Snow Thrower (Help with selection)

[Tim Wagner]

I ended up with a two stage craftsman. had it for a little over a year and a half now. i am surprized this post came back around after all this time.

[Leo Graywacz]

It's Fred's fault......LOL

[Rod Sheridan]

I am having trouble finding HP ratings for current models, they mostly list cc's. I believe there was some sort of legal issue about overstating HP ratings that compelled manufactures to stick to cc's (sound familiar, Shop Vacs owners?). In short, I am having trouble understanding what could be 'large enough' based on the cc measure.

Hi Augusto, I don't think anyone makes a two stage machine that's too small to be of good use.

My 5HP machine is 20" wide if I remember correctly, and it has 5 or 6 forward speeds and 2 reverse speeds.

The larger machines clear a wider path, however they need more power to do that. That power comes at the expense of weight.

Toronto gets some pretty heavy snowfalls, and I am completely happy with my smaller machine.

Regards, Rod.

P.S. Before that I had a 4HP Ariens machine, bought second hand. In total it had about 20 years of use on it.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Husquvarna has some that are maybe worth owning.
Ariens used to have a good name: I Don't know if they still do.

Prolly the ones at the Borg will do just fine.
Unless you live in serious snow country a snow thrower will get less use than a lawn mower.

[Dave Lehnert]

Talking about snow throwers..........

This would be too small for the OP but wanted to toss this out to everyone.

I live in Cincinnati. We get one or two good snows a year. a lot for us is 8" or so.
I have this Toro Electric model and is the best purchase I have ever made. Works way better than you would think. Look at the pic's on Amazon with it in use. So lite you can pick it up to clear the steps with it.
You can buy in season for around $279 from Amazon or Lowe's
http://www.amazon.com/Toro-18-Inch-E...2438369&sr=8-1


I have a 100 ft drive with a turn around and can do it in 20min with this. Clears the snow off to the pavement.

[Augusto Orosco]

Hi Augusto, I don't think anyone makes a two stage machine that's too small to be of good use.

My 5HP machine is 20" wide if I remember correctly, and it has 5 or 6 forward speeds and 2 reverse speeds.

The larger machines clear a wider path, however they need more power to do that. That power comes at the expense of weight.

Toronto gets some pretty heavy snowfalls, and I am completely happy with my smaller machine.

Regards, Rod.

P.S. Before that I had a 4HP Ariens machine, bought second hand. In total it had about 20 years of use on it.

I think I will then simply look for any good deal in a two-stage thrower. Given my limited needs on this front, that should be more than enough.

Thanks for all the input!