# Snowblower Advice



## joed (Dec 26, 2001)

Here's what I have to clear at my home:
1600 sq feet of driveway and patio, all made up of interlock stone.

Here are the snowblowers I'm looking at:

Single Stage

1. Honda 520- $999 Canadian
2. Toro 221Q- $689 Canadian

2 Stage Blower

1. Ariens 926 DLE- 9 hp Tecumseh OHV engine, 26" cut, $2000 Cdn., pro model

2. Toro 1128- 11 hp Tecumseh OHV egnine, 28" cut, $2400 Canadian.

3. Honda 928- 9 hp Honda GXV engine, hydro tranny, 28" cut, wheeled blower not track, $2600 Canadian.

These 2 stage blowers might be overkill for me so I'm also looking at:

1. Ariens 927 LE

2. Toro 826LE and 828LE


I'm leaning towards the single stage units but I'm worried about:

1. Ability to clear heavy snow, especially the junk left by the snow plow.

2 Stages are also a strong possiblity but:
a) Worried about damage to my interlock bricks with the blades.

Could anyone offer any suggestions or advice?


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## elite1msmith (Sep 10, 2007)

the tecumseh is a good cold weather engine, i have seen few problems,

i run toros , but not much experiance to compair to other brands


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## Camden (Mar 10, 2007)

joed;570168 said:


> 3. Honda 928- 9 hp Honda GXV engine, hydro tranny, 28" cut, wheeled blower not track, $2600 Canadian.


I own the tracked version of this machine and I can't say enough about it. It can literally throw snow 50'. It doesn't get plugged up no matter how wet the snow is and the engine is second to none. Under a load it's cool to listen to the motor purrrr 

I did have to take it in to be serviced at the end of last season because I took a bearing out but other than that all I've done to it is basic maintenance every year and it just keeps going and going.


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## joed (Dec 26, 2001)

Thanks for the advice...keep it coming.

Any advantage for an OHV engine vs a side valve or L head engine?


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## 26543 (Jan 28, 2008)

Id go with the 2 stage Honda, nothing runs like a Honda, single stage blowers are not good for much JMO. Honda is worth the extra few bucks.


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## 04superduty (Jan 9, 2004)

it depends on how much snow you get each event. i had a single stage for my drive but had to get a 2 stage to deal with the 3ft high burm the plow trucks would leave. i got the smallest 2 stage ariens that still allows you to adjust the chute on the move with the lever crank thing. 
oh yeah, on a 2 stage you can set the skids on the side of the blower so the cutting edge does not touch your pavers.


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## randym99 (Oct 20, 2008)

I fully agree the honda is the way to go A buddy of mine has two differant width tracked type blowers.Has had few troubles with either machine and they are OLD!! Must have been some of the first ones produced with tracks.They don,t tend to dig in as quickly with the load spread out on the track(good for your stones) Also you could add a pc of plastic(old snow scraper) or rubber where the steel blade is now.Wouldn,t cut as well but less chance of damaged stones.Hope this helps.Randy


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