From our labs: A tough and timely test for snow blowers

Those big winter storms still haven't hit most parts of the country, but you'll soon find Consumer Reports' latest Ratings of more than 20 snow blowers online (available to subscribers). Our top picks include models from Ariens, Craftsman, Toro and Troy-Bilt that blew away other models in something much tougher than the usual dusting: Wet sawdust.
 
Ours consists of specially sized and screened particles that absorb four times their weight in water. Besides letting us test the newest snow blowers early in the season (or even late in July), our special mixture simulates the wet, heavy, late-winter snow that separates the best snow blowers from less-capable models. Indeed, it's a much tougher test than the kind of light, powdery snow that appears to be used in some promotional videos.
 
More importantly, our extra-heavy "snow" isn't affected by the hourly temperature fluctuations that can significantly change the consistency of the real stuff and make fair model-to-model comparisons difficult. For example, a snow blower tested early in the morning is likely to throw snow farther than it would in the afternoon, when higher temperatures tend to make snow denser and stickier.
 
But just to be sure, we had our team of statisticians carefully correlate our preliminary test results for wet sawdust with our field testing in snowy upstate New York. Our crew put the machines through their paces on a 30-foot-wide airstrip. We also cleared a 220-yard path from a county road to the airstrip itself with the more-powerful models.
 
The bottom line: We'll continue to verify our results using wet sawdust with additional testing in snow. But we're confident that our demanding tests yield accurate, consistent comparisons between models. We're also confident that a snow blower able to handle our simulation of heavy, late-winter snow has what it takes to handle what falls on your driveway.  
 
—Ed Perratore
 
How to choose a snow blower: Snow blowers can easily last more than 20 years. So don't settle on a model until you've seen Consumer Reports' buying advice and video—and checked out our latest Ratings.