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

After reading a lot of posts and reviews thinking of several possibilities. May give up the track idea due to the expense as Honda is beyond reach. So... an Aries 7524E 24" blower or a Toro 6000. The Aries seems like a little powerhouse with the OHV 7.5 hp engine. Got a long driveway and doing the math, a (roughly 12' wide driveway, maybe less), a 24" blower could do it in 6 passes (24x6=144). The Toro being 26" would cut 26 x 6 = 156". The Toro would allow for some head room. A friend of mine who has a 27" blower is upgrading to a 32 as he wants a bigger cut. Another guy tells me a 5hp 24" blower is all I ever need. So... I haven’t used a blower in over 15 years and know my calculations are more theory, and do not want be out all day with a 24" blower if it doesn't cut it. Then again Honda sells a lot of 24" blowers and those who own them love em.  This is a bit of a rant so hang in there. Now the reason for the smaller possible blower is the ease of handling. Thus the second idea... a steer able Toro 28". The 24" Aries has an OHV engine thus powerful. The Toro has an L head engine not OHV type, but is that a big deal?  Sears is selling a Briggs OHV 9 hp 27" steer able unit for the same price as the 28" Toro. Toro seems like a better build from my research. Thought I'd jam as many questions in my posts and submit this to the experts as I hate to keep posting different threads and appear dumber than I really am. Thanks for any replies.

If your driveway is 3 car lengths or more I would recommend an 8 horse with at least a 24" cut. I had an old Toro for a long time that was 8horse 24" cut that did me pretty well. I upgraded to a 11horse 28" cut Simplicity and I do notice the extra power.