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

My driveway is about 120', and 40' wide at the top, plus a turnaround. That's a 48" x 15" blower. I love the single stage, it moves massive amounts of snow very quickly (look at the size of that chute) and anyone with a Toro will tell you how good they are with slush. It can't throw completely across the wide part, but it's really no extra work if I have to reblow it. I start in the center and blow out so I don't end up with snow landing on already cleared areas.

Nice. Like FrankMA said, we got a bit of snow this morning, then it rained most of the day. When I got home, there wasn't even an inch on the driveway. Which meant there was plenty to try my "new" SS :) (hey, what can I say, we haven't gotten any snow in 2 months)

Got to fire the little guy up. Started on the first pull, which was nice. I've never used a SS before, and there seems to be a bit of a learning curve. At times I think I was pulling up too much on the handle, 'cause it was kind of zipping itself along. I have to say, I thought it was kind of cool. Granted, there was hardly any snow, so it wasn't a perfect test.

Pros:
-It's fast if the conditions allow, it'll move as fast as you want it to. Faster than a 2-stage would go. The speed also helped to keep the paddles full, given the tiny amount of slushy snow. If nothing else, maybe it will be handy for the little storms, like people say.
-It's super-maneuverable. Was kind of funny just swinging it around at the end of a run. Very different than a 200-lb fixed-axle 2-stage.
-It also cleared right down to the pavement, unlike a 2-stage.

Cons:
-The handle vibrates a *lot* (the little 2-stroke engine is not well balanced). Granted, I wasn't wearing gloves, which might have helped isolate my hands from it a bit. I wonder if I could put some rubber between the upper and lower handles where they join...
-Oil smell on my clothes. I'd forgotten about that. Would make it tougher to use quickly before work.
-Not very powerful, I'm sure. Mine is only 3hp. But if I'm low on power, I might try boraticus' trick of cranking up the RPM's.

@RedOctobyr

What single stage machine do you have?

Bill_H wrote:
That's a serious blower for the area that you're clearing.  Those augers looks like one to drill onto the ground.  I'm surprised you haven't rig an electric chute and deflector controls on that Toro blower yet, just for convenience.  Although I really like the solid mechanicals of that blower.

aa335, it's a little Ariens SS322. 3 hp, 98cc Tecumseh 2-stroke, 22" cut.

RedOctobyr wrote:
That's the same engine on a 16"  Toro Powerlite.  Underpowered when used on a 22" wide snowblower.  Not sure why such a small engine was used on that Ariens, seems to perform more like a snow broom than a snowblower.

There was also a SS522, with a 5hp Tecumseh, mounted in the same machine. Alas, this has the smaller engine. But for free, it's 3hp more than a shovel It will still have more power than the electric I was using for the deck (Toro Powercurve 1800, 18", which did surprisingly well in the big storms last winter). And if I need more oomph out of it, I can try revving it higher.

Edit- That said, it is admittedly kind of funny that my 8 hp 24" 2-stage has 4 hp/ft, while the little SS only has 1.6 hp/ft. Only 40% of the power of the 2-stage, but 90% of the clearing width. Something tells me it will bog down a little more easily. That's OK, bigger storms will get the bigger machine.

I should be jealous about snow but it is nice not having to blow the snow.  No major snow for another few weeks and we got lucky this week.

We got maybe 1-2" of light fluffy stuff overnight. Gave me an excuse to try the little SS again. Granted, this storm played right to its strong suit (a mild storm, with very lightweight snow). But it was really nice. It was quicker than using the 2-stage (or a pusher shovel), not to mention easier. It was blowing as quickly as I wanted to walk with it, so it was actually really fast (my legs have a faster forward speed than my 2-stage does). This was the kind of storm where a 6hp, 30" machine would do great. You didn't need much power, just speed. So it was perfect. I can see why people like having 1 of each, if it's practical.

I'm in Chicago suburbs.  Snow is coming down steadily, expecting 5-8" inches total by midnight.  It's the heavy, easy to pack type of snow.  Good thing it's snowing like this on Friday.  No rush to snowblow and the kids can play outside tomorrow. 

Now the big question is which snowblower to use tomorrow.  :)  I also have a 30" wide poly show pusher bought last winter that hasn't seen much action.