I've never owned a snowblower...I've always shoveled. But we have a pretty huge driveway now.
The price range for snowblowers is pretty big. Anyone know how much I need to spend for a durable, reliable machine?
How big a driveway? Is it paved? Hill?
Commodore Joe Redcloud©
I'd get at lease a 5.5 horse gas powered 2 stage. It cost us around $550 more than 10 years ago. I am surprised the price for a similar brand new model cost the same even today. If you have room and need more get an 8 horse model. We bought it in the aftermath of the historic snow strom which shut down the Garden State for almost three days. After that we used it probably five times altogether. Still you need it when the occasion arises.
How much snow? In what part of the world are you located? The smaller, single-stage blowers are fine for light, occasional snow. The larger two stages are good for deep snow. If you get a larger snowblower, consider getting tire chains for it unless it has tracks instead of tires.
There are single stage and two stage also. I have a cheap single stage and it does my 40' driveway satisfactorily. Most snowfalls are 4" to 6" here. Anything larger or deeper snows, I'd definitely want a bigger two stage as it will throw the snow further and faster. That would start at $550 or so as a minimum.
I'm in a similar situation to OP- first driveway, at least here is snow country, of my own. Mebbe 22x60, so not very big, but the middle part is sloped, and it is heavily coated asphalt. I figure a blower is cheaper than a new tranny for the car, making multiple attempts to get up the hill. Are the cheap generics (MTD label this year) that Sam's sells for ~$350, any good? Or am I better off getting a plow guy on retainer? idea how much the going rate is for those.
aem sends...
wrote
Heh, I've got one for sale simply because I find myself needing exercise in the winter.
Around my parts in Northeast Ohio, I see large blowers for sale, for a couple hundred under what they were bought for new. I think maybe people overbuy for what they're trying to clear.
When I bought the one I'm just putting on the market, I wanted electric & pull start, definitely a 2 stage. I got an older Toro 2 stage, 5 hp, 21" width, 3 forward, 1 reverse, with the electric & pull start.
BTW, I'm wanting $280, and it's a nice machine. Don't know if you can use the price for comparison for your neck of the woods or not. Mine won't hit the want ads till this weekend, but I suppose I got it listed at a fair price.
A snowblower is usually a long term purchase. What you buy, you will be living with for 20 or 30 years. Even in places where the average snowfall is 6 inches or less, the worst part is the berm thrown up at the end of the driveway by the plows. That mandates a 2 stage snow-thrower. If you want to be conservative, but still not be sorry, find an Ariens 7524. They run about $750. They are well designed and built. You will not need chains, and for asphalt, they are bad news anyway, as they chew up the surface.
Having a plow guy is going to cost you a ton more in the long run. I'd expect that in New England, the $750 snowblower would be a "break-even in about 2 or 3 years. The following 20+ years would be gravy, and in all that time you'll never have to wait for the plow guy to get done with his BIG accounts before he shows up at your house.
Commodore Joe Redcloud
You have some variables, How big is your huge driveway? How much snow do you get? I have 100 feet of drive that is about 1/2 single lane, and 1/2 two lane. I have problems with buildings in the way so I need to move the snow twice sometimes! I also have a big problem with drifting snow that I have not be able to reduce with snow fence, so I get 1-2 feet of snow regularly. I have an older 8HP Bolens that has served me well, but I wanted more so I bought a slightly used Toro 10 HP, 28 inch Power Shift last spring. These machines listed for around $2000 the last year they were made, (2003?), but I paid $1000 for it. It will move snow better than most any thing sold today as far as a walk behind! It will blow snow fifty feet away! When I need to move show I don't screw around, I have little patience for it! One year I blew snow nearly every day, at least 3 times a week!
Your requirements and pocket book will perhaps be different from mine, but "my" only other choice for a snow blower was a 9 HP Honda. Honda builds a wheel or a track drive, but they are spendy machines. May people are satisfied with lower priced machines. Lower price means lighter weight, thinner sheet metal, bushings instead of bearings. Husquavarna, Toro and Ariens are good machines, 8 HP will run over $1000 though. MTD built units are only fair in my mind.
MTD -
Oh, yeah... Make up your mind pretty fast. Most of the snowblower production for this year is already sold and gone. October was a good time to be shopping.
Commodore Joe Redcloud
"Mitch@this_is_not_a_real_address.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Almost $1,000 - including tax and delivery on 8hp 2 stage TroyBilt.
A lot depends on the layout. In my case, the garage is at the end of the drive. Plow driver has to back in and push the snow out across the street but now leaves about 20 feet of packed snow. I get better results using the blower.
As for the cheap MTD, that is what I have. My MIL bought it for me and it is not the model I would have bought for myself, OTOH, it works. Sure it takes longer than the big two stage models, but it is vastly superior to a shovel. If you have the money, buy a two stage and you won't regret it. If all you can do is the cheap one, you will enjoy it every time you think about what a shovel would have taken you. .
At the end of the drive where the plow has packed the snow, mine takes some time, taking small bites, to get through. Mostly, my neighbor will come over and do that for me. It is good to treat neighbors and their kids nice just to reap those benefits.
We have an 8HP Snapper we bought in 2001. This thing even chewed up a Sunday paper and spit it out like it was nothing. We paid about $1100 for it then and I haven't regretted it. We do not have a large driveway, but I can plow the whole thing in 35 minutes and I usually help the retired neighbors with their driveway.
Unless you only get light , fluffy snow falls, I would suggest a two stage, no less than 5HP. Add on an electric starter and tire chains--some days it'll gets mean and stubborn and just don't want to start right away---- that's when you'll really appreciate the starter. I bought an Ariens in 1977 and with minimum maintenance it still is going strong. I would guess that a new one would be somewhere in the $700-1000 range MLD
I bought a $5-600 5HP thrower twelve years ago when I moved up here (Vermont). The wheel bearings wore out mid-season last year, causing the auger belt to slip. I replaced it with an 8 horse model ($650 mid-season at the BORG). The larger unit works *much* better on wet snow. Even the slop the plow leaves hasn't managed to plug it up, something that *always* happened on the 5HP unit.
The local BORG had at least fifty snow blowers mid-January last year. They were heavily discounting them (and threw in a free operator enclosure).
Location Location Location.... I may live n Florida and have a much bigger driveway they you do...BUT I bet my snowblower needs are a little different then yours....
I actually live in Western Maryland and my driveway is only about 200 foot long and I do not get very many snowfalls over 6 to 7 inches...and I do not have to get out of the driveway to go to work etc,..I can let it melt if I want to...
But generally I would be recommend buying form a Farm Machinery Dealer, .. not a Home Depot or Lowes or Sears....
Buyt from a dealer who does his own service..John Deere/ Gravely/ Simplicity/Ford/ etc are examples of machines I looked at.... Can Not remember what I paid for it YEARS ago... but I can tell you it has been worth every penny...
Bob G
I absolutely wouldn't count on that being the case every year in every location.
Commodore Joe Redcloud©
My local tractor dealer carries the exact same Ariens snow thrower models as Home Depot at the exact same price. The difference is that the tractor dealer uses things like torque wrenches when assembling the ones they sell. They also change the oil, put gas in the tank, and make sure everything is adjusted and working CORRECTLY. Then they run through operating instructions with the customer before they help you load it into your truck, or deliver it to your house for you.
During the busy season, if a "Home Depot" snowblower shows up at the Tractor dealer with a problem, and an hour later I bring in the one I bought from the tractor store, who do you suppose will get their snow thrower back first?
Commodore Joe Redcloud©
According to Commodore Joe Redcloud :
It's highly dependent on what you have available for a "plow guy".
In our area, there's two choices. The guys with blade-mounted pickup trucks, and the farmers with heavy duty blower/blade rigs on their tractors. The latter have divided the area up into regions, with one designated to each region.
The blade-mounted pickup guys tend to charge a fixed rate ($200-$400CDN) for a season. They're relatively slow, late to arrive, and with driveways to clear such as are common around here, it's often not a very good job.
The farmers charge $16/visit (usually 10-12 visits over the season). Ours does our _big_ driveway in 10 minutes, and he's always got it done by the time we need it.
I have a tractor with a blower. It takes me around 2 hours to do it. I'm having to perform maintenance and repairs - it's a _good_ tractor (Cadet hydrostatic), but it's feeling its age. Head gaskets last summer, "split the tractor" (ugh!!!) next summer to replace part of the drive shaft. Wheel bearings. Pulley bearings. Belts. Hard to start in cold weather. Leaky tires (hawthorn, sigh. I really need to replace 'em). Thing doesn't steer very well on ice, occasionally gets stuck. Frozen battery every couple of years.
And, it's not enclosed, so I get a good faceful (worse, snow on the kidneys, I have to remember to wear the insulated overalls and a full face shield). And sometimes I'm just too tired/busy to do it.
No, I don't do it myself anymore. Not worth it, both in time and money.
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