Snow Equipment Buying/Pricing No more John Deere snowblowers?

[pinetree10]

I don't know if this has already been brought up on the site but I was in my local JD dealer a few weeks ago and I saw the newest version of my JD 1332 snowblower on the showroom floor. What caught my eye was that it was priced quite a bit cheaper than what I paid for mine brand new at that same dealer 4 years ago. when I asked about it the guy behind the counter told me it was because JD isn't selling JD snowblowers anymore. He also told me my snowblower was likely just an Ariens with some better quality parts here and there, painted green and labeled John Deere. I didn't realize that and for some reason I was disappointed until I thought about the fact that it seems like everything is made by someone else anyway so the name on the product might not make that much difference.

I know Ariens is a great name in snowblowers and my 1332 doesn't slow down for anything so I'm happy with the product. With the work that machine has done for me over the past 4 years I feel like I've easily gotten my money's worth. I just wonder why JD doesn't want to sell green snowblowers anymore. It seems like they would enjoy the markup they get for the green paint and the name. Anyone else heard this same story?

 

[bigtiller]

I hope someone from the Horicon Works in Wisconsin chimes in because I'm not 100 percent sure about this but,,,,, I don't think JD EVER made a walk behind snow blower.

 

[deerseeker001]

I John Deere did sell out some divisions of there products.I would take care of the one you have.

 

[LouieJunior]

Same goes for the walk-behind lawn mowers. Deere will no longer make or sell them.

 

[jgayman]

I had a JD 1338PE for a short while before trading it in when I got the 2720 w/54" front blower. I seem to recall that Simplicity made some of the walk-behinds for JD. The dealer told me that JD was basically doing away with all their power equipment was now going to sell Honda walk-behind mowers, blowers, etc.

 

[Dutch445]

from what i know, there have been a number of manufacturers of JD walk behind snowblowers.
very early ones could have been NOMA, i know there were some MTD built TRS models, the last run
of JD (and maybe the best) were the 828D/1032D, DDE etc... and those models were built by
Ariens. The year after JD stopped sourcing from Ariens we took on the Ariens line, and have been
selling them ever since. I would guess early 2000's. That first year we had leftover JD models on
the floor next to the new Ariens, and it was very evident they were both built by the same factory, with minor
differences of fuel tanks and some controls. the auger/impellar housing etc were all identical.
After not having anything from Deere, they sold some with the Frontier branding, which were
made by various manufacturers, and those can be tricky getting parts for. A little later on,
there were again green/yellow JD models being sold, including box stores, but i believe manufactured
by Simplicity,( like the push mowers), and sold as JD thru dealers and box stores. But since Simplicity
is owned by Briggs, as is Snapper, and Ferris, and more, JD is probably looking to break that partnership.
Most dealers have partnered with Honda, which sells a good blower,, although we are staying
with Ariens as they are US made, with good parts avaibility, and they do make a good product.
if anyone else has more exact info, feel free to correct me, as i'm going from what i have heard
during the last 15 years selling these.