Snow blower purchase

[PILOON]

I second Ariens as they sure make a practical and reliable machine.
To the best of my knowledge they also make a lot of private labeled units as well.
Also I like the Honda tracked machine.

Most popular I think is a 28" powered by 8-12 hp engines.
Nice sized wheels, not a bear to maneuver and choices of starting energy.
Most 'walk behinds' do suffer from, IMHO, too small skids for gravel drives but that is easily fixed.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Several folks have commented about the muscle needed to turn these things. Is that true of the ones that have selfpropelled drive and "power steering"? Part of the reason to not use the tractor is walkways and other things where the tractor is just not practical.

Edit: May of the brands advertise "effortles" turning.....

The simplest self-propelled is a solid axle; steering is accomplished by sideways muscle on the handlebars. Many self-propelled have some sort of freewheeling arrangement that makes turning a little easier. "Power steering" is probably accomplished by either a clutch or brake arrangement so power is only delivered to one wheel/track. During a test run at a dealer there is probably no snow, no side resistance, and steering is "effortless" pivoting. In snow, the snowbank will exert resistance to turning on the end of the augur housing, and additional force (muscle) will be required. One could back and fill taking small bites to remove the snow resisting the turning moment.

It may be practical to approach a neighbor or friend who has a walk-behind and will let you try it to see how that particular machine behaves when there is snow on the ground.

 

[airbiscuit]

This is counterintuitive, but when I got my tractor Rear Pull snowblower, I sold my 8hp 26" 2stage snowblower. It was always a work out to use. I later bought a small 2cycle Toro snowthrower at an on line auction for $40. I had low expectations, but I absolutely love it! It is light and easy to use. I has electric start, but I never use it. It actually clears the sidewalk cleaner than my old one. 8" of snow doesn't even tax it. It makes no sense, but I love it.

 

[TheMan419]

This is counterintuitive, but when I got my tractor Rear Pull snowblower, I sold my 8hp 26" 2stage snowblower. It was always a work out to use. I later bought a c=small 2cycle Toro snowthrower at an on line auction. I had low expectations, but I absolutely love it! It is light and easy to use. I has electric start, but I never use it. It actually clears the sidewalk cleaner than my old one. 8" of snow doesn't even tax it. It makes no sense, but I love it.

I have a machince similar to that now that I use to clear the sidewalks and other areas covered in concrete. However the drive way is gravel and way too large for a small machine like that.

Thankfully after this latest round of snow I was able to spend the morning home from work and clear snow. That likely will not always be the case. So it would be nice for the wife to have a way to get some of that done so she can get the horses out and do her work caring for them. We run a boarding barn.

 

[TheMan419]

The simplest self-propelled is a solid axle; steering is accomplished by sideways muscle on the handlebars. Many self-propelled have some sort of freewheeling arrangement that makes turning a little easier. "Power steering" is probably accomplished by either a clutch or brake arrangement so power is only delivered to one wheel/track. During a test run at a dealer there is probably no snow, no side resistance, and steering is "effortless" pivoting. In snow, the snowbank will exert resistance to turning on the end of the augur housing, and additional force (muscle) will be required. One could back and fill taking small bites to remove the snow resisting the turning moment.

It may be practical to approach a neighbor or friend who has a walk-behind and will let you try it to see how that particular machine behaves when there is snow on the ground.

This is my fear. The ones with stearing that I am looking at have basically a brake handle on each side. You want to turn left pull the left handle it will slow that wheel down and the thing will turn that way. In the promo videos it all looks so nice and effortless.....

 

[airbiscuit]

Well then, use the little one for the sidewalks and buy a snowblowewr for your Boomer24!

 

[metalbender]

Having the wheel disconnects for steering does make a huge difference in effort going down the garden path. Makes it right quick at the end of the driveway to spin around to change directions. My Cub Cadet has this feature, was great in the city.

 

[RjCorazza]

This is counterintuitive, but when I got my tractor Rear Pull snowblower, I sold my 8hp 26" 2stage snowblower. It was always a work out to use. I later bought a small 2cycle Toro snowthrower at an on line auction for $40. I had low expectations, but I absolutely love it! It is light and easy to use. I has electric start, but I never use it. It actually clears the sidewalk cleaner than my old one. 8" of snow doesn't even tax it. It makes no sense, but I love it.

I wrote those small single stage blowers off as too small for years. Now I think they're great! I use them for sidewalks, back patio, and around cars. I've never done a side to side test on larger areas, but I suspect my 22" single stage would keep up with the 2 stage 30" blower based on travel speed... At least in light to moderate snow.
They are certainly easier to handle.

 

[oldnslo]

I believe most Ariens 2 stage blower have a spring loaded pin on the right wheel that you pull and rotate to unlock the wheels so they can turn independently. This makes a big difference in how hard they turn. Down side is in slippery conditions you have one wheel drive but simply turn pin turn blower a little side to side, pin engages and now you are back to solid axle both wheels drive. I rarely engaged two wheel drive feature in the years I had an Ariens.

I have used my friends power steering Cub and found it cumbersome and awkward to operate but I am sure with more use it would become easier to operate.

 

[MossRoad]

This is counterintuitive, but when I got my tractor Rear Pull snowblower, I sold my 8hp 26" 2stage snowblower. It was always a work out to use. I later bought a small 2cycle Toro snowthrower at an on line auction for $40. I had low expectations, but I absolutely love it! It is light and easy to use. I has electric start, but I never use it. It actually clears the sidewalk cleaner than my old one. 8" of snow doesn't even tax it. It makes no sense, but I love it.

The one in that video is 4-stroke. My in-laws have one. It works great on pavement as the rubber paddles make it almost self propelled, which is great....

Except for the OP, as he had two specific questions:
Grass and gravel.

This blower that grabs the pavement and pulls itself along so well also grabs the grass and tends to dig in and stop (I blow an area in the grass for the in-law's dog, and have to use a lot of down pressure to keep the paddles out of the grass, which means I have to physically push it through the snow; no fun), and it grabs gravel really well, too.

If it was just paved areas, I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. It's a fantastic unit.