Snowblower two augers or one

[wjkrostek]

Do any of you have experience using single and double auger snowblowers. I am looking for a snowblower and the double auger ones are hundreds more but are they worth it? I need to do plow berms and snow drifts that are 3 ft or more. I use a double auger now and it seems to work fine but would a single do as good?

 

[Mark Page]

With 3 feet of snow I would think a single auger blower would not be tall enough to get it all. You'd likely have make a second pass. I have a single auger Lucknow thats good to about 24 inches. Go slow and let the fan clear itself. If I already had a double auger machine I'd sure hang onto it. Better to have and not need...........

 

[wjkrostek]

With 3 feet of snow I would think a single auger blower would not be tall enough to get it all. You'd likely have make a second pass. I have a single auger Lucknow thats good to about 24 inches. Go slow and let the fan clear itself. If I already had a double auger machine I'd sure hang onto it. Better to have and not need...........

I have a double now but was thinking of getting another one so I don't need to be on the road so much. it will be on a different tractor 15 miles away. but the doubles are almost $1000 more than a single and I don't know if it's worth that much more. I've never used a single so I have nothing to compare it to. We don't get 2 ft of snow at once but i do need to do drifts and plow berms. they get high and hard. I'd hate to buy a single and be sorry. it seems thats a lot of money for an auger but someone must like them better of some reason or they wouldn't make them.

If you rented yourself and snowblower out to do others property what would you think a fair price would be by the hour. 60 hp tractor and 87 inch blower. Most people up here plow until there is no place for the snow then they call me to move the pile so it's just not a little drive way with fresh snow. Some drives are 1/4 mile.

 

[Mark Page]

In these parts 24" of snow gets people in a panic. I clear my own drive 1200 ft., and 2 others when the snow gets deep. They are both around 1,000 feet plus barn yards and around out buildings. I charge a flat $100 which people are happy to pay, especially the horse set. For me it's fun so I really don't care what they pay. Home owners are happy to pay about anything.
A 24" snow fall will shut Baltimore down for days. In the city they use wheeled loaders and dump trucks to clear the narrow older streets and dump the snow into the harbor.
Don't charge by the hour charge by the job.

 

[wjkrostek]

In these parts 24" of snow gets people in a panic. I clear my own drive 1200 ft., and 2 others when the snow gets deep. They are both around 1,000 feet plus barn yards and around out buildings. I charge a flat $100 which people are happy to pay, especially the horse set. For me it's fun so I really don't care what they pay. Home owners are happy to pay about anything.
A 24" snow fall will shut Baltimore down for days. In the city they use wheeled loaders and dump trucks to clear the narrow older streets and dump the snow into the harbor.
Don't charge by the hour charge by the job.

I'm with you with the fun part and I have been charging 75/hr and they have to pay travel time at the same rate. Sometime I have to drive 10 miles one way to get there and it still takes less than an hour for most people and I'm not charging enough because they almost always tip extra because they feel they aren't getting ripped off. But when you think of what it cost to run and buy a 50 or 60 hp tractor and another 5,000 (and a lot more for shipping) for the snow blower I think I'm doing it for free. I'm just trying to get a feel for what is a fare charge. Of course I already have the tractors and snow blower but one day they will need to be replaced and or repaired.