I read an article, in some business/financial publication, a few years
ago, on Snapper. Seems they got tired of putting up with WalMart/Home
Defect/Lowes, while at the same time hurting their loyal, long-time
independent dealers. So, they told the big-box retailers to go piss up
a rope and put all of their eggs in their dealer network basket.
Apparently, it looked like it was going to work for them.
Ariens has acquired many of the old American brands, such as Gravely,
Bolens, Hahn-Eclipse and a host of others. Unfortunately, for Gravely,
Kubota was offering a lot more (hydraulics, split brakes, power
steering, etc.) in the range that Gravely had dominated, for the same
money. So, in spite of still strong demand for Gravely 4 wheel tractors
(the 2 wheel & 4 wheel Gravely tractors have quite a "following"),
Ariens pulled the plug on the line, forcing many Gravely dealers to ad
Kubota to their product line. The "traditional", and highly versatile 2
wheeled Gravely tractor models were being displaced by Gravely's (and
other's) commercial riding lawn mowers, and they, too were phased out of
production.
So, the Gravelys of today are not really Gravely's.....they're Ariens,
with Gravely badging (sound familiar to Spridgeteers???).
Bud Osbourne
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-spridgets@Autox.Team.Net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@Autox.Team.Net] On Behalf Of derf
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 10:41 AM
To: Spridget List
Subject: Re: LBC vs grass cutter...
My paw-in-law paid big bucks for an Ariens self-propelled about 17
years ago. I used it to cut his lawn for years. Then, about 5 years
ago, he decided he wanted a new Toro. He gave me the Ariens. I used
the Ariens for a few years and loved it. I had to clean the carb a
few times and sharpen the blade. He passed away a couple years ago
and we inherited the house and the Toro. Since my boys are of grass
cutting ages I let them use both and decide which mower we kept. They
wanted the Toro. So, I gave the Ariens to a friend. Now he loves the
Ariens and I've had to fix the Toro more in the last two years than
the Ariens over 17 years. I would consider the Toro a "good" mower,
better than the low level stuff at HD. But, that orange Ariens was a
great machine.
I had an old Snapper rider that was also a great machine. I'd still
have it if the yard was bigger than it is. I got it from the friend
(to whom I gave the Ariens) with a blow motor, for free. I put a 10HP
Tecumseh on it and used it for about 10 years and gave it back to the
same friend. Now he has a lawn slaying fleet and I have an OK Toro.
I reverted back to electric weed wackers because the yard isn't that
big and the gas models are a pain. The oil/fuel mix erodes the little
fuel lines over time on every one I owned.
If you really want a lawn slayer get a Graveley with Kohler power.
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