Snowblower recommendation

[VeeDubb]

So it appears that in my neighborhood, the sidewalk police are pretty active. So I need to get a snowblower. But I want something simple and cheap. I don't want to worry about maintaining it. I came across these at Lowe's and Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stor...eCity=Lafayette

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=189499-87721-322P&lpage=none

Has anybody ever used one of these for clearing sidewalks? Are they adequate to do the job reasonably quickly?

Thanks

p.s. I live in mid-Indiana. Weather is probably comparable to Mo, IL, Mid-Ohio, Penn, etc.

 

[rg200amp]

Do you have Sears near you?

You may want to check out the Craftsman line of snowblowers.

Last time I saw them(a while now) they were very well built with a nice price.

 

[Crusader]

The little old lady across the street from me has one of these. http://www.toro.com/home/snowthrowers/electric/1800.html Seems to be productive enough for an electric model but not wimpy like those one you listed before. She hates anything gas powered.

I don't think the other units offer enough of an advantage over a shovel to be worth while and to go thought he trouble un-winding a power cord. Not basing this on experience but instinct. if seen the old lady across the way use the better unit and it seems to be fine.

Seriously I think the Toro Powerlite 2 stroke is an even better unit to get. I have one. http://www.toro.com/home/snowthrowers/gassinglestage/ccr325.htmlThese have a very trouble free reputation and all you need to do is use some Amsoil TCW 3 rated oil and it will last forever. Might have to change a spark plug 8 years from now. Keep it free of stale gas - lasts long time. Very compact unit. Handle folds back very compact.

If you have an ebay account you can do a live.com search and get 20% off. the place I bought mine from had free shipping. Way cheaper than the local dealer or even Home Depot - Lowes etc.

If you have a bad back or any other health issue just hire the neighborhood kids to shovel you walk for $5 a hit. Nothing to store or power cords to unwind etc.

 

[oilyriser]

A deep layer of rock salt should last a few weeks, at a lower cost than a snowblower, and you won't have to store it in the garage all summer. How long is the sidewalk?

 

[Gary Allan]

In the blizzard of 96 I had just bought our green painted generic 26" snowblower with a JD label. 5hp Tecumseh engine. The older guy with a 2 stroke "paddle wheel" that looked very much like the Toro ran circles around me. Light weight and very easy to handle. Meanwhile I was moving much more snow per cut/swipe ..but taking way longer. He used it like a planer/jointer on the deep stuff. Now I doubt the engine had the lifespan of my 4 stroke ..but given our frequency of use here, I doubt that it would wear out before mine needed other service/repair that his never would. I have pneumatic tires that will dry rot ..his had solid plastic wheels. I have 5 forward speeds and two reverse ..belts ..shear pins ...two stage auger ...

Getting spanked by a weed whacker ...

 

[Slick 55]

I just got my 1987 vintage Toro CCR2000 out of storage the other day. Filled up the tank with MX2T 50:1 premix, pumped the primer a few times and she started in 1 pull. I would absolutely buy another Toro.

 

[road_rascal]

The Craftsman 5HP blower (4 stroke) I bought 10 years ago is still running great. I typically do the neighbors driveways after I do mine so it gets a lot of use. OTOH, the 2 'commerical' grade 8HP Toro blowers we use at the plant are junk. The newest one had such a large gap between the impeller and housing it barely throws the snow out. I've been bugging the boss to buy one of those cheap impeller kits ($30).

 

[VeeDubb]

Thanks. Some good tips here.
I'll do some shopping this weekend and keep some of your advice in mind.

 

[IndyIan]

If you can use a shovel(no health problems, etc), that's what I'd recommend. Actually a set of 3.
2 like this

The wide one is used like a snowplow, the other for lifting and throwing if needed.
And a scoop to move alot of heavy snow any distance.

In 4-6" of fluffy stuff you can beat any blower using the plow technique, especially on a narrow sidewalk. If you really work hard you could probably beat a 5hp blower with the scoop in 8-10" of heavy stuff if you don't have big banks already.
We had a 180'x10' driveway growing up so I had lots of practice moving snow.
Ian

 

[opus1]

I've had my Toro for 7 winters now, and it's run like a champ. The only problem I had was some weird situation where the choke plate somehow fell out of the spindle and caused the machine to die once it warmed up, but once I took the thing apart, I was able to put it back together properly and haven't had a problem since.

Still trying to figure out exactly how the plate fell out because it slides into a slot that should make it impossible to fall out once it's properly in place, and I used the thing for a winter with no problems.....

 

[dwendt44]

Snow shovels?
Oh my aching back.
Never been a fan of plastic shovels. Don't do well
when faced with icy snow, slush, or hard pack.
They seem to break or crack badly when it's most
inconvenient.

 

[Papa Bear]

+1 Indylan

I have the big yellow one and Mama Bear uses the little one.

 

[mechtech2]

I like the 2 stroke TORO. Set the governor [bend] 2-400 RPM higher and it works 3 times as good as stock.

 

[andyd]

I have 2 old Ariens 2 stage blowers. I got them squared away last Saturday.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: dwendt44
Snow shovels?
Oh my aching back.
Never been a fan of plastic shovels. Don't do well
when faced with icy snow, slush, or hard pack.
They seem to break or crack badly when it's most
inconvenient.

True, I have an aluminum grain shovel for chucking, and a metal blade "plowing" shovel. I couldn't find a metal snow scoop when I had to buy my own, I considered getting our local heating duct guy to make one but he's very busy these days. So plastic will have to do. I just pulled those pics off of random websites.
Also I find the more I exercise the less my back aches...
I just find I have so many engines for various things that I don't want another one to maintain. And cheap snowblowers seem to be maintenance intensive... Re-engineering can be fun sometimes but I have enough "projects", maybe other people want one?
Ian