How many CC's for a snowblower

Most of the brands you’ll find are all made by MTD, including Cub Cadet, White, etc and I think I remember that they use Powermore engines - Chinese.

I bought a 27” Craftsman with a 305cc Briggs engine, it will go through quite a bit. The Briggs engine was a big part of why I bought it, and it also ended up being a downfall. The Briggs engines have two yellow plastic plugs at the bottom of the crankcase - I am not sure why because there is a separate drain plug for the engine oil. Christmas morning a few years back, I fired it up and got partway finished the driveway and I started to see a lot of smoke....? Looked down and saw that one of those plugs had worked itself out and I had lost all the oil. I shut it down right away but the damage was done, wished I had left it idling low and grabbed whatever oil I could find but I wasn’t thinking I guess. Later that winter we checked those yellow oil plugs on two of my neighbours blowers and they were also loose. Lesson learned.

I have an Ariens Platinum 24 SHO with 369cc. I wanted max power with the smallest bucket to ensure that the huge pile at the end of the driveway from the plow was easy to just walk through and not fight through like my older machine. I also don't need a bigger one because my driveway is not terrible large around 20' x 40'.

I would definitely recommend Ariens, my inlaws and parents have machines that are 15 years old and run perfect. Mine is about 4 years old and runs mint. Although I am particular about my machines, since the money I spent on it wasn't chump change. I take off the body parts and get inside and inspect belts, lube and adjust everything every year. I also always use synthetic oil in all my machines and only use non ethanol gas.

Take a look at the construction of whatever machine you get, some look good with a nice stats sheet then you see way to much plastic such as cheap plastic shoots.

Lastly I don't usually push for people (me included) to finance if you can't afford it but sometimes it's worth it to buy the right product once than get something that's cheap. Google Yard Card financing.

Forgot to ask, what’s wrong with your current one? Unless it’s totally rusted out I’d rebuild it and repower it before I’d buy a new one

I think the plastic chutes are better than metal. They don't rust and the snow doesn't stick to them as easily as it does to metal, especially when a bit rusted. Also less prone to freeze up after blowing damp snow.
One thing to do when your blower isn't tossing the snow like it used to is weld a strip of metal on the impeller blades as they do wear down. Just make sure they're closely balanced. I had mine done on an older blower and it gave me another 5 years or more service.

x2 Ariens, great product.

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Originally Posted by Deer Hunter

x2 Ariens, great product.

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Ariens without a doubt, I still have my dads from circa 1968-9, 7HP 24 inch. And, I can still get parts for it.

I have done a little research on snowblowers and from what I have learned most all the big box stores sell Chinese made units that are built to last 2 or 3 years. The brand names most trusted appear to be Ariens and Honda from their dealerships.

A number of the small engine repair guys are now in the business of re building older units and basically putting in a new Honda engine sourced from the USA. They like the older frames and usually the engines have given up or been mistreated.

Older units with a Tecumseh engine appear to be pretty good usually branded as Snow King.

So it seems I am probably better off fixing my current one. Just needs the friction disc replaced.

If you can do the work yourself great, the next problem is if you cannot do it yourself is to find a small engine repair guy who is not off his rocker....

Its an easy job GW. First step is you tube videos on how its done.