" but the 12" will throw further.
> 
> Cheers!


I noticed that on my machine with a tight baler belt impeller seal it almost acts like a fan and blows air really good now. Last year in April I had a puddle about an inch deep in my driveway and when I hit it with the blower it shot water out of the chute about 5 feet like a pump. Without the impeller kit it would not do this at all. I feel that part of the throw is due to the tight seal and no snow sticks to the inside of the drum and air is being shot out of the chute along with the snow which propels it along even better.


----------



## UNDERTAKER

The futher the better. I would like to throw it into the next county. I can only dream.


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## superedge88

I think that the whole view point that people are just obsessed with throwing distance and that it really doesn't matter is a little narrow minded. Not everyone lives right next to their neighbor, and some of us have driveways that are 3-4 cars wide at some areas.
Some of us folks live out in the country, where the wind blows large drifts. If such folks aren't able to throw the snow very far (like a completely different area of the yard) that snow will just end up being blown back on to the dirveway once the wind gets to blowing again.
In my particular situation I need to be able to place snow neatly about 40-50 feet away from where I am starting it from. So while I don't need the snow to be thrown crazy far 80% of the time, the other 20% of the time I REALLY need that extra distance. And when the snow is wet and heavy, how far do you think a blower is going to throw when it was already distance challenged with light fluffy stuff? 
I have a rather long driveway, so I'm outside reblowing snow for a long time if I can't be surgical with my snow placement. This is why I chose a Honda after I had a Toro. Not trying to talk badly about Toro as a brand, they are a stand up company. Honda just happens to be known for tidy narrow throwing patterns that reach awesome distances. I knew I needed every extra foot of distance that I could get, so I ended up going with a Honda. The difference ended up being that I can split my widest areas (even if the wind is still blowing) and I am able to throw the snow far enough to avoid blowing the same snow twice.
Different strokes for different folks, 20-30 foot distances are enough for those living in areas that have 10 feet between driveways, The rest of us need more, and not because it just looks pretty when you're throwing the snow 40 feet up in the air. It is pretty cool looking though.


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## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> Honda just happens to be known for tidy narrow throwing patterns that reach awesome distances.


Interesting. This I did not know but kinda backs up what I heard about the volume they are capable of moving. I thought I read about Honda blowers, how they achieve terrific throwing distances but don't throw terrific volumes of snow. Do you know what size impellers they have? I thought most of them all had 14".


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## superedge88

JRHAWK9 said:


> Interesting. This I did not know but kinda backs up what I heard about the volume they are capable of moving. I thought I read about Honda blowers, how they achieve terrific throwing distances but don't throw terrific volumes of snow. Do you know what size impellers they have? I thought most of them all had 14".


I'm no expert on how they throw so well, maybe Robert from Honda can tell us, my guess is that it comes from high impeller speed. I have not measured the width of my 928 impeller. If you look up some YouTube videos of Hondas throwing snow you'll be surprised at both the volume and distance. I'm not saying other brands don't throw far, I was just impressed enough with Honda throwing distance/volume, engine reliability, easy starting, comfortable handle height (I'm 5 foot 8 inches) and hydro drive. Just because I ended up with my honda doesn't mean that I tested all the other brands, just found the feature set I liked in a Honda.


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## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> I'm no expert on how they throw so well, maybe Robert from Honda can tell us, my guess is that it comes from high impeller speed. I have not measured the width of my 928 impeller. If you look up some YouTube videos of Hondas throwing snow you'll be surprised at both the volume and distance. I'm not saying other brands don't throw far, I was just impressed enough with Honda throwing distance/volume, engine reliability, easy starting, comfortable handle height (I'm 5 foot 8 inches) and hydro drive. Just because I ended up with my honda doesn't mean that I tested all the other brands, just found the feature set I liked in a Honda.


The diameter of the impeller you could probably look at and figure out. It's probably 14", but could be 12" I guess. I was just curious if you ever heard that their volume capabilities weren't all that terrific. I don't even know if this is true or not, but your comment about the narrow throwing patterns seem to back that up.

My Husky had awesome throwing distance, but it sucked for volume. I computed the tip speed of my Husky and of my Pro 32. My Husky had faster tip speed even though it had a smaller impeller (12" vs 14"). I'll take a fire-hose spraying 50' over a garden hose spraying 50'


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## superedge88

JRHAWK9 said:


> The diameter of the impeller you could probably look at and figure out. It's probably 14", but could be 12" I guess. I was just curious if you ever heard that their volume capabilities weren't all that terrific. I don't even know if this is true or not, but your comment about the narrow throwing patterns seem to back that up.
> 
> My Husky had awesome throwing distance, but it sucked for volume. I computed the tip speed of my Husky and of my Pro 32. My Husky had faster tip speed even though it had a smaller impeller (12" vs 14"). I'll take a fire-hose spraying 50' over a garden hose spraying 50'


I measured the impeller, it's a 12 inch. I'm not sure if that's what decides volume though. My background is in public aquarium life support which involves a lot of different sizes of pumps/impellers. There are some pumps that are pressure biased, some are flow biased. Looking at impeller size and trying to extrapolate volume or distance capabilities is like looking at a cars wheel size and trying to figure out how fast the car can go.


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## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> I measured the impeller, it's a 12 inch. I'm not sure if that's what decides volume though. My background is in public aquarium life support which involves a lot of different sizes of pumps/impellers. There are some pumps that are pressure biased, some are flow biased. Looking at impeller size and trying to extrapolate volume or distance capabilities is like looking at a cars wheel size and trying to figure out how fast the car can go.


I would like to respectively disagree  It's the only thing in a snowblower which decides how much snow it displaces in one revolution of the impeller.

Say, you have one blower with a 12" dia impeller housing which is 4" deep. The volume of this housing is 452 cubic inches. The volume of a 14" dia impeller housing which is also 4" deep is 615 cubic inches. Say both blowers impellers turn at 1,000 rpms.. So in 5 minutes of blowing, the most snow the one with the 12" impeller could displace would be 1,308 CF while the one with the 14" impeller would be capable of moving 1,780 CF. This obviously just shows the potential capability and not real world results, as it assumes each revolution is at max capacity. There is no doubt in my mind that the larger and deeper the impeller is, the more volume it will be capable of moving. Just look at my old Husky. It has a 12" impeller that actually turned FASTER rpm's and blew snow further than my current Ariens does, but in no way was it capable of moving the amount of snow my new one is capable of. Now, with this larger impeller, you need it to be geared and powered correctly for it to live up to it's potential. I watched a video on YouTube last year of a pretty nasty custom made snow blower. This thing had a large modified impeller and housing. It was also re-powered with a big V-Twin commercial engine. This thing could eat the snow like crazy and spit it WAYY out there. It was fun to watch. Maybe I'll try to find it. If I remember correctly, the most modifications he did was with the impeller, impeller housing and what went into the re-powering of it. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not degrading any brand of blowers and Honda makes one **** of a blower....probably the best blower around. I just feel the impeller size has a lot to do with overall volume of snow the machine is capable of moving. I saw it first hand and is one of the reasons why I wanted to upgrade from my Husky to my current Ariens. I was underwhelmed with the volume the Husky could move, even though it threw it like crazy.


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## superedge88

JRHAWK9 said:


> I would like to respectively disagree  It's the only thing in a snowblower which decides how much snow it displaces in one revolution of the impeller.
> 
> Say, you have one blower with a 12" dia impeller housing which is 4" deep. The volume of this housing is 452 cubic inches. The volume of a 14" dia impeller housing which is also 4" deep is 615 cubic inches. Say both blowers impellers turn at 1,000 rpms.. So in 5 minutes of blowing, the most snow the one with the 12" impeller could displace would be 1,308 CF while the one with the 14" impeller would be capable of moving 1,780 CF. This obviously just shows the potential capability and not real world results, as it assumes each revolution is at max capacity. There is no doubt in my mind that the larger and deeper the impeller is, the more volume it will be capable of moving. Just look at my old Husky. It has a 12" impeller that actually turned FASTER rpm's and blew snow further than my current Ariens does, but in no way was it capable of moving the amount of snow my new one is capable of. Now, with this larger impeller, you need it to be geared and powered correctly for it to live up to it's potential. I watched a video on YouTube last year of a pretty nasty custom made snow blower. This thing had a large modified impeller and housing. It was also re-powered with a big V-Twin commercial engine. This thing could eat the snow like crazy and spit it WAYY out there. It was fun to watch. Maybe I'll try to find it. If I remember correctly, the most modifications he did was with the impeller, impeller housing and what went into the re-powering of it.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I'm not degrading any brand of blowers and Honda makes one **** of a blower....probably the best blower around. I just feel the impeller size has a lot to do with overall volume of snow the machine is capable of moving. I saw it first hand and is one of the reasons why I wanted to upgrade from my Husky to my current Ariens. I was underwhelmed with the volume the Husky could move, even though it threw it like crazy.


I think the reason why we're not understanding each other is that I had **** poor luck with throwing distance and volume with a Toro, you had **** poor luck with the volume out of a husky. So we haven't had first hand experience with what the other is happy with.

I've pushed through packed snow (end of driveway) about 10 inches deep at full speed with my honda, so I have yet to give my honda a volume of snow it can't handle (mine is the commercial version, the residential version has 7hp instead of 9hp) So I haven't witnessed any issues with it being volume limited.

There is much more that goes into volume thrown than simply impeller width and volume. The volute design is integral, how large the output shoot is compared to impeller design, speed, how fast the auger is pulling snow vs distance of auger to impeller and of course auger speed, the list goes on. When it comes right down to it there is a reason why ariens designs things the way they do and Honda designs things the way they do.
Either way, I don't think that you or I are gonna regret our decision, barring an engine failure.

So bring your Ariens over in the next blizzard and we'll race! People for miles around will wonder where all the snow and daylight is coming from.


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## chevyman_de




----------



## ken53

> Originally Posted by superedge88
> So bring your Ariens over in the next blizzard and we'll race! People for miles around will wonder where all the snow and daylight is coming from.


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## Surge

A lot of interesting, informative and varied responses. 
I just want to make it clear that I am not against snow blowers that are capable of blowing snow great distances. I actually bought one of the most powerful 24" machines available at the time I purchased a snow blower, and it can blow snow as far as 40 - 45 feet. It comes in handy to spread out the snow over a larger area so that I do not end up with tall piles of snow that hinder my sight when backing out of my driveway. Plus it's just plain fun to use. Instead of obsession, I probably should have said fascination because obsession may have a negative implication. 
And after reading through the responses I have changed my mind regarding how practical it is to have a snow blower that throws snow a long distance. It seems to be more practical than I first thought. Obviously in an urban area with very little distance between neighbors it may not be of much use. But in a suburban or rural area it can be very useful so you do not end up blowing the same snow, and to allow you more flexibility in placing the snow. 
However nearly every new premium two stage snow blower today can toss snow 40 feet or further. As a result it does not factor very much into a purchase decision when buying "new". Most top of the line Ariens blowers at least in their ads state that they can blow up to 50 feet, and the Honda blowers advertise the same throwing distance. I think durability, ease of maintenance, ease of use, and width play more of a role when purchasing a "new" snow blower. And as many have stated the volume of snow being moved probably matters more than distance.
By the way, I love the video of that monster V8 snow blower! But thank god that guy is not my next door neighbor  Although if I lived on a farm and had at least a few acres of land between us, he would make an interesting neighbor.
I think if it snowed seven or eight months out of the year there would probably be snow blowing contests. Sort of like the tractor pulling contests that my brother-in-law in Indiana used to compete in.


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## CarlB

back a few years ago i rebuilt a 1984 large frame cub cadet (when owned by IH) it was a 26" wide 8hp machine with a easy turn differential and 8hp Tech engine. It has 16" Augers and a 14 diameter 6" deep impeller with 4 massive blades. The engine was not rebuildable so i used a 11hp electric honda clone from harbor freight. When doing the modifications to the snowblower I installed an impeller kit and a larger impeller drive pulley to achieve an impeller speed of 1312rpm. I opted for a more modern funneling type tall chute. This machine will easily throw medium type snow 50' or more and sluch 25' with the volume of a fire hose. The more snow you give it the better it likes it. I am a of the opinion if you are going to rebuild and modify your blower and you have the right machine to start with, both volume and distance can be accomplished.


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## ken53

Surge said:


> A lot of interesting, informative and varied responses.
> I just want to make it clear that I am not against snow blowers that are capable of blowing snow great distances. I actually bought one of the most powerful 24" machines available at the time I purchased a snow blower, and it can blow snow as far as 40 - 45 feet. It comes in handy to spread out the snow over a larger area so that I do not end up with tall piles of snow that hinder my sight when backing out of my driveway. Plus it's just plain fun to use. Instead of obsession, I probably should have said fascination because obsession may have a negative implication.
> And after reading through the responses I have changed my mind regarding how practical it is to have a snow blower that throws snow a long distance. It seems to be more practical than I first thought. Obviously in an urban area with very little distance between neighbors it may not be of much use. But in a suburban or rural area it can be very useful so you do not end up blowing the same snow, and to allow you more flexibility in placing the snow.
> However nearly every new premium two stage snow blower today can toss snow 40 feet or further. As a result it does not factor very much into a purchase decision when buying "new". Most top of the line Ariens blowers at least in their ads state that they can blow up to 50 feet, and the Honda blowers advertise the same throwing distance. I think durability, ease of maintenance, ease of use, and width play more of a role when purchasing a "new" snow blower. And as many have stated the volume of snow being moved probably matters more than distance.
> By the way, I love the video of that monster V8 snow blower! But thank god that guy is not my next door neighbor  Although if I lived on a farm and had at least a few acres of land between us, he would make an interesting neighbor.
> I think if it snowed seven or eight months out of the year there would probably be snow blowing contests. Sort of like the tractor pulling contests that my brother-in-law in Indiana used to compete in.


Very nicely said. Good post. Thanks.


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## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> So bring your Ariens over in the next blizzard and we'll race!


 That would actually be fun! LOL Kind of a fun "Chevy vs Ford" competition. 


Although we couldn't really do a typical race straight up seeing yours cuts a 28" path and mine a 32" path. Mine has the ability to take in more snow simply because it's wider. I guess if mine were able to move at the same speed or faster than what yours does then it would be obvious mine has more throughput. 


Assuming a uniform depth of snow and assuming identical throughput between the two machines, yours would have to travel exactly 14.3% faster than mine. As mine is taking in 14.3% more snow because of the wider width.

Ken, can we borrow your 28 to make things easier?


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## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> Ken, can we borrow your 28 to make things easier?


That sure would be fun, I would love to see how mine would compare. 

Only one thing though, mine is a 30". So we would still need your wonderful math capabilities. I came really close to getting the Pro 28, and probably will regret not buying it, but I ended up with the Platinum 30. I'll miss the ball bearings for sure, but I liked the platinum's axle located further back a couple inches. It ended up balancing more weight on the front end. It is a long story.  

I do have a lot of faith in my 414cc 20.0 ft lb, Chinese LCT engine. (USA built is always my first choice though.) She handles all of that 30"x21" intake, even at the EOD with out a grunt.  Hopefully my faith won't be shattered for 10-20 yrs. 

Ken


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## nt40lanman

What kind of machine did you get your chute from?




CarlB said:


> back a few years ago i rebuilt a 1984 large frame cub cadet (when owned by IH) it was a 26" wide 8hp machine with a easy turn differential and 8hp Tech engine. It has 16" Augers and a 14 diameter 6" deep impeller with 4 massive blades. The engine was not rebuildable so i used a 11hp electric honda clone from harbor freight. When doing the modifications to the snowblower I installed an impeller kit and a larger impeller drive pulley to achieve an impeller speed of 1312rpm. I opted for a more modern funneling type tall chute. This machine will easily throw medium type snow 50' or more and sluch 25' with the volume of a fire hose. The more snow you give it the better it likes it. I am a of the opinion if you are going to rebuild and modify your blower and you have the right machine to start with, both volume and distance can be accomplished.


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## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> That sure would be fun, I would love to see how mine would compare.
> 
> Only one thing though, mine is a 30". So we would still need your wonderful math capabilities. I came really close to getting the Pro 28, and probably will regret not buying it, but I ended up with the Platinum 30. I'll miss the ball bearings for sure, but I liked the platinum's axle located further back a couple inches. It ended up balancing more weight on the front end. It is a long story.
> 
> I do have a lot of faith in my 414cc 20.0 ft lb, Chinese LCT engine. (USA built is always my first choice though.) She handles all of that 30"x21" intake, even at the EOD with out a grunt.  Hopefully my faith won't be shattered for 10-20 yrs.
> 
> Ken


oops, sorry....for some reason I thought you has the Hydro Pro 28. Not sure why I thought that. 

Don't fret, even my USA named 420cc Briggs is built in China. 

I keep hearing good things about LCT, time will tell. My Path-Pro has a 208cc LCT.


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## JRHAWK9

Here's a good example of the differences in throughput between an Ariens Pro 28 and Husky. The Husky has it building up in front while both are traveling at the same speed. Just look at the screen capture below and you can see that. Make sure you ignore some of the comments....some very bad and false info. Like Husqvarna making Ariens...lol


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## superedge88

That Husky looks terrible.


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## GustoGuy

superedge88 said:


> That Husky looks terrible.


The Areins looks like it is throwing 40 to 45 feet while the Husky maybe 25 to 30 feet at most. Certainly not terrible but not as good. My neighbor has an 8hp snow blower and my HF 212cc on my MTD 5/22 with impeller kit makes his blower look sad in comparison since my snow blower will throw 40+ feet too. His is much more like the Husky not terrible or bad but certainly not awe inspiring like some Honda machines or Yamaha or top dollar Ariens which throw snow geyers that look like Old Faithfull going off.


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## CarlB

nt40lanman said:


> What kind of machine did you get your chute from?


 If i remember correctly it was a mid 80"s large frame snapper.


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## JRHAWK9

Funny....I must be an odd duck, as I don't even pay much attention to how far they are throwing when watching that video. I pay more attention to how much snow is building up in front of the machine as time goes on. lol


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## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> Funny....I must be an odd duck, as I don't even pay much attention to how far they are throwing when watching that video. I pay more attention to how much snow is building up in front of the machine as time goes on. lol


Same here.


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## JRHAWK9

Below is another Husky video demonstrating the inability of the machine to get the snow out at a rate in which exceeds it's ability to take it in. Starts right about the 2:30 mark. He actually makes a note in the video that he had to slow the machine down so the snow would not spill around the edges.....lol It should not be this easy to exceed the output capacity of a good snowblower. It's not like he was even going that fast. IMO, it throws the snow with plenty of distance.


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## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> Same here.


maybe that's why we both have Ariens! 

just kiddin' guys.....lol


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## GustoGuy

JRHAWK9 said:


> maybe that's why we both have Ariens!
> 
> just kiddin' guys.....lol


With a snowblower the augers are designed to move the snow towards the center of the bucket and the it can be collected by the second stage (impeller) and thrown out the chute. All I see is that the snowblower augers are collecting the snow which means moving it towards the center of course it will pile it a bit as well too. Now the machine did not seem to be bogging and was moving at a good rate of speed. I suppose a slower speed may translate to less snow collected in front but it was not spilling out around the sides of the blower


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## JRHAWK9

GustoGuy said:


> With a snowblower the augers are designed to move the snow towards the center of the bucket and the it can be collected by the second stage (impeller) and thrown out the chute. All I see is that the snowblower augers are collecting the snow which means moving it towards the center of course it will pile it a bit as well too. Now the machine did not seem to be bogging and was moving at a good rate of speed. I suppose a slower speed may translate to less snow collected in front but it was not spilling out around the sides of the blower


Yeah, it was starting to spill out right before he commented about slowing it down because it was starting to spill out. It wasn't bogging down because the lack of HP is not the problem. The problem was the machine is not capable of physically discharging it fast enough.  It's the exact same issue I saw right away with my old Husky. I like to keep a good load on my blower when blowing deep snow, I do this by maintaining a decent speed. I noticed right away, even though the motor could keep the rpm's up, the snow was just not discharging as the same rate or faster than it was taking it in at the rate of speed I was traveling. I would stop and walk up front and I would see a bunch of snow just piled up in front of it. I was simply just pushing the snow along while the blower was maxed out at the rate it could discharge it at. 

Take it one step farther. In that video, what would you suppose would happen if you could take that 12" impeller opening and now shrink it down to, say, a 6" opening while continuing to travel at the same rate of speed? I would venture to guess the snow would start to pile up even faster because the blower would be discharging even less snow while maintaining the rate at which it's taking it in.


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## chevyman_de

After watching the video several times and looking at pictures of the Husky and the Ariens I believe that the impeller is not the problem, it's the auger size and design.
The husky has only a 12" auger with a fine pitch (I hope that's the correct term). The fine pitch may be great for moving the snow towards the center of the buket, but for moving the snow backwards (towards the impeller) it is less effective than the coarse augers from the Ariens. And to make things worse it sits way lower than the impeller intake. In the video it looks like the upper half of the impeller doesn't get any real load (3:05 - 3:12).


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## scipper77

You guys are being little picky here concerning the video. That machine is moving nearly 2 feet of snow. I'm pretty sure that if you designed the machine to run in that stuff at high speed that when faced with a normal amount, say 6 inches you wouldn't load the impeller sufficiently to throw effectively.

Remember that auger and impeller speed do not change at all when you change drive speed. I'm sure they design the machine to remove snow most effectively at a specific rate and the user needs to determine what ground speed translates to a feed at the proper rate for the given snow condition. It's not about bogging as much as it's about the machines designed rate of removal.


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## GustoGuy

chevyman_de said:


> After watching the video several times and looking at pictures of the Husky and the Ariens I believe that the impeller is not the problem, it's the auger size and design.
> The husky has only a 12" auger with a fine pitch (I hope that's the correct term). The fine pitch may be great for moving the snow towards the center of the buket, but for moving the snow backwards (towards the impeller) it is less effective than the coarse augers from the Ariens. And to make things worse it sits way lower than the impeller intake. In the video it looks like the upper half of the impeller doesn't get any real load (3:05 - 3:12).


 
It looks like a tall coarse swirl auger which is as least as tall as the impeller drum opening would make for the best design for taking in large amounts of snow quickly and feeding it to the impeller. A deep designed large diameter impeller/ drum system 6 inches deep or more with a 4 blade impeller would be able to process that snow even better than a shallow drum 3 blade impeller would. It seems like short augers that have a tighter swirl to them may seem move snow faster towards the center of the bucket then they almost get in the way of snow getting into the impeller. I wonder how a tall fine whirl impeller would do?. Now a design that would have the tightest impeller cleareance would work well too since my blower with the impeller kit acts almost like a fan where the air blows good out of the cute when I engage the augers and this would create a low pressure zone right in front of the inpeller which should help to draw in snow even better.


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## scipper77

How about a design where the auger shafts were not perpendicular to the impeller shaft. move the bucket end of each auger shaft forward about 3-4 inches so it drives snow into the impeller housing?? There must be some flaw to this design as I doubt I'm smarter than every engineer who ever designed a snowblower for the last 60 years. I'm pretty sure you could easily cut the gears at an angle or use a universal joint to make the angle. 

You could clock the inside edges of the augers so that they are an interference design where they occupy the same space but never at the same time. I claim patent rights as this being my idea right here and now!!

It's vain but I just thought about this and now I am in love with my own idea!! Someone talk me down.


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## superedge88

Seems that others are seeing what I am seeing, that the auger design is just as important as the impeller size (pertaining to this current discussion) I think that truly efficient snow throwing volume is if the auger and impeller are working at the same efficiency, which may explain why cub cadet added the corkscrew auger in their newer units in order to try to achieve a better hand off between the auger and the impeller.
Also a side note, to be fair, in the video below both the husky and ariens are spilling snow out the side of the auger opening, it is quite obvious at around the 50 second mark and on.


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## scipper77

I'd like to see the exact same test with 8 inches of snow. You know the type of load they will see 90% of the time. I don't know about you bu we get 2 feet dumped on us in a day maybe once every other year. Just saying hot rods are nice when you are at the race track.


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## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> Seems that others are seeing what I am seeing, that the auger design is just as important or as important as the impeller size (pertaining to this current discussion) I think that truly efficient snow throwing volume is if the auger and impeller are working at the same efficiency, which may explain why cub cadet added the corkscrew auger in their newer units in order to try to achieve a better hand off between the auger and the impeller.


I will agree with you there, the auger system needs to be doing it's job in order for the impeller to do it's at maximum load. Maybe the Husky impeller is a crappy design, and that is part of the reason for lack of throughput. I still believe the smaller impeller also has something to do with it, maybe not all of it, but some of it.  



superedge88 said:


> Also a side note, to be fair, in the video below both the husky and ariens are spilling snow out the side of the auger opening, it is quite obvious at around the 1 minute mark and on.
> Husqvarna 1827 EXLT vs. Ariens Pro Track 28 - YouTube


If you notice though (and he states it in the video I believe), the Ariens actually sheared an auger pin, so it's only operating on one working auger.


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## superedge88

JRHAWK9 said:


> If you notice though (and he states it in the video I believe), the Ariens actually sheared an auger pin, so it's only operating on one working auger.


I didn't even notice that, makes much more sense then, so the Husky really does just stink comparitively.


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## JRHAWK9

scipper77 said:


> I'd like to see the exact same test with 8 inches of snow. You know the type of load they will see 90% of the time. I don't know about you bu we get 2 feet dumped on us in a day maybe once every other year. Just saying hot rods are nice when you are at the race track.


There's nothing "hot rod" about mine....lol 
This last snowfall (heck, the only one we've had so far  ) we had 6" of snow and I blew most of the 7,000+ SF I had to blow in 6th gear. I only put it in a slower gear when I was in tighter spots and near objects. Otherwise all the straight stretches (the majority of it) I blew in 6th. My high idle speed is set to ~3,720 rpms or so and I was only seeing a drop to about 3,550 rpm's while doing so. The blower was capable of blowing more volume yet. When I came in the house after I was done I even mentioned to my GF how impressed I was with this blower and the throughput it seems to have. So I am guessing I could come close to blowing 8" at full speed. Granted, this all also depends on the type of snow. 8" of wet dense snow may not be so easy at higher speeds....lol Hopefully we get a decent snowfall this winter yet so I can see what it can do. 

A good professional level snowblower should have NO issues blowing a measly 8" of snow at a decent speed. At least this is what I was looking for in a blower and what I did not get with my Husky. 

<edit>
I just ran across a posting of mine from back in Feb. of '13. Looks like I already have played with 9+ inches of snow. Below is what I said:


> Keep in mind guys, the distance it throws the snow is really not a good indicator of machine performance in itself. My Husky seemed to out throw my new Ariens Pro 32, but there's no comparison in terms of the volume of snow moved between the two. My Ariens moves MUCH more snow. I took 9.5" of snow, full 32" wide, put my Pro 32 in the -fastest- gear and let 'er go. It had no problem taking it in and spitting it out. If I would have tried that with my Husky it would have bogged down and would have started to just push the snow, as it wasn't capable of throwing the volume of snow it took in at those speeds.


</edit>

I am probably in a little different situation as some of you, as I have two longer rural driveways to blow. I want to be able to do it at a faster clip and when I see it building up in front of the blower that just irritates me. 

The bottom line is....just as long as you are happy with the performance of the blower of what you purchased is all that matters.


----------



## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> I didn't even notice that, makes much more sense then, so the Husky really does just stink comparitively.


yeah, so you could make an argument that Ariens has really crappy shear pins  Then I could counter argue, no, the Briggs 420cc just has a lot of power...lol


----------



## Shryp

scipper77 said:


> How about a design where the auger shafts were not perpendicular to the impeller shaft. move the bucket end of each auger shaft forward about 3-4 inches so it drives snow into the impeller housing?? There must be some flaw to this design as I doubt I'm smarter than every engineer who ever designed a snowblower for the last 60 years. I'm pretty sure you could easily cut the gears at an angle or use a universal joint to make the angle.
> 
> You could clock the inside edges of the augers so that they are an interference design where they occupy the same space but never at the same time. I claim patent rights as this being my idea right here and now!!
> 
> It's vain but I just thought about this and now I am in love with my own idea!! Someone talk me down.


Sounds like you want a "V" shaped front end. I think I like that idea.


----------



## scipper77

I am not knocking performance at high volume when I say hot rod. What I am saying is machines are designed for specific conditions. My classic ariens powers through heavy stuff way better than my 2005 craftsman. But, if there is only 4 inches of wet snow the ariens only throws a couple of feet where the craftsman will easily clear the driveway. 

My point is that the husky might throw further or clear faster if the snow was not as severe or it might always lose. I don't know but since I tend to use my blower in less than 2 feet of snow that is the side by side test I want to see.


----------



## scipper77

Shryp said:


> Sounds like you want a "V" shaped front end. I think I like that idea.


Yes, and an interference setup would work great until you lose a shear pin. So that part of the idea is flawed.


----------



## superedge88

Just like a bunch of the youtube comments on the husky vs ariens video I want to see a straight up Honda vs ariens comparison, though I don't think that airens makes a comparable version to some of the higher end Hondas, so it would have to be a mid level honda to a mid level ariens.


----------



## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> I want to see a straight up Honda vs ariens comparison, though I don't think that airens makes a comparable version to some of the higher end Hondas, so it would have to be a mid level honda to a mid level ariens.


yeah, me too. There's probably not much debate Honda builds the best small engine around. Heck, I drive a Civic for my daily driver  I'm just not sure of the all out raw performance of them. It's hard watching YouTube videos for me to get out of them what I want to get out of them, as everybody goes soooo slow when using them and doesn't load them up. 

I did run across -THIS- one of a Honda in Alaska with the guy pushing it pretty good. Seemed to do pretty good.

Why couldn't there be a comparison between a Pro 28/32/36 to any of Honda's high end ones? It would be high end Ariens vs high end Honda. It would be nice to have the same bucket width so you didn't have mess with the speeds, but it wouldn't be necessary. Here's one right -HERE-....perfect to do a comparison against the Pro 32.


----------



## JRHAWK9

scipper77 said:


> I am not knocking performance at high volume when I say hot rod. What I am saying is machines are designed for specific conditions. My classic ariens powers through heavy stuff way better than my 2005 craftsman. But, if there is only 4 inches of wet snow the ariens only throws a couple of feet where the craftsman will easily clear the driveway.
> 
> My point is that the husky might throw further or clear faster if the snow was not as severe or it might always lose. I don't know but since I tend to use my blower in less than 2 feet of snow that is the side by side test I want to see.


I understand what you are saying. I wouldn't expect a $500 blower to perform like a $3,000 one. Although I would tend to expect a manufacturer's top model (like my Husky was at the time) to perform similarly to other manufacturers top models.


----------



## superedge88

JRHAWK9 said:


> yeah, me too. There's probably not much debate Honda builds the best small engine around. Heck, I drive a Civic for my daily driver  I'm just not sure of the all out raw performance of them. It's hard watching YouTube videos for me to get out of them what I want to get out of them, as everybody goes soooo slow when using them and doesn't load them up.
> 
> I did run across -THIS- one of a Honda in Alaska with the guy pushing it pretty good. Seemed to do pretty good.
> 
> Why couldn't there be a comparison between a Pro 28/32/36 to any of Honda's high end ones? It would be high end Ariens vs high end Honda. It would be nice to have the same bucket width so you didn't have mess with the speeds, but it wouldn't be necessary. Here's one right -HERE-....perfect to do a comparison against the Pro 32.


I figured that since ariens doesn't want there snow blowers used in commercial duty (will only apply a 90 day warranty for commercial use) vs Honda applying a 3 year warranty for commercial use, I didn't think it would be a fair comparison. Should probably compare what both companies look at as residential use machines to really be fair to both companies. I believe that the smaller Hondas don't have commercial warranties?
*EDIT* I guess that the home depot website is wrong, the ariens website shows a 1 year commercial warranty which shows a little bit of confidence that ariens has in commercial duty. After doing more looking at Hondas their whole line of 2 stage units have 3 year commercial warranty, only their single stage has a shortened commercial warranty.


----------



## GustoGuy

I tried my old Montgomery Ward Gilson made snowblower which is now powered by a HF Predator 212cc with impeller kit and it threw snow over my weigelias which are about 45 feet from my driveway. I estimate it throws about 45 to 50 feet now. I will make a video of it in action and compare it to my MTD 5/22


----------



## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> I figured that since ariens doesn't want there snow blowers used in commercial duty (will only apply a 90 day warranty for commercial use) vs Honda applying a 3 year warranty for commercial use, I didn't think it would be a fair comparison. Should probably compare what both companies look at as residential use machines to really be fair to both companies. I believe that the smaller Hondas don't have commercial warranties?
> *EDIT* I guess that the home depot website is wrong, the ariens website shows a 1 year commercial warranty which shows a little bit of confidence that ariens has in commercial duty. After doing more looking at Hondas their whole line of 2 stage units have 3 year commercial warranty, only their single stage has a shortened commercial warranty.


I don't put much value in warranties, never have. It's more or less a marketing strategy and not something one should use to gauge any sort of quality or life expectancy. Just look at Kia and/or Hyundai in the automotive world for a prime example of this. One or both had (maybe still have) the longest warranty in the automotive world. You'd be hard pressed to find anybody outside of Korea (where they are made) who believes they make the most reliable and longest lasting vehicles around.  It's just another marketing strategy manufacturers use to attract buyers. I think in Honda's case they may have longer warranty's in part because their blowers are more "advanced" and have more parts that could potentially fail in time. The marketing dept combats this potentially "negative" point of view by increasing the warranty to ease potential buyers minds. 

So, having said that, the comparison I would want to see would be strictly volume based performance and nothing else. How much snow are both of them capable of displacing over a period of time. Nothing more.


----------



## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> I don't put much value in warranties, never have. It's more or less a marketing strategy and not something one should use to gauge any sort of quality or life expectancy. Just look at Kia and/or Hyundai in the automotive world for a prime example of this. One or both had (maybe still have) the longest warranty in the automotive world. You'd be hard pressed to find anybody outside of Korea (where they are made) who believes they make the most reliable and longest lasting vehicles around.  It's just another marketing strategy manufacturers use to attract buyers. I think in Honda's case they may have longer warranty's in part because their blowers are more "advanced" and have more parts that could potentially fail in time. The marketing dept combats this potentially "negative" point of view by increasing the warranty to ease potential buyers minds.
> 
> So, having said that, the comparison I would want to see would be strictly volume based performance and nothing else. How much snow are both of them capable of displacing over a period of time. Nothing more.



Honda Warranty Experience.
My FG100 tiller had a defective transmission just like every single FG100 ever made. Honda fixed it once under warranty but not the second time, within the 2yr warranty. Than 2-3 yrs later I bought a new FG100. Again within 15-30 hrs the transmission failed. Same warranty issue all over. I gave it away. Had it been a more expensive tiller, I am convinced there would have been a class action against Honda. Here is one of many links. http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/honda-mini-tiller-cultivator-c141682.html

I agree. Many warranties are a sales aids, but let’s buy into this longer warranty is a better product issue for a minute. Anyone like myself, purchasing an Ariens blower early this fall received and automatic 5yr warranty. This warranty would make these Ariens the best in the industry bar none.
 Now, commercial warranties, they are a strange item. 
99% of commercial used machines will claim residential use. I really think commercial warranties are something not very often enforced or used, so Honda has nothing to much to lose by offering a 3 yr commercial warranty. It is a great sales aid and should help sell machines. After all, my FG100 had a 2yr commercial warranty and could not hold up to light residential use.
Warranties hold a lesser value to me now, thanks to my personal warranty issues, two times.
PS: a side note here is the Honda snow blower warranty residential or commercial states that Augers, paddles, and wheel bearings aren’t warrantied at all. Appears that these are considered wear items.
I am not suggesting not to buy Honda products. I feel they have good products worth considering. They just soured me personally on warranties.
Ken


----------



## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> Honda Warranty Experience.
> My FG100 tiller had a defective transmission just like every single FG100 ever made. Honda fixed it once under warranty but not the second time, within the 2yr warranty. Than 2-3 yrs later I bought a new FG100. Again within 15-30 hrs the transmission failed. Same warranty issue all over. I gave it away. Had it been a more expensive tiller, I am convinced there would have been a class action against Honda. Here is one of many links. http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/honda-mini-tiller-cultivator-c141682.html
> 
> I agree. Many warranties are a sales aids, but let’s buy into this longer warranty is a better product issue for a minute. Anyone like myself, purchasing an Ariens blower early this fall received and automatic 5yr warranty. This warranty would make these Ariens the best in the industry bar none.
> Now, commercial warranties, they are a strange item.
> 99% of commercial used machines will claim residential use. I really think commercial warranties are something not very often enforced or used, so Honda has nothing to much to lose by offering a 3 yr commercial warranty. It is a great sales aid and should help sell machines. After all, my FG100 had a 2yr commercial warranty and could not hold up to light residential use.
> Warranties hold a lesser value to me now, thanks to my personal warranty issues, two times.
> PS: a side note here is the Honda snow blower warranty residential or commercial states that Augers, paddles, and wheel bearings aren’t warrantied at all. Appears that these are considered wear items.
> I am not suggesting not to buy Honda products. I feel they have good products worth considering. They just soured me personally on warranties.
> Ken


Good post! Thanks for sharing. That's what sucks about warranties. It's always up to the manufacturer on whether they will even honor them. I never really had a bad warranty experience that I can think of, but I also tend to void most warranty's soon after taking delivery anyway...lol 

You know what that means, don't ya? You have one of those "long lasting" Ariens. They use the companies over-achievers to build a special line of blowers in which are built to last longer and therefore they can offer a longer warranty on. I just got the standard blower, built by their regular employees, with the standard warranty .....OR....... it was just a marketing campaign set forth by Ariens in order to try to sell more product to kick off the winter season. I'm pretty sure I know which one it was.


----------



## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> Good post! Thanks for sharing. That's what sucks about warranties. It's always up to the manufacturer on whether they will even honor them. I never really had a bad warranty experience that I can think of, but I also tend to void most warranty's soon after taking delivery anyway...lol
> 
> You know what that means, don't ya? You have one of those "long lasting" Ariens. They use the companies over-achievers to build a special line of blowers in which are built to last longer and therefore they can offer a longer warranty on. I just got the standard blower, built by their regular employees, with the standard warranty .....OR....... it was just a marketing campaign set forth by Ariens in order to try to sell more product to kick off the winter season. I'm pretty sure I know which one it was.


I'm pretty sure it was marketing to boost early sales. 

FWIW I wasn't even aware of what I had for a warranty at the time of purchase, and found out about the 5 yr warranty a few days later.


----------



## PracticalProgram

JRHAWK9 said:


> The slimy stuff you see is a water repellant I spray on it after every use.


JRHAWK9, referring to your posting #31 on page four of this thread, can you tell us what that slimy water repellant stuff is that you use?

Thanks.


----------



## JRHAWK9

PracticalProgram said:


> JRHAWK9, referring to your posting #31 on page four of this thread, can you tell us what that slimy water repellant stuff is that you use?
> 
> Thanks.


Currently I use -BLASTER PB 50-. It's similar to WD-40. I found a gallon of it last year and actually like it better than WD-40. It seems to be thicker which allows it to adhere better. It also smells better too  Looks like they only offer it in those little cans now so after the gallon is done (I also use on on my wood splitter after every use to keep the metal parts from rusting) I will probably switching to WD-40. Unless I can find another alternative, as I'm not a huge WD-40 fan....it has lots of solvents and it's best used as a cleaner. Although it does do a good job of displacing moisture too.


----------



## superedge88

JRHAWK9 said:


> ... It's just another marketing strategy manufacturers use to attract buyers. I think in Honda's case they may have longer warranty's in part because their blowers are more "advanced" and have more parts that could potentially fail in time. The marketing dept combats this potentially "negative" point of view by increasing the warranty to ease potential buyers minds...


I don't really know what you are saying there, are you saying that people are leary about honda because they have extra parts? Are you simply stating that the hydrostatic being a more complex system needs a warranty to ease people's minds?

Speaking to the warranty thing. I don't treat warranties with a broad stroke of "I'll buy it if it has a longer warranty" or "I think that warranties are useless" Each situation is different. Do I care if my BluRay player has a 90 day or a 1 year warranty...NOPE. Some things are not that big of a deal to get a warranty on. As far as hard duty things like chainsaws, lawn mowers, trimmers and snowblowers... YES! I would have had to buy a ~$400 chainsaw this past fall if I hadn't had a longer warranty on the one I had purchased. If I'm going to spend more on a brand like Honda because of their reliability (which is a big reason why I went with them) I want the manufacturer warranty to also reflect that reliability. 
If you want your product to be viewed as a reliable product then you should start with a warranty that says "we believe in our product and stand behind it" Small engines are placed in some of the most unforgiving environments, they aren't computer monitored, and are often loaded up to the point of killing the engine, I want the best warranty possible for that specific tool type.
Too many manufacturers rely on past reputations to keep people buying their product. They ship jobs away from where they built their reputation, put no name components on them, even build ultra cheap versions of their product that have their name on it just to gain market share that was built on their old reputation. The warranty is one way that you can get a glimpse of how much the manufacturer believes in its product, just my opinion.


----------



## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> I don't really know what you are saying there, are you saying that people are leary about honda because they have extra parts? Are you simply stating that the hydrostatic being a more complex system needs a warranty to ease people's minds?


I'm not referring just to Honda's. I don't want it to come off that I have something against them, as I don't. They make good stuff. It's not that people are leery about buying items which have more moving parts or are more advanced. I think in general people see items which have more moving parts or have more electronics as more prone to breaking or needing service. I just feel it's more marketing than anything, just for that reason, to give people a sense of security.






superedge88 said:


> Speaking to the warranty thing. I don't treat warranties with a broad stroke of "I'll buy it if it has a longer warranty" or "I think that warranties are useless" Each situation is different. Do I care if my BluRay player has a 90 day or a 1 year warranty...NOPE. Some things are not that big of a deal to get a warranty on. As far as hard duty things like chainsaws, lawn mowers, trimmers and snowblowers... YES! I would have had to buy a ~$400 chainsaw this past fall if I hadn't had a longer warranty on the one I had purchased. If I'm going to spend more on a brand like Honda because of their reliability (which is a big reason why I went with them) I want the manufacturer warranty to also reflect that reliability.
> If you want your product to be viewed as a reliable product then you should start with a warranty that says "we believe in our product and stand behind it" Small engines are placed in some of the most unforgiving environments, they aren't computer monitored, and are often loaded up to the point of killing the engine, I want the best warranty possible for that specific tool type.
> Too many manufacturers rely on past reputations to keep people buying their product. They ship jobs away from where they built their reputation, put no name components on them, even build ultra cheap versions of their product that have their name on it just to gain market share that was built on their old reputation. The warranty is one way that you can get a glimpse of how much the manufacturer believes in its product, just my opinion.


Just to give you an example of how I view warranty's. I bought a brand new car. Within 5,000 miles I had the ECM sent out to get re-flashed, I had the console out to install a new shifter, I had the suspension out of the car and replaced with better aftermarket stuff, I had the exhaust off and replaced with headers and I had new rims and tires installed. I also bought two new Husky chainsaws (346XP and 390XP). I had both -WOODS PORTED- and larger carbs put on both of them. My 346XP was about a year old when I had it done, but my 390XP was shipped out to get ported brand new...never even put fuel in it. I bought a new 580BFS leaf blower and I immediately ported the muffler. That's how I view warranties 

Now, to get back on topic. I'm not questioning the reliability or build quality of Honda blowers. I believe both are top notch. I'm just not 100% convinced the HS1332 can match the high end Ariens blowers in terms of throughput, that's all. It would be nice if a video would show up similar to the Husky/Ariens one. Although, just like with that video, I believe we all would come to our own conclusions anyway and nothing would be proven...lol


----------



## JerryD

I guess there are times when you need a snowblower to throw large distances....see for yourself:


----------



## superedge88

That is and awesome video, that snow bank is crazy! Throwing distance is typical of a Honda- AWESOME!


----------



## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> That is and awesome video, that snow bank is crazy! Throwing distance is typical of a Honda- AWESOME!


yeah, I wanna live where he lives!!   The amount of snow on the ground is crazy!

I just watched the whole thing. He went about that job completely backwards. With the direction he's blowing it (based on the wind the way it looks), he should have started on the left side of the driveway (from the camera's POV) and worked his way to the right. The way he approached it he's going to have lots of cleanup from trying to blow the snow over what he already blew.

Personally, -THIS- video of another Honda impresses me more. Most newer, decent blowers can throw snow the distance he is throwing it when you keep the load as such to keep the rpm's up like he did in most of the video. The wind also adds to the effect by blowing the light stuff even further.


----------



## JerryD

The Honda engines just sound sooo nice and smooth.


----------



## JRHAWK9

JerryD said:


> The Honda engines just sound sooo nice and smooth.



Honda definitely knows how to build engines, there's no denying that!  Seems everybody is trying to copy their design.


----------



## superedge88

JerryD said:


> The Honda engines just sound sooo nice and smooth.


First thing I noticed when I was auditioning used Honda snowblowers, so very quiet when compared to the Toro with Tecumseh engine. I believe the sound difference is from the muffler design.


----------



## Garandman

Surge said:


> How important a part does snow throwing distance play in your snow thrower purchase decision?


I notice all the manufacturer videos show the machines throwing fluffy snow.

...Never seen one throwing the wind blown, heavy, salted concrete that falls here in Boston, or they would max out at about 15 feet.


----------



## JRHAWK9

Garandman said:


> I notice all the manufacturer videos show the machines throwing fluffy snow.
> 
> ...Never seen one throwing the wind blown, heavy, salted concrete that falls here in Boston, or they would max out at about 15 feet.


Because so many people equate distance the snow is thrown to overall machine performance, so they produce their videos accordingly. Although, I will say in my experience, the more dense snow will get thrown further than the super fluffy stuff. It tends to stay together better/longer and not be windblown. It's like trying to throw a snowball made from good "packy" snow vs the fluffy stuff. The fluffy snow snowball won't travel very far compared to the densely packed one.


----------



## GustoGuy

superedge88 said:


> First thing I noticed when I was auditioning used Honda snowblowers, so very quiet when compared to the Toro with Tecumseh engine. I believe the sound difference is from the muffler design.


Yes, the mufflers Honda uses are a larger multi baffle designed mufflers which are much quieter and Briggs and Tecumseh simply used round tube or a flat designed muffler that was loud as could be. Even the Chinese "Honda clones" copied the Honda designed mufflers and they are real quiet too compared to the old flat head ringing in your ears engine roar of yesterday. Some is also from the engine design too and OHV engines tend to be quieter than L head even when you put a better muffler on the L head.


----------



## JRHAWK9

GustoGuy said:


> Yes, the mufflers Honda uses are a larger multi baffle designed mufflers which are much quieter and Briggs and Tecumseh simply used round tube or a flat designed muffler that was loud as could be. Even the Chinese "Honda clones" copied the Honda designed mufflers and they are real quiet too compared to the old flat head ringing in your ears engine roar of yesterday. Some is also from the engine design too and OHV engines tend to be quieter than L head even when you put a better muffler on the L head.


I think Briggs newer 420cc (which is also pretty much a Honda clone I've been told) has a rather large, quiet muffler on it.


----------



## JRHAWK9

JRHAWK9 said:


> Most newer, decent blowers can throw snow the distance he is throwing it when you keep the load as such to keep the rpm's up like he did in most of the video. The wind also adds to the effect by blowing the light stuff even further.


Case in point. If all you're looking for in a blower is throwing distance, you don't have to spend a lot for a high end machine. Granted, in that other video of that beast of a Honda, he was throwing it farther VERTICALLY, but that's more a function of his deflector adjustment. The most horizontal distance will be achieved by a 45° trajectory. Anything more and you will be throwing it higher in the air but you will lose horizontal distance. That Honda could have threw it further horizontally if he had lowered his deflector a bit. Although, in his case, he probably knew he had the wind helping him and with that light snow; getting the snow as high up as possible and letting the wind help take it was not a bad approach on his part. Especially considering the tall bank he needed to get it over.


----------



## JerryD

JRHAWK9 said:


> Because so many people equate distance the snow is thrown to overall machine performance, so they produce their videos accordingly. Although, I will say in my experience, the more dense snow will get thrown further than the super fluffy stuff. It tends to stay together better/longer and not be windblown. It's like trying to throw a snowball made from good "packy" snow vs the fluffy stuff. The fluffy snow snowball won't travel very far compared to the densely packed one.


If you look at the discharge chute on most of the newer units the chute has a rounded back and they are typically narrower. I think their thought is to have the snow in the chute pack together which allows it to stay together as it exits the chute so it flies further.


----------



## JRHAWK9

JerryD said:


> If you look at the discharge chute on most of the newer units the chute has a rounded back and they are typically narrower. I think their thought is to have the snow in the chute pack together which allows it to stay together as it exits the chute so it flies further.


That may very well be true. I know I added an extension to my deflector mainly to help keep the fluffy snow together a bit longer so I have a bit more control over it. I also feel it actually increased my throwing distance of all snow due to the same reason you stated.


----------



## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> Case in point. If all you're looking for in a blower is throwing distance, you don't have to spend a lot for a high end machine. Granted, in that other video of that beast of a Honda, he was throwing it farther VERTICALLY, but that's more a function of his deflector adjustment. The most horizontal distance will be achieved by a 45° trajectory. Anything more and you will be throwing it higher in the air but you will lose horizontal distance. That Honda could have threw it further horizontally if he had lowered his deflector a bit. Although, in his case, he probably knew he had the wind helping him and with that light snow; getting the snow as high up as possible and letting the wind help take it was not a bad approach on his part. Especially considering the tall bank he needed to get it over.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex7OpddAZU0&list=UUQya3E3kweC4DH9YPoDhrEw&feature=c4-overview


Good example Hawk. Here is another example.

I stumbled a crossed it in Jay's great gallery. Jay is one of our new members and treated us to a few super pictures. He looks like he is having fun with his awesome John Deer. 

Great picture and machine Jay, thanks for posting in your gallery.

Ken

PS: Jay if I over stepped my boundaries by posting your picture, let me know so I can easily remove it.


----------



## JRHAWK9

That is a great photo! Notice the pretty much 45° deflector trajectory? 

That's one of the things I made sure on my blower is that the deflector was adjusted for a bit over 45°. I wanted to make sure it was at least 45° though.


----------



## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> That is a great photo! Notice the pretty much 45° deflector trajectory?
> 
> That's one of the things I made sure on my blower is that the deflector was adjusted for a bit over 45°. I wanted to make sure it was at least 45° though.


Absolutely.

I noticed right away, that awesome John Deer could have had an even more impressive photo with a straight up chute, but I am sure he needed to be practical about moving the snow.

Straight up deflectors make for dramatic videos and impress the inexperienced. Proper angling of the defector gets the job done. 

Ken


----------



## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> Absolutely.
> 
> I noticed right away, that awesome John Deer could have had an even more impressive photo with a straight up chute, but I am sure he needed to be practical about moving the snow.
> 
> Straight up deflectors make for dramatic videos and impress the inexperienced. Proper angling of the defector gets the job done.
> 
> Ken


Yeah, that's the one thing I noticed right away with that video of the monster Honda. The snow was being thrown quite a ways up but didn't seem to be throwing it very far out. Like I mentioned in one of my past posts though, that may have been somewhat intentional based upon how close he was to that huge bank. Although, from the looks of it, a 45° trajectory would have cleared that bank....then the snow would have been thrown even further out.  

Maybe I'll remove the deflector on mine and post a video shooting the snow almost straight up


----------



## Shryp

JRHAWK9 said:


> Maybe I'll remove the deflector on mine and post a video shooting the snow almost straight up


I ran mine once without the chute on it. That was interesting.


----------



## JRHAWK9

Shryp said:


> I ran mine once without the chute on it. That was interesting.



lol....yeah, I bet!! Talk about creating blizzard conditions!


----------



## ken53

JRHAWK9 said:


> Yeah, that's the one thing I noticed right away with that video of the monster Honda. The snow was being thrown quite a ways up but didn't seem to be throwing it very far out. Like I mentioned in one of my past posts though, that may have been somewhat intentional based upon how close he was to that huge bank. Although, from the looks of it, a 45° trajectory would have cleared that bank....then the snow would have been thrown even further out.
> 
> Maybe I'll remove the deflector on mine and post a video shooting the snow almost straight up


Yep.. the Honda operator sure wasn't being a considerate neighbor either, that's for sure. If I was his neighbor I would be p!ssed.

Ken


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## JRHAWK9

ken53 said:


> Yep.. the Honda operator sure wasn't being a considerate neighbor either, that's for sure. If I was his neighbor I would be p!ssed.
> 
> Ken


Why? You'd then have an excuse to use your blower (with proper chute angle to achieve better distance of course) and blow it back in his yard. Sounds like a win-win to me


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## JerryD

I would bet that there aren't to many people on that street with a snowblower capable of blowing the snow that high and if you look down the street, everybody's front yard looks the same. I think the guy with the $8000+ Honda is the good neighbor on the street.


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## JRHAWK9

JerryD said:


> I would bet that there aren't to many people on that street with a snowblower capable of blowing the snow that high


You are probably correct, seeing most snowblowers don't have their chute deflectors maxing out at 60°+ in relation to the ground.  

Somehow we just now went from throwing distance being the authority in blower performance to throwing height.....lol Come on guys, gotta pick one, as one directly relates to the other. You can't have both distance AND height. Simple vector physics states this.


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## JRHAWK9

Here are a couple pics I found in which impress me. Doubt if they will impress the majority of you though.  What is impressive to me is the shear volume being moved (which can be seen by the thickness of the snow being thrown out of the chute, a good densely packed 2"-3" thick the way it looks). That's what it takes for a snowblower to impress me.


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## JRHAWK9

superedge88 said:


> I want to see a straight up Honda vs ariens comparison.


-THIS- post may be as close as we get for now.


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## superedge88

jrhawk9 said:


> -this- post may be as close as we get for now. :d


ok


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