Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hello, first post, been reading the archives.

This summer, I tripled the size of my driveway, from about 800 sq ft to about 2500 sq ft. The new driveway includes a short slope that gains about 4 ft of height in about 40 ft of length. Here are a couple of pics of the work in progress:

http://www.rallystuff.com/images/driveway1.jpg

http://www.rallystuff.com/images/driveway2.jpg

I live in SE PA, and we get half a dozen snowfalls per year, with one or two that are a foot or more. I have a seven year old Toro 16” 2-stroke, single stage blower that was barely adequate for the old driveway. Now I’m looking for something that can handle the larger area of the new driveway.

Since it has to fit through the garage-cellar door, the overall width can’t be more than 28”. This limits me to about a 24” blower.

A couple of questions:

1) I really like the way the rubber paddles of the Toro clean the pavement. I’ve never used a 2-stage blower, but I’ve read that they don’t clean right down to the surface. I also see they’re much lighter than a comparable 2-stage. Is there any chance a large single stage blower would be adequate here? Toro has a 24” and Ariens has a 22”.

2) If not, I guess I’m looking at a 24” 2-stage. From reading the various mfr sites, it looks like the entry level 24” blowers get really shortchanged on features. What is a good, reliable, powerful blower in this class? Again, I’ve never used a self propelled 2-stage, so I don’t want to buy one and then find out it’s awkward to use or missing a needed feature in the first big storm.

Thanks for any recommendations!

Ordered an Ariens 7524 today. Local shop had it for $100 less than Speedway, and will assemble, adjust and run it in for me. Nice to be able to patronize a local retailer AND save money.

I didn't see many that were more powerful in a 24" width--hopefully 7.5HP will be adequate.