Snow Blowers - Noise

[Masked Bandit]

I'm wondering how noisy the little 8 hp snow blowers are. Are they as loud as a normal lawn mower?

TIA

[speedog]

Probably worse - I know the ones we use at our outdoor community rink are quite noisy. Was using one today to clear off the rink and my ears do ring a bit after using it for a while.

[Benny]

Yeah they're super loud. Definitely louder than a lawnmower.

[Muji]

It depends on the maker, I know my family has a newer Honda snowblower and it is quieter than my uncle's (Sears maybe?). As my dad blows out his driveway between 6-7am he wanted the quietest one on the market as his area is a complaint zone (lawyers make for bad neighbours) and he has not heard a peep. I also think the Honda allows one to blow snow on the idle setting as I recall the last time I had the pleasure, as long as the snow is light it works fine.

Some solid information in here, as for the noise level I only skimmed the many paged article.

http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-blowers/review

A four stroke engine is quieter than a two stroke engine, a reminder. This Yamaha seems rather quiet: http://vimeo.com/2604216

I used to live opposite a Safeway, one learns Calgary gets a ton of snow and it needs to me removed.... all freakin' night long. Leaf blowers are really loud, no law against it as a Safeway is a commercial zone. So I sold my condo (in the summer) and moved on.

Good to see someone else cares about noise as much as I do. Where are the hybrid motors for lawn and snow use?

[.norco.]

Originally posted by Muji
Where are the hybrid motors for lawn and snow use?

Electric blowers? haha

[Muji]

Originally posted by .norco.


Electric blowers? haha

They said the same of hybrid vehicles not so very long ago, and now we are all going to be only driving these vehicles in our lifetime. Yes the electric blowers are terrible for any heavy, wet or beyond a few inches of snow. All this may have changed as I have not used one in years and technology has advanced everything. I used a brand new electric lawnmower this summer, it was terrific, so much better than the one I used a decade ago. The cord is still a bitch though.

[Pacman]

I've got a Toro 1800 electric snowblower that I bought a few weeks ago.

I've got a double driveway and uses it yesterday and today. Took me 20 mins to clear the entire driveway (it was throwing the snow roughly 25 feet) and went and did it again this morning without any issues.

The fellow across the street had a smaller gas powered unit and it was much louder than mine (which is about the same as an electric lawnmower).

[Masked Bandit]

I was really hoping to find that some newer gas powered units would be quiet enough but I'm often out there at 5:30 AM. Something the same volume as a lawnmower is not an option. I haven't read too much good about the electric units either. I live on a corner so I've got a double driveway plus 160 ft of sidewalk. Oh well, I guess it's shovel, shovel & more shovel.

[Graham_A_M]

If you're thinking of buying a snow blower, instead use a backpack blower (aka a leaf blower) they are FANTASTIC for the snow. Only they dont work too well in heavily packed snow, or when its wet slushy stuff.

They go faster then using a snow blower, and take up practically no space, the Red Max & Stihl ones aren't at all hard to start in winter even down to -30, if you do get a Stihl, do NOT buy a 4-mix (two stroke/4 stroke hybrid). Most of them aren't any louder then a lawnmower. Just a different pitch if anything. Thats what I bought for my dad for X-mas, and he just adores it. Best gift ever.

[project240]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
If you're thinking of buying a snow blower, instead use a backpack blower (aka a leaf blower) they are FANTASTIC for the snow. Only they dont work too well in heavily packed snow, or when its wet slushy stuff.

They go faster then using a snow blower, and take up practically no space, the Red Max & Stihl ones aren't at all hard to start in winter even down to -30, if you do get a Stihl, do NOT buy a 4-mix (two stroke/4 stroke hybrid). Most of them aren't any louder then a lawnmower. Just a different pitch if anything. Thats what I bought for my dad for X-mas, and he just adores it. Best gift ever.

I can't say I agree with you... unless you're outside with the blower while it's snowing or it was a very light snow.

We have both a Redmax 8050 (I think) and new Echo 770. Both are extremely powerful as far as blowers go, but neither does a great job, unless either condition above was met.

I've found as soon as anybody walks over any of the snow or it sits for more than a couple hours it doesn't work very well... at least not as well as a snowblower.

I just brought home a 48" commercial sweeper to try out on the driveway/oval/walkways... never used one before, but I'm hoping it works well.

[Graham_A_M]

If you have the right blower angle, the packed snow comes right off. If you have too steep of an angle you're absolutely right, it doesnt come off. But if you have about a 30 degree angle it flies right off. Not only that, but you can always agitate the snow off the concrete with a light touch of the snout of blower tubes itself. From there it'll just fly off.
Sweepers do work great. (try a BCS or a Gravely if you want value) but for 90% of the time, unless its hard packed ice/snow then you can get away just fine with mere blowers.

[sillysod]

I have a BR600 back pack blower (the biggest Stihl you can get) and have used it for the last 4 years.

It works perfectly, only maybe 2 or 3 days a year where the snow is too heavy or deep to blow it.

I had a craftsman snow blower before that I got rid of because I never used it, the back pack blower is waaaay faster.

BUT you have to get a really big blower, the Echo back pack blower @ home depot is useless. Might as well just stick a straw in your ass and fart on the driveway.

[DENZILDON]

Originally posted by sillysod


BUT you have to get a really big blower, the Echo back pack blower @ home depot is useless. Might as well just stick a straw in your ass and fart on the driveway.

Hahaha, made my day man!

[rony_espana]

I have a tiny gas snowblower and its probably twice as loud as my lawnmower.

[codetrap]

I use a shovel. I find it works very well, and I'm usually done in half the time than it takes my friend to unpack his snowblower, fire it up, blow all the snow, then go over it with a shovel to get the scrub snow as well, then put it all away.

Now, I do have considerable experience with a snowblower, as when growing up we had a unistone driveway that was as long as most calgary properties, and I did use it then. We also lived north of edmonton. It was useful when the snow was over a foot, or we needed to make more room in the snowpiles.

But for calgary? It's a waste of money in my opinion.

[CUG]

Find a Toronto fan, and get a Leaf blower to shovel for you.

[sillysod]

Originally posted by codetrap
I use a shovel. I find it works very well, and I'm usually done in half the time than it takes my friend to unpack his snowblower, fire it up, blow all the snow, then go over it with a shovel to get the scrub snow as well, then put it all away.

Now, I do have considerable experience with a snowblower, as when growing up we had a unistone driveway that was as long as most calgary properties, and I did use it then. We also lived north of edmonton. It was useful when the snow was over a foot, or we needed to make more room in the snowpiles.

But for calgary? It's a waste of money in my opinion.

yeah actual snow blower is kinda useless in Calgary. Most of the time the snow is light and fluffy and super easy to shovel.

The backpack blower though I find to be the quickest by far. Cleans as quickly as you can walk.

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by codetrap
I use a shovel. I find it works very well, and I'm usually done in half the time than it takes my friend to unpack his snowblower, fire it up, blow all the snow, then go over it with a shovel to get the scrub snow as well, then put it all away.

Now, I do have considerable experience with a snowblower, as when growing up we had a unistone driveway that was as long as most calgary properties, and I did use it then. We also lived north of edmonton. It was useful when the snow was over a foot, or we needed to make more room in the snowpiles.

But for calgary? It's a waste of money in my opinion.

I agree, I sold my snow-blower because its not worth it....
but it takes me all of 2 minutes to fire up any blower. That and its no heavy work to use, Shoveling? fuck that.... Thanks but not killing my back to me makes sense.
If your buddy has that much trouble getting his blower running, then hes using the wrong fuel mixture, I assume its too rich.

[codetrap]

Graham, it runs like a top actually. But he's gotta walk around the house. Unlock/open up the shed. Pull out the blower.. start it.. drive it around to the front.. etc..

By that time, I'm already half done.

I tried using my shopvac leaf blower attachment once.. all I did was create a mini blizzard. I also like the clean defined lines a shovel gives.