Customer Reviews

Yard Machines 31A-32AD700 22-Inch 179cc OHV 4-Cycle Gas Powered Self Propelled Two-Stage Snow Thrower

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

 

 

This is the third snow blower I have owned, and does a great job in major drifts. But I have now ripped the starter cord three times, and disassembly and reassembly takes me almost an hour to repair it. In spite of several inspections, I can see nothing slicing the cord, but something us doing it. I suspect a metal burr somewhere.

All of that said, it starts dependably (when I haven't broken it), and makes short work of my driveway, even in densely packed snow. After a half season that has been especially rough, it all still seems sturdy and hasn't rattled itself apart, the way cheaper units have done in the past.

Let me give everyone a word of advice about buying this snow blower: don't. And for that matter, I suggest you don't buy any machines made by MTD (they make machines for TroyBilt, Yard Machines, and others). Why? Because their answer when it doesn't work as it should -- and all I've asked this machine to do is move about four inches of snow -- is to "take it to a dealer/repair shop."

Here's the whole story: The first time I used it it stopped about 1/2 way through my mid-sized driveway; the auger just wouldn't spin anymore. It just sat there, mocking me. I stopped it and finished the driveway by hand. I read the manual, tightened the auger control, and it worked fine (not when it was snowing).

Next snow (again, about four inches at most), it made it about 1/10th of the way through the driveway. Auger wouldn't turn. I turned it off, parked it, and again finished the driveway by hand. E-mailed MTD customer care. Worthless response was: "Take it in." Nothing more, no suggestions as to what might be going on. Just take it in. Keep that in mind, if you get a piece of junk from MTD, their answer when it breaks will be: "Take it in." Lesson 1 learned: don't expect a "real" response from MTD customer care via E-mail. You can guess what they'll say: "Take it in."

So I did. It was the belt. Though the machine had been used just twice, the belt wasn't covered because it was more than 30 days from when I bought the machine (see what happens when you plan ahead and buy a product before you need it?). Lesson 2 learned: don't buy an MTD product before you need it, because if you do, then when you first use it and it breaks, you'll have to pay for it.

I replaced the belt on my own dime, brought the machine home, and sat it in the garage. Next snow storm (again about four inches on the driveway when I cleared it), the thing worked, but clogged up very, very easily. I would stop it, clear the clog, start it again, stop it again, clear the clog, start it again, stop it again, clear the clog . . . you get the idea. I finally give up, finished off the driveway by hand (this is getting to be a habit), and parked it in the garage. When I parked it, it was still working.

So today we're in that big February 2011 northeaster. It's Tuesday. 4-8 inches promised today, up to two feet tomorrow. I get home from the office, start the snow blower and engage the auger handle. Can you guess what happened next? The auger wouldn't turn. It just sat there not moving. This, of course, makes this machine useless to me me.

So I parked the machine in the garage and . . . you guessed it, finished the driveway by hand. I came in and called MTD (I've learned about trying to get help by E-mail). Their answer? "Take it in." Sure, he said some more about how this machine isn't known for that, and that the service guy would have to take a look at it to find out what's wrong, and if he can't figure it out he should call them, etc. etc.. But mostly what he said, and the long and the short of it is, "Take it in." So that's what I'll do. Thursday. In the meantime I'll be buying a bigger, better shovel, and once this season is done I'll flog this stupid, useless machine on fleabay or craig's list and buy a real machine. And I'll make sure that no matter what brand it is, that it isn't secretly made by MTD. Because that's a company whose products I never, ever want to buy again.

And I suggest you don't, either.

I live in Eastern Montana and we have quite a bit of snow from Oct - April so we dedcided to purchase the Yard Machine. It came nicely packaged in a crate.Quick delivery time. All we had to do was remove from the crate and attach the handle.(easy). It had oil, so we just added gas and fired it up. (The spark plug wire was not on so be sure & check that). One pull start. We had about 6 inches of snow and this blower just plowed right through it. I used my blower again on Dec. 26 after we had more snowfall and a lot of wind. The temp wa 26 so the snow was starting to melt and was wet & heavy. Blower started on first pull and plowed right through 8-10 inches of heavy wet snow.

Re: The Yard Machine 31A-32AD700
Purchased Nov 2008
Location: Wisconsin

Machine has always started nicely. As one other reviewer put it, works great in light dry snow, when snow is wet it clogs and breaks. So far have replaced the transmission and now the auger gear, both transmission and auger broke after heavy wet snow falls. The gearbox internals (gear teeth) appear to be plastic not metal teeth which under strain like wet snow the gear teeth probably sheer.

I would recommend this for very light dry snow falls, not for any heavy wet snow dumps. When snow is dry it can blow it 10-15' feet, when wet it barely makes it out of the chute and clogs.

I will replace the auger gearbox and sell it on Craigslist. I went ahead and purchased a larger snow thrower to handle the bigger wet snow falls.

This is the first snowblower I've ever used much less owned. Being a first time home owner, I recently decided it was worth the investment to get one of these machines. Just bought it last week and didnt have to wait long to use it. I live in South St. Paul MN and we just had the 8th largest snow storm ever in state history. A record 21.5" was recorded just north of where I live. This machine plowed through waist high drifts like a hot knife through butter. Took a little manuevering to get at the drifts that were higher than the actual opening but the yard machine pulled through. Its deffinetly nice having the self propelled machine for getting into those drifts. Only knock on it was that I wished the self propelled mechanism worked a little faster. Otherwise it never clogged on me and shot snow far enough to hit the yard. Great machine in my eyes and hopefully it just holds up through these MN winters.

Bought the unit at Home Depot about a month ago. Have had three significant snowfalls since. As others have mentioned, this unit only works with light, dry snow. With heavier (wetter) snow, the chute clogs and the auger burns up. Also, gasoline leaks out of the gas cap when the unit is on even the slightest incline. Will sell it on craigslist and buy a better unit.

Maybe my unit is just lucky, but this has been an excellent snow blower. As said by others, this blower has trouble with slushy snow, but for regular snow, it can't be stopped. Last year in Chicago one storm brought over 20 inches of snow, and even with the box on this being only 16 inches tall, I wasn't even slowed down. At the end of my driveway the snow pile measured almost 40 inches tall, and this still didn't have a problem. I of course couldn't go at full speed, and had to move the blower up and down to allow the blades to eat at the pile, but considering the size, I have no complaints. See the image of my green snowblower doing my sidewalk with an even larger pile. After three seasons of blowing, I have only had to replace one belt that snapped on this.

I purchased one of these 3 years ago. About halfway through the first season I began experiencing problems starting the machine. Midway through the second season it would not start at all. I took it for repairs and $200 later it started fine. The machine has always struggled with wet snow. The discharge shute gets jammed with snow and requires constant cleaning while in use. Now the augers have stopped turning completely and I'm sure that another costly repair will no doubt follow. This machine can only handle the lightest of powder snow. (the stuff you don't mind shoveling) Most people want a snowblower to handle the heavy stuff. This machine does not do the job.

I bought this unit back in 2008 not looking at the reviews first and foremost..I was in a situation where I was using a shovel for about 8 years on my 75 foot driveway..I injured my back and decided to buy a "Snowthrower' and then the only place that I was able to purchase one was at Menards..I bought one as soon as they came out on the shelves on sale for 469.00..I used it over and over again living here in Michigan we get some harsh snow storms and it worked for the first 2 years but broke this past year..The shute does clog up on heavy wet snow and does clog easily and seems useless..On regular snowfall and deeper snow it works great and does shoot out about 10 to 15 feet..I used it up until the Winter of last year during the last snowfall and the self propelled part of it quit working..I read the manual and it said for troubleshooting to replace the stupid drive belt..I took the belt off and it was still like brand new so I had a bad feeling what it might be.. Of course, I was right and the damn gearbox/transmission was broke..The inside of it sheared off and now it's gonna cost me a 144.23 dollars to replace it plus 17.99 to ship it through MTD..I had called them rescently and they said that the part is on backorder until November of this year..If this has happened to me then who else has this happened to just rescently if its on backorder..That gave me a bad feeling..So since I'm now on a limited income I've decided to take the self propelled option off it and use it like a regular snowthrower.. It's pretty sad that you have to shell out a ton of money on something that you really need take care of and baby it and then something like this happens..I hope that it works for at least a couple of more years then I can go out and buy a real snowthrower one that isn't made my MTD..I am very disappointed and will never buy a MTD product again..

got exactly what I ordered, on the last day of expected deleivery, so everything was as it was supposed to be, we have not had the chance to use it yet, so can't say how it works, but we got it :-)