With the job I have now, when the weatherman says stay inside, don't go anywhere it's not fit for man or beast, I usually have to go to work. Last year I bought a used snowblower pretty cheap and worked on it for a few days to get it to run, but I'm thinking of selling it and put that money towards a new one. I know there are a lot of BOTL on here that Have a lot of time behind the controls.
I stopped by a dealer buy my house that sells Cub Cadet and Columbia and talked to one of the service guys and he recommended Simplicity. I'm looking for dependability and ease of use since my wife will be using it a lot of the times when I'm not here.
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Any opinions ?
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When I lived in MI we had a smaller craftsman my mom could run. My dad used a gigantic maybe 15 year old snowblower forgot what it was but ....it had tracker type tires and had enough HP to do the street in 3 feet of snow. My advice pick up a used beast of a snowblower for yourself and maybe a nicer smaller one your wife can use. If we still had any snowblowers I'd shoot a quick picture. Sorry, It's been 5 years so my memories a bit bad.

EDIT the thing is the smaller snowblowers that are easier for women to use won't do the job in 3 feet + of snow, they'll stop every few feet and you'll have to back up and go at it again. So you almost kinda need two of them.

EDIT again, seems it was an 8HP Dual stage. Ariens, toro are good brands.
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Check this out- if you don't have too much to clean, a cheaper alternative.

http://www.amazon.com/Wovel-W0208-Wh...2794774&sr=8-1
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I am not sure it would be good for your average woman to throw around, but I could not be happier with my Toro 826LE.... It may be bigger than you are looking for?

When I was shopping, I was convinced I would be happier with too big, than too small. There are plenty of times a year that I am over snowblowing neighbors drives due to their machine having difficulty with amount and/or weight.
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One word starts max two pulls no effort (HONDA)
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:-):-) Yeah I can just see the reaction if I came home with that. I'm not too worried about it being to big, just don't need a lot of extras. I'm looking for durability. I would rather go a little overkill than get one thats to small. I have a 24" Cub Cadet thats about 15-20 yrs old that she has run.
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I've had the older version of this Toro for 8 years:

http://www.toro.com/home/snowthrower...stage/180.html

I keep saying I will get a bigger Toro if mine will not start. Every winter, it starts like a champ.

MCS
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Get an I-Shovel, because robots need love too...

http://www.i-shovel.com/index.html
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That thing looks like a toy.....:-)
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That must be one heavy battery to give it any traction. I could see it just sitting there, spinning the tires.
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There's always this option then:

ImageImage

In Soviet Russia, snowblower melt you!
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Snow blows, move farther south. :-):-)
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I've had a Sears Craftsman 2-stage that I share with an neighbour for over 10 years. New ones today have lots of toys - heated handgrips, lights, all controls on the handlebar area, etc.

Minimum requirements for me if I need to get another. 1. electric start(which current one has) 2. 2-stage 3. cental controls.
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In Toronto we have "Metromelts" . They are huge beasts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metromelt
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Yeah, the metromelts are probably more effective, and and a whole lot safer, but nothing quite says "No, fcuk YOU snow & ice..." like a MiG-15 jet engine hastily welded to the front of a fuel truck...
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Have a 54" snow blower for my John Deere "garden tractor" (mower).
Seemed kind of like overkill for the 1" of snow I tried it on so far.
Think it should work well though :-)
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Can't go wrong with Honda or Toro when it comes to any small engine equipment.
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This is my rig for my 800-900 ft gravel driveway:

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22hp garden tractor with 46" x 22" two-stage blower


Edited to say: Yes those are my new cornhole boards in the backround. See the 2nd annual "Where the hell is Metamora?" Herf in summer of 2011 for more details.
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My dad had a Toro 524 that we bought in 1986 (I remember because he bought it at the end of the worst snow fall in years and I had to shovel the entire winter). this is still running so I went and bought the Toro 526. Works great!! One pull start also has the electric start if you want to use it, but I've never needed to on either machine.
I looked at the Simplicity when I was looking. Basically if you are doing a TON of snow removal they said that that was the machine to get, it was also a little more expensive than the Toro. If I were to get another, I'd opt for the next bigger Toro because I redid my driveway and have retaining walls around it and it's three plus cars wide. The 5 series doesn't throw as far as I'd like, but it does a great job with heavy and wet snow!!!!
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