| Description: | When deciding whether to buy one, consider how much snow you get in an average winter and how big an area you need to clear around your home to get your car on the road safely.Depending on where you live, a snow blower can be either a nice luxury or an absolute necessity. If you have a short driveway and a garage attached to your house, you might be able to get away with a decent snow shovel. Or if you live in an area that rarely gets pummeled by winter storms, you may be better off saving the money you’d spend on a snow blower and hiring a plow truck once or twice a winter to dig you out. But if you get three or more big snowstorms per year, or can’t afford to get trapped in your house while you wait for a plow service, a snow blower is definitely for you. Choose the Right Snow Blower The snow blowers in our ratings range in price from about $200 to over $3,000. Features and size dictate price; here’s what you need to consider when zeroing in on the kind of snow blower that’ll serve you best. Snow Blower Stages All snow blowers use an auger to suck up snow from the ground and discharge it through a chute. On single-stage snow blowers, the corkscrew-shaped auger is the only device moving snow. Two-stage models have an auger but also use an impeller, which is a fan that helps force collected snow from the back of the auger, out through the discharge chute. The impeller helps two-stage models collect snow faster and send it farther. Three-stage models have an auger and impeller but add something called an accelerator, which helps force collected snow from the auger to the impeller. These machines can clear the fastest and throw the farthest. Single-stage machines tend to be the worst performers, and we recommend only a handful of models. Power Source
The vast majority of snow blowers use gasoline engines, and these models perform the best. You’ll find some corded electric models, which can be used with an extension cord up to 100 feet from your home, but none perform well enough for us to recommend. A small but growing number of battery-powered electric models are also available, but most lack the power to clear heavy snow. Wheels vs. Tracks The majority of snow blowers are wheeled, including all single-stage models and most two- and three-stage models. For single-stage models, the user pushes or pulls the snow blower. On two-stage and three-stage machines, the wheels are powered by the engine, making those tools better-suited for clearing large areas, where you’d get tired of pushing and pulling. Some two- and three-stage snow blowers have tracks, like those on a tank, in place of wheels. They’re better for hills and steep driveways because they dramatically boost traction, but they tend to be more difficult to turn on level terrain. |
