# powermax 38801



## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

want to ask you guys what your seeing going on with toro?? seems to be lots of cost cutting for the worst to me, lots of back orders for parts, lots of your ool for warranty issues . 
i have had and still have many toro machines, my first 2 snow blowers were a 624 and 824 powershifts from early 87 for a 88 model and a 97 824, never a issue with them even 30 years old, 

2017 powermax 38801 .maybe 10 hours of use on it over 2 winters, now it's turning into a rust bucket from UNDER the powder coat paint. from under every area where the sections are welded together making a seam snow can blow through and under,areas where the powder coat can never reach under allowing rust to start right from day one, i had a local dealer look at it and was told wish you luck,call them yourself , same basic wording tough, 

seems i have two choices to make buy a $544.00 main housing, ( plus $100.00 truck shipping) call in a dustless blasting guy to blast the housing clean, do a full weld up of it to seal every seam. reblast it, paint with a galvanizing compound paint making sure to soak the seam area's near the reweld, than a good epoxy primer and toro red paint, 
OK what would you guys do?? still really under the 3 year warranty but not because they blame salt?

i have to wait for some more posts to add the photo's but those will when i can


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

* Blast it and repaint it. I here they are doing great things with this Powder coating thing you speak of. Anyhoo, ALOHA From The Paradise City. :smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027:*


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

So much for a Toro Warranty I guess, … is that what you are saying, its not worth that much?


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

Most of the guys on the forum love their Toro's. At my dealer they had a 38801 on the showroom floor back when I was looking at the Ariens Pro 28. I was intrigued with it some because it had handwarmers. Moving it around and then going back to any of the Ariens made it seem toy like however.


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## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

oneacer said:


> So much for a Toro Warranty I guess, … is that what you are saying, its not worth that much?


yes!! not worth the paper it's printed on as it's not the first issue i had with this machine,first was the motor blew up at about 10 hours, got told i didn't have any oil in it , yah sure, they are shipped full with 0w30 , at 5 hours the first oil change the drain was full of metal particles enough to cause the rod to seize to the crank, so it now has a 302 cc loncin on it in place of a smaller motor
i'm going to try blasting it,than weld up every seam tight, from inside and outside. if i burn though with the tig, $544.00 plus shipping

don't understand why they didn't just make the housing in sections like the old powershifts and bolt them together.

another note i have looked at the newer 2019 and 2020 models and see the housings are even worsley welded .talk about gaps huge gaps that light can be seen though.


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## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

i have to get more off my other camera those show air though the rust


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

If all the rust is on the bottom, wire wheel, prime and paint and move it along. Pick out something orange to take it's place.


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## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

Zavie said:


> If all the rust is on the bottom, wire wheel, prime and paint and move it along. Pick out something orange to take it's place.


nope inside and out top to bottom, holes though and though.even from under the paint on flat plates covering the gear box.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*It is from that Globally sourced metal. that ALL Brands use these days. That 70's steel is some good smoking stuff there. k:k:k:k:k:k:k:k:*


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

87powershiftx2 said:


> nope inside and out top to bottom, holes though and though.even from under the paint on flat plates covering the gear box.


OMG, do you live near, at or in the ocean?


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## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

Zavie said:


> OMG, do you live near, at or in the ocean?


nope! 50 miles from the ocean, it's all from how the sections are welded , the metal is of a very poor quailty ,welding warps the sections , than since the areas are bare, rust starts early ,

toro needs to start dipping in cold galvanizing just like care makers do before using powder coat paint


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

Wow...that's incredible....I've got the same year model and it looks as good as the day I bought it. I haven't waxed it either. I also live approx. 3000 ft. from the Atlantic ocean and the roads are salted. It's kept in a cold garage. Hmmmm.

Can you show some more pictures of the rest of the machine?


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## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

barney it looks otherwise like new, as can be seen from the shots of the rusted areas, where i lived and almost back to, 45 miles west of new york city at a elevation of almost 1400 feet is where it was used,
new jersey as it's know is the salt state. everything is salt white in the winter, so one needs to take extra care by washing a machine down after each use, problem lays in toros manufacturing, "and they are made of many" each section is bare metal at first, the spot welds warp the metal making for gaps between each section, they don't dip the completed housing in any rust stopping treatment,just powder coat it.
powder coat never gets in under the warped bare parts only over, allowing for what in our dreaded eod piles to get in and start the rusting . also one can see the over weld spatter all over , another why? imm. can toro end this?yes seems they tried with the new model 38802, but they still make the housing like the old, bare metal large gaps from warped metal being welded. the shop model i looked at one could cut a hand feeling the metal inside the auger housing , 
again imm. why doesn't toro fully weld the area,from inside , why don't they cold dip the parts in a galvanizing dip like the car makers do, before powder coating?
yes i plan on having the local dustless blaster come and do a full clean blast, but also know that they can't blast it totally clean under the warped metal so the rust will again return from the same spots. i also looked into a new housing which is a very costly part at well over $600.00 with the 100 buck struck shipping cost added, so i'm dame'd if i do,dame'd if i don't


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## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

i should also note a few members have sent me links to Craig's list toros from other parts of the country, each looked like rust city in the very same spots, from under weld warped housing sections, 

cuts in Q control, push for more sales via the box stores and online from place's like snowblower direct who don't allow negative reviews to be posted or offer any help when problems do come up sure don't help


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