Today, snow blowers or snow throwers are replacing the good old shovel also in private homes. This time of year it comes in handy for many people, but some consider it too big of an investment. I would like to take a look at some different types of snowblowers in order to highlight the variety that is actually available. There are very reasonable choices to be made whether you only want to clear your front lawn faster or have fields of snow to uncover! This review of snow blowers will help you choose the right product!
SNOWBLOWER ENGINE TYPES
Snowblowers can be electric, or run on diesel or gasoline. The power is used to get the snow into the machine and to throw it out (hence ’snow thrower’). This also makes up the difference between snowblowers and regular snow plows.
SINGLE-STAGE AND DUAL-STAGE SNOWBLOWERS
Snowblowers are often divided into single-stage and dual-stage snowblowers. Single-stage snowblowers are often smaller, and has its name from the fact that both snow intake and output is done by a single impeller (a type of rotor).
Usually the single-stage snowblower can only cover a small and shallow area, but it can also be effective for larger jobs, as seen in snowblower attachments for trains. The high-speed all-in-one mechanism of the single-stage blower is effective in such a situation.
Dual-stage snowblowers are nevertheless more common than single-stage ones. The first of the two stages referred to in the name is the breaking up of the snow after intake. Augers (rotating helical flightings) take care of this job, as well as moving the snow to the impeller. In the second stage the impeller then blows the snow out of the discharge chute. The separation into two stages thus makes it possible to clear larger areas of snow – depending of course on the size of the snowblower itself.
TYPES OF SNOWBLOWERS
Snowblowers come in a great variety of sizes, shapes and types. First of all, engine power varies from a few horsepower machines for home use to a thousand horsepower diesel engines. However, the engine size is usually chosen so as to be able to manage the jobs that the specific type of snowblower will bump into, so let us rather look at these types of snowblowers.
I want to mention three types of snowblowers. The first is the walk behind snowblower. The name says it all, really, and this is perhaps the most common snowblower for home use. Both single-stage and dual-stage walk behind snowblowers exist, and this can be a reasonable yet very effective choice.
Then there is the riding snowblower, which is similar to riding lawn mowers. This is a dedicated snowblower vehicle, yet still relatively small in size. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and for use on larger areas this is the natural choice.
Last, and definitively not least, is the snowblower attachment for use on tractor and tractor-like vehicles. These are some of the largest snowblowers, yet still often represent a very reasonable choice, because it is an attachment and not a dedicated vehicle. If you need to clear large areas, and own or plan to purchase a tractor or other vehicle that will support a snowblower attachment, this will probably be the way to go.
There is thus reasonable choices to be made in all the categories of snowblowers, and thinking through your needs beforehand can help in picking the right one for you. I hope that this review of snow blowers has been helpful to you in making your choice!