Snowblower or Snowthrower, that is the question. (Wilkes-Barre, Stroudsburg: sale, buying)

[bldginpa]

Hello All,
For those of you who winter in NEPA on a regular basis, what would be the best thing to purchase? We have approx. an 80' gravel driveway to clear. I thought that instead of paying a guy to plow at $35.00 a pop, we would buy a snowblower instead. From what I see, there are two types. One has a rubber type paddle system and the other has metal auger type blades. In your experience, which one would be best for a gravel driveway? Thanks in advance for the advice.

[pocopc]

i have a craftsman it has the metal augers in the front that feed the snow into another metal auger that blows the snow out. It works fine on my gravel driveway. Be prepared to shoot some rocks the first time till you get it adjusted though. They usually have an adjustment on how close the augers get to the ground... obviously having gravel you need to raise that some vs. having a paved driveway.

[LNTT_Vacationer]

They are categorized as one stage (the paddle type) and two stage (the larger types.) Two stage blowers have a steel auger in front -- relatively slow moving to draw snow into the faster moving impeller which throws the snow. Don't know much about the single stage blowers -- good for a few inches of snow. The two stage types are more expensive and, imo, would be the only thing worth buying for a gravel Pocono driveway. Then you have to decide on HP. 7 or 8 would be reasonable.

[bldginpa]

Thank you both for the input. Hopefully, we can get a year-end clearance somewhere.

[ff18wife]

Originally Posted by bldginpa

Hello All,
For those of you who winter in NEPA on a regular basis, what would be the best thing to purchase? We have approx. an 80' gravel driveway to clear. I thought that instead of paying a guy to plow at $35.00 a pop, we would buy a snowblower instead. From what I see, there are two types. One has a rubber type paddle system and the other has metal auger type blades. In your experience, which one would be best for a gravel driveway? Thanks in advance for the advice.

Get the one with the auger type blades. Our driveway is REALLY long and gravel and hubby breezes through it with our snowblower. Not sure what size it is but it's decent.

[DE_NePA]

Originally Posted by pocopc

...i have a craftsman It works fine on my gravel driveway. ....

Wow! I just assumed you could not use one on a gravel driveway. Now that I know I can, I will be bringing mine up to my place at TT! Thanks for the education!

[DavidWebb]

I also have a Craftsman 28"/9HP snowblower with metal auger's and it just breezes through the snow as if it weren't there!! My driveway is also gravel so be careful when you use it the first. I hit the windows on my car a few times. Luckily, I didn't break anything. Got it on sale last winter at Sears in Stroudsburg for $793. If you have some fuel laying around for a while you may want to get a bottle of Stabil. You don't want any stale fuel or water in it.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by bldginpa

Thank you both for the input. Hopefully, we can get a year-end clearance somewhere.

They've already gone clearance at my Lowe's store near Wilkes-Barre. We currently have 26" two-stage Troy-Built (MTD) snow throwers for $656 if I'm not mistaken. Be sure to change the oil (5W30) after the first five hours of usage and then about once per season after that.

[bldginpa]

Thanks ScranBarre. Hubby works for HD, but he seems to think the vendors do a buyback at the end of the season. Might be better off with a local dealer.