Customer Reviews

Husqvarna 15530SB-LS 30-Inch 342cc Briggs & Stratton Snow Series Max Gas Powered Two-Stage Snow Thrower With Variable Speed, Power Steering, Drift Cutters & Electric Start 9619300-38

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wanted a snow thrower that had more power than the 9hp one I was using. This machine has power to spare! It is well made and does the hard work at the end of the driveway with ease. Starts very easily and the controls are good. All metal means this is not a lightweight machine, but handles well and looks like it will last a long time moving heavy snow and even the wet stuff. Throws it a long way!
Delivered as a crate on a pallet and in perfect condition. Truck driver off loaded it right where I wanted it. Assembly was easy! I am impressed Amazon!

Big prowerful machine I live where we have on average 3' of snow on the ground all winter.
2 to 3 foot storms don't have a chance with this blower!! Down side it took 2 weeks to receive it.

This was delivered promptly and securely. Price and delivery speed were great. Installation had a couple steps that were a bit more complicated than I expected - total time was about 1 hour (I used my own socket wrenches). The other reviewer mentioned a "coffee mat." The coffee mat piece is not mentioned in the installation instructions but is shown in the picture. I deduced from the included HW that it goes on the _outside_ of the end of the chute, secured on each side with two screws and one small metal bar going on the outside of the chute extender so the screw heads don't pull through the soft vinyl of the "coffee mat" (chute extender). The blower is attached to the wooden base of the shipping crate at more points than you expect (or are mentioned in the manual) so make sure you get them all!

I started it via manual pull - much easier after I figured out the rather cryptic indicator graphic on the choke. The controls took a bit of time to get used to - the markings for the forward drive are not matched with the actual speed. I started it in what I thought was neutral (approximately middle of "V" type graphic) and it took off quite quickly. Also, in spite of the impression that it is a continuously variable transmission the speed control _seems_ to only really click into place for a few different gears. The trigger controls for power turning are not all that useful, and I should note need to be depressed in order to roll the blower when it is not running. The light is nice (mine didn't need assembly) but blocked by the chute extender in many positions. The unit seems to have the advertised amount of torque. I did side/side comparison on about 3" of *really* wet heavy snow with my 26" MTD. The MTD chute was choked solid after about 20' of travel and the belt started smoking, while the 15530SB was able to "blow" the wet slop about 10' away on average. Chute clean-out tool is nice, on/off switch for handle-warmers is nice, user manual leaves a bit to the imagination - nothing about handle warmer switch, instructions on belt replacement are quite sketchy, nothing about range of forward/reverse speeds, also nothing about the auger and drive engagement levers making a rather disturbing clicking noise if you depress drive engagement lever first then auger engagement.

I'm somewhere between 4 and 5 stars, but went to 4 because manual was a bit incomplete, and the chute orientation controls feel like you have to put a little more pressure on them side-to-side to move the chute than seems necessary. Also the unit is a bit tall but short front-back so I found myself taking rather awkwardly short steps to avoid hitting the back of the tires with the toes of my boots while walking behind the unit. It could easily go to 5 if it holds up really well.

I was one of those people who tried to order this snow thrower before the 100 year blizzard that hit the Washington DC area. It finally arrived today after a little confusion on my part with Amazon and their partner shipping company: CEVA. It turns out, I had two mobile phone #'s in my Amazon profile, and CEVA somehow got the one that I haven't used in two years; so, two and 1/2 weeks later, I find out they have been trying to call me (yikes!...If only I would had this for the blizzard, I could of been a rich man!). Be sure to email Amazon and ask WTF? sooner than I did, because they were very helpful and got me in touch with CEVA. After I finally got things ironed out with CEVA, they delivered right to my driveway. The large box arrived on top of a wood crate and the inside of the box was lined with a sturdy wood frame. The snow thrower was cinched down to the wood frame, so my snow thrower came out of the box without a scratch.

Tools needed for a quicker assembly than what I did: a socket wrench with a 3/8 socket and smaller sockets, screw driver, and maybe some small crescent wrenches (I'm not going back down stairs to check the size of the nuts!). Take your time and the installation will go very fast. The halogen light was a bit of a pain in the azz to get in, but I just overflexed the plastic shield frame to get it all the way in and wellah, it just kind of stays there. The light doesn't pop in over have a bracket or screws that I saw, it just kind of sits there once you figure how to get it in behind the plastic frame (you'll see=)...total installation time: 30 minutes (or for me 90 minutes!)

There is this cool mini toolbox case they installed on top of the engine, to store the wrench and an extra set of shear screws in case you hit a cat, mailbox, or maybe a small car. Lastly, there was this big piece of plastic that I assumed went on the inside of the snow chute thrower but couldn't quite get that thing to fit in uniformly and I didn't see it in the pictures, so it will make a nice coffee cup mat in my car until somebody tells me otherwise.

The engine comes with oil in it (check the oil level with the dipstick), so fill her up with 87 or 89 octane gasoline, and I choose to plug her in, and do the electric start versus the old skool method of crank startin. She started right up no, problem. Make sure and adjust the choke to the RUN position, once it fires up. Mine started up in 3 seconds (the manual states not to electrically crank it for more than 5 seconds) and I immediately turned the choke to the run position and wellah!

Oh yeah, if you want to use the controls, make sure and push straight down on the control levers first before trying to move the throttle up or down or side to side.

I may go throw some snow in my back yard tomorrow but I am now waiting for the next blizzard to hit but know it most likely won't happen since we are clearly in a Global Warming stage across the United States this winter...cheers!