School me on what to buy and not to buy!
Winter is coming ... I need a snowblower.
- Thread starter Doc4
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How much snow do you get on average? It’s it heavy wet snow that sets up hard or “light” snow that tends to stay uncompacted?
I am of no help. When I lived in places that got gobs of snow an aluminum snow shovel was it. Shoveling snow and coming in for an ice cold Heineken is a great memory.
My advice is get one a little bit smaller than you think will make it easiest.
A large snow blower is great because it takes fewer passes to remove accumulated snow, but it increases the amount of manual removal in any area that the big snow blower won't fit.
I'd take a look at the areas that are most confined and which will need to have snow removed, along with the total of the wide open areas you have.
If you have a large driveway and a short sidewalk, a big one is good. If you have a reasonable driveway, and a lot of sidewalk area, smaller is probably better for you.
A large snow blower is great because it takes fewer passes to remove accumulated snow, but it increases the amount of manual removal in any area that the big snow blower won't fit.
I'd take a look at the areas that are most confined and which will need to have snow removed, along with the total of the wide open areas you have.
If you have a large driveway and a short sidewalk, a big one is good. If you have a reasonable driveway, and a lot of sidewalk area, smaller is probably better for you.
Consider storage space, slope of driveway, may need chains, if you get enough snow on average and don't have much space between you and your neighbor, you'll probably want a 2-stage so you can throw it where you need to. Single stage machines are good for cleaning a small spot, but aren't really that useful for large jobs. When I was younger, I used to clear a driveway pretty quickly just using a "Yooper Scooper"... just make sure you sell it before moving to Texas, but the looks you'll get from the moving guys unloading it are pretty special.
A good single stage should not be discounted. You can move a lot of snow with it; the one I purchased when I bought my house performed excellently for 11 years. It had no powered axle - the paddle assembly pulled the blower forward as you engaged the auger - I was always amazed that this small machine could do such a great job. Your skills in using a single stage will develop quickly. Mine was a 21 inch Toro with a manually turned directional discharge chute.
I replaced this with a 2 stage Toro with powered drive. I should have got the differential; turning this one is tough without it, and I seem to be in a wrestling match with the machine at times, and its size and weight are its biggest drawback. There's this huge "thing" that sits in your garage for most of the year. If you look at one, consider ergonomics and how your hands feel when using the controls. I wished I'd done this when I'd purchased it. Snow removal is fatiguing; it doesn't help when you're in hand to hand combat with the machine.
I replaced this with a 2 stage Toro with powered drive. I should have got the differential; turning this one is tough without it, and I seem to be in a wrestling match with the machine at times, and its size and weight are its biggest drawback. There's this huge "thing" that sits in your garage for most of the year. If you look at one, consider ergonomics and how your hands feel when using the controls. I wished I'd done this when I'd purchased it. Snow removal is fatiguing; it doesn't help when you're in hand to hand combat with the machine.
I have cleared driveways on the side for the past 8 years. Somedays I run my machine upwards of 12 hours a day. I use a Troybilt Storm 2410 two stage. It has been 100% trouble free. It starts after the off season with 1 or 2 pulls everytime. It has electric start, but I don't use it. It's never needed a repair. I did replace the belts once after about 5 years of use because I figured it was time.
Might need a license for a jet engine, but it's pretty effective. Pipe burst and iced over the level crossing and the train came off the tracks near my office during a nasty cold snap. Office smelled like Jet-A for a while though.
I had this exact machine while we lived in Michigan. I never had to run it that long, but I did use it to clear the street in front of our house and the neighbors houses because we lived on the last street on the plows route and occasionally we got missed altogether. I also never had any issues with it and it never had trouble keeping up even on the occasions when we would get over a foot of snow at a time.
I ran mine as is for the first 5 or 6 years. I was happy with the performance. A few years ago, I did a simple impeller mod. The impeller is steel and within a 1/4 to 3/8" to the housing when spinning. With the mod, you had a piece of stiff rubber to the end of the impeller blades to make a wiper toclose up that gap. It makes it more efficient and throw a bit further.
I've had many. I lived on a "main" street - five lanes - and had a circular drive, so two aprons the semicircle, and a double wide driveway to the garage...all in the "Winter Wonderland".
My single-stage Honda with rubber auger was super dependable and worked well everywhere but at the street where I often had 2+ feet of heavy, slushy snow piled up by the county snow plows. Gave it to my brother-in-law.
Next was a 5hp, hydraulic driven, tracked, two-stage Honda. It was smallish unit, but a beast that would easily throw average weight snow 25ft...but it still struggled at the bottom of the apron and eventually developed a leak from the hydraulic drivetrain. Gave it to my buddy.
Next up was a pre-owned (like new), belt-drive, two stage Crafstman that was likely a re-brand. It was the largest blower I had owned, and worked quite well, only struggling a bit with the heavy stuff. Eventually the pulley broke on the auger, which I replaced before passing it on to my brother.
Last (and current) is a large Ariens, a monster. No sweat at the bottom of the drive, going strong after several years...and then we moved...north.
I though I would appreciate having that huge, powerful snow blower in northern Michigan, but my driveway footage is much less and the machine is overkill at times, and I often shovel by hand.
@luvmysuper is wise: you don't necessarily need a large blower, so choose carefully and resist the urge to over-buy. In my case, I could probably now get by with that Honda single-stage non-propelled blower, or a much smaller two-stage machine that I would use more often on 2-3" of snow.
As far as brands, depends on your budget, but if you can afford it, Honda does make top-quality equipment that will last if treated with minimal care (I abused my tracked blower by pushing it too hard). Otherwise I can attest to the dependability of my Ariens, which is also a quality machine...of course there are many others.
My single-stage Honda with rubber auger was super dependable and worked well everywhere but at the street where I often had 2+ feet of heavy, slushy snow piled up by the county snow plows. Gave it to my brother-in-law.
Next was a 5hp, hydraulic driven, tracked, two-stage Honda. It was smallish unit, but a beast that would easily throw average weight snow 25ft...but it still struggled at the bottom of the apron and eventually developed a leak from the hydraulic drivetrain. Gave it to my buddy.
Next up was a pre-owned (like new), belt-drive, two stage Crafstman that was likely a re-brand. It was the largest blower I had owned, and worked quite well, only struggling a bit with the heavy stuff. Eventually the pulley broke on the auger, which I replaced before passing it on to my brother.
Last (and current) is a large Ariens, a monster. No sweat at the bottom of the drive, going strong after several years...and then we moved...north.
I though I would appreciate having that huge, powerful snow blower in northern Michigan, but my driveway footage is much less and the machine is overkill at times, and I often shovel by hand.
@luvmysuper is wise: you don't necessarily need a large blower, so choose carefully and resist the urge to over-buy. In my case, I could probably now get by with that Honda single-stage non-propelled blower, or a much smaller two-stage machine that I would use more often on 2-3" of snow.
As far as brands, depends on your budget, but if you can afford it, Honda does make top-quality equipment that will last if treated with minimal care (I abused my tracked blower by pushing it too hard). Otherwise I can attest to the dependability of my Ariens, which is also a quality machine...of course there are many others.
We have a small Toro. Just enough for our driveway and the walk to the house. Before we had for maybe 12 years or so one from HD, don't recall the make. But it worked for us good, we lived in MI and the first winter, first snow I went out and got this one. Wife loved it and went up and down our street and cleaned neighbors walk and drive ways. The Toro we got after my best friend died and he had just gotten this Toro. It works also super, what we like is the electric starter on both machines. Normally, I take the blower out of the shed into the garage, mower goes in shed, but this year weather is so weird. Its on the weekend list to check the blower, oil ect gas up and start it up so we know it works when we need it. So far we had only once or twice so much snow that I wished we had a bigger one.
Craftsman does not make their own stuff. There are companies that make only lawnmowers and snowblowers, for a lot of brands. Husqvarna at one time made up to 80% of the brand equipment; they may still do, but I am now retired for a while so I am not up to date anymore. I have been many times to one of their plants and it is amazing what comes of the production line. Their paint system has interchangeable paint booths (powder paint) and I think they could accommodate 8 or so colors, depending for who the mower was made. Different colors and sometimes also different motors, depending on the brand.
I had a Gravely 12HP walk behind when we lived in PA... I bought the attachable snowblower for it... direct drive connection. That thing threw show 40 feet... Then we moved to Florida. Obviously, we left it behind. I ended up giving it to a coworker up there... he was supposed to pay for it later, but you know how that goes. <eg>
Yep. My old Craftsman lawn tractor was a Husqvarna in a different color - red instead of Husqy orange.
Exactly. Its called Craftsman red....Its just amazing how many brands they made. Paint change was only a few minutes, taking one booth out and moving the other one in.
Too many variables to give an actual recommendation on models but I love Ariens. My last one gave me 18 years with only a bearing and belts needed besides the preventive maintenance and my parents are still using it. Was a 28" commercial model. I went a little nuts on the replacement and got the Kraken now. This is about the same as razor recommendations. A cheap razor can give a lifetime of satisfactory shaves but we still buy ridiculously expensive ones. I would stay away from stores like lowes and Home Depot and go to a local agriculture supply store. They will give a better deal, longer warranty and will do any needed repairs in-house. Get the one you want and don't compromise to save a few buck as this rarely works in the end and you usually end up buying twice when you realize you really did want X over what you already bought.
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- #19
Probably about 4' total "remaining snow depth" during an average season. Probably not more than 6"-12" in a single heavy dump.
Relatively light snow ... not the wet stuff one gets in coastal areas (or near the great lakes, presumably) but not totally fluffy.
I don't know the price ranges really, so I'd like to buy quality that will last without getting anything gold-plated. Rough geographic location interior British Columbia.
It's basically rural property, so no need to worry about confined spaces. Think of a large gravel driveway with no narrow spaces or tight corners.
None to speak of.
More than enough even if the next ice age hits.
What's the difference between 1-stage and 2-stage?
Well, it's gonna beat using a shovel.
Is that a good brand? I see Costco sells some so that might be my solution.
Good to know!
I just checked to see if I remembered correctly. Ariens bought Gravely some years back. They actually designed the Gravely snowblower unit I bought for the Gravely walk-behind. From all accounts, they are a fine company. I don't know anything about the Kraken, other than the other Kraken.... the monster. <eg>
