Talk to me about snowblowers

[IndyColtsFan]

Ok, the wife and I are considering purchasing a belated Christmas gift for my father in-law -- a snowblower (we thought he had one). They live in the Ft. Wayne, Indiana area (about 125 miles northeast of Indy) and get a decent amount of snow ever year. Their driveway is extremely small (holds about 4 standard cars) but the FIL is 62 years-old and shovels it by hand, which worries both of us since he has a pacemaker and has had 2 heart attacks. He's the kind that would never buy a snowblower for himself.

For this kind of work, I don't think a 2 stage snowblower is necessary. An electric unit would probably work, but I don't think he'd like that. Any recommendations on a single-stage unit? Let's say we want to spend in the $400 to $500 range.

 

[jaha2000]

400-500 gets you into smallish two stage.
IMO Small two stage>Big single stage.

The first time he has a wet snow he will appreciate the two stage blower. Single stage get clogged up..

If you dont think he would mind something used, Craigslist is a great option. Single purpose power equipment typically does not get a lot of use, and more snow snowblowers. I bought a 27" 11.5HP Ariens on CL for 400 bucks here. IT was a few years old and the people were moving to a smaller house.

 

[TwiceOver]

A four car driveway is "Extremely Small"?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

A four car driveway is "Extremely Small"?

Yes, it is very small -- it BARELY fits 4 cars.

I have a little electric snowblower I got as a gift and I've used it to clear my driveway (3 car garage and L-shaped; probably 4 to 5 times larger than their driveway) but I don't think he'd like an electric.

 

[manimal]

get an electric one, they are cheap and for light duty are really convinient if you have power close enough.

If he had a bigger yard then ya gas is the way to go.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

400-500 gets you into smallish two stage.
IMO Small two stage>Big single stage.

The first time he has a wet snow he will appreciate the two stage blower. Single stage get clogged up..

If you dont think he would mind something used, Craigslist is a great option. Single purpose power equipment typically does not get a lot of use, and more snow snowblowers. I bought a 27" 11.5HP Ariens on CL for 400 bucks here. IT was a few years old and the people were moving to a smaller house.

Yeah, we'd prefer new and preferably something Amazon stocks so we can ship it to their house directly. I looked this morning and found this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Poulan-21-Inch...ywords=PR521ES

 

[IndyColtsFan]

get an electric one, they are cheap and for light duty are really convinient if you have power close enough.

If he had a bigger yard then ya gas is the way to go.

My wife bought me this one as a Christmas gift. I was skeptical but it does work. It obviously doesn't have the power of a gas-powered model but it allowed me to clear my entire driveway from the "blizzard" we had last week.

 

[techs]

I bought a Toro 221q just before last winter. Its a single stage, 2 cycle model. It has an engine that has been around for many years and its the most reliable engine made.

I have a small 4 car area to plow. It works fine except, as mentioned, on heavy, wet snow. Sometimes it barely blows it a couple of feet. So, I have to go over and plow again to move it another two feet to get it far enough away.

While a two stage would certainly be better the difference in having the snowblower over shoveling is awesome. Even the drawbacks of having to move the snow twice is not that great.

My advice would be to get a two stage if the money is not an issue. If you want to make it easier for your fil and thats why you are getting it, then the two stage will be noticeably less work.

Oh, and RELIABILITY is very important. There are major differences between brands and even engines within the brand. I used to work at a large hardware store that does repairs and the repair guy told me its amazing how bad some snowblowers are repair wise.

EDIT: I bought my snow blower at the link. They know their stuff and delivered it right to my door. Its worth checking out their help in buying page here:
http://www.snowblowersdirect.com/stories/145-How-to-Pick-the-Perfect-Snow-Thrower.html

 

[PingSpike]

Does that electric you have really work well? How much snow were you throwing around with it? What kind? The only electrics I've seen are those crap ass electric snow rakes.

I'm pretty much of the opinion that single stage is pointless but I live in a high elevation area where even my 10hp gets a workout much of the time. I can't remember for sure but I think they're a little worse about picking up gravel as well IIRC.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Does that electric you have really work well? How much snow were you throwing around with it? What kind? The only electrics I've seen are those crap ass electric snow rakes.

My wife bought me this for Christmas. I wasn't really happy when I saw it and thought it was a joke. But we had lots of snow last week and I got a chance to use it. I'd say I had between 5 and 8 inches on the driveway (depending on drifts, etc). I would say that for 5 inches or below (maybe even 6), it has no problem at all and sliced right through it. For the areas that were 8 to 10 inches, I generally had to run over them twice to get it all. It is surprisingly powerful but I wonder how long it will really hold up. I suppose if I get 3 or 4 years out of it, I'll count myself happy. Where I'm at, we don't have many large snowfalls so this guy will probably be fine for me.

If you live in a place like Colorado, Michigan, or upstate NY, I wouldn't recommend it. If you live in a place like I do, it will probably be fine for everything but the largest of snowfalls and it can generally handle anything up to 10 inches, though it might take a couple of passes. After I initially plowed the 8 inch snowfall off the driveway last week, we had another snowfall of about 4 inches. My snowblower had NO issues clearing the driveway with that. The other nice thing about it is that it is very small and light -- I have no problem lifting it and moving it around (it weighs 30 or 40 lbs) and was able to lift it to an elevated porch and clear it off.

 

[Gillbot]

I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Joe-622U1...now+joe+unltra

I have used the CRAP out of it, works really well. TBH, i'm getting tired of fighting the cord but I have nearly 150' of 2 car wide driveway so it's WAY more than this little thing should have to clear.

It has never given me any problems and no matter what the naysayers will lead you to believe, even the heaviest of snows hasn't phased it. Sure, it may chug a little but if you push it a little slower it's fine. I've powered it through snow that's deeper than it is tall, I just plow in, back up and let the snow cliff fall over and go forward again.

The biggest drawback is in really heavy or packed wet snow, it doesn't throw very far, but if you go down the middle of the driveway and work your way to the edges it clears just fine.

 

[Gillbot]

My wife bought me this for Christmas. I wasn't really happy when I saw it and thought it was a joke. But we had lots of snow last week and I got a chance to use it. I'd say I had between 5 and 8 inches on the driveway (depending on drifts, etc). I would say that for 5 inches or below (maybe even 6), it has no problem at all and sliced right through it. For the areas that were 8 to 10 inches, I generally had to run over them twice to get it all. It is surprisingly powerful but I wonder how long it will really hold up. I suppose if I get 3 or 4 years out of it, I'll count myself happy. Where I'm at, we don't have many large snowfalls so this guy will probably be fine for me.

If you live in a place like Colorado, Michigan, or upstate NY, I wouldn't recommend it. If you live in a place like I do, it will probably be fine for everything but the largest of snowfalls and it can generally handle anything up to 10 inches, though it might take a couple of passes. After I initially plowed the 8 inch snowfall off the driveway last week, we had another snowfall of about 4 inches. My snowplow had NO issues clearing the driveway with that.

That's probably similar to mine above. Mine has lasted years so far so as long as you treat it right, it'll last a while.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The biggest drawback is in really heavy or packed wet snow, it doesn't throw very far, but if you go down the middle of the driveway and work your way to the edges it clears just fine.

Yeah, if it is light and fresh snow, my blower really does throw it 10 to 20 ft as advertised. Wet or packed snow is a different matter and will only go 2 or 3 feet sometimes. It also has clogged on wet snow, but it is pretty easy to clean out and I've read there are ways to avoid that.

I just bought a 100 ft all-weather cord to use with it rather than the 2 standard outdoor 25 ft cords I have strung together. That should help tremendously.

 

[waggy]

My wife bought me this one as a Christmas gift. I was skeptical but it does work. It obviously doesn't have the power of a gas-powered model but it allowed me to clear my entire driveway from the "blizzard" we had last week.

I think that is the one my dad has. he lives in southern IL where they don't get much snow (though they did this year).

for most stuff it works great. this year though he paid a guy $20 to shovel off his drive (they had over 10 inches and he is 68).

 

[richardycc]

get a 2 stage that is at least 8hp, I got a 5hp one, basically the entry level 2 stager that every company has one available. mine is uselss if the snow is wet and heavy, it would only throw the wet snow 1-2feet away and clog the chute. you want the next model up, they are around 800, but worth it, you don't want your FIL to lose a finger because of your cheap gift.

 

[waggy]

get a 2 stage that is at least 8hp, I got a 5hp one, basically the entry level 2 stager that every company has one available. mine is uselss if the snow is wet and heavy, it would only throw the wet snow 1-2feet away and clog the chute. you want the next model up, they are around 800, but worth it, you don't want your FIL to lose a finger because of your cheap gift.

Fucking overkill for what the old guy does. a decent electric one will do the job.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Whatever you do, get a high quality smaller one over a low quality larger one. Your FIL will thank you.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Fucking overkill for what the old guy does. a decent electric one will do the job.

Yeah, his driveway is small and other than that, he has a walkway from the driveway to the front door and I don't think it is longer than say 20/25 ft, so a single pass should work.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Whatever you do, get a high quality smaller one over a low quality larger one. Your FIL will thank you.

Well, I'm not really familiar with snowblowers so I'm not sure which are considered good ones. The little electric I have would probably work for him, but I don't think he would really like it so I'm leaning towards gas-powered.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

I have found, overall, Amazon reviews to be a pretty good gross indicator.

 

[techs]

Whatever you do, get a high quality smaller one over a low quality larger one. Your FIL will thank you.

Especially true of engines since over the last few years they have been outsourced to China and even some very reliable engines have become lemons when built by the Chinese.

 

[Gillbot]

Yeah, if it is light and fresh snow, my blower really does throw it 10 to 20 ft as advertised. Wet or packed snow is a different matter and will only go 2 or 3 feet sometimes. It also has clogged on wet snow, but it is pretty easy to clean out and I've read there are ways to avoid that.

I just bought a 100 ft all-weather cord to use with it rather than the 2 standard outdoor 25 ft cords I have strung together. That should help tremendously.

When mine plugs I just back up and rock it back and forth a bit and it clears itself out easily.

Mine throws the wet heavy stuff about 6' or so, give or take.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Let me toss something else out there too: this.

You may find your FIL resistant to using a machine if he's used to shoveling. The sleigh shovel will allow him to shovel his driveway much more easily, and more importantly, with no lifting.

I bought one this year and I've now twice used it to do a driveway about 10x30 yards and a length of road around 175 yards long in about 2-3 hours. It will make short work of a regular driveway.

 

[rudeguy]

Fucking overkill for what the old guy does. a decent electric one will do the job.

I disagree

Ft Wayne does get the wet snow. Its not cold enough for it to always be light and flaky. If the OP is going to do it, he needs to do it right.

Having a shitty one is worse than not having one IMHO.

 

[Gillbot]

Let me toss something else out there too: this.

You may find your FIL resistant to using a machine if he's used to shoveling. The sleigh shovel will allow him to shovel his driveway much more easily, and more importantly, with no lifting.

I bought one this year and I've now twice used it to do a driveway about 10x30 yards and a length of road around 175 yards long in about 2-3 hours. It will make short work of a regular driveway.

There's a whole thread here about that stuff: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2292579