I live in the Boston area - lots of heavy, wet snow -- and never owned a snow blower. After last year, I'm throwing out my shovel and buying a snow blower. My dilemma is deciding between the Toro 418 and the 621 because: I'm a 65 year old woman, in good shape but not big nor strong (5'4" weighing 115lb). I only have to clear my 13' X 55' flat driveway and a fairly short sidewalk. We have gotten many storms of 6" - 18" and it tends to be wet/heavy. The worst part is the compacted snow left by the plows, which can easily be a foot or more My local store recommends the 418 because it's easy to handle and they say it does just as good a job on the compacted snow as the 621 - in some ways even better because it's light, so easier to push and pull it several times to go at the compact stuff, and they say the 621 will be harder for me to handle. My other local store recommends the 621 because it has more power, so they think it will get through the snow better. Also, Consumer Reports gave the 418 "poor" on compacted snow, and gave the 621 a "good" on compacted snow. I'm not a "true believer" in everything CR says but it does make me hesitate to get the 418 So....I'm tempted to buy the 418 because I'd prefer the smaller, lighter machine but don't want to be in the middle of winter, unable to get through the compact junk at the end of the driveway and wishing I had a more powerful machine. I'd really appreciate any advice from those who have used either or both. Thanks! Leni

Well here is what Toro themselves has to say about their own machines. Neither of them seems to be rated for 12"+ of compacted snow. But between the two I'd give the nod to the 621.

You don't need a 2 stage in the city. My aunt used to live in Back Bay and there is precious little room to put snow when there is a lot of it.

Power ClearŽ 418 ZR (38272)

Toro Premium 87cc 4-cycle OHV engine

18" clearing width

Up to 25' throwing distance

Ideally used to clear 3-6" of snow at a time on a driveway that can park up to 4 cars

Here is the Toro 621

Power ClearŽ 621 R (38451)

Toro Premium 163cc 4-cycle OHV engine

21" clearing width

Up to 35' throwing distance

Ideally used to clear 3-9" of snow at a time on a driveway that can park up to 8 cars

Well here is what Toro themselves has to say about their own machines. Neither of them seems to be rated for 12"+ of compacted snow. But between the two I'd give the nod to the 621.

You don't need a 2 stage in the city. My aunt used to live in Back Bay and there is precious little room to put snow when there is a lot of it.

Power ClearŽ 418 ZR (38272)

Toro Premium 87cc 4-cycle OHV engine

18" clearing width

Up to 25' throwing distance

Ideally used to clear 3-6" of snow at a time on a driveway that can park up to 4 cars

Here is the Toro 621

Power ClearŽ 621 R (38451)

Toro Premium 163cc 4-cycle OHV engine

21" clearing width

Up to 35' throwing distance

Ideally used to clear 3-9" of snow at a time on a driveway that can park up to 8 cars

I refurb'd an older Toro CCR2000E last fall (close in spec's to the 621) and gave it to my sister for a Xmas gift. She's very similar to you: 65 y/o, 5'4, lives 5 miles north of Boston and has a 3 car length, single width driveway and the front of her house to clear. She absolutely loves it because it's light enough to handle with ease, has the electric start feature (she really likes this!) and is powerful enough to get the job done. She has a 2 stage snowblower but that was really too big for her to handle (she rarely used it) and I was always concerned that she would injure herself. I'm going to be selling it on Craigs List in few weeks as she no longer needs or wants it.

Sometimes she has to take her time if the snow is real deep and will knock down the end of driveway piles with a shovel before blowing the snow onto her side yard. My sister calls it "the little snowblower that could". I think you'll appreciate the larger 163cc engine and the extra power it provides for the cement like snowstorms we often get here in New England, especially along the coast. Go for the top of the line model (either the 621 E or the 621 QZE) with the electric start and/or "quick shoot" features if you can swing the extra cost. My sister loves being able to plug in the power cord, hit the start button and she's ready to go - no pull cord to yank in order to start the engine. Good Luck!

I don't find CR reports all that helpful but I have to agree to their assessment between the 621 and 418.  End of driveway compact snow is tough on any single stage snowblower, but heavier and more powerful machines are more suitable for the job.

I'd recommend the larger 621, it has more power to do the work with wet heavy snow, so it requires less effort from you pulling and back and forth to try to regulate the amount of snow fed into the snowblower to prevent bogging down the engine.