I think you should really take stock of what you are doing!!! You are buying a SNOWBLOWER - not contracting a WIFE!!!! You look at machines - make a decision based on your absolute best judgement (and advice of others) at the time.... and GO WITH THAT!!!! You have to know that, just as in many OTHER things in life, there is NO ABSOLUTELY CORRECT decision. There is ONLY the CORRECT DECISION for YOU at the time you are making it!!!
So.... if in a year or two, you, in your best judgement, decide that the decision previously made should have pointed in a slightly different direction - so....SELL the machine for 80-90% of its original value (gently used snowblowers retain value relatively well) - and BUY SOMETHING ELSE!!! You DON'T need a papal decree to allow yourself to change direction (purchase another brand/make/model/size/colour/whatever) - and get on with things!!!
I've seen machines bad-mouthed on this forum - machines that are damned good and have provided to their masters many years of dedicated and exceptional service - and can only chalk this up to the fact that some individuals are FORD CAR people - and others wouldn't accept a Ford if they won it in a lottery!!! We all have different reasons for making the decisions that we do .... MAKE THE DECISION that you feel comfortable with ... be happy... enjoy.... life is too short!!!
By the way...I started MY machine today....it didn't even whimper..in fact it purred....it throws snow AT LEAST 50 feet.... and is a common everyday brand that this forum poo-poos regularly...and I'll stack it against any of the so-called "elite" machines discussed any day. Ones man's meat is another man's poison.
Cheers from the GREAT WHITE NORTH!!!!
*(:>)*