Single or 2 stage snowblowers????

[Joe Tonich]

Lookin into snowblowers and can't figure which would be best. I have a small single stage that plugs up a lot and can't deal with what the plows leave in the apron. I was told the newer bigger single stages are better than any 2 stage under 8hp. Clog up less and easier to maintain, but with having a small one thats a PITA, I'm thinking the 2 stage HAS to be better.

Any opinions on the 2 kinds would be helpful, looking for pro's n' con's of both kinds. Would like to keep it in the $500-$600 price range.

Thanks,

[Art Mulder]

Dunno about the two-stage/one-stage idea, but my friend has a long driveway, and a snowblower, and he gave me an interesting perspective on snowblower sizes: So often, people get talked into "supersizing" their tools, and snowblowers are no different. A bit more gets you a bigger/wider machine and thats good, right? Not necessarily. He considered the width of his driveway. With the blower that he bought, he does 2 or 3 cycles (once up, and once down is one "cycle".) to clear his driveway. If he'd bought the next size up, he'd only gain half a cycle. So he'd still end up having to walk the machine back down the driveway, and it wouldn't really gain him anything.

Food for thought. Bigger doesn't always mean better.

[Dennis Peacock]

Don't know.....with all the snow we have here, it's often times better to just use a square point shovel. Why not just drive by your place during lunch at work and clear the driveway the easy-way?

[David Wilson]

Joe
Definately go with a 2-stage blower. In a 2-stage machine the cutters turn at a fairly low RPM which cuts the snow and need a lot of torque.
The second stage turns at much higher RPM to throw the already broken up snow out of the schute. A 1-stage machine has to run at a fairly high RPM to blow the snow out of the chute but sacrifice the torque needed to break up the snow. A single stage machine will work great in light fluffy snow but is almost useless in wet heavy snow.

An observation from Minnesota where we know about snow.

[Joe Pelonio]

We too have no need for a snowblower, I've never seen them for sale. In the last 13 years I'd say we average 3-6 snows a year, most less than 3" and lasting less than 2 days before turning to rain. I did once experiment with the leafblower on dry powder, that was a lot of fun and worked pretty well.

I did ask a friend who is from Minn. and he says if you get a two stage make sure it's self propelled, they are really heavy. He had a 9-hp Sears 28-inch and said it was about $1,000.

[Tim Burke]

Joe,

My Deere TRS 21 single stage 2 cycle has served me well with Iowa winters for about 10 years now.

I researched at the time, and remember that a decent single stage moves as much or more snow than a smaller 2 stage. The main difference was that a 2 stage is heavier duty. Since I have a typical size lot, I wasn't concerned with a 2 stage.

Does your snow thrower have the old flapper style impeller? My Deere has a screw type impeller that works much better than the old Toro flapper that it replaced.

Tim

[Wes Bischel]

2-stage for the reasons David points out is the way to go. I only have a 1-stage here in southeast PA, but back home in Chicago, we used a two stage to clear the alley.

Wes

[Greg Ladd]

Joe,

I live over in Lima. I am sure that we don't get anywhere near the amount of snow that you get over by Cleveland but...

I have a 2 stage that I purchased at Sam's Club about 10 years ago for around $600. I believe they still sell them for a similar price.

Most (actually all) of the 2 stage units I have seen all use a Tecumseh Snow King engine. That being said, I am sure I haven't seen all of the brands.I have done absolutely nothing to my snowblower but change oil and add gas since I bought it. I cannot imagine that the maintenance on a single stage could be any less.

I would wholeheartedly recommend a 2 stage.

Check Sam's Club, You might be surprised.

Greg

[Andy Hoyt]

I've got a really old Deere two stage unit that only takes a 24" wide cut. I've blown away five foot high drifts with it - although it takes a while. Twelve inches of light powder or wet heavy spring snow are what it gobbles up best.

[Don Baer]

Whats a snow blower...

[Doug Shepard]

My 30-some year old 2-stage 32" 7HP Ariens finally died last winter. I've got a rather long drive and up by the garage it widens to about 4-5 cars. I didn't want to go with anything narrower which limited my choices. I ended up with another Ariens. Tried looking for another 7HP but they dont seem to exist now in that width. I ended up with 13HP which seems to be about the norm for that size now. What i really noticed right away: the extra power seems to give that 2nd stage a lot better throwing distance. The older machine meant the 2nd half of the drive at the wide part was catching the blowoff from the first half. So by the time I got to that side, the snow was much deeper than when I started and took more time to clear. The newer machine can throw it completely off the drive at the wider end unless the wind is working against me. And even then it will almost clear the drive. So even though it's the same width, I actually decreased my clearing time just due to the better throw distance. Just one more thing to think about.

[Glenn Clabo]

Two stage here...wet snow is the normal snow storms. Actually thrown slush 6 feet. I also love electric start (not battery)...just plug it in and push the button.

[Matt Warfield]

I went through this debate a couple of years ago and was surprised with the obvious choice for me. I have a 98 foot long driveway that's 24 feet wide. That's a lot of snow during an Iowa winter. For me, a plow for the lawn tractor made the most sense. It was cheaper. Takes up less space. And, I can plow my driveway faster than my neighbor can snowblow his 35 feet long 20 feet wide driveway. Actually, it takes me half the time it takes my neighbor. That, and I never have snow blow in my face. Oh yeah, the kids love playing on the mountain!!

[Wes Bischel]

Whats a snow blower...

Oh, now that's just mean!

Wes

[Curt Fuller]

I also have a 25 year old Ariens 2 stage 8hp, 24" swath. I've gone through a couple bearings and shear pins but other than that it's been very dependable and is a real workhorse. I usually end up doing most of the neighborhood on big snow days too so it gets a lot of use. The single stage snowblowers are pretty good in the showroom and when they're new but I would have gone through a dozen or so over the life of my big orange machine.