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

Well it was snowing this morning (enough for it to stick a bit) then turned to a slushy snow/rain mix and now its windy and about 40*F. I've only used my 2 stage once after the crazy October nor'easter. I have not even used the SS yet as it has not snowed since...

Bill_H wrote:
That's the biggest single stage snowblower I've seen yet.  How big of an area do you clear?

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.