Originally Posted By: sciphi
I recently purchased a house, with attendant 40'x20' driveway. Having a real two-car driveway is nice, except when it snows. For some reason, the plow can turn 6" of snow into a 14-15" high (or higher) pile at the end of the driveway. It takes forever with a shovel, so I'm looking at snow blowers on Craigslist.
I'm seeing a lot of older Ariens snowblowers being listed. I've heard that those older machines were beasts. This would likely be purchased once the snow melts and chucked into the shed for use next winter, so a slight fixer-upper isn't out of the question. What should I look out for when purchasing one?
If your plowed that high at the EOD, I would look for at least a 250cc or larger motor. This is about 7-8 horsepower range, depending on whose measuring stick you use. I have a 250cc Briggs that seems to struggle if the snow really gets packed. As others mentioned, older Tecmuseh Snow Kings are everywhere, but seem to throw rods. If you can find a vintage Honda like the one guy, buy it. Other than that anything will probably be rusted to [censored], just make sure the rust hasnt separated the chute from the body.
Look for a guy on Youtube called Donyboy73. He has a video about how to buy a used snowblower. He is the pinnacle of small engine advice and DIY small engine