Snowblowers.

[techs]

I think it will be my responsibility to shovel the snow at my new place. Not only for me but the very nice senior citizen who lives downstairs.
Its an average size house with a two car garage in the Northeast.

I was thinking of a snow blower?
Electric or gas? How much? What brands are good? Where to buy?

Blow away.

Thanks

 

[Arkitech]

Just shovel it, it's great cardiovascular exercise. We get a lot of snow in Chicago, so I can always count on a good winter time workout.

 

[rh71]

Well I got one of the low/middle-tier ones for something under $300 figuring I just have a 1-car driveway and some sidewalks... while it does its job, you still need to put some good effort into it. Unless the snow is freshly-fallen, it jams with wet snow or it simply doesn't move despite it being self-propelling. If you're gonna spend the money, I suggest you go for one that's worth its weight... and those run at least $500... mostly $800+. It depends how often it snows by you.

 

[bunker]

Stay away from electric, they're good for about 1/2 inch of powdery snow and that's it.
I bought a $400 Toro last year and it works great. It's a bit tough to get the crap the plow throws up on the driveway, but it gets the job done.

 

[SKORPI0]

Just shovel it, it's great cardiovascular exercise. We get a lot of snow in Chicago, so I can always count on a good winter time workout.

Been doing it for the last 15 years in my driveway (22'x75') on a hill. Usually takes me 2 hours to remove a foot of snow.

http://img687.imageshack.us/i/img0515w.jpg/

 

[lxskllr]

Just shovel it, it's great cardiovascular exercise. We get a lot of snow in Chicago, so I can always count on a good winter time workout.

I have back problems, and shoveling snow screws my back up. I leave the snow where it lays, or shovel the minimum necessary to get in and out with 4WD.

 

[IronWing]

I shoveled my share of snow while growing up in the great white north. My parents finally bought a snow blower when I left for college (weird coincidence huh?). I found the blower to be almost as much work as shoveling. The blower was a gasoline powered Toro and never had any problems with jamming and lasted for years. My parents' driveway was much like Skorpio's with one shared side so all the snow had to go to the other side making for longer throws. If the wind was up and the snow fine, the blower was about useless as the snow just fell back on the driveway.

 

[Arkitech]

I have back problems, and shoveling snow screws my back up. I leave the snow where it lays, or shovel the minimum necessary to get in and out with 4WD.

ahh I see, in that case a snowblower is your best bet. either that or a nephew you can hire for cheap

 

[MotF Bane]

Gasoline, and expect to spend $500+. If you get very heavy snow, you might need to do layers still. Look for something with a big motor and a long adjustable chute, it'll help blast the snow to wherever you want it.

 

[techs]

Gasoline, and expect to spend $500+. If you get very heavy snow, you might need to do layers still. Look for something with a big motor and a long adjustable chute, it'll help blast the snow to wherever you want it.

thanks

 

[sdifox]

What is the size of the driveway? If it is the fluffy snow, I usually just shovel it. If it is the heavy stuff, I pull out the 10.5hp 2 stage snowblower.

 

[chusteczka]

I have back problems, and shoveling snow screws my back up. I leave the snow where it lays, or shovel the minimum necessary to get in and out with 4WD.

Your back problems may prevent you from being able to push that snow blower through the snow.

 

[Newbian]

Your back problems may prevent you from being able to push that snow blower through the snow.

So get one that you don't need to push at all.

Will run you a bit more but they are so much nicer if you are doing a large area.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

I'm from the Northeast, where we regularly get snowstorms during the winter that bring down 1-2 feet. My family has had a decent, gas-powered blower for as long as I can remember for our wide, inclined driveway. If you get a decent one, it will power through just about anything (ice-covered snow, wet snow, fine stuff), but the throwing ability will depend based on what it's going through. If you have a big driveway, don't skimp on the snowblower - you want one that throws it outside the perimeter, rather than making you throw the same stuff twice. A little one will also likely get jammed during a big storm when it can't handle the amount of heavy stuff that it's taking in.

 

[hzl eyed grl]

Snowblowers remind me of this: "Hey laser lips, your mother was a snowblower!" From Short Circuit

 

[Colt45]

electric? If that works, you don't actually need a snow blower.

Hell, I usually can't be arsed to haul the thing out unless it snows a foot... otherwise shoveling is fine... by the time you dig the thing out and start it up, you could have shovelled half the driveway.

 

[theblackbox]

i use a snowplow on my atv. hard for a bower to keep up when it breaks 3 feet.

 

[ra1nman]

I too have a driveway that butts up with our neighbors. Whenever it snows, we can't simply push the snow next to the house. We have to push the snow to either ends of the driveway. I sprung for a singe-stage snowblower (4-cycle) last year and it worked just fine. However the heavy snow pushed from the snowplows had to be done by shovel.

 

[preCRT]

Where in the ''northeast"?

In eastern MA, with a long driveway, you'd need a minimum of 5 hp, gas, 2 stage thrower. An 8hp is better.

Ariens is one of the better brands.


Just look for metal discharge chute, the newer plastic chutes are crap & crack.

 

[BoomerD]

WTF is this "snow" of which you speak?

Sounds like very unpleasant stuff.



I lived in snow country most of my life. I hate the stuff.

While shoveling snow can be a good cardio workout, it's also a very common cause of back problems...especially in folks who aren't in good shape to begin with.

 

[MotF Bane]

Your back problems may prevent you from being able to push that snow blower through the snow.

I've never seen a snowblower that wasn't self-propelled.

electric? If that works, you don't actually need a snow blower.

Hell, I usually can't be arsed to haul the thing out unless it snows a foot... otherwise shoveling is fine... by the time you dig the thing out and start it up, you could have shovelled half the driveway.

Keep it in a better location. Ours sits in a two car garage right between the doors. Takes about a minute to get it started and moving out.

I too have a driveway that butts up with our neighbors. Whenever it snows, we can't simply push the snow next to the house. We have to push the snow to either ends of the driveway. I sprung for a singe-stage snowblower (4-cycle) last year and it worked just fine. However the heavy snow pushed from the snowplows had to be done by shovel.

Push down on your snowblower handles, bringing the nose off the ground. Cut into the snowplowed crap. Once it stops shooting, back up, drop back to level, and finish. Should work.

Where in the ''northeast"?

In eastern MA, with a long driveway, you'd need a minimum of 5 hp, gas, 2 stage thrower. An 8hp is better.

Ariens is one of the better brands.

Just look for metal discharge chute, the newer plastic chutes are crap & crack.

Techs is in Vermont. Agreed on the Ariens, and for Eastern MA. They make plastic chutes? That's ridiculous.

 

[techs]

Techs is in Vermont. Agreed on the Ariens, and for Eastern MA. They make plastic chutes? That's ridiculous.

I can get one at the dollar store, right?

 

[MotF Bane]

Techs is in Vermont. Agreed on the Ariens, and for Eastern MA. They make plastic chutes? That's ridiculous.

I can get one at the dollar store, right?

Sure. It'll look something like this though.

 

[sdifox]

Techs is in Vermont. Agreed on the Ariens, and for Eastern MA. They make plastic chutes? That's ridiculous.

I can get one at the dollar store, right?

plastic chute is not much of an issue, it is just directing the blown snow.

My snowblower was 1k if I remember.

 

[PingSpike]

I've got a Toro 10hp with a plastic chute. It has an extra warrenty on the chute because people have a bad opinion of them. I've had zero problems with it, and I regularly launch gravel and ice chunks out of it. I even once blasted a chunk of asphalt the size of my fist out of the thing. (Again, by accident).

My driveway is 10-12ft wide, about about 160ft long and then there's a parking area that is about say 50x40. It takes me maybe 15 minutes to cut an escape route and enough room to launch my car up to speed (It goes up hill) with this guy. I tend to drive it a little slower if there's a ton of snow though. I clean the whole place up on the weekend if it needs it, including all the walks and a parking area at the top of the hill. That can take awhile.

I've never had it clog or stall, but I run it slow when the snow is deep and when I'm biting off the plow heap at the end of the road. If we're getting multiple feet, I will try to hit it in the middle of the storm though.

My only complaints with it are the one of the tires has a slow leak I've been to lazy to fix and the engine runs like shit. Always starts, plenty of power and never stalls...but its loud as fuck and runs rough.