Toro Two Stage / Power Max 828LXE

This is a great snowblower. I bought this slowblower for $1340 (no tax/free ship from Alamia.com) in November of '06. I've only had one opportunity to use it because the snow in Eastern Pennsylvania has been non-existent until just last week (mid February). I have owned two snowblowers prior to this one, so I know a great product when I see one. The Toro 828LXE is advertised to throw snow 40'. It does! Even small amounts of snow get tossed. The impeller housing is not the normal round housing that you would find in 99% of other blowers. It stores small amount of snow so that it can build enough pressure to shoot it across the yard. You now have to be extra aware of where you are aiming, because you are now hitting targets far away. My daughters were sledding in the back yard and were getting pelted by snow that was shooting from the front driveway. It was launching past the side of the house and landing on them. I was filling my neighbor's driveway with my snow also...oops! Once you are paying attention to where the snow is hitting, directing it real easy with the Joystick control. What a great design feature this is! It is what sold me on buying this snowblower to begin with. Up/Down/Left/Right is done in a quick flowing motion using one control. Traction is great. Those tires dig right in. I know about traction. I've had a snow blower with those bulldozer tracks on them. The Toro's tires actually work better and are much easier to move around. The triggered steering is a nice feature. Some comparable Ariens models have one trigger that allows you to unlock the left wheel. That is great if you only want to turn left all of the time. The Toro 828LXE has trigger to release each wheel separately. Turning this heavy machine around in snow is a breeze. Unlock a wheel the let the other wheel propel the machine around. Toro has designed a great machine. It is not cheap. I've owned ‘cheap’, never again. I recommend spending the money for something great. Bob