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

And lived in the Northeast,with a 175 foot driveway,with a slight incline, and a rather large turning pad what snow blower would you buy? Currently have a 12 year old, 24", 7 hp Yardman that I need to retire soon! Thanks in advance.

tgseaver wrote:

You can pick up a nice slightly used machine this coming spring if you can squeak one more season out of that Yardman. There's always tons of used snowblowers on CL once spring begins and the snows are gone for a while. Machines that go for $ 2,500.00 new can be had for $ 1,500.00 or less after only being used for one or two winters. I always try to buy my used OPE during the off season as I've found you can save big $$$ if you plan ahead a bit.

For your 'Budget' of $ 1500.00 in the United States you have many options.  I might suggest you look at Consumer Reports for the ratings of NEW snowblowers and how they will be expected to perform when brand new.  This in no way suggests they will run that way once the machine is no longer new, so check out their "Frequency of Repair" ratings under RELIABILITY by Brands.  These ratings are created from actual owners of each machine who fills out an annual Consumer Reports survey about the products they already own, so its pretty reliable information.  You might alos read their forum for the information they have as well.  The technology of all these machine is pretty much identical, except for the Honda machines, so the factors that you should consider are how is any one performing any better than its counterpart.  They all have 2 satge augers and impellers, but which have the larger diamteres.  They all have the same friction wheel drive systems, but which do the work with the fewest repairs.  Then there is the engine, and the imports would seem to be about all there is anymore, so good luck discovering which of those are better. 

Lastly, see if any of your neighbors have a similar driveway and how they have fared with the machine they own.  Nothing life a little neighborly advice.  Good Luck !

New_Yorker wrote:

Consumer Reports is very out of touch with reality when it comes to snowblowers. That was discussed in full in another thread. I would suggest to the OP that he disregard CR as their info is outdated and their ratings tend to be based more on cost/value than performance.

New_Yorker wrote:

Consumer Reports is very out of touch with reality when it comes to snowblowers. That was discussed in full in another thread. I would suggest to the OP that he disregard CR as their info is outdated and their ratings tend to be based more on cost/value than performance.

As a Long Term Consumer Reports fan and subscriber I would just say that each and every year every CR subscriber gets a survey to fill out of the products they have purcahsed with the past few years.  The survey then allows ordinary people, who spent their hard earned money on products like snowblowers to tell about that experience.  From those Real World and Very Practical answers CR creates its reliability ratings.  The Consumer Reports magazine does not permit their advice to be used in commercials, nor do they accept advertising.  Such independence and unbiased testing is done nowhere else, so it becomes incumbent on all who don't like such impartiality, for whatever reason, to malign Consumer Reports.  However there is no other organization that does the same, so their results are unassailable regardless of what the Biased persons may feel or say.  Consumer Reports remains a uniquely reilable source of accurate consumer advice, and I and thousnads of others recognize that fact.

New_Yorker wrote:

I will not argue the point with you. I suggest that you do a search in this forum on Consumer Reports. Their reputation from the past has not carried over to the digital age very well. They are clearly out of touch with the real world. This has all been discussed in this forum before.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
The "REAL WORLD" then, Accoding to YOU, does NOT INCLUDE the Actual  Owners who rate their personal snowblower and other products they purcahsed with their hard earned money and have experience with over years of first hand use ?  Myself and many others simply disagree because it simply does not get anymore 'REAL WORLD' than that, so we'd  have no idea what you interpret that phrase to mean, but then I have discovered that on these forums many posters mistakenly imagine that they know more than the owners manual.  So pretty much anything is possible.   Opinions from a bunch of people on any forum are only that, opinions.  As such they may or may not be reliable, hardly objective, and are only based upon the limited knowledge, experience, IQ and communication skills that each may posess.  The Consumer Reports people at least operate in an objective manner, which is why they never permit their advice to be published for money by others, or accept advertising.  The sheer size of their survey makes it above reproach, and reliable, and certainly far beyond the handfull of varied opiniuons on a forum such as this.  I would advise the Original Poster here to take any such advice with a large grain of salt , and seek a corroborating source before believing anything here.  CR would be just such a source to consult.

Reagrding these sites, and consumer reports.

The problem that exists with CR and more so with forum sites, is that quite often, the voice is usually (not always!) of the one, who has had issues or problems with a product.

Most ppl who have purchased a product, and are completely satisfied with that purchase rarely fill out CRs or join forums like these.

Again, this is not absolute, but it is true that a satisfied person is less likely to fill out a survey,

Same with these forums, while I came here to see what the opinions of a new product are, a lot of ppl do come to these forums to find advice for a current problem.

Most ppl in a forum have strong opinions, based on their experiences, and have personal prefences, etc, that bias some of their comments.

While I would be nice if everyone who owned a product like a snowblower would fill out a CR, this is not the case.

And while some ppl with positive expereinces will in fact fill out a CR, it is known, that the ppl with bad expereinces will always have more impact on CR, and forums! :-)

Good points rubinew.

Personally I'd rather read about problems than experience them.  Hence, people voicing their displeasure with a product should be heeded.   Learn from their experiences but don't take everything said as gospel.

As far as CR goes, I subscribed to the paper copy from the 70's through to the early 90's.  About 10 (?) years ago I started using the online version, but let that expire 4 years ago.  In my experience*, it became less and less valid, as they all too often had different expectations and requirements for products than I had. I did find that by IGNORING the ratings but reading the reports of the testing itself I got data for my decision making process that had more value than the ratings. That said, after some totally ridiculous choices by them in areas where I had expertise I finally decided it was no longer worth the money and dropped it completely.

*The plural of anecdote is NOT data. The experience of just one person with a product is essentially meaningless, whether you are discussing CR, snowblowers, or toasters. Only by using aggregate experience can you arrive at a meaningful conclusion, but this is tempered by who is giving you their story. This forum, for example, is going to appeal to the more technical person who will - more than the general population - do most of their own maintenance and has different expectations than the general population. This is not the same audience that answers CR surveys, but it is the audience that will be able to explain what problems they have had, and often, why.

Anyway, back to the OP: tgseaver, could you tell us where in the NE? What's best for NJ is not going to be the same for ME, upstate NY, or Canada. Also, your physical condition and age and the usage of the machine by other family members can often eliminate what might otherwise be your first choice. What is perfect for a youngish healthy large male will NOT be the ideal machine for his wife or older children. What is your driveway made of and what is its condition? In some cases on this forum, for example, we've found that taller people hate using some machines that are fine for smaller persons. So, if you give us a little more info, you'll get a better answer as to what to look at.

Only you can go to a dealer and try them out and make the final decision, but we can narrow it down for you.