Snow Blower Buying Guide

The snow blowers in our ratings range in price from about $200 to over $3,000. Features and size dictate price; here’s what you need to consider when zeroing in on the kind of snow blower that’ll serve you best. 

Snow Blower Stages
All snow blowers use an auger to suck up snow from the ground and discharge it through a chute. On single-stage snow blowers, the corkscrew-shaped auger is the only device moving snow. Two-stage models have an auger but also use an impeller, which is a fan that helps force collected snow from the back of the auger, out through the discharge chute. The impeller helps two-stage models collect snow faster and send it farther. Three-stage models have an auger and impeller but add something called an accelerator, which helps force collected snow from the auger to the impeller. These machines can clear the fastest and throw the farthest. Single-stage machines tend to be the worst performers, and we recommend only a handful of models.

Power Source
The vast majority of snow blowers use gasoline engines, and these models perform the best. You’ll find some corded electric models, which can be used with an extension cord up to 100 feet from your home, but none perform well enough for us to recommend. A small but growing number of battery-powered electric models are also available, but most lack the power to clear heavy snow. 

Wheels vs. Tracks
The majority of snow blowers are wheeled, including all single-stage models and most two- and three-stage models. For single-stage models, the user pushes or pulls the snow blower. On two-stage and three-stage machines, the wheels are powered by the engine, making those tools better-suited for clearing large areas, where you’d get tired of pushing and pulling. Some two- and three-stage snow blowers have tracks, like those on a tank, in place of wheels. They’re better for hills and steep driveways because they dramatically boost traction, but they tend to be more difficult to turn on level terrain.

It’s fascinating that no two snowflakes are alike, but that presents a problem for Consumer Reports’ testing protocol. We run our tests with something we can standardize, for consistency. That’s the reason we use a mixture of a certain type of sawdust, saturated with water, instead of snow.

The mixture we use can simulate a standard snowfall or be molded into a mound that simulates a plow pile, like the ones the town plows leave at the foot of your driveway. In each test we time how fast a model cuts through the dense mixture and note how far the sawdust is thrown and how clean the surface is.

The Overall Score for each model combines results from these performance tests as well as results of our survey of 17,000 CR members, which informs our brand reliability and owner satisfaction ratings. Brand reliability reflects estimated problem rates by the fifth year of ownership for gas snow blowers, or the fourth year of ownership for electric and battery snow blowers. Owner satisfaction reflects the proportion of CR members who are extremely likely to recommend their machine to a friend or family member.

We test single-, two-, and three-stage snow blowers as well as single-stage electric snow blowers and single-stage battery snow blowers.  

Check out the must-have features below.

Even a well-maintained snow blower can have problems. Keep these extra items handy to ensure your machine is operational when you need it most:
• Belts. You’ll need one drive belt for single-stage machines and two for two-stage models.
• Shear pins. On two-stage models, they protect the engine and transmission by breaking if the auger hits something too hard. Keep extras on hand.
• Fuel stabilizer. If you’re running your snow blower every week, you won’t need it until you stow the unit in the spring. But when the machine sits idle, gasoline in the tank, fuel lines, and carburetor breaks down and thickens. Adding stabilizer to your fuel can slow down this process.