New snow blowers are junk compared to 20 years ago!

[Brian Elfert]

I bought a Troy-Bilt snow blower in Dec 2000 at the local hardware store. It had an issue a few years back and the owner of the same hardware store said he would spend $500 to repair it as my unit is better than just about anything sold today. (I got it fixed.)

My Troy-Bilt broke an NLA part so it is dead. I've been looking at "Professional" snow blowers that all cost over $2,000. Other than creature comforts they are all junk compared to my Troy-Bilt. My Troy-Bilt has thicker steel than any of them and mine has a cast iron gear case. Even the expensive models now have aluminum gear cases. They all have Chinese engines instead of USA built engines.

I ordered a Toro Professional unit, but I cancelled the order since it turns out it will take close to a month to get due to the holidays. I am going to try to find a used Troy-Bilt to steal parts from.

[Dave Cav]

My Airens had a cast iron gear case.

[Brian Elfert]

I should have said that some of the snow blowers have aluminum gear cases. The Ariens Professional has cast iron and the Toro Professional has aluminum. Ariens actually has cast iron on all but their cheapest model. Toro appears to be aluminum across the board.

[Bruce Wrenn]

All this talk about snow blowers has me even gladder to live in central NC. Here we use the sunshine for our snow blower. Only twice in my lifetime (72 years) have we had a snow that lasted more than a week. Most are gone by the third day. Once we were trapped at home for almost a day and a half. Thank God for Volks Beetles, and tire chains. Still keep a set of chains to fit the truck, just in case.

[Steve Demuth]

I've got a 35 year old Goldoni that I run on my BCS 2 wheel tractor with a 13HP Honda motor. So far, other than bearings, they have been indestructible. Couple of nylon parts in non-critical functions I've had to make my own replacement for, but otherwise still going strong on the original paint.

I imagine it'd cost $5000 to replace the whole rig today though.

[Brian Elfert]

I've got a 35 year old Goldoni that I run on my BCS 2 wheel tractor with a 13HP Honda motor. So far, other than bearings, they have been indestructible. Couple of nylon parts in non-critical functions I've had to make my own replacement for, but otherwise still going strong on the original paint.

I imagine it'd cost $5000 to replace the whole rig today though.

I was just looking at the BCS website. Over $6,000 for the tractor plus snow blower. The snow blower looks like an absolute beast with 3/8" steel plate.

[Art Mann]

Is there a crisis of broken gear cases of snow blowers? Lots of new cars have cast aluminum blocks and these engines are much more reliable than older generation engines with cast iron blocks. I don't see that as an obvious indicator of quality or reliability. I do, however, agree that most consumer products are less reliable than their predecessors, whether they include an engine or not. Cars are an exception.

I should have said that some of the snow blowers have aluminum gear cases. The Ariens Professional has cast iron and the Toro Professional has aluminum. Ariens actually has cast iron on all but their cheapest model. Toro appears to be aluminum across the board.

[Eric Danstrom]

They said the same thing about your snow blower 20 years ago. We need a Hank Hill meme, "I'm gonna kick this snow blower's butt!"

[Brian Elfert]

They said the same thing about your snow blower 20 years ago. We need a Hank Hill meme, "I'm gonna kick this snow blower's butt!"

We probably won't be saying anything about today's snow blowers in 20 years as they'll probably all be melted as scrap by then. If my quality snow blower from 19 years ago only lasted 19 years then how would be expect today's snow blowers to last 19 years?

My snow blower would be a relatively easy fix if the part was available. Gardenway went bankrupt in 2001 and that ended any further production of parts other than typical wear parts like belts.

[Pat Barry]

I don't know Troy Built but there is a good chance there are other name brands with the same parts. Maybe MTD for example. What part do you need?

[Frederick Skelly]

We probably won't be saying anything about today's snow blowers in 20 years as they'll probably all be melted as scrap by then. If my quality snow blower from 19 years ago only lasted 19 years then how would be expect today's snow blowers to last 19 years?

My snow blower would be a relatively easy fix if the part was available. Gardenway went bankrupt in 2001 and that ended any further production of parts other than typical wear parts like belts.

It is what it is man. You can only buy what they make. At some point, you gotta just pull the trigger, hire a guy with a truck/blade or break out the shovel. Spring is a long way away.

Good luck. Hope you find something you like.
Fred

[Brian Elfert]

I don't know Troy Built but there is a good chance there are other name brands with the same parts. Maybe MTD for example. What part do you need?

A company called Gardenway built sold power equipment under the Troy-Bilt and Bolens names until Gardenway went bankrupt in 2001. My Troy-Bilt is a Gardenway unit I bought in December 2000. MTD bought the assets of the company, but they only wanted the brand names and the remaining parts. Essentially no new parts have been made since 2001. MTD just puts the Troy-Bilt name on MTD products.

The impeller shaft that feeds power into the gear case snapped off inside the gear case. It isn't really possible to weld due to the area of the break. I can't find the part new from anyone. I found a used gear case on Ebay, but do I really want to spend $200 and hope the gear case is good. I would also have to open up the gear case to swap the auger shafts from mine as the gear case I found is from a 21" and mine is a 24".

[Jeff Monson]

Spot on Brian, I sold my 25 year old toro 3 years ago to "upgrade" to a larger blower. The one I purchased was a Husqvarna 10hp 30" cut, I have worked on this machine more in the last 3 years than I did in 25 on my toro. New blowers are built so poorly, the frame is so thin and flexes so bad that nothing can stay lined up to work properly. I will say the motor has been good, powerful and starts easy. The rest of the machine is junk, I left an honest but brutal review on the Husqvarna website and they removed it, lol. I guess the truth hurt too much.

[Myk Rian]

My HoPo purchased MTD 8hp 24" has been chugging through as much as 2' of snow for the last 20 years. I bought it when the last of the kids left.
The only maintenance it has needed was the variable speed wheel for the drive needed a new rubber friction tire. Easy fix. I keep a few shear pins in case I break one.

[Frank Pratt]

Firstly, I know next to nothing about snow blowers, other than the little singles stage Toro I use to clear my driveway, and it works great. My son got a Husqvarna about 5 years ago. he uses it to keep his 300 m gravel drive cleared off, so it gets used very heavily. Other than going through lots of shear pins (that gravel driveway), it works like a champ & has not given any trouble.