In Brief: In Brief: Are single-stage snow blowers worth it?
Single-stage snow blowers are the weakest type of snow blower. However, for areas where snowfall doesn’t accumulate to more than 10 inches daily, a single-stage snow blower is the most cost-effective option. In short, a single-stage snow blower is perfect for light-duty residential snow removal jobs.
When choosing a snow blower, there are several things you need to take into account.
First, how much snowfall does your town experience daily?
Single-stage snowblowers are designed to tackle between 8 to 12-inch-high snow mounds in a single pass, though more than 10 inches is usually pushing the limited boundaries of what the tool can do.
Another thing to keep in mind is that single-stage snow blowers are narrower than the other types and that their engines or motors won’t spit out chewed-up snow as far.
This means for those who have driveways wider than 30 feet, a single-stager might not be able to discharge snow far enough to reach the edge in a single pass.
Finally, single-stage snow blowers are not meant to chomp down on ice shards and very rarely are they capable of removing wet snow without it trickling down the discharge chute.
Their augers may not provide enough rotational force to lift and discharge heavy piles of snow at a time, unlike two- and three-stage beasts that don’t discriminate between powdery and wet patches of snow.
So, is a single-stage snow blower worth it? It can be in the right conditions.
The ideal conditions for such a machine are places where snowfall doesn’t measure more than a foot in height on a daily basis, where driveways measure less than 30 feet in width, and during the peak of winter where snow is still powdery and fluffy.
In any other condition, you may need to upgrade to a two- or three-stage snowblower.
Check out some more insights to help you decide between single and two-stage –
