Single or two stage blower?

Geo-TH,In · Nov 10, 2014

My son had decided he wanted a single stage Ariens blower. Then I asked him if a single stage could handle the snow we got last year, which had a layer of snow, a layer of ice and sleet, then another layer of snow.?

That got him to thinking about how hard he worked to shovel his drive with the snow and ice combo.

So, which blower would be the best single or two stage for snow and ice mix?

Michael Soldan · Nov 10, 2014

Two stage is the only way to go with a snowblower from 28" to 8' tractor blowers. The two stage chews up the snowbank and feeds it into the blower fan making it efficient and able to handle deep snow,even slush and ice.

Geo-TH,In · Nov 10, 2014

I think Ariens even makes a 22 inch 2 stage. Son seems to be sold on Ariens. It may be the only one that comes with a 3 year warranty, unless you buy an extended warranty.

Chilidawg · Nov 10, 2014

In these parts, (NW Lower Michigan) a 24" to 28" two-stage with 8 or so HP is a popular choice. I'd most decidedly recommend a two-stage.

D beatty · Nov 10, 2014

The single stage Ariens (PATH PRO) is made only in 21" width and if you get the bigger of the two engines with electrc start they run at $600.00 and they 1 speed forward and no reverse. If you go to two stage 22" (called the Compact) with electric start they sell for $729.00. This blower has 6 speeds forward and 2 reverse and other features not found on single stage blower.

D beatty · Nov 10, 2014

All of Areins snowblowers come with 3 year warranty and thr two stage come with a 5 year warranty on the gears and gear box that runs augers.

notjustair · Nov 10, 2014

If it were me I would buy an older Ariens that has been taken care of. They don't build things like they used to. He would be happy with one of the old two stagers from them. Even if he has to buy it with a Tecumseh engine and buy one of those cheap harbor freight jobs to replace it.

LeoinMI · Nov 10, 2014

Definitely two stage is the way to go. Worked at the County Airport for 27 yr. and all we used was two stage blowers. Of course they were 475 h.p Detroit Diesel engines on the blower units that threw the snow 250 ft off the runway.We had smaller two stage blowers for sidewalks and the parking lots.

paul · Nov 10, 2014

8hp or more if you can manhandle more, 2 stage. Electric plugin option isn't an option.....

Paul

MrMark · Nov 10, 2014

Yes I agree with the 2 stage. Here is one exception. I have a John Deere STX 38 Hydro garden tractor 13 HP. Front mount blower Single stage, works great, but that auger is spinning like a turbine. Goes thru about anything and does throw it a good distance, but like I said it's really humming.

JF in MI · Nov 11, 2014

Wow! That's exactly what I did. Couldn't be happier with it.

MarkB_MI · Nov 11, 2014

A lot of guys who started out last winter with single-stage snow blowers now have two-stage. And even the two-stage blowers were having trouble by the end of February.

Dusty MI · Nov 11, 2014

(quoted from post at 20:48:59 11/10/14) Yes I agree with the 2 stage. Here is one exception. I have a John Deere STX 38 Hydro garden tractor 13 HP. Front mount blower Single stage, works great, but that auger is spinning like a turbine. Goes thru about anything and does throw it a good distance, but like I said it's really humming.

I have a 17 hp hydro Allis Chalmers garden tractor with a 38" Snow Thrower, that is what Allis calls it. It is single stage. I've used it in all kinds of snow and never plugged it.

It has 2 left and right auger flights on a large tubular shaft that brings the snow to the center. The inside ends of the flights stop about 5" apart and a flat plate fastens them together, and those 2 plates become the paddles that throw the snow up the chute.

It will even move/blow water.

Dusty

mkirsch · Nov 11, 2014

There's a huge difference between one of those little 2-cycle push snowthrowers and your big 17HP machine. You're overcoming the inefficiency of the single-stage snowthrower with brute force and momentum.

The little push snowthrowers are good for at most a few inches of powdery snow, and that's it. They just don't have the torque to handle anything significant.

IMHO he would be throwing his money away on one of those in snow country.

buickanddeere · Nov 11, 2014

No contest.

Steve A W · Nov 11, 2014

Last year My Mother in law bought Me a new Toro
21" single stage blower.
It was the newer version of the old one I had for years.
I moved a lot of snow with the old one so I figured
it would be the same.
NOT!
It seems like its just a pound or two lighter than Our suburban!
It's a bear to use, and I can't get rid of it because it was a gift.

Steve A W

Joe W. · Nov 11, 2014

I've had both and the best one depends on how it is being used. My 2-stage definitely moves more snow but it is heavy, bulky and not easy to maneuver. For smaller areas I prefer my single stage and use it most of the time. It's 5 hp, 21" wide and will move a lot of snow. It's very easy to maneuver. My small areas are my double car driveway, my sidewalk, the walks around my house and my concrete patio. The 2-stage is almost unusable for the walks around the house and the patio. I've had the single stage for about 12 years and have replaced the self-propelling rubber edged rotor twice, most recently this fall.

jeffcat · Nov 13, 2014

I have the old school type. Gravely 28" dog eater. It is two stage and I run her with a C-10 commercial machine. With powder snow or drifted the more snow the better it works. It hates wet snow as it will plug as soon as nothing is going through it. Check out the new "three" stage blowers at tractor supply. They are the CADET line made by MTD. They have an auger in the middle. Look mean!

Fatamus · Nov 15, 2014

There are Snow Throwers (two stage) and Snow Blowers (single stage). First off I have lived in Alaska for fifty years now and have used anything and everything to move snow. By far the Snow Thrower is a better machine. Any one of them can move a light dusting but when the weather really gets nasty you need to be ready for that too.
I settled on a large USA made Sears mower with a snow thrower attachment. I put about 100 hrs. on it, in a slow season, moving snow. That is why I bought an old Adams Motor Grader.
Now it never going to snow here again; but I have to make more roads this summer too.
One year I had to plow out my alternate driveway and the show pack was a heavy three feet thick It took me a week but with a little finesse I got through, it was tossing snow up to forty feet away, the wind helped.
Here is a pic of 'One Eyed Jack'.

Dusty MI · Nov 15, 2014

The Allis Chalmers one on my 917 H that I posted about above, Allis calls a "Snow Thrower" and it's a single stage. So what is the difference between a Snow Blower and a Snow Thrower?

Dusty

Fatamus · Nov 15, 2014

(quoted from post at 04:39:53 11/15/14)
The Allis Chalmers one on my 917 H that I posted about above, Allis calls a "Snow Thrower" and it's a single stage. So what is the difference between a Snow Blower and a Snow Thrower?

Dusty

A snow thrower has two stages; one stage to break and feed the next stage, called the impeller, which throws the snow with higher speed and grater force out the shoot. Where the snow blower is single stage that breaks, feeds and, with the vortex it creates, blows the snow out the shoot.

Dusty MI · Nov 15, 2014

(quoted from post at 05:09:22 11/15/14)

(quoted from post at 04:39:53 11/15/14)
The Allis Chalmers one on my 917 H that I posted about above, Allis calls a "Snow Thrower" and it's a single stage. So what is the difference between a Snow Blower and a Snow Thrower?

Dusty

Click to expand...

A snow thrower has two stages; one stage to break and feed the next stage, called the impeller, which throws the snow with higher speed and grater force out the shoot. Where the snow blower is single stage that breaks, feeds and, with the vortex it creates, blows the snow out the shoot.

So then Allis Chalmers didn't know the difference between the two.

Single or two stage blower?

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