Hi Jeff, The SnowMaster is not a good choice for what you want to do. It weighs about half of a 2-stage so it won’t have as much traction. It also has a plastic scraper bar that is designed to clear new snow off a driveway. It will ride over driven on snow. In other words, it won’t clear down to the pavement easily.

The Ariens Deluxe 28 is a good choice. It’s heavy enough to push through snow plow drifts, has plenty of power to throw snow a long way and won’t clog on heavy, wet snow. I also suggest the Ariens Deluxe 24. It has the same capacity and spec’s as the Deluxe 28. It is a little easier to use.

I found your site after reading your interview on http://www.thewirecutter.com. This site is amazing!

I’ve never owned a show blower before, but it’s time. I live in Concord, NH. We typically get 3-6″ snow storms, with the occasional 12-18″ dump each year. Those ones are going to kill me!!

I’m looking for a machine that will allow me to clear a lot of hard packed, snow plow crud. The city plows pile the snow along the edge of the road, and I’d like to be able to remove all of if (about 80 linear feet) and throw it into my side yard as well as the sidewalk so we can continue to access cars parked on the street. A plow service handles the driveway.

I tried my neighbor’s Ariens Classic 24, but I think I’d kill that machine if I cleared that much snow regularly. It took about 2.5 hours. I was thinking about the Ariens Deluxe 28 SHO Model 921048, The Toro SnowMaster is intriguing as well. What do you think?

Thanks!
Jeff

Hi Raja, If you want the best snow blower for handling wet snow among the ones you listed the Ariens Deluxe 28 beats the rest by a long ways.

Here is an article I wrote about the 3-stage snow blowers: https://movingsnow.com/2017/2017-cub-cadet-snow-blower-review-whats-new-one-best/

Hi Christopher, If the Deluxe 28 is a model 921046 (it’s on the nameplate on the rear frame of the snow blower) that’s a great deal and I’d jump on it! Especially, if you live where you can get lake effect. It won’t plug on heavy/wet snow. If it’s a 921022 or 921027 don’t buy it. The 921046 has the revised transmission and it steers much better than the older versions.

The Toro SnowMaster 724 QXE (36002) is a decent snowblower but it only throws about 25 feet. If your concrete area needs to be all thrown in one direction you may have to throw some of the snow twice. But, it’s fast and a really good snow blower for 2-12 inches of snow.

Which of these two is the better machine? Is there one you would recommend for my situation?

Hi Justin, Look at the side of the tire. The tire size is listed there. I boiled down the list of chains on Amazon and you size will be listed there – somewhere. Amazon Snow Blower Tire Chains