Snow blower Review- SINGLE STAGE VS 2 stage- Tracks or Tires?

All right, guys. We got a jam-packed show today because we're going to be covering a lot of ground. First off, we're going to be looking at a single-stage snow blower compared to a dual-stage snow blower. We're also going to be comparing and contrasting when you may want tracks on a snow blower and may when you want tires by actually doing a demonstration that I never would have thought of on my own. But then we're also going to have a little bit of fun. The local Ariens dealer came down and dropped these units off for me. How long till you can come out and fix the boards here? And I challenged him to go into the back of the woods, pull my Ariens snow blower out from under a tarp where I had placed it and put it away completely wrong. I mean, I didn't fuel stabilize it. I did nothing. I literally didn't end the season, parked it, and forgot about it. Guys take care of their equipment like this. We're going to see if he can get this thing to pop off. So, without wasting any more time, let's do this. Dang. Snow blowers are created equal. We're going to see some really cool things today. Show me what we got going on here. This will be good. Okay, these handles on this Pro are designed so you can just back up to a tailgate and then slide it right up in. Same with coming off. So, they designed the handle specifically to be able to do that. Correct. That's actually really cool. What blower snow blower is this one? This one be an Ariens Professional 21-in. Okay, professional what what makes it a professional? The metal around it. Um the metal design. It's not all plastic. The handle design. Okay. And this is a single-stage, a professional single-stage. So, let's talk about single-stage and dual-stage because we've got a dual-stager right here, and this is a professional level one as well, right? It's a platinum edition. Um Um the next step up would be a pro. So, would this be not a professional-level? I mean, you could use it as a professional. It's still built heavy. Okay. So, it's not technically made for the I don't know. I'm asking you cuz I honestly No, the pros are built for a Right. Um guy who's going to use it all day, every day. Okay. So, then you have actually a step up from this. So, this would be a great model for a homeowner who wants a high-quality unit or a contractor that wants Absolutely. But without the pro I'm going to guess the platinum is a little little less expensive? Little less expensive, correct. Okay. All right. Good to know. Can you point out the dual stage for me? Cuz I I want to make sure that we get this pretty clear. Sure. So, you got the two augers in here. And you got a cast iron gear case on this. Yep. Um you got your shear bolts here. Okay, shear bolts are right here. This is actually designed to bust. And then you got a couple grease zerks here for lubrication. That's This is your first stage. And then your second stage would be back here, the impeller that'll boost the snow up out of the chute. Yep. Now, there are some models that actually have a three-stage, right? Yeah. What is a three-stage? I don't even know. Do you I think Cub Cadet or somebody has it. It's another impeller here, which I would think it would just block the snow from getting thrown out, in my opinion. But they get to say they're three, and you guys are only two. I don't know what difference that makes. I'll be honest with you, I don't know what difference that would make. So, that's the difference between a dual-stage snowblower, a single-stage snowblower, and we also have the 24-in snowblower in the back. So, this one's got tracks, which I think is interesting. So, let's talk about the specifically cuz when these guys are looking for one, what are they looking for? So, this one will have the new rapid track design on it where you could kick this heel up and then it'll turn like the wheel machine. Okay, wait a minute. Do that Do that one more time, will you? So, you got a trigger on the handle, you can flip it and lock the rear of the the tail of the tracks up and then it'll turn just like it's on a just like wheel machine. Oh, okay. And you can kick them back down for more traction. All right, do you lift it up one more time and down one more time if you wouldn't mind. So, that's that's that's up. So, lift it up and then it rolls like a wheeled machine right there and it'll lock. Yep. And then you just click that handle and she flops down. And now you've got the the full benefit of the track, which is what? Just for guys that don't know. Yeah, a little more traction. They'll climb stairs a little bit. Um they'll Climb stairs? Yeah, they'll um you know, if you're making trails out in the woods, things like that, the tracks will help them. Wait a minute, climb stairs? Yeah. Like that? Should. Do it. Can you do it? Yeah. Without wrecking my deck? Am I throwing the gauntlet down on you? Yeah, I don't know. I don't want to wreck your deck. Well, don't wreck my deck. Let's see if you can do it. Think I'm making him nervous. Am I making you nervous? No. Uh-uh-uh, he hit it. Wait a minute here. You all the camera. All right, you see this? Right here, right here. But, I'll tell you straight up, you did something that I thought was really cool. You actually flipped the tracks Yep. up to climb the stairs. So, if you tried to do that with a wheeled machine, forget it. That is actually really cool. I would have never even thought of that as one of the benefits, uh you know, for a snowblower. So, can you kind of walk me through how you What engine do you guys use for one? Uh it's an Ariens um engine. Um we Oh, so you use your own engine? Correct. Uh the warranty registration goes right through Ariens. Um parts. This will be a quick chute design here. So, you can just pull back on it a little bit Okay. and it will turn the chute quick. Okay. Got your drive here. Auger here. The auger side will stay down in case you want to switch the the chute rotation. That chute rotation is freaking slick. Holy crud. That is actually really easy. I shouldn't probably doing this in front of another guy this much. You got your six speeds forward and two in reverse. So, um to drive. Okay. This will lower and raise the chute height or the flap so you don't have to throw the snow as far. Okay. What is the point with all these beautiful big red buttons and knobs? I like big red buttons. The reason I'm absolutely so fascinated with these things is because they're made intentionally to draw your eye to them for very specific reasons. One, your fuel cap is for an for an obvious one. Your engine oil is is marked with a different color for an obvious reason. But, here's your start. You're not guessing like I have had equipment where I'm going where is the choke? Where is the on-off? Where is the throttle? What is this one? And I'm telling you straight up, I'm not getting younger. Time does not seem to work in reverse for me, so I'm squinting, right? And I'm looking at some of these tools and I'm going I can't freaking read that. I can read this. It's got a bunny, which I understand, and a turtle, which I get, and you got your primer right here, on off, your fuel control, everything you need to know. So, your choke, it says start, run. And I point that out because you're going to have, if you own a company, and you're not the owner operator of this machine, you're going to have a new guy come in, and they're going to be confused. They're going to want to know how to run it right away, and this thing almost says, "Hey, this is how we run." It's pretty simple. I mean, it is a pretty straightforward way of operating. Does the single-stage have that? Ching. It does. Aren't you glad you came over and didn't want to be on camera today? Yeah. He actually said, "I don't want to be on camera. I'm gun-shy." So, You got your on and off here. Yep. Um and you got your choke, just like on the two-stage. So, all the way's over here, run, got your primer bulb. Mhm. Easy. Easy-peasy. All right. Uh you got your fuel. You got your fuel as well, on and off. let's fire it up. Let's see how tough it is. Have you Have you fired this today? Uh last night. Last night. Okay, so let's see how tough it is to fire up. Prime it three times. I was going to say that it runs pretty good for not having the fuel on. I was waiting to see if you caught that. Yeah. Cuz I've done that so many times. I can't tell you how many times I've got I had an Echo in one of my videos where I tried to start it. I think the pull cord on it was like 27 before I'm like, "What am I doing wrong?" And here I've been doing it with the in the off position. I'm smart. All right, so come back to the back of my property and show me the one that I have. Okay. All right. It's like, I don't know what you have. Where are you taking me into the woods, strange man? Yes, I am, sir. Yes, I am. I bought this one last year in the middle of a snowstorm. And it saved our life. Saved it. I mean, this thing is freaking phenomenal. All right, so here, I'm going to I'm going to have you hold the camera. There she is. I love that thing. All right, so that is a 21-incher. Uh 24. Um or that. So, we've got Can you just walk us through some of the features on my my little girl right here? So, this is a lot like the two-stage one we were looking at up there. It's still going to have the same drive, the same auger hold down. Um this will rotate the chute still. And instead of that quick chute like on that platinum two-stage up there, this one will be down here. Yep. Which is still great design. Yep. Still have your six speeds forward, two in reverse. Okay. It'll just be a smaller horsepower motor Okay. on this one versus the platinum up there. Um So, how long do you think it's been since this one's been fired? Boy, I don't know. Last winter, I suppose. March. Yeah. No, April. You want to try to fire it up? Want to see if it'll go? Got gas in it. It's going to have old gas in it, too. Yeah, we'll see if it to have everything wrong with it. Everything you can possibly do wrong has been done wrong to this because some guys take care of their equipment like this. Just checking the oil. See how See how I can other people into doing things I don't want to do. All right. Well, my Ariens snow blower firing up. I would I That blew me away. That was completely awesome and unexpected and I'm actually glad it did cuz then it Next time I go to run it, I know it'll start up. What? One pull. One pull. My old one starts better than your new one. That's great. That is insane. Holy crap. All right. So, Ariens puts a bit of quality into their equipment and I'll tell you straight up the reason I honestly did not fire this thing since April when we had a 19-in snowstorm. That's great. It's been parked underneath the tarp this entire time. And I didn't drain the fuel. weary on the the old fuel. Yeah, the old fuel. All right, so that old fuel is a killer of these things. Um when you go to put these away, do you have a standard operating procedure you recommend for putting them away? I personally I'll dump a little bit of like a a SeaFoam or a fuel additive in it. Stabil or SeaFoam? Absolutely and then I'll turn off the fuel and I'll let it run itself out of the out of the carburetor. Yep. That's just what I do. Ding, that's the proper uh storage system. That's a dual stager. Ariens makes quality. I don't know what else to say. I'm That's freaking awesome. No, I didn't think it was going to start. was going to start? Well, I didn't either. I didn't either. I wanted to I wanted to watch you pull and pull and pull. One other thing, make sure you guys stick around because we're actually going to be putting these to the real test this winter. We're going to be using all three of these. My old girl, old faithful there. I think I got come up with a new nickname for her, maybe old faithful. You guys tell me, what should I nickname her? And then the other two, which um I love the ability to climb stairs. That was freaking insane. And then I like how you have that design to go up in the back of the pickup truck. Yeah. Dude. Makes it easier for um a commercial guy or one of his employees to lift it in and out of something. Right, but it's since it's a pro model, it's also got more power. One other thing I noticed is the actual blades itself. Can we go look at those real quick cuz they look replaceable? They are replaceable. All right. Okay, so this is something that I actually wanted to point out right here. See this? Yep. So tell me about that design. are just rubber flaps. Um they work great on uh getting down to the concrete or wherever you're blowing the snow. Um these flaps are replaceable if they wear down over time. They will and they will wear down over time. They're designed to wear down over time. Um and actually you can see how much wear you have. So here is your steel plate right here. Here's your rubber flap. This would be a snowblower that without hesitation I would put on a deck. Oh, absolutely. I would put on to my deck, a softer surface, and let it go at it. And the reason I point that out is those flaps aren't going to chew up your deck like these steel blades will. This comes in contact with your deck, you're going to be replacing the deck, right? Right. Um speaking of which, how long till you can come out and fix the boards here? It's the second Tuesday next week. All right. So big difference, you guys. Uh I wanted to point out a lot of the things that Ariens does, a lot of foresight, a lot of thought goes in it. Just I've been using them for a year. I've been doing the test of time, and they have Well, Craig, it proved itself. You've seen how it started. It fired up. That's what I like about it. And that thing has never given us a single problem firing up. Even in A lot of guys get snow, but in Minnesota, we get cold. I mean, we've had days where for weeks it hadn't been above zero, and then you get the wind chill cruising in, and you're looking in the negative 20s and 30s. We're out snow plowing, and that thing just Starts right up. Starts right up. So, you guys tell me, what do you want to see next? I'm trying to cover all of these different snow blowing, snow plowing equipment, snow gear to get you guys ready for the season. Is there anything I'm missing so far? You tell me in the comments down below. And a big thanks goes out to Ariens for sponsoring this video today. Without their help, I could have never showed you the difference between all of these different units, and how to go out and buy one on your own. So, they support this channel. I'm going to ask you to go out and support them. They're awesome company. God bless you guys. Go get them.