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.
If it snows infrequently, you could always hire a plow if they have those services in your area. I'd never used one in VA, but in Maine pretty much everyone has a plow guy in my neighborhood. I'm paying $30 a plow - small storms generally plow once, bigger ones twice. He does a nice job, I have a steep driveway about 80' long to the curb that opens up to a two car garage.
I've considered getting a snowblower, but it'd take years to pay itself back. I still shovel a little - the front walk from the driveway to the mudroom door, and also a couple feet in front of each garage door since the plow can't get that close obviously.
That's why I never bought a snowblower -- I was paying kids in the neighborhood $30 to do the work. This electric one will pay back much faster and should be adequate for me.
My father-in-law would never pay someone to do the work, which is part of the problem.
I live about 75 miles to the west of the OP's family, and we do get a crap load of lake effect snow from Lake Michigan, and it is usually wet/heavy. A good quality, small, 2 stage would be the best bet. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ariens-920402-...ower+two+stage
If you stick with name brand stuff, such as Ariens, parts are easy to find at a local lawn and garden shop.
I bought mine, because I usually have to go to work before the plow guy is out so it's time that's more valuable to me. And at the $129 SHIPPED I paid for my electric, It's more than paid for itself in the dozen or so times i've used it as opposed to calling a plow guy @ $20-30 a pop.That's why I never bought a snowblower -- I was paying kids in the neighborhood $30 to do the work. This electric one will pay back much faster and should be adequate for me.
My father-in-law would never pay someone to do the work, which is part of the problem.
I think if wet heavy snow is at all common the two stage is the way to go but having never owned or used a single stage I don't know how deserved their reputation for lameness really is. I will say even in wet snow mine still throws it pretty far...not as far but I don't think its worse than a 30% loss of distance.
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.
Fucking overkill for what the old guy does. a decent electric one will do the job.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Agreed. Since the FIL is older and has cardiac issues, weight should be a concern too. A 2 stage 8HP blower weighs at least 150lbs. Probably more. I have an Ariens 927LE and it is a bit of a workout when I use it to clear my driveway. Granted my driveway is 130 feet long, but the turns are really what get you.
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Maybe you forget weight is somewhat irrelevant, since that 150 pound monster is fully self propelled with forward and reverse gears. Maybe point granted, a super light weight machine
Makes a right turn possible, but in my kind of snow a light weight machine could not handle more than 6" inches of show. So to make that rare right turn, I put it into in reverse, back up, and a few reps of that get me a 90 degree turn, While taking thrice the snow depth and twice the width of a wimpy light weight. And if I only have 6" of snow I don't even bother because my car will go through that no problem.
If it snows infrequently, you could always hire a plow if they have those services in your area. I'd never used one in VA, but in Maine pretty much everyone has a plow guy in my neighborhood. I'm paying $30 a plow - small storms generally plow once, bigger ones twice. He does a nice job, I have a steep driveway about 80' long to the curb that opens up to a two car garage.
I've considered getting a snowblower, but it'd take years to pay itself back. I still shovel a little - the front walk from the driveway to the mudroom door, and also a couple feet in front of each garage door since the plow can't get that close obviously.
For that small of a driveway I think an electric should work fine. I've cleared out a driveway 3x that size before with an electric one that had over a foot of snowfall. It wasn't fun, but it was worlds better than shoveling.
Electric single stage blowers are light, easy to use, and require zero maintenance. You might have to make two passes (or keep up on a heavy snowfall throughout the day instead of waiting till it's done) with a single stage electric but for an area that small they work better than many people give them credit for.
And yes, I have a 26" dual stage beast sitting in my garage, but that's because I now have a driveway that's close to 3000 sq/ft.
You might be surprised at how quickly the ROI on a snowblower can be. I bought mine in 2007, and have used it 40+ times. At $30/plow, I recouped its cost two winters ago. Its not as convenient as a plow guy, but I actually like snowblowing and think I ultimately do a better job than a plow guy would. Plus it lets me blow snow into a huge pile for my kids to play on .
Yeah, I'm also a little concerned about them having to store a huge 2-stage snowblower. I'm not sure they have room in their garage to store one, whereas with an electric only weighing 30 or 40 lbs, he could find room or even hang it from the garage ceiling.
Still mulling it over. I see the points about the 2 stage blowers but I'm concerned that's overkill for us and I've yet to find a NEW 2 stage blower between $400 and $500.
Interesting thread.
I know my parents are interested in getting a snowblower. But given my dad's health, I don't think a 150lb+ gas-powered snowblower would be the best choice (and with steps to get to the walkways, it would be too heavy for them to lift). Any decent electrics? My parents only have maybe an 600-800sqft (fits only 3 sedans), straight driveway and some small walkways and they live on Long Island, which doesn't get tremendous amounts of snow at a time (usually).