Old vs. New Meteor SB60 snowblower

[sierradmax]

I purchased a used Meteor 60" snowblower after doing extensive researching. There's mixed reviews about the company and their products, especially the gearbox however after looking at the blower and see it functioning, I couldn't pass up on it. From what I've read, the gearbox is an italian company's product built in China and they had a bad batch of gearboxes blowing up or shearing the input shaft. I asked the owner if he had ever had any problems with it and he claimed he only replaced shear pins every so often. It also appeared to have paint still on the bolt heads, which to me was an indication that it was never worked on.

I'm not too concerned with the gearbox. but is this an older unit or newer?

 

[MIKE R]

It looks to be the newer one. I have one and it has a different mount to the top link. It is a good snow blower. I have never had any problems with it.