Hi everyone, I am in the market for a new (bigger) snowblower and really like the Cub 530SWE. I know it's not as well built as other brands but it has the features I want, fits my budget, and has local dealer suppport.

Every display machine I have seen from any of these (MTD) brands has a speed control lever that is very difficult to get into R2 - you have to pull really hard on the lever and then wrestle it into the notch on the console.

The dealer admitted that the lever is hard to move into R1 & R2 and that is the way the machine is. I asked him about the adjustment for the cable tension but he said that would just alter the speed that the machine operates at and wouldn't make it easier to shift between gears.

Does anyone have experience with these machines and is this "normal"? I have never seen this on any other machine before and find it hard to beleive that others can comfortably operate their machines this way. Pulling back on the machine isn't always an option if you have hills.

Thanks, FCarp