Best time to buy a snowblower

iahawkeye83

Now that I have the driveway and the landlord has handed the lawn maintenance over to me I’m wondering when is the best time to buy a snowblower in terms of pricing. Should I pull the trigger now (no political discussions please) before the effects of tariffs take effect, should I wait until fall. I’ve been pricing them on Amazon and they have off-brand units (PowerSmart) with the Briggs & Stratton engine in the $600 range and they have the Craftsman in the $1,200-$1,400 range.

Would prices go up when we get closer to winter. I have a small snowblower in a storage unit but it hasn’t been used since the winter 2016-2017 and is probably seized up and needs extensive repair.

I would use buy now pay later.

egeezer

iahawkeye83
I’d look now. But before buying, I’d get the one in the storage unit and see it it’s locked up. If not, I’d spray a little WD40 in the spark plug opening. Then change the oil and air filter, ensure it has a little clean fuel and try to start. The carb may be clogged, but you could either clean it, buy a new carb or first do what I did to a lawn mower - clean the fuel tank opening, seal your mouth over it and blow to pressurize the tank and force fuel through the carb. That worked for me and saved work, time and money messing with the carb.

It may take a few tries of blowing, starting and blowing but hey, it worked for me.

Thane_Bitter

iahawkeye83 The old one could be enough, while it might need some servicing it could be within your skillset to do. With any gas appliance the issues are spark, air and fuel, I would suspect it lacks an air filter so you need not worry about that, leaving you with to check the spark, plug, and then carburetor. You have stored it for years, might as well see if it still works and put a bit of effort into it. I need not be pretty, it only has to function.

At those price points (and even well above them) odds are that B&S engine will be made in China, the brand isn’t what it used to be but with a little care they will run for a few years. Note that if it claims to never need an oil change its BS, change it anyways though they will not have provided a drain plug to make your life easier. A top oil extractor (ie goes down the fill hole or dipstick tube) will help with the task. Its marketing fudge, they expect people to destroy their mower every 3-4 years so they buy a new one.

egeezer

Thane_Bitter A top oil extractor (ie goes down the fill hole

Harbor freight sells a hand operated transfer pump for $7.99 plus tax that’s good for that. I have one for oil, one for gasoline to use with my mower and snow blower. I’d expect auto parts stores to have similar ones.

https://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-63144.html

Astyanax

iahawkeye83 I’m wondering when is the best time to buy a snowblower

How often a year does it snow so much you actually need a snowblower?

I know this is a funny question coming from a Floridian but still is it problem big enough to require a $600+ solution especially at the end of July and when you already own one?

egeezer

My lovely bride asked me whether a snow blower is cheaper than a visit to an ER or a day on a cardiac care unit, so I decided up buying a snow blower.

https://www.ohow.com/2022/12/13/winter-mayhem-common-snow-shoveling-injuries-and-treatment-options/

https://newsroom.heart.org/news/snow-shoveling-can-be-hazardous-to-your-heart

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/shoveling-snow-heart-attack

If you decide to buy one, winter is the worst time. Late summer or early fall yields better pricing and supply.

Dks01

The best time is April, if dealers have stock left over and want to clear out equipment. Now you will get newer models. Don’t buy from Amazon. Support your local dealer and build a relationship. You will need them for yearly service or if you do as I did, blow a shear pin and the pin rusted in place. Fixed in 24 hours. I got tired of my 10 year old Cub Cadet with the Chinese engine, so I gave it to my son and bought a tracked Honda (made in Georgia!) snowblower with electric start. He will get it in my will.

Dks01

egeezer my spouse chews me out if I pick up a snow shovel. We get 6 feet of snow every winter.

iahawkeye83

Astyanax it’s not the amount of snow we get but the sh*t left by the snowplow that gets me. Even though I’m in my early 40s I’m not in the best health. Grandpa died of a heart attack at 40 in 1970 (although he dug his own grave with smoking unfiltered camels and drank like a fish) and my two aunts have heart disease. My older aunt had a stroke (she is lucky she didn’t get very messed up and still gets around independently) and my younger aunt had to have a catheterization with a stent placed in and undergo cardiac rehab. My mom was the only one in our family (that I know of) that died of cancer and my mom and I were the only ones in our family to have lived in Iowa. Must be all the farm chemicals in the drinking water. Probably a 50/50 chance that I’ll either go from cancer or heart disease although I’ll never know. Only God knows.

egeezer

iahawkeye83 it’s not the amount of snow we get but the sh*t left by the snowplow that gets me

In that case, the little paddle things are ineffective. It takes a self propelled two stage machine to chop though that stuff. My blower even has tire chains fof traction.

If the road was salted prior to snow plowing, the resulting mess is compacted and refrozen to the point where nothing short of a tractor with a blade or front end loader will remove it.

When that happens, I let it be. Any complaints, let ’em clear it themselves.

Splitpair

iahawkeye83 I have a small snowblower in a storage unit but it hasn’t been used since the winter 2016-2017 and is probably seized up and needs extensive repair.

As long as it was stored without fuel in the tank or carb it will probably be ok.

Dks01

egeezer The windrow, as it is called, is nasty. Here it can be several feet high and 6 feet deep. A two stage blower can handle it, but barely. If I don’t clear it, I am stuck in my driveway. The city will not clear it.

Splitpair

Dks01 The windrow, as it is called, is nasty. Here it can be several feet high and 6 feet deep.

I wonder if a Bobcat skid steer could remove something like that?

I would think something like a T66 which weighs 8800 pounds and can lift 2400 pounds would make quick work of clearing out a drive, plus the operator sits in a sealed heated, air conditioned cab providing year round comfort and safety.

And since the bucket can free float so if set at a couple degree up-tilt could scrape snow from a driveway without digging into the driveway.

Dks01

Splitpair Yes, it can. My neighbour does it for his driveway and mine in heavy snowfalls. The city will not clear the windrow, however.

Splitpair

Dks01 The city will not clear the windrow, however.

All they care about is clearing the road even if they block everybody’s driveway in the process.

Had something like that out here not with snow but with shell rock, the county was getting ready to resurface the street in front of our home leaving dump truck loads sitting all over the road one was piled in front of my driveway preventing us from enter or leaving the property over the weekend.

I assumed they would be back on Saturday to grade it out, nope they didn’t come back to the following week.

What they found was the load they dropped on my driveway had been moved across the street and dumped into a drainage ditch requiring them to come back with another machine and a empty dump truck to clear the ditch and recover some of the shell rock.

Turned out on Sunday morning a Bobcat came out of our barn and cleared out driveway.

pandaman1784

Splitpair in nyc, you don’t want to live on the right hand side of a one way street. the snowplows will bury your driveway (and any cars parked on the right hand side of the street) with a ton of snow on every pass. and if you don’t clear it out fast, that wall of snow will freeze and make it really hard to clear out.

geek

Seems like an easy and fun solution to this problem. Unless it goes horribly wrong.

g121

Dks01 The windrow, as it is called, is nasty.

Yes indeed, the windrow can be a pain. One has to get back out there & deal with it before it freezes; if frozen, you’ve got trouble.

The recurring posts, from DSLR & now in BBF, about various Floridian ‘dick moves’ & Floridan ‘reciprocal dick moves’ is eye-opening ..

iahawkeye83

egeezer That’s my snowblower.

AMDUSER

iahawkeye83 Its a Craftsmen snowblower… which could either be a MTD built unit, or a Briggs. I would just recommend taking it to a shop and having them do a tune up on it. That snowblower is better quality than the PowerSmart.

I have a Cub Cadet 26-inch snowblower. Which I bought after making the mistake of buying Chinese made garbage. The Cub Cadet is much heavier gauge steel than the yardmax shyte I bought.