it's me again, the 50% off dude providing you guys my test results from my three new snow blowers purchased last week. my area which is nassau county, long island,ny got between 8-15" this past 2/11/06. i got to test out my honda hs520(w/electric start) vs. my two stage ariens 926le. hands down i preferred to use the ariens. for the first 3minutes of blowing snow with the hs520, i realized that it should be easier than this, i should not be struggling to push the snow. i decided to gas up the new never before used ariens and baby it was a dream to use. talk about effortless!!!! it was so easy and powerful that i decided to go over 6 other properties next to mine; i felt like i was doing my holy deed for the day. help thy neighbors out. the comparison between the 1stage and 2 stage is that of going on an outdoor road trip on a honda civic vs a nissan titan; both will get you there but the bigger and more powerful ariens got did the job easier and in style. a positive note about the hs520 it that i was able to carry it by myself, load it into my honda pilot and transport it to my sisters house to help them clear their snow. being lightweight is the 1 stage's main advantage. because i got these units at 50% off 4 days prior to the snow storm, the difference in their price was only $125. i bought a toro power hand held snowblower($65) too but did not have enough time to test it maybe nextime.

I put a new Briggs 16 HP cast iron engine (Model 326437) in our 1971 or 2 Gilson. Did this in 1983, and installed an hour meter at the same time. The engine now has well over 1000 hours and just this summer began burning oil. On taking it apart, the valves and valve seats were still excellent, the bore showed almost no wear, and the crankshaft connecting rod journal looks good and is within the Briggs' manual reject limits. The piston was the main sufferer. It has an eroded top land near the exhaust valve side. I've ordered a new standard size piston, connecting rod, and a set of very pricey chromium plated piston rings. These are no longer sold by Briggs, but I found set from a parts supplier. When the engine was new I added an oil filter and have used Mobil 1 synthetic ever since, 20-50 weight. Also clean the air filter regularly, oil the foam band around the air filter, and change the oil when it looks dirty, which is often much more than the 25 hours recommended by Briggs. I believe that other engine brands would do as well, or better given equal care. My favorite engine is the little Kubota on our ZTR.

Hi Again. Here in the aftermarket many of the Hybrid vehicles are just now starting to show up for regular servicing now that many have had their warranties expire. First I have sold NO HV Battery assemblies. If the battery, the inverter, and especially the Prius transaxle has failed people simply trade the car in. I'm still the only shop in the county that has had formal training on these cars, and has invested in the factory scan tools to service them, as well as the rest of each manufactures fleet. Your lost key fob? I could have handled that, but otherwise you would have a 20+ mile one way trip to the nearest dealer. http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/10/prius_mileage_1.html Just google "real prius" and you will quickly see a google drop down list that suggests gas mileage. That link above was the first one that came up. Compare that number he quotes to the fact that my 2007 Mustang GT Convertible California Special consistently gets 29mpg with the top down on the highway. Next week I'll be out of town instructing a basic Hybrid class for a well know franchise based chain store. Most of those shops don't allow their techs to get involved with anything more than tires, alignments (one of the special things I have to teach with these cars) and basic fluid services. Anything else and the cars typically require the O.E. scan tool and only the dealers *(mandatory for them), and top shops like mine have stepped up and made the investment in those. Come back in about two years and we will see just how big of an impact these cars are having when the inevitable repairs start multiplying.

Are you saying that GM should bust the union ? I can hear the caterwalling and cry for a boycott already, Boxer and Kennedy screaming in outrage. You are under estimating the pension problem. Unions were necessary, but now the pendulum has swung too far their way. You don't see any brick chimney's around here anymore as their unions have priced them right out of a career, chimney's are framed in wood now. I'll bet the packages for foreign car makers in the U.S. are nothing like UAW gives. I probably should state that I have never belonged to a union -- in fact, for 'most any job I ever held, union membership wasn't even an option. Similarly, the only person who ever fights for my job and compels companies to pay what they pay me is -- me. With that out of the way.... Bust the union? No. But GM could have stood a lengthy strike to make the point that benefits were getting "out of hand." The time to do that was years ago, when GM was strong and the UAW was just starting to build on their great benefits. Now all GM needs is one more solid punch and they're down. I still don't understand the "liberal" characterization unless you're using the sloppy meaning in which "liberal" is used to mean "not-pro-business-at-the-expense-of-workers". Didja ever notice that Southwest Airlines is about the only airline out there making money now? While American/Delta/Northwest/United/USAir/etc. are trying to force their employees to work for cheap, SWA keeps right on going. Funny thing is, they're as unionized as the bankrupt carriers. But they've figured out that working with the necessary unions is a better way to go than constantly being at each other's throats. Detroit never learned that lesson, so in addition to some stupid short-term thinking, they have an enemy in the UAW. Brilliant. Motor vehicles is not the only business facing huge pension liabilities. So are airlines. So are city, county, and state governments, because accounting practices let them defer the real cost of paying pensions and now those pensions are coming due. Speaking as someone who has never had anyone guarantee my pension, I think current and future retirees are in for some nasty surprises. What was promised (either by the business or their union) is just not sustainable. Especially if SSI will be handed out indiscriminately and especially for a generation or two that has seen the biggest increase in personal wealth in the history of the U.S. There will be a lot of caterwauling as people realize either they get stiffed a little bit now or they get stiffed a lot later when whoever is providing the pension and health care goes bust. FWIW, my next-door neighbor retired from one of the Big Three about four years ago. He was a line worker and was making in the mid-50s when he left after his 30 years. Including full health coverage for his family. Minus UAW dues. Not too bad for a guy who has no degrees and no certifications. He's d@mn good at what he does, but people in fields requiring far more education and certification are making far less than that even today. Not a bad deal at all.