snowblower vs snowplow (Grand Rapids: house, to buy, maintenance)

[burkdog24]

Hey everybody I need some advice from you experienced snow experts of the North.......I'm from Tennessee and never had to experience any real big snow storms in my life. The most snow I ever dealt with was like 4-6 inches once a year (maybe if even that much) I just moved to Grand Rapids for work and I will be here for the next 3 yrs. I have a landscaper who will plow my driveway for 200 bucks a season. But I was wondering if it would be better to buy a snowblower for 600 bucks. I figured I could sell it on craigslist for 300 bucks when I leave as long as I take good care of it. I have a long driveway about 70 foot long. What do you all do ? I never lived this far North so I have zero experience when it comes to living in a city that averages 73 inches of snow a year. Thank you !

[rotwein]

Sit in your warm house drinking coffee and let the landscaper do his work. $200 is a good price.

[chh]

I'd prefer getting a snowblower, often here you have to remove snow every day or every other day (especially if your driveway is steep). Your landscaper might not be available whenever you need it, I'd think it'd be easier to get a snowblower.

[michigan83]

Other things to think about:

Snowblowing will force you to actually spend time outside in the snow. This can be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. If it's windy, the snow will end up all over you. That's not fun. It isn't super strenuous, but it is exercise. I think snowblowing is fun, but I'm weird.

You can sit inside and watch your driveway get plowed. If the weather is really nasty, you will be happy about that.

Snowblowing is more "neat and tidy" than plowing. Plows scrape up the lawn, push rocks and gravel into the yard, and damage curbs sometimes. In late winter, the plows sometimes have a hard time finding places to push the snow. With a snowblower, you can blow the snow wherever you want. If your driveway is paved, a snowblower can leave a very clean driveway behind. Plows don't get things quite as clean, which can lead to ice buildup.

A snowblower requires gas and maintenance work. They break sometimes and won't start sometimes. When you pay someone to plow, Maintenance isn't your problem.

Good luck with your decision!

[magellan]

I used to enjoy being outside and snowblowing (we also have a 70 foot driveway) but one season of having a plow service and I'll never go back. I even sold my snowblower after not using it for two years.

Here's an illustration:

Snowblower: you wake up at your regular time, look out and there's 8 inches of snow on your driveway, and you're like SH*T and don't have time to do it, so you drive through it and hope you or your significant other don't get stuck, and it leaves hard packed tracks that iron themselves to the driveway for pretty much the rest of the season, and then you have to snowblow when you get home later, which means you either park on the street so you don't iron even more tracks in the snow, or you drive across it and say screw it. 5 - 7 days later, repeat, until March. By that time, you have a hard packed layer of ice that never leaves your driveway from constantly driving over the snow and packing it down into the concrete or asphalt. You'll be scraping it with an ice pick in March when the big thaws come.

Snowplow service: you're woken by the sounds of a snowplow scraping your driveway, sometimes as early as 4 or 5 am. And you think, "huh, must've snowed pretty hard last night", you look out the window to a winter wonderland of snow draped trees, and you go back to sleep. You wake up at your regular time, and pull out of your nicely cleaned driveway like a boss.


That's my experience anyway.

As michigan83 mentioned, they almost always scrape up my grass, and finding places to put the snow becomes challenging as the season moves into late January and February. But a good service will come back and repair the lawn in the Spring.

If you want, look for a used one-stage snowblower and snowblow your sidewalk this winter, and see how you like it. It's basically like mowing the lawn, 8 inches deep.

Welcome to West Michigan!

[Zenstyle]

From an economic and ecological point of view:

The snow plow service wins out. Here's why.
1. You're providing business to someone who needs it.
2. You won't be needlessly wasting money on a snowblower, which is expensive and wastes resources.
3. Selling the snowblower for $300 at the end of your stay isn't a sure thing, and you'll spare yourself the hassle.

[burkdog24]

Thank you everyone for the great advice....Snowplow service it is !