On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 02:49:46 GMT, Commodore Joe Redcloud
wrote:

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:45:58 GMT, "ameijers" wrote:
Okay, a followup question. (and yes, I will be checking Google)- in doing
some casual snow-blower tire kicking today, while running other errands, I
couldn't help noticing that several brands and models appeared to be the
same machine, just with different badges. How many companies really make
these things? And other than, say, nicer tires, is the 600 dollar Toro any
better than the 500 dollar MTD twin at Sams?

I am sure that some machines are re-badged generics, but as you point out, they
still may not be exactly the same in all respects. Even nicer tires on a
snowblower can be a substantial difference. Chances are, if you look them over
more closely, there will be other differences too. Meanwhile you are cheating
yourself by buying at a big box store. You really are. You can get more value
for the same price by going to a real power equipment retailer. This isn't a $30
disposable toaster purchase. You are going to have this thing for 30 years or
so.

Commodore is absolutely right: a lot of these smaller shops are
selling at prices very competitive with the big box stores, and the
service is unrivaled. I bought a new Weber grill last year not from
HD, but from a local merchant for the SAME price, and the local
merchant ALSO threw in a cute $5 jar of hot sauce and filled up my
propane tank at no extra charge. HD doesn't do that!

Please, do yourself and your local economy a favor and look in your
yellow pages for local power equipment dealers and buy from them. In
the case of a snowthrower, you might pay slightly more than from HD,
but you will almost certainly get a better machine and you definitely
will get better service.