Non "disc drive" snow blower?

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A bit out of the forum subject but I am shpping for a new snowblower. I have a good 11hp Pouland but the tranny is that disc drive - I view thos as a cheap way to make a tranny and what you get is cheap 'slipping' soludtion. Everytime I get into a spot that needs some "grunt", the disc slips.

Anyone know of a reasonably priced blower with either a gear or hydro drive? Honda has one but it is $1,000 over a comparable disc drive. $2500 range.
 
May just need service or adjustment. Almost all 2 stage snowblowers use this. Donyboy73 on YouTube has many snowblower vids as well as all small engine. All up close and excellent explanations.

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May just need service or adjustment. Almost all 2 stage snowblowers use this. Donyboy73 on YouTube has many snowblower vids as well as all small engine. All up close and excellent explanations.

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He has a new one up Drive Disk replacement on John Deere, but same idea.

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It really depends on what you are after.
If you want a good snow blower with hydrostatic drive, it's impossible to find a unit as good as a Honda that costs less than a Honda. You can haggle, shop around, look for used units in good shape, but decent hydro drive snow blowers are good money regardless of brand. It's the same story as Weibang lawn mowers: they are as good as most Western brands, but they also cost the same. ;)
If, on the other hand, saving money is a priority, have you considered a tracked snow plow? OREC makes a nice one with manual transmission, Honda GX engine etc. As usual with OREC it's blunt instrument reliable and well engineered so, it's bound to last a decade or more with nothing more than scheduled maintenance.
 
It really depends on what you are after.
If you want a good snow blower with hydrostatic drive, it's impossible to find a unit as good as a Honda that costs less than a Honda. You can haggle, shop around, look for used units in good shape, but decent hydro drive snow blowers are good money regardless of brand. It's the same story as Weibang lawn mowers: they are as good as most Western brands, but they also cost the same. ;)
If, on the other hand, saving money is a priority, have you considered a tracked snow plow? OREC makes a nice one with manual transmission, Honda GX engine etc. As usual with OREC it's blunt instrument reliable and well engineered so, it's bound to last a decade or more with nothing more than scheduled maintenance.

That's about what I found by poking around. Good snwoblowers in the 10hp range with disc drive are common at around $1,000. Honda was the only one I found with other than disc drive and i was in hte $2500 range. Thanks for the lead on the OREC - never heard of that but I'll be checking it out.
 
I bough a used Honda track drive Honda with hydrostatic drive. I am quite impressed with the build quality. All the parts seem to be built to last. I really like that the fuel shutoff is right near the bottom of the carb and there is a drain right on the fuel bowl. There are rubber boots on the cable so water doesn't get in them. It doesn't have an electric start but doesn't seem to need one. One pull and its running. It also seems to throw twice as far. Compared to my prior Husqvarna which is just a badge engineered standard unit its lot nicer rig.
 
We had a Toro w/ 8HP Briggs back when I was young. Many decades of service w/ my Mom giving it to a sister after she decided to hire out the cleaning. Only problem I ever had with it was self inflicted. I got a little sloppy draining the oil and some of it migrated down onto the disk. Back to normal once it got cleaned out. My solution was to 1) extend the drain plug out the side w/ 3/8" pipe and pipe cap as far as practical 2) For the annual maintenance remove 1-drive wheel and tip it down letting oil drain free of chassis into a drain pan on floor. I've seen these run reliable up to the point that the dry rotted rubber wheel self destructs. I will say that our driveway was relatively flat and as a home owner it's use was far less than the paces a commercial service would put it through.
 
I've got an Ariens that's over 30 years old that is disk drive, never had an issue with it slipping. Most Ariens are still disc drive and they are still considered some of the best on the market. The system isn't the problem it's the quality of the machine. My dad bought a Poulan 2 years ago and has hated it, struggled with wet snow, ate belts, very thin sheetmetal on the auger housing which bent during the first big snow this year. He just went and replaced it with a Ariens Platinum, easily twice the machine for a little more money.
 
I despise of the friction driven snowblowers. I'm going to keep my eyes open for an old Toro ProLine walk behind mower and convert it into a snow blower. The 32" walk behind mowers used a gear box with 4 forward gears and big belts to drive the two drive wheels. Of course a hydro static drive mower would make a lot better snow blower but would have more that could go wrong and would drive initial cost up some too.
 
Husqvarna has a hydrostatic model now too but it isn't in the same league as the Honda or Ariens pro series.

I have an Ariens 28" Hydro Pro Track and it is a monster.
 
Been meaning to update. Discovered that anything with a hydrostat is way out of my means. The amazing discovery that I made was that I was an idiot. All I had to do was put the selector way down in the slow range when the going go tough. Bottom speed is so slow one almost needs to set up a stake to see the movenment but it just keep bulling and blowing!
 
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