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

New Hampshire winter. 34'x12' deck. Own a big Ariens for the the driveway, looking for an alternate for the deck. Will need to clear deck, roof rake pulled down roof snow, and clear again. Prefer gas powered. Thanks

Toro Powerlite.  2 stroke engine, 98cc, 3.25 hp.  Has soft rubber paddles, does not scratch deck.  Lightweight, 40 lbs, can be picked up with one hand and walk up stairs.

Very inexpensive to maintain and repair.

Hey, is TonsOfSteel and Stainless the same person?  Just wondering. 

Nah, my steel is a little rusted.

Don't seem to be available. http://www.snowblowersdirect.com/Toro-38182-Snow-Thrower/p2353.html Any suggestions from here? http://www.snowblowersdirect.com/quick_search.php Thanks

You may be able to find remaining ones at local Ace Hardware stores.  If not, check craigslist listing for used ones.

They're really simple, not much go wrong on them, and easy to fix.

I agree.  A nice SS machine would work well on the deck.  Even something like an older Craftsman machine with the 139cc Tecumseh two cycle engine would work well.  Just do what I did and  put a piece of string on the governor lever to jack the revs up.   Then watch the snow fly!!

I know you're looking for gas. And with your size deck, I would be too.

Just figured I would mention that I bought an older Craigslist Toro Powercurve 1800 electric for deck duty. My deck is probably more like 15'x12', something like that, and I have to carry the blower up the ~8' of stairs from the ground (so light weight is nice). I got a chance to use it last winter. I don't need to tell you that last winter in New England was a tough one. Even my little electric Toro did a great job. No muss, no fuss, as they say, and it did well even in the serious storms. I just pushed it slower for wet/deep snow, it still churned through. It sure beat shoveling the deck off every time, that's for sure! Caveat- I don't have to rake the snow off my roof, so it was dealing with un-packed snow.

So I'm sure the gas ones would be an even better solution. My electric has certainly earned its $25 already.

Yeah, the packed snow off the roof thing would put more demand on a machine.  That's for sure.  Something gas powered would definitely be better.   All the more reason to look at an SS machine with the most available power.  Or, as I said, get yourself a used Craftsman/Murray/MTD  with a two cycle engine and jack up the revs.  They will move some serious snow if you spin them. 

Thanks for the replies. Can the SS machines be adjusted to prevent damage to the deck? I do have 5/4 wood down, I didn't like any of the fake wood options....

I use a single stage on my 12' x 40' deck with Trex decking and it works very well. Most SS machines have an adjustable scrapper bar on the bottom of the bucket which allows the operator to make height adjustments but the paddles are rubber anyway and don't cause any damage. The sides of the bucket are typically about a 1/2" to 1" off the deck with a new scrapper bar set at its lowest adjusted setting.