Agreed. My 126 (12hp) with a QA42 does just fine and throws the snow far! I actually like to aim it straight up and throw it towards the sky now and again (simple things...). But none the less my 12hp does just fine and I've never run out of power. And it is gear drive with creeper . Yes hydro would work better but I'm a gear man and I'll take mixing and matching gears any day...even if it is "more work".
As Jon stated...don't worry about horsepower - your Kohler powered and that's all that matters.
