Snowblower Help – Which Type?

I live close to Boston city. We get abt 40" of snow annually with an avg. snowfall of 5-6" with some more than 8". I live in a town house & dont have a lot of space - 1 car wide, and 2 cars long. But the problem is our garage is below the house & we have a sloping driveway up to the street. The driveway is pretty steep & if not properly cleared my car just skids & cannot get out.

I have been doing a lot of research & can't decide between a gas powered one-stage, like the Honda HS520 or a gas powered two-stage, like a small Ariens: 624E or even the 824E.

My questions:

1) Is the two stage an over kill for a small snowfall of 1 to 2 inches? What do you do with a big machine in small snowfall?
2) Two stage is much bulkier/heavier than the one stage, which will be easier to control getting up the fairly steep driveway?
3) I need to clear down to the asphalt which type will be better?
4) I don't mind spending the money once and having this with me for the next 20 yrs.

Thanks in advance

Comments

2 Responses to “Snowblower Help – Which Type?”
  1. Terry B says:
    August 6, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    You wouldn’t buy a 2 stage if the average snow was 2". That’s throwing too much weight around. If you really get an average of 5 to 6" consistently, the two stage might be the way to go. There are a couple of drawbacks:

    1- You have a small space. Most two stages tend to be bigger in my area. You could have a mobility problem. If the drive is steep, a two stage, which is probably self propelled, is still going to be hard to control going down and could slide going up.

    2-Most of the two stages I’ve seen have steel augers. There is a potential for cutttng the asphalt. Most single stages have blades edged with rubber. They don’t completely scrape the surface but then it also doesn’t scape the surface. You can finish it off with a thin app of sodium chloride (rock salt) which, if properly applied, doesn’t damage seasoned asphalt.

    3- When you use a two stage, you are usually throwing a lot of weight around. When I was doing commercial snow removal, we only used two stage blowers for long, straight walkways. We found the manuverability of a single stage more valuable than the weight and power of a two stage. If you have that small of an area to do, a second run during a 6" fall wouldn’t seem that big of a deal.

    4- Although the money isn’t a main consideration, why overspend on something you are going to use about 6 to 8 times a year?

    5- If you get a 2 stage blower, it’s going to a lot heavier in 20 yrs. And if someone with a build slighter than yours is going to use it, they would probably prefer the single stage.

    In short, I’d get a single stage with a motor in the higher hp range to compensate for increased depth. (4.5 hp)

  2. Lawnboy says:
    August 6, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    Boston city, as in Boston, MA? If so, we get similar snow, as I live in Franklin, MA.

    Both will do equally well in fluffy snow. However, if you get very wet snow, like the last storm, the one-stage machines cannot handle it. They clog with slush. So, get the bigger machine. They’re self-propelled, or at least yours should be for that slope.

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