While we have yet to experience our first big snowfall, I know it's coming! So I want to be prepared! There is nothing worse than waking up one morning to find that your car has disappeared under a mountain of snow. Hopefully, this Review will help you figure out what your needs are and help you make an informed decision!
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How do you decide what kind of Snow Blower you need?
Choosing a snowblower is a matter of really assessing your own personal situation. There are 3 basic matters to consider before buying a snow blower.
- The area that needs to be cleared
- How much snow needs to be moved
- Your own terrain. Are you on level ground or do you have hills and valleys to worry about?
If you have a long driveway with lots of snow to be removed, you will need something more powerful than my electric snow shovel. If you live in a snow belt, then you know you will be using the snow blower frequently. These are two of the first considerations to make when deciding to purchase a snowblower. The third consideration is your terrain. Many people forget to take that into consideration. If you need to remove snow from a hilly area, you will need more power and possibly some added traction for the snowblower. If you only have a few inches of snow a year, then stick with a shovel. They are environmentally friendly and give you some exercise at the same time. Snowblowing if you have lots of snow and a long driveway with a hilly terrain, will give you a good work out too.
There are several different types of Snow Blowers let's take a quick look at them here.
For small jobs, a single stage motor will suffice quite nicely. This is for areas that get less than 4-6 inches of snow at one time. You will have to help the snowblower by pushing it forward, but it will shoot the snow away quite nicely.
For more snow and a larger area to clear, a two stage motor is recommended. If you consistently have more than 6-8 inches of snow in one snowfall, the two stage motor will make removing the snow easier and quicker too. Two-stage snowblowers have the auger to pick up the snow and an impeller that helps to blow the snow into the chute and away from your driveway or walk. The two stage blowers also have a drive to help push the snowblower forward.
For really large areas where the snowfall is greater than 8 inches at a time, the three stage* snowplows are great. They have an added impeller that brings the snow to the auger and then, the second impeller to move the snow to the chute and out. Again, this is only for really large areas with lots of snow fall. Most people in the city will do quite nicely with either the one or two stage snowblower. (*three stage snowblowers are really a two stage blower with an added impeller, some say it's a two stage blower on steroids)
For your convenience, you can check out consumer reports for their unbiased opinions on the best snow blowers on the market. You can check out their link right here : Consumer Reports, Snow Blowers Buying Guide
What can you expect to pay for a Snow Blower?
That will all depend on what features you want on your machine. Snow Blowers come with all kinds of added features, from heated hand holds, to power chute manipulation and more. Some of these bells and whistles are nice to have and others are just extras that you can do without. Prices for a good machine will run from $2,000.00 at the top of the scale to a mere $100.00 for an electric Snow Shovel. You have to decide what your needs are and then make an informed choice.
My Conclusions
For years we have shoveled our snow by hand. We are now in our late 60's and find that shoveling by hand is no longer what we want to do. Having said that, we purchased an Electric Snow Shovel for our needs. We have a short driveway on level ground so this more than fits our needs. If it snows a lot, we will go out two or three times. For our area, the amount of snow we get and our conditions, this is more than enough for us. Whatever your needs may be, I would highly recommend listening to the Consumer Reports and reading through some of the comments below it. Without a subscription to Consumer Reports, I could not see the ones that they recommended, they want you to purchase a subscription before they give out that information. Having said that, it is still full of very useful information.
This is the power shovel that we purchased...
This is the power shovel that we purchased...
I hope this review has helped you to make a better and much more informed decision on which Snowblower you need for your own particular circumstances.
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