Forums Archive Index > Outdoor Power Equipment > Oh no, here we go again
Date: 12 Dec 2005 3:39 am
Well since my Ariens is taking its time comeing into stock we have been looking around at other dealers and came across some intresting snow blowers.
There are 3 Simplicity dealers around my area, haven't visited them yet but was informed about them. From what I've been reading they are supurb machines. This is where it gets tricky. The Ariens 926LE is $999. Simplicity with similar featuers start at $849. I was wondering if its worth my time to start reasearching the Simplicity's. The appear to resemble Ariens in quality, just wondering your opinions. (I think I read they are built together or by Briggs or something like that).
This might be sign :P maybe there is a devine reason I haven't obtained a 926LE yet :) lol
The ones I was looking at are 7.5HP and 8.5HP with 22 and 24 inch widths. I wouldn't need the extra 2 inches and my old Hahn Eclipse was a 7HP 24" and handled anything so the wallet is playing its card again. The only question is how high is the augar housing. The only reason we didn't grabe the Ariens 7524 Compact was because the houseing was way to low. From the pictures that doesn't seem to be true of the 22/24inch Simplicity. It also appear you can "customize" them more with all sorts of options. I appears you can swap around engines to smaller units if you please but I may have interpreted some of my reading wrong. There doesn't seem to be anything compact about simplicity's, and I like that :)
Its enough to make ones head spin. All these big blowers are so nice looking. Choices, so many Choices.
On top of all this I think there might be a Snapper dealer around here too.
Date: 12 Dec 2005 7:14 pm
EGreen,
Simplicity's are great. Spend a couple of extra bucks and get the 9.5 hp model...the smallest of the large frames.
What Simplicity does'nt tell you is that it is really a 12 hp engine!!!
A major performance improvement over 7 or 8 hp machines.
I've had an 1170E for three seasons now and love it. No complaints.
Date: 12 Dec 2005 7:50 pm
This was a comparison made by Snowmann in 2003. The 860EI Simp is very similar to the one he discribes, and you know the differences that have taken place on the Ariens. So to compare an apple to an apple, you might want to do as Dan says and look at the 9560E or even the 10560E (cause it has a headlight) to get a better comparison. But the 860IE might be all you need. But it is not a large frame machine like the 926 you are waiting for.
Quote:
To address recent opinions that the Simplicity 860EI and 960E models are comparable to the 8524LE Deluxe, I'd offer the following advice:
The Simplicity 860EI is a scaled down model compared to their former 8hp model, the 860E (or rather a powered-up 755E for that matter). It uses a compact platform rather than a true mid-size. This is obvious by the 52lb. weight difference from the former 8hp model, the 860E. Likewise, you can also find a smaller 10" impeller on this unit. Impeller size is one of the largest contributors to snow clearing capacity and discharge performance. To be fair, the Simplicity 860EI model competes with the ST724E compact as both have a similar feature set and capacity. The price point on the Ariens ST724E is favorable, and the hp difference will likely be negligible with a 10" impeller (given their respective capacities, neither unit could produce enough load to cripple either engine).
To purchase an 8524LE Deluxe over the Simplicity 860EI, one would gain a standard headlight, a larger 12" 4-blade impeller, larger 15" tires, larger 15" serrated rakes, more horsepower, -substantially- more torque (engine displacement is the clue here, 357cc vs. 205cc), standard interlock, and reversible double-sided runners. Given their respective design characteristics and their typical impact on output, the 8524LE would provide significant performance increases over the 860EI.
With regard to the other Simplicity model mentioned, the 960E. This unit is certainly comparable to the 8524LE Deluxe (albeit sans headlight), but it is also ~$265 more. For that much you could likely get a ST1128LE with an 11.5hp OHV with Professional series drive system, 28" blower head, standard headlight, remote cap deflector, and handwarmers (promo price is $1249).
Source: Rob's stuff from WTB
Date: 12 Dec 2005 7:54 pm
now thats the type of comparison that i like to read .
all the facts in one place.
make it easier to do homework.
chris
Date: 13 Dec 2005 12:25 am
looks like I'll stick with the 926LE. We're going to contact the dealer tommorow about if ours is shipping with a tecumseh or briggs and to also see if a briggs would arrive sonner and vise versa.
Thanks for the info, thats the comparison I was looking for.