Snowblowers

[OkaForPrez]

Grizzled Winter Warriors,

Anyone have a snowblower brand/model they swear by? Anyone have expertise in this area?

Just bought a home up in Vermont and I'm getting ready for the 72" of annual snowfall expected. I don't mind spending premium dollars to increase the rate of snow removal and decrease the amount of time I have to be out in extreme cold.

Is there a significant enough difference between two and three stage blowers? Does the increase in moving parts increase the required maintenance?

What's the Cadillac brand?

Gracias

 

[OkaForPrez]

Where in VT are you going? 72 inches sounds like Burlington or Brattleboro. If you are in the hills or mountains, buy a snowblower capable of a much heavier work load.

Colchester

 

[OkaForPrez]

Thanks for all the input folks

 

[Zanzman]

Ariens 24" compact. Beast. I can easily throw snow and hit my neighbor's house. I have a slight incline on driveway and it's fine. It can throw snow over large piles as well (think snowmaggedon from 5 or so years ago). The word on the street is that you should not buy them from the big box stores as their models tend to have some junk parts. Can neither confirm nor deny but bought mine from a local guy.

lesser quality on the frame of the blowers rust thru a lot in box. Store blowers

 

[Yorkeez4]

I would buy one soon if I were you. There is a shortage of snow blowers this year. I was in the market for a; Ariens track snow blower and visited or called all dealers within75 miles of me and no one could get me one. We were told that Ariens was waiting for 100,000 engines. One dealer told me that Ariens said they could get one by mid January. one dealer I called also handled Honda and his order had just arrived So I was lucky and got a Honda track snow blower. This dealer said the Ariens are good but his experience has been that the Honda requires less maintenance.

if you drive buy a Home Depot or Lowe’s you will see far fewer snow blowers outside than normal because of the shortage.

 

[Northbound]

I live in a heavy snow region - my answer would depend on if you're there full time or just on the weekends.

Weekends only - hire someone to plow nothing worse that rolling up at 11PM and having do deal with anything beyond opening the door and pouring a drink. I did this for 12 years and I had a plow and there were times when my wife and I had to snowshoe up the drive and borrow a friends his big 4WD farm tractor with the bucket attachment to open the driveway and that would take 4-5 hours. because there was 2' of snow that had been sitting on the ground for three days - now I have a longer drive that what you have - but still any time away from enjoying the place sucks.

Full Time - snowblower I suppose, but you can get a small tractor with a belly mower and a snow thrower attachment and can serve two purposes.

 

[Dove]

I live in a heavy snow region - my answer would depend on if you're there full time or just on the weekends.

Weekends only - hire someone to plow nothing worse that rolling up at 11PM and having do deal with anything beyond opening the door and pouring a drink. I did this for 12 years and I had a plow and there were times when my wife and I had to snowshoe up the drive and borrow a friends his big 4WD farm tractor with the bucket attachment to open the driveway and that would take 4-5 hours. because there was 2' of snow that had been sitting on the ground for three days - now I have a longer drive that what you have - but still any time away from enjoying the place sucks.

Full Time - snowblower I suppose, but you can get a small tractor with a belly mower and a snow thrower attachment and can serve two purposes.

post/handle

 

[Dove]

Grizzled Winter Warriors,

Anyone have a snowblower brand/model they swear by? Anyone have expertise in this area?

Just bought a home up in Vermont and I'm getting ready for the 72" of annual snowfall expected. I don't mind spending premium dollars to increase the rate of snow removal and decrease the amount of time I have to be out in extreme cold.

Is there a significant enough difference between two and three stage blowers? Does the increase in moving parts increase the required maintenance?

What's the Cadillac brand?

Gracias

Have owned a 24" Ariens for 9 years. Regarding routine maintenance I am my own worst enemy. When healthy, the snowblower is most excellent.

 

[NJHusky]

When I lived in NJ I had a Honda with track drive. That thing was indestructible. Went through 2ft of snow like nothing. Never had an issue with wet heavy snow.

Started on the first crank and never gave me any trouble in 10 years.
They are so well renowned I sold it for almost what I paid for it …but they ain’t cheap.

 

[jibsey]

When I lived in NJ I had a Honda with track drive. That thing was indestructible. Went through 2ft of snow like nothing. Never had an issue with wet heavy snow.

Started on the first crank and never gave me any trouble in 10 years.
They are so well renowned I sold it for almost what I paid for it …but they ain’t cheap.

I have a 24" Honda track drive. I confirm everything you said. Both electric and pull start. The track is good on a slope, better than wheels. Great machine.
There is a snowblower only sold in Canada, Yamaha which you can't buy in US that is legendary. It's $3600 for 24" but if that's Canadian.... But then service is an issue.

 

[Hankster]

I have a 24” Ariens - it’s about 4 years old and has been a trusty steed every winter.

How much will you have to remove? You’re in a territory where you might want to consider a tractor attachment or even a plow if you have a truck. Otherwise you’re going to want a minimum of a 24” that’s self propelled.

I would definitely buy a pick up truck and plow. I had one when I lived in Central PA. My wife used to say "don't you think it's time to plow"? I said relax, I got this. So, I sold my truck and plow because of our move to Georgia. Not to get to personal, but she changed her mind about the move. So last year, I was snow blowing almost three times a week for a couple of months. That was it. I taught her how to use the snow blower. A one hour block of instruction. Adios!!! You got this. Now I google "snow"

 

[Hoophound]

When I lived in NJ I had a Honda with track drive. That thing was indestructible. Went through 2ft of snow like nothing. Never had an issue with wet heavy snow.

Started on the first crank and never gave me any trouble in 10 years.
They are so well renowned I sold it for almost what I paid for it …but they ain’t cheap.

Honda is amazing. I like to tell the story of my childhood friend. He is now 47 years old. Bought a Honda self propelled mower for his neighborhood lawn service when he was 12 years old. That same lawn mower is still in operation with only basic maintenance.

 

[jibsey]

Honda is amazing. I like to tell the story of my childhood friend. He is now 47 years old. Bought a Honda self propelled mower for his neighborhood lawn service when he was 12 years old. That same lawn mower is still in operation with only basic maintenance.

Honda makes the best engines for everything. I wanted a Honda generator and it’s twice the price for the same size engine.
One thing about plowing that somebody mentioned . When I had my driveway plowed, I still had to shovel for 45 minutes with what was left. Secondly, they always dug up my lawn making grass planting a yearly chore in spring. I hated that so IMO, snow blowing is by far the best choice for neatness.

 

[huskeynut]

I am a fan of Toro snowblowers/ throwers. My last one was a Toro 826 Power Max. 6 speeds forward, 2 reverse with electric start. It cleared an 1100 foot driveway. Big brute that did the job. We lived in Newtown. That was 5 years ago. Sold it when we moved to Florida.

Before that I had a Toro 521 that ran for 23 years before it died.

Maintain them and they will run a very long time. The 826 always turned over to start the new season.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Granted it's been 30 years since this has mattered, but I would think $30, a paypal account and a neighbor's kid would work best.

 

[uconnfan68]

Granted it's been 30 years since this has mattered, but I would think $30, a paypal account and a neighbor's kid would work best.

No kids want that work anymore. I'd be happy to pay even more, but I've never even seen a kid to ask.

 

[Kathy]

Granted it's been 30 years since this has mattered, but I would think $30, a paypal account and a neighbor's kid would work best.

Last kid I knew who did that was my son 20 years ago. He mowed lawns too.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I don't know anything about snowblowers, but I've had an Ariens 24" for 2 years and it's been adequate.

 

[jibsey]

Granted it's been 30 years since this has mattered, but I would think $30, a paypal account and a neighbor's kid would work best.

They are all playing video games. They wouldn't even look up to tell you no.

 

[zls44]

I was in the market for a; Ariens track snow blower

Look at captain Alaska over here with his track drive

 

[OkaForPrez]

Look at captain Alaska over here with his track drive

Thinking of going with the Ariens track model and a hat that says captain Alaska.

 

[gtcam]

Toro. No issues at all

 

[Dove]

Toro. No issues at all

I call bull...

 

[twiceahusky]

If you were getting significantly more snow than CT, I would make sure you get a good horse power to width ratio. My 8 hp 26 inch width machine will bog down, but my 10 hp 24 inch width machine will not.

I have an old crappy MTD that has been going for 18 years, and an old nice Ariens that’s probably 20 years old. Both work fine, the Ariens has thicker metal and doesn’t rust through and bend on the sides.

What I do recommend… I did an impeller mod on both by adding a rubber blade. Holy crap does it throw better - especially in heavy wet snow. The are 1 million posts about this, most agree.

Of course I might not do that to a brand new snowblower, which hopefully has tighter tolerances in the drum. But anybody else reading this, go for the rubber paddle impeller mod

 

[boog204]

Bringing this back! I have a relatively small, flat driveway and I decided last year I'm sick of shoveling. I'm in Central CT so typical smaller snowfalls with your occasional bigger storm. Would a single-stage be adequate or should I just spend more of a dual stage one?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Grizzled Winter Warriors,

Anyone have a snowblower brand/model they swear by? Anyone have expertise in this area?

Just bought a home up in Vermont and I'm getting ready for the 72" of annual snowfall expected. I don't mind spending premium dollars to increase the rate of snow removal and decrease the amount of time I have to be out in extreme cold.

Is there a significant enough difference between two and three stage blowers? Does the increase in moving parts increase the required maintenance?

What's the Cadillac brand?

Gracias

Ariens is the way to go. Solid, dependable, made in the USA in Wisconsin. Honda may be better, but it costs way too much. Don't overthink this. I now have a 28" SHO. Replaced an older 24" that was completely reliable.