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

I know..I know...I already searched the board for this title but what I found didn't really answer the question.  But before I get to that, let me give a little back ground.  I just moved into a house in North Jersey with a pretty big driveway (more on that in a bit).  Living here all my life, its not that crazy but we do have some bad ones and from what I'm hearing, this one is going to be bad.  The previous owners contracted a guy who came for the first time a couple of days ago and did a really crappy job.  They just plow with a pickup so there is still less than an inch left on the driveway and where the tires rolled a nice coat of ice forms.  The bigger issue is that they plowed right into the backyard, meaning they tore up the grass where it meets the end of the driveway.  They charge 75 bucks and I guess its not bad but I really hate shotty workmanship.  I'm now sitting here waiting for them to come again to plow the 8 or so inches that is blowing around outside (its now 1:52 and still no show, luckily I work from home).  Ok to the details, the driveway is 800 ft. long (yes, 800 feet) and has a couple of curves.  There is an incline in it in the middle but I don't know what it is, maybe 15 degrees.  For the most part its about a car width except for the entry and the circle by the house.  It’s the house in the yellow box.

That being said, I’m contemplating on buying some machine to plow it myself for the reasons listed above.  After doing a bit of research I’m stuck with a couple of questions.  I see that a couple of manufactures have both Wheeled and Tracked machines.  I would think that the tracked model would be better in that it has a more traction.  I could see however how that might be a little harder to move while not running.  Before I forget, I two oversized car garages and a basement which is pretty big.  It’s a half flight to the basement and there are stairs from the garage to the basement inside so I could put some boards down and move it down there for the season.  I’m not to concerned about the agility of the machine because for my use (I would think) I’m basically running up and down the driveway and speed if more important.  I also see that the prices go up a bit as the width increases.  I’m inclined to spend a little extra as it may remove a whole pass for me.  So I’m looking for a machine that will not get stuck, will allow me to plow the entire driveway in a reasonable amount of time and most importantly, I want something that is solid and reliable.  I don’t want something that is going to break every season.  I’m a firm believer of “you get what you pay for” so I’m ok with spending a little bit more for a good machine.  I’m assuming that I would have to opt for the two-stage.

Thoughts….

Recommendations….

Complains (that I write too much)…

:)

-Jay