# Please help me decide - Ariens ST24LE Deluxe or Snapper M1529E?



## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

What is more important to you: a cast-iron gear box (instead of aluminum) or an American-made engine? I narrowed down my choices to Ariens ST24LE Deluxe and Snapper M1529E. They are about the same price.

Ariens ST24LE Deluxe comes with a cast-iron gear box (as well as a stellar reputation). Unfortunately its 250cc B&S engine is supposedly made in China.

Snapper M1529E has an aluminum gear box (as I understand inferior to a cast-iron one). But its 305cc B&S is made in the US (the info I still need to verify with B&S). Also it's bigger than the Ariens and has more power (although I'm pretty sure the power in the Ariens will be plenty for my needs).

Ariens ST24LE Deluxe
Snapper M1529E


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Choose 1 of 2*

First off, welcome to the forum.
I think a couple of basic questions will answer your question.
Do you plan to do your own maintenance?
Do you like to try chewing up the sunday paper or a brick with your blower?
Do you plan to maintain the machine properly including insuring the auger rakes are not stuck to the auger shaft?

I've not seen a broken auger gearcase (alloy or ci) in the dozen plus snowblowers I've rebuilt. A number of auger rakes rusted onto the auger shaft but no broken gear cases. I have put new bushings and seals in a couple of alloy ones - not bad after 30-40 yrs of use and not too hard to do. Auger gearcases are easy to repair or replace (at least the alloy ones), not so much with the engine. Give me a good CI (not sleeved) engine any day. And like Tim Taylor on Tooltime - MORE POWER!
Couple of other things, I'm not that crazy about all the plastic on some of the newer machines: chutes, impeller, controls etc. I like metal, plenty of it and heavy gauge. That's something else to watch is the thickness of the metal in the housing etc.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

HCBPH said:


> First off, welcome to the forum.
> I think a couple of basic questions will answer your question.
> Do you plan to do your own maintenance?


Thank you for the reply. Yes, I am planning on doing my own maintenance (hopefully there isn't much to do outside of oil changes and cleanings).



HCBPH said:


> Do you like to try chewing up the sunday paper or a brick with your blower?


I am not quite sure what that means, sorry.



HCBPH said:


> Do you plan to maintain the machine properly including insuring the auger rakes are not stuck to the auger shaft?


Again, I don't quite know what that means - I've never owned a snow blower (not counting my electric Toro plastic piece of crap).



HCBPH said:


> I've not seen a broken auger gearcase (alloy or ci) in the dozen plus snowblowers I've rebuilt. A number of auger rakes rusted onto the auger shaft but no broken gear cases. I have put new bushings and seals in a couple of alloy ones - not bad after 30-40 yrs of use and not too hard to do. Auger gearcases are easy to repair or replace (at least the alloy ones), not so much with the engine. Give me a good CI (not sleeved) engine any day. And like Tim Taylor on Tooltime - MORE POWER!
> Couple of other things, I'm not that crazy about all the plastic on some of the newer machines: chutes, impeller, controls etc. I like metal, plenty of it and heavy gauge. That's something else to watch is the thickness of the metal in the housing etc.


Well, both machines are supposedly made of quality metal - no plastic (and also claim to be made in the US). I have a relatively small driveway, and I'm sure 250cc would have plenty of power for my situation. So the power is not a concern. But in your opinion the engine is more important? Makes sense. Thank you, good to know. So far it looks like the Snapper is the winner of the two then. 

What about the Snapper reputation? There isn't much info on it out there. Is it a reputable brand?


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

hello azzzy, welcome to SBF. nobody plans on hitting a brick or news paper with their snowblower so its important to keep those things and anything other than snow out of the area you plan on snowblowing. my neighbor forgot about the mat at his side door. it took us two hours to dislodge the mat because it had a metal wires going through it the mat also tweeked the crank and i had to finish blowing his snow


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## deadwood (Oct 17, 2012)

Ariens


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

detdrbuzzard said:


> hello azzzy, welcome to SBF. nobody plans on hitting a brick or news paper with their snowblower so its important to keep those things and anything other than snow out of the area you plan on snowblowing. my neighbor forgot about the mat at his side door. it took us two hours to dislodge the mat because it had a metal wires going through it the mat also tweeked the crank and i had to finish blowing his snow


Thank you for warning me. Good info. Will keep that in mind and pay attention. 

P.S. A 10hp snow blower can't handle a newspaper??? Surprising.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

deadwood said:


> Ariens


Why? Could you please expand upon why you prefer the Ariens to the Snapper? Thanks.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Choices*

To expand on what I said earlier.

I've seen someone that tried to ingest a patio block into a blower, didn't go too well. I've seen someone attempt apparently to put a sunday paper through a blower. Luckily in both cases the shear pins broke like they should before any major damage happened. I did pass on a parts machine that had a broken auger gearcase. Don't know what they sucked into it but the augers were rusted solid onto the auger shaft.

Unfortunately alot of people don't do maintenance like they should, ending up with the auger rakes rusting solid onto the auger shaft - not a good condition to be in. That in-essence negates the shear pins, passing all shock and damage onto other parts of the blower that shouldn't receive that much impact, ultimately at time breaking parts needlessly.

As far as plastic, look at how many machines have plastic chutes on them along with other plastic parts. I even saw a picture of a plastic impeller, I wouldn't expect that to live long with the cold and ice. Given a choice, plastic vs steel, I'll take steel any day.

Given the choice of repairing or replacing a auger gearcase or an engine, I'll take the auger gearcase any day - cheaper and quicker IMO.


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## 69ariens (Jan 29, 2011)

Briggs owns snapper and simplicity. I have heard they are great blowers. I think the snapper you are looking at has better tire's . Ariens on the lower end models has put cheaper tire' to keep the cost down. two years ago all ariens had the better tire . Even mtd has better tire's then some of the ariens but I wouldn't think of buying one of them.


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## jfmtnbiker (Dec 2, 2012)

The bottom line is that Ariens snow blowers are not the quality they used to be. Unfortunately, to keep costs lower most higher quality, power equipment dealer distributed machines are seeing China built engines. Personally, I avoid the China built engines at all costs. That said, I wouldn't be as concerned about the gearcase. If your shear pins are doing their job, you should have nothing to worry about. Obviously, this assumes you'll use common sense when snowblowing and perform proper maintenance.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

HCBPH said:


> To expand on what I said earlier.
> 
> I've seen someone that tried to ingest a patio block into a blower, didn't go too well. I've seen someone attempt apparently to put a sunday paper through a blower. Luckily in both cases the shear pins broke like they should before any major damage happened. I did pass on a parts machine that had a broken auger gearcase. Don't know what they sucked into it but the augers were rusted solid onto the auger shaft.


Ah, I see. No, I certainly would not do anything that could potentially damage a $1000 machine.



HCBPH said:


> Unfortunately alot of people don't do maintenance like they should, ending up with the auger rakes rusting solid onto the auger shaft - not a good condition to be in. That in-essence negates the shear pins, passing all shock and damage onto other parts of the blower that shouldn't receive that much impact, ultimately at time breaking parts needlessly.


And I try to maintain my equipment at least in accordance with the user manual. So hopefully none of that will happen.



HCBPH said:


> As far as plastic, look at how many machines have plastic chutes on them along with other plastic parts. I even saw a picture of a plastic impeller, I wouldn't expect that to live long with the cold and ice. Given a choice, plastic vs steel, I'll take steel any day.


The two machines I am trying to decide between are all steel. Well, the dash might be plastic, but everything else - steel.



HCBPH said:


> Given the choice of repairing or replacing a auger gearcase or an engine, I'll take the auger gearcase any day - cheaper and quicker IMO.


I'd rather avoid any repairs as I don't have a truck and there is no easy way for me to get a 200+ lb. machine to a service facility. Which is why I am trying to get as much info about my choices as possible. Reliability is my first priority.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

69ariens said:


> Briggs owns snapper and simplicity. I have heard they are great blowers. I think the snapper you are looking at has better tire's . Ariens on the lower end models has put cheaper tire' to keep the cost down. two years ago all ariens had the better tire . Even mtd has better tire's then some of the ariens but I wouldn't think of buying one of them.


Thanks for the info. The Ariens ST24LE Deluxe is their mid level model. Has 15x5 tires. The Snapper does have bigger tires. OK, so that's another vote for the Snapper.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

jfmtnbiker said:


> The bottom line is that Ariens snow blowers are not the quality they used to be. Unfortunately, to keep costs lower most higher quality, power equipment dealer distributed machines are seeing China built engines. Personally, I avoid the China built engines at all costs. That said, I wouldn't be as concerned about the gearcase. If your shear pins are doing their job, you should have nothing to worry about. Obviously, this assumes you'll use common sense when snowblowing and perform proper maintenance.


I still have not been able to confirm that the Snapper has an American-built engine. I read on this forum that Briggs 305 cc engine is made in the US but they have two kinds - The Snow Series and The Snow Series Professional. It's very possible that only the Pro is made in the States. Anybody cares to chime in on that?


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

azzzy said:


> I still have not been able to confirm that the Snapper has an American-built engine. I read on this forum that Briggs 305 cc engine is made in the US but they have two kinds - The Snow Series and The Snow Series Professional. It's very possible that only the Pro is made in the States. Anybody cares to chime in on that?


It is historically very difficult to get the real story in the "made in China" saga..obviously companys are not going out of their way to advertise that they make things in China!  These days, if it does *not* specifically say "Made in America" in big bold letters, with an American flag, you can be almost certain it is made in China.

OF course, even then you have to watch out..because the snowblower *body* could be made in America (and usually is, for the well-known brand names) and have the "Made in the USA" sticker with the American flag..(which is the truth, for the snowblower body itself) but the engine bolted to the "American" machine could still be made in China! So its a game you have to watch out for..

Most of the "well known brand name" snowblowers right now have the machines still made in America, and the engines made in China..(the "Briggs snowblower brands" are no different..Snapper, Simplicity, John Deere, Brute and Murray) (JD snowblowers are no longer being made as of this year)
So dont think there is anything "special" about the Briggs brands when it comes to US vs. China..there isnt...all the snowblower manufacturers are pretty much in the same boat when it comes to engines..

Briggs is probably moving *all* OPE engines to China soon..no one is sure if it has happened yet, but it probably has..a news story from last year said they were closing the last US plant where the last of the US-made Snowblower/Mower/Tractor engines were being made..

This is *probably* (again, its hard to pin it down) the last season that new snowblowers will be found with US-made engines on them..I suspect that next winter we will see 100% Chinese made engines on all machines, from all brands, on all "trim lines"..even the "Pro" models..(and not just snowblowers, also mowers, lawn tractors, generators, anything with a single-cylinder gas engine)..time will tell.

A few years ago, one of the posters on these forums "Snowmann" (who we know works for Ariens) posted what were then the last US-made snowblower engines, they were, in 2010:

Briggs & Stratton 205cc 900 series - Made in China
Briggs & Stratton 249cc 1150 series - Made in China

*Briggs & Stratton 305cc 1450 series - Made in the USA
Briggs & Stratton 342cc 1550 series - Made in the USA
Briggs & Stratton 342cc 1650 series - Made in the USA*

We dont really have any updated info since then, but its 99% certain there have been no *new* US made Briggs engines since then! So its quite reasonable to say that for the past 2 or 3 years, and this year, if the engine on a new snowblower is *not* one of those three specific models, then its made in China..(including all other Briggs engines, except those three.)

This could very well be the last year to get a 100% American made snowblower, both the snowblower body and the engine both..get them while you can! 

Scot


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

sscotsman said:


> Briggs & Stratton 205cc 900 series - Made in China
> Briggs & Stratton 249cc 1150 series - Made in China
> 
> *Briggs & Stratton 305cc 1450 series - Made in the USA
> ...


Thank you for such detailed write up. Yes, I saw that post when I was searching for info. The Snapper I'm looking at does have the 305cc 1450 engine. My one concern is that there are two versions of it - Snow Series and Professional Snow Series. It's possible that only the Pro is made in the US. I called Briggs but the woman on the phone said she couldn't tell me where the engine was made unless I had the product code. Since I don't have the snow blower yet - no product code.

So after this discussion I am leaning towards the Snapper. It does appear to have more appealing features than the Ariens and potentially is entirely made in the US. The only thing that I find somewhat unsettling is I can't find many reviews in regards to Snapper brand reliability. So basically... Is Snapper generally a good brand?


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## 69ariens (Jan 29, 2011)

If I were looking to buy a new blower, SNAPPER/SIMPLICITY is what i would be buying so yes. But most of all a good dealer.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

if you hang around here long enough you won't want a new snowblower
if i were buying new toro, ariens, snapper, and simplicity


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

Good info. Thanks for your help, guys.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

azzzy, The actual model number of the Snapper is 1696003.
The actual model number of the Ariens is 921022.
Regardless of which machine you pick, something will eventually break.
Try to locate a part for either machine, say a friction wheel.
See which machine has more info available now. 
What do you think the info available will be in 10 years?
I refurbished a 1989 JD blower a few years ago, all USA made. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to locate simple information, the secret manuals, and parts. Very frustrating.
I'm currently redoing a 1979 Ariens and have had no problems finding manuals, info, or parts. IMO, go with the Ariens.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

jtclays said:


> azzzy, The actual model number of the Snapper is 1696003.
> The actual model number of the Ariens is 921022.
> Regardless of which machine you pick, something will eventually break.
> Try to locate a part for either machine, say a friction wheel.
> ...


Too late.  One Snapper 1696003 29-Inch 305cc OHV is on its way.

For what it's worth I keep all my manuals handy. That being said, beyond basic maintenance I'm pretty useless, and if something does break I'd have to take it to a repair shop (which in itself presents a problem as I have no way to transport a 200+lb. machine in my mid-size sedan). However if the snow blower works for 10 years and then breaks down I will claim it a resounding success, discard it, and buy a new one. Who knows, maybe by then the manufacturing will return to the US as well.  Thank you for chiming in.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

congrats azzzy now all you need is an impeller kit


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

detdrbuzzard said:


> congrats azzzy now all you need is an impeller kit


Holy crap. Are saying that after I spent a thousand dollars I have to buy more stuff???


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

azzzy said:


> Holy crap. Are saying that after I spent a thousand dollars I have to buy more stuff???


 check out gustoguys post with the vid of his repowered mtd with the impeller kit blowing snow
actually try it like it is first then decide if you need the kit


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

detdrbuzzard said:


> check out gustoguys post with the vid of his repowered mtd with the impeller kit blowing snow
> actually try it like it is first then decide if you need the kit


Yes, that's what I'm gonna do - try it first. And then we'll see whether it needs an impeller kit, a spoiler, chromed wheels, a jet engine, ground to air missiles, etc.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

azzzy said:


> Yes, that's what I'm gonna do - try it first. And then we'll see whether it needs an impeller kit, a spoiler, chromed wheels, a jet engine, ground to air missiles, etc.


 i just want a ghost flame paint job


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Congrats*



azzzy said:


> Yes, that's what I'm gonna do - try it first. And then we'll see whether it needs an impeller kit, a spoiler, chromed wheels, a jet engine, ground to air missiles, etc.


Congrats on the blower, post some pictures and let us know how it works - always nosey and want to know.

Paul


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Most people wait for the warranty to expire before adding the impeller kit.


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## Simplicity Solid 22 (Nov 27, 2012)

Congrats Azzzy on the new Snapper. Now that you have the Model number and such or when you get it...see if you can call briggs and let us know wether or not the engine is still made in the USA. Post some pics... Many Thanks!
Good parts lookup for snapper below.
OEM Parts


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

azzzy, Congrats on your new blower, wish you good luck with it!
You always HAVE to add more money items to it, it's in the small print
Definitely post up some pics when you get it.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

detdrbuzzard said:


> i just want a ghost flame paint job


Sure. I'll get the kids on it. Although considering we have two girls instead of the ghost flames the blower might end up covered in daisies.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

Shryp said:


> Most people wait for the warranty to expire before adding the impeller kit.


Good to know. No impeller kit for the next 2 years.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

Simplicity Solid 22 said:


> Congrats Azzzy on the new Snapper. Now that you have the Model number and such or when you get it...see if you can call briggs and let us know wether or not the engine is still made in the USA. Post some pics... Many Thanks!
> Good parts lookup for snapper below.
> OEM Parts


Will do once the machine gets here. I'm curious myself.

Thanks for the link.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

HCBPH said:


> Congrats on the blower, post some pictures and let us know how it works - always nosey and want to know.
> 
> Paul


Will do. I'm not one of those people who posts a detailed review of a snow blower and ends with "now just waiting for the snow". Why would you post a review of a snow blower if you haven't tried it in the snow???  So we might have to wait for the review until the end of the winter. But I will definitely post one. I think this forum is a great source of info for people shopping for snow blowers, especially someone like me, who is new to it all. I'd love to contribute.


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## azzzy (Nov 21, 2012)

jtclays said:


> azzzy, Congrats on your new blower, wish you good luck with it!
> You always HAVE to add more money items to it, it's in the small print
> Definitely post up some pics when you get it.


Thank you. Hopefully the additional expenditures will be minimal and infrequent.


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