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snow blower advice for Toronto

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  • Dec 17th, 2017 6:08 pm
Newbie
Jan 2, 2007
5 posts
Toronto

snow blower advice for Toronto

I am looking at buying a new snowblower. For the past few seasons I have been using a battery powered snow joe. I find it a little underwhelming when the snow is a little wet or when there is a more significant snowfall. Anyone in Toronto knows that the winters here are not that bad (as compared to other Cdn cities) so some of the time the electric one I had has been good enough, but not great.

I live in midtown Toronto and am plowing a driveway that is 2 car widths wide and can fit 4 cars total. There is a slight slope to the driveway. I am trying to decide between a single stage gas and a two stage gas snowblower. I understand the functional differences between them so I don't need any explanation on that front.

What I want to know is from those that have a single stage gas, do they find it has enough power to reasonably get through a Toronto winter? Has anyone used a single and then a two stage and can speak to their experience? Given the size and cost difference between single and two stage, I want to make sure I really need the two stage type.
12 replies
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jun 12, 2007
20806 posts
6622 upvotes
London
How big a windrow does the snowplow leave behind?

I think the go-to machine is the Toro 721 single stage unless you have a huge windrow to move
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jul 30, 2007
33236 posts
21164 upvotes
Toronto
I have single stage for the last 20 yrs (2 cars length x 3 cars wide driveway) and it can perform the clearing in most cases. The only time it cannot perform is heavy wet snow or clearing a blocked driveway after the street plow came by. In this case, manual shoveling is the only solution. If you don’t have any back issue, I think one stage would work for you
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 14, 2008
2249 posts
858 upvotes
Minden
I did use a two stage snowblower until it failed. I purchased a single stage Toro and the this will be my third winter with it. My opinion is that it works better than a two stage. It clears snow right down to the asphalt or paving stones, as opposed to the two stage that leave a skim coat of snow.

A single stage is plenty strong enough for Toronto winters. My brother who lives in North Bay purchased one at the start of last year, and he says it works perfectly for him, and they get way more snow than we do down here.
Sr. Member
Dec 4, 2009
837 posts
875 upvotes
Flamborough
I’ve had a Toro single stage going on 10 years. Still starts on the first pull, every fall... best $500 I ever spent.
Deal Fanatic
Mar 17, 2004
5580 posts
1106 upvotes
Toronto
i have the smallest size Toro single stage. works good enough
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 13, 2002
2939 posts
580 upvotes
Todd96srv wrote: I’ve had a Toro single stage going on 10 years. Still starts on the first pull, every fall... best $500 I ever spent.
Ditto. 10 years next month, and mine also always starts on 1st pull, including the other day during 1st use of the season. However that was the old Briggs 2-cycle engine, and a few years after I got mine they switched to Chinese 4-cycle engines for eco reasons, and their "Guaranteed to start" warranty changed considerably as a result. I love the single stage's speed and maneuverability and the fact that it doesn't throw snow miles, just far enough. It loves 15-20cm snow depth but 3-5cm snowfalls are frequent quick runabouts that beat using the shovel both in effort and time. End of driveway and megastorm 30cm+ snowfalls are no problem if you go out midstorm, and even if you don't, modifying your method of attack will take care of both. I run circles around my neighbours with their large 2-stage blowers. I have always regretted not having Toro's QuickShoot feature, which was added the year after I got mine - it makes directing snow coming out of the chute easy and changeable on the fly, while the non QS manual control that I have requires reaching, tilting, or stopping to adjust.

Non-engine wise, I've replaced the paddles once, the scraper bar once, the drive belt once (melted it while clearing 2ft depth of snow on a pond), and the governor spring and a cover bolt which I lost last season. I think that's pretty good. There's some rust forming on the outer bucket and even under the cover so at the end of this season I'll sand it down and respray with Tremclad spray paint. But I fully expect it to last at least another 10 years thanks to routine maintenance and the use of ethanol-free fuel (Shell 91).
Deal Fanatic
Mar 17, 2004
5580 posts
1106 upvotes
Toronto
RenegadeX wrote: Ditto. 10 years next month, and mine also always starts on 1st pull, including the other day during 1st use of the season. However that was the old Briggs 2-cycle engine, and a few years after I got mine they switched to Chinese 4-cycle engines for eco reasons, and their "Guaranteed to start" warranty changed considerably as a result. I love the single stage's speed and maneuverability and the fact that it doesn't throw snow miles, just far enough. It loves 15-20cm snow depth but 3-5cm snowfalls are frequent quick runabouts that beat using the shovel both in effort and time. End of driveway and megastorm 30cm+ snowfalls are no problem if you go out midstorm, and even if you don't, modifying your method of attack will take care of both. I run circles around my neighbours with their large 2-stage blowers. I have always regretted not having Toro's QuickShoot feature, which was added the year after I got mine - it makes directing snow coming out of the chute easy and changeable on the fly, while the non QS manual control that I have requires reaching, tilting, or stopping to adjust.

Non-engine wise, I've replaced the paddles once, the scraper bar once, the drive belt once (melted it while clearing 2ft depth of snow on a pond), and the governor spring and a cover bolt which I lost last season. I think that's pretty good. There's some rust forming on the outer bucket and even under the cover so at the end of this season I'll sand it down and respray with Tremclad spray paint. But I fully expect it to last at least another 10 years thanks to routine maintenance and the use of ethanol-free fuel (Shell 91).
You know the bolt you always end up losing that keeps the chute/cover on the machine? I never bothered replacing mine and I just use zip ties.
Deal Addict
Aug 11, 2006
1333 posts
152 upvotes
GTA
I've debated this for some time before going with a single stage. Always wanted the power and cool factor of a 2 stage.

Storage and manuverability were of concern as my wife and father would be using it too. I could handle some of the bigger 2 stages no problem but the wife really struggled with the smaller ones so that's always a consideration.

My el-cheapo single stage from Walmart cleared 2ft of snow in Markham on a 3 x 2 car driveway. Needed to work a bit harder and longer than the neighbour with a 2 stage because I would need to go back and forth as the snow was a bit high and heavy. All other times with snow less than 1ft I could do our drive 3x before he could finish his.

Only thing I regret, and it's a big one, is not getting quick shoot adjustor. If I had that I could finish even faster.

For the majority of snow falls I just use the shovel.
Member
Mar 4, 2014
292 posts
231 upvotes
GTA
Doesn't the city clear the end of your driveway in TO? They use to when I lived in Scarborough. Anyways since you are already familiar with a cordless I would recommend a more powerful cordless like the 80V Kobalt from Lowes.

I had a 24" dual stage Craftsman for many years, absolutely nothing wrong with it, just too much power and prep time for my current 2 car driveway. The 80V did a great job this past week, did my driveway, both my neighbours and everyones sidewalk on my side in less than 20min, from start to finish with plenty of battery left.

edit: On sale and no tax. https://www.lowes.ca/snow-blowers/kobal ... 70124.html
Newbie
Dec 22, 2016
46 posts
12 upvotes
l69norm wrote: How big a windrow does the snowplow leave behind?

I think the go-to machine is the Toro 721 single stage unless you have a huge windrow to move

I agree. The size/strength of the snow blower you need is really dependent on the snow that is left after your municipal snow plowing comes along. My mom, who lives outside of Toronto, has the ends of her driveway cleared by the city so a single stage is more than enough. I have a 2-stage since I have a huge pile left behind by the city plows every time they come by so I need the 2-stage and wouldn't be able to do it without one. We have broken the shear pin on my 2-stage a number of times trying to plow through the windrow.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Aug 5, 2003
2695 posts
591 upvotes
North York
Like most others in the thread, I'm using a single stage toro in the gta. Back in the day I did snow clearing in the winters for a couple years, we always grabbed the single stage first, only used the two stage machines if we had a breakdown and didn't have time to fix it while we were out - which didn't happen all that often. The small machine was easier to use all day, and was faster to boot, so thats what I use now.
Member
Aug 30, 2017
262 posts
178 upvotes
GTA East - Durham
As has been mentioned by other posters, in the GTA the amount and frequency of snowfall coupled with the tight/smaller driveways lend to using a single stage as the ideal machine.

The problem is the windrow of sloppy/heavy mush that the plow leaves us is many times beyond the capability of a single stage.

I started with a 5 hp single stage but it struggled.

I then bought a mid size two stage just for the windrow and generally do the rest by hand unless we get a good dump of snow. I don't mind moving the light, dry stuff on the walkway by hand but hate the heavy crap so that's where I want some mechanical oomph.

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