I'm NOT growing that mustache!

I recommend the Ariens Platinum 24 SHO EFI. You have a lot different snow in Norway than we do in the U.S. That said, the people I've helped from Norway over the years tell me the Ariens snowblowers work a LOT better than the Cub Cadet and Husqvarna models. In addition, I specifically don't recommend the 3-stage Cub Cadet snowblowers.

Lived in Chippewa Falls, WI until 4 years ago. Now live in Clinton, IA

Toro engines are made by Loncin to Toro's specs. Loncin is one of the world's largest small engine manufactures. If you watch any video that shows any small cars, motorcycles or 3-wheelers in the Far East the engine in them is probably made by Loncin. Loncin is based in China. Toro snow and lawn engines have proven very reliable and parts are readily available through toro.com.

@PaulSikkema To bad its from China, Maybe good but we should boycot anything from China today & going foreword, Thank you & I've never heard of loncin before.

Yes, some of the other brands that were having engines made in china have moved production to other countries. LCT for example, has gotten out of China and now makes the engines in Vietnam.

The autoturn in the Toro is not as smooth as the Ariens. (different gearing) It will have some jerking. That said, check your belt tension from the engine to the transmission. I have another video where I take the bottom cover off and you can use that as a reference to see if anything is sticking or broken. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qH-0hXZ6rc2Ia5Y

@@PaulSikkema Thank you!

@@PaulSikkema Thank you!

The price constantly changes with inflation and other factors so I don't mention it. Check your local dealer, Farm & Fleet and Lowes to find current pricing.

Full throttle. Adjust your travel speed by how far you push the steering levers.

The deck height is accurate from the factory. Use the magnetic pin to set the height - make sure both rear tires have the same pressure. The side to side tilt is adjusted using the holed plates you see on the sides of the deck.

I dare you to go to my channel and watch the next video after this...

It has had no issues and it still looks like new! I just changed the oil/filters in it last weekend. I installed the mulch kit one year ago and it really does a good job of mulching grass and leaves. It's being used on a 1/2 acre property near Chicago and my daughter loves it! If you install the mulch kit I suggest you get an extra set of mulching blades right away. That way you can always have a sharp set ready to use. I had a hard time finding an extra set.

@@PaulSikkemathanks for the reply. I went by a dealer to look in person and the guy told me if you use it as intended, residential of small/medium (I’m on an acre) they’re great and the only issues he hears if folks attempt to use this model as commercial and wasn’t built for that. Guess I’ll grab it Friday!

I've had no problems with the front tires on this IKON. I like these larger tires. The properties I mow are all old houses and two empty lots that had houses demolished on them in the last 10 years. (I've had four flat tires on my car in the last two years because of nails) I had constant flat front tires on the older IKON XD I have. I finally filled both of them with Slime tire sealant and fixed that issue.

@@PaulSikkema Hello, and thank you for the quick response. That was the only concern I had and was leery about pulling the trigger. One thing I had noticed on the reviews is the signs of hard operator used especially for a non-commercial unit. I like yourself from what I have seen take good care of my equipment and don’t abuse it. Either way thanks so much for the education and service you provide through your detailed video, keep up the good work.

Yes, the "two guys and a mower" crews don't realize that they use a zero-turn more in one season than a homeowner does in five years - and they can't understand why the residential mower they bought is not holding up :) In addition they always HAVE to modify it and then complain it doesn't mow right... They just have to realize that to make money - you have to spend money. Buying commercial equipment actually saves them money and a lot of headaches.

The mowers are the same frame, etc., but the Gravely has more "features." For example, the Gravely's have serviceable transmissions and more aggressive tires. The ZTX has the most extras like spring assist for the deck, vibration foot pad and seat, tool box and so on. If you want the best value - get the Ariens. If you want the most features - get the Gravely.

I have about 14 batteries and some of them are five years old. They have all been perfect except one 7.5 AH - it's not the oldest but it only has about 80% of it's rated capacity.

I do have the power unit but the standard unit works so well I have had no ambition to install the power head and try it out. Unless you mow/bag a lot of new wet grass I don't think you need the power unit. (The new deep deck and the stock blades are the key to why this works so well)

Why not just buy a snowblower that was designed and built right the first time? For the price and labor to install a "kit" you could move up and have the right one if you need to throw snow farther.

Not at all. The Kawasaki has a lot more torque than I expected and it can handle the bagger or very tall grass without lugging down

The belt issue was fixed last year and only involved a few mowers sold through Lowes

The Great Lakes 24" EFI actually has more capacity than the Deluxe 30. 73 tons per hour verses 71 for the Deluxe 30. If you get a lot of snow the narrower width will not make that much difference in how fast you get done. Yes, the Ariens museum is worth the trip. I've had many Gravely mowers/tractors and Gravely tillers over the years so it's always fun to see which ones are on display.

I cut two lawns this week that had not been cut yet this year and the bluegrass was 24 inches tall. It cut the grass evenly after only two passes. What impresses me the most is even moving that much grass the discharge always spreads it evenly - it never leaves clumps.

I currently have Toro 60-volt batteries that are going on six years old and I have had no issues with them. Compared to the cost of fuel and engine maintenance they are a good choice for most people.

Looking at this for wider cut. Have had Ego products for seven plus years and no battery issue on any of my Ego products. I think Toro will do same.

5 inches

No, the 2022 and older models use a different bagger

@@PaulSikkema thank you for the answer. I'm trying to find one for my mower but found only powered model which is 1300$

Check with a Gravely dealer. The decks were the same on the 2022 ZT1 and ZT2 mowers as the IKON XD

I responded to his second video a while back. I'm going to repost that here for you. Let's go through a couple of points from his video. At the end I'll let you know why I know this stuff and that he has a lot yet to learn. 1. Getting grass all over the operator is not a problem with the mower or the design of the mower - it's changes that he made to the mower that caused this to happen. 2. The Ariens deck and the Ariens blades are designed to work together. You will have to watch Big Souths other video to know this but he is not using the Ariens blades. He found aftermarket blades for a Dixie chopper that were cheaper and has them installed. The problem with the the aftermarket blades is the aerodynamics of the blades is completely wrong for this deck. They are too short, too flat, cut at a different level and the sail of the blade is wrong so that they don't give the proper lift and throw to get the grass out of the discharge. The new IKON deck is much taller/deeper than other residential decks. When you are using the Ariens blades this allows the blades to lift the grass up, cut the grass evenly and the keep the clipping above the blades. The sail and the other curves in the Ariens blades then use that deep deck to get the clippings out the discharge as quickly as possible. By putting those after market blades on he screws up that aerodynamics. Because the aftermarkets are flat, they don't lift the grass as well and don't keep the grass up in the top of the deck to get rid of it out the discharge. Instead the grass clipping want to blow out the bottom of the deck - and - up over the operator platform. 3. Discharge chute and notch in the deck Leave the discharge cover down when using this mower. Ariens designed it so that it doesn't sag over time and leave windrows. With the correct blades and the cover down you will never have any problems with grass blowing up in your face. The notch on the top of the deck is there so when you install a bagger the bagger discharge boot doesn't stick out so far. It only sticks out about 4 inches instead of the 8-14 inches other manufactures baggers boot stick out. Even with the discharge cover held up - and using the proper blades that notch will not cause grass to fly up in your face. The deck really does work great with the correct blades and the discharge cover down. Watch this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGLch5ulibRml7c. I mowed tall dry grass for over two hours and had almost NO grass on the top of the deck and NONE up on the operator's platform. The correct blades are the key. 4. I learned deck and blade design from one of the industry's leading deck engineers, Gary Kunz. I have spent many hours over the last 30 years listening to him and learning how decks work. This Ariens deck uses all that information, years of Ariens/Gravely testing, and state-of-the art engineering to give you the best cut and get the grass out of the deck as quickly and cleanly as possible. If you use the correct blades and leave the safety discharge chute cover down you will never experience the "blow by" he showed you in the video. 5. The gas tank filler broke because he hit something with it. You can clearly see the scratches in the fender from a heavy branch or other unmovable object. That is an "operator error" not a defect in the machine. 6. Last - and I'm going to be blunt because I made the same mistake as he did many years ago. IF YOU ARE GOING TO GO OUT AND TRY TO MAKE MONEY MOWING LAWNS YOU HAVE TO BUY A COMMERCIAL MACHINE. The Ariens IKON is a residential machine - it will last you many, many years mowing your lawn. It is not designed to mow 10-20 lawns a day, it's not designed to be loaded (read banged around) on a trailer multiple times a day. In reality, he is using and abusing this mower in one season that for most homeowners it will take them 10 years to do the same damage (and that's if you have teenagers running it :) My story, in 1994 I went to my local ZTR dealer and bought two brand new ZTRs. They lasted a week before my crew broke them to the point where I had to wait 2 months for parts. What I didn't know then was the dealer only sold to residential customers. So I went to another dealer and he sold me two Gravely mowers. He told me they were a lot better than the ones we just trashed. Yes, they were, but they lasted ONE day before my crew knocked the decks completely off! I returned them. So, I then went to a third dealer. His parking lot was full of other mowing companies like me and everyone I talked to was very happy with the mowers he was selling. I went in and talked to him, he asked what I was using them for and then spent an hour showing me why the mowers I was buying were not made for what I needed to do. I ended up buying two ExMark Laser Z's that day. Both of them ran flawlessly for years because they were commercial mowers built for mowing many lawns a day and riding on trailers for thousands of miles. Over the next 5 years, I bought over a dozen commercial mowers from him and they all ran 2-3000 hours without problems. Why so many mowers? During that time I had over 325 lawns and was mowing a little over 400 acres a month. The lawns ranged from "postage stamps" to over 40 acres each. So, trust me when I say, "It's not the mower's fault he is having so many problems."

@@PaulSikkema Paul I knew I could count on you for a thorough and honest response. I have 17 - 20 degree sloped hill For my backyard. When I moved into this house in 2019, I looked at all of the residential mowers And none of them were rated for slopes greater than 15 degrees. So I decided to do a detailed investigation for walk behind mowers. I then test drove The machines which I believed were high quality built with excellent operator reviews - an Exmark, Ferris and Gravely. I looked at the reliability of the machines according to owners of them, The design of the machines, and how they actually performed on High slopes. The gravely had the best center of gravity, The largest tire patch area on the ground, A deep rich history of performance excellence, The longest warranty, the best customer satisfaction ratings and lowest price. I purchased my 36" gravely pro walk in 2020. And I will never look back. The machine has performed absolutely flawlessly. And I use it for a residential application. It's most unfortunate that people are very deceptive and then trash A high quality name such is Ariens/ Gravely, Which is why I wanted to hear what you had to say. I completely concur with your Statements regarding aerodynamics and flow that decks and blades are a designed system That work together. And if you want to see my review of the 36" Gravely prowalk, Then you will see it on the Gravely website. Mike in maryland, That's me! The only thing that's plastic on my proWalk is the gas tank! It's one of the reasons why I rejected the Toros. The Ferris walk behinds were not sufficiently balanced and the front end would lift up; The manager who demonstrated the unit said.I would need a weight kit on the front; Absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. The Exmarks had control reliability problems in 2019, which they may have resolved by now. I did not like the build quality of the scaggs. The hustlers were priced too high. And gravely beat them all. It was shocking to me after using the gravely proWalk that when I went to clean under the deck there was nearly no built up grass! I was shocked at how well designed the Deck and the blades worked together to evacuate out all grass clippings. Now I don't even bother cleaning under the deck. Of course, every time I use my machine, I use my blower to completely clean it including the deck and under it. I can't say enough positive about the gravely proWalk. Thanks again Paul, and take care.