Best Snow Blower Reviews for Winter 2024 and 2025

Not to ruin the moment, but it’s time to start talking about the best snow blowers. If you live in a part of the country that gets a few inches of accumulation, a few feet, or Old Man Winter seems to have a personal vendetta against you, having the right snow blower when you need it can make the season more tolerable. So, take a look at our top recommendations and see what best fits the snowy season ahead!

Our Best Snow Blower Recommendations

• Best Gas Single Stage: Toro Power Clear 821 QZE
  ↓ Jump to this Snow Blower
• Best Gas Two-Stage: Honda 2-Stage Track Drive
  ↓ Jump to this Snow Blower
• Best Gas Three-Stage: Cub Cadet 3X Max H IntelliPower EFI
  ↓ Jump to this Snow Blower
• Best Battery-Powered: EGO 56V 28-in 2-Stage
  ↓ Jump to this Snow Blower
• Best for the Money (Gas): PowerSmart 24-in. 2-Stage
  ↓ Jump to this Snow Blower
• Best for the Money (Battery): Greenworks 60V 20″
  ↓ Jump to this Snow Blower
• Best Electric: Snow Joe 15A 22-in.
  ↓ Jump to this Snow Blower

Best Gas Single Stage Snow Blower

When it comes to the best single-stage gas snow blower, Toro enjoys a well-earned reputation. It comes from both the quality and the range of the brand’s lineup, with nine models available. The top-of-the-line, and our top recommendation, is the Toro Power Clear 821 QZE.

It uses a 252cc engine to collect snow through a 21-inch intake and throw it up to 40 feet. The chute adjustment is on the right handle, making it easy to change directions on the fly, and you get an auger assist that helps pull the machine forward. Among Toro’s options, it’s the strongest and most convenient single-stage in the line.

Best Gas Two-Stage Snow Blower

Two Made in the USA models made it to the final cut in the best 2-stage snow blower class: Honda’s 32-inch Track Drive and Toro’s 32-inch self-propelled model. There are cases to make for both, but we can’t ignore the convenience and helpfulness of the tracks on the Honda HSS1332ATD.

Honda brings its reliable 13HP GX390 (390cc) engine, offering 56 feet of throw and a bulletproof reputation. It clears a path 32 inches wide and up to 21 inches deep. If you’re clearing particularly slick or sloped areas, the GX390 won’t bog down, and the tracks will keep you from slipping.

You may technically find a more powerful two-stage thrower, but for us, the reliability of the Honda engine and the Track Drive seals the deal.

Best Gas Three-Stage Snow Blower

The Cub Cadet 3X Max H Intellipower EFI model is our top pick among more than a dozen options in the 3X line. The name tells you quite a bit—it has the IntelliPower upgrade and the easier starting of electronic fuel injection, plus a hydrostatic transmission. The powerplant is a 420cc engine that can clear a 34-inch wide path 23 inches deep.

The three-stage snow removal elements include a 14-inch front auger to break up ice and slush, an accelerator to pull it into the center, and a 14-inch impeller to direct it away. On the convenience side, you get things like heated hand grips and an EFI pushbutton electric start. Both the chute direction and angle are near the rest of the controls, so you can adjust them on the fly. You get 16-inch tires with aggressive X-Trac tread to confidently push you through ice and snow.

Best Battery-Powered Snow Blower

With models available from EGO (24 and 28-inch models), Greenworks, Ryobi (22 and 24-inch models), and Toro, you might be surprised to find there are so many 2-stage options that use battery power. While you won’t go wrong with any of these models, the best 2-stage battery-powered snow blower has to be the EGO 28-inch for its sheer power and robust features.

Using two 12.0Ah batteries, EGO claims the SNT2800 can clear 8 inches of snow off a 32-car driveway. With heated handles, an LED light, and the ability to toss snow up to 60 feet, EGO has an excellent product that should provide reliable service for years. You also can’t beat the fact that you never have to winterize it!

Best Gas Snow Blower for the Money

It’s tough enough to find a gas snow blower worth buying under $700, but a 2-stage model? Earning our pick as the best gas snow blower for the money, PowerSmart has a 24-inch self-propelled 2-stage model with an electric start and LED light. Its 212cc engine can clear snow up to 12 inches deep and throw it up to 40 feet.

Sound too good to be true? It depends on your expectations. This model doesn’t have the same build quality as others, which can be two or three times more expensive. Still, if you take care of the engine and clean it, you should get several seasons out of the machine.

Best Battery-Powered Snow Blower for the Money

If you’re on a budget, there are plenty of options, including battery-powered snow shovels. For those with a driveway, however, a high-performing brushless snow blower kit for less than $450 hits the sweet spot. A solid snow blower at that price is almost impossible to find. Almost. We found Greenworks’ brushless 20-inch model online with a 5.0Ah battery and charger for $450. Most similar models cost more or offer far less.

From the elevated LED headlights to the articulating 180-degree chute rotation, Greenworks makes an easy-to-use snowblower with practical features. It even has a folding handle, making it easier to store once the last snowfall has come and gone.

Best Electric Snow Blower

Sun Joe’s 15-amp, 22-inch model is the best electric snow blower we’ve seen so far. While you can find larger electric models, this one consistently performs well. It balances the limitations of 120V power and clearing width to tackle snow up to 13 inches deep with a 25-foot max throw. In addition to breaking up the snow, the machine’s steel auger also assists with your forward movement as you push.

Between the performance and the price tag, the value proposition also makes this the best electric snow blower for the money.

Our Process and the Nitty Gritty

• Why You Can Trust Pro Tool Reviews
• Other Options We Recommend
• Best Snow Blower Brands
• Snow Blower Buying Guide

Why You Can Trust Pro Tool Reviews

We won’t recommend anything unless we’d actually use it ourselves, and we don’t really care who the primary retailer is. It’s all about giving you a legitimate recommendation and our honest opinion of each product.

We’ve been in business since 2008, covering tools, writing reviews, and reporting on industry news in the construction and lawn care industries. Each year, we bring in and review more than 350 individual products. Our team will put our hands on hundreds of additional tools at media events and trade shows throughout the year.

Our site will provide more than 500 pieces of new content this year absolutely free for our readers. That includes objective evaluations of individual tools and products.

The end result is information you can trust because of the editorial, scientific, and real-world professional experience we collectively utilize each and every time we pick up and test a tool.

Other Options We Recommend

EGO Multi-Head Snow Shovel Kit MSS1203

When you’re shopping for the best battery-powered snow shovel, you have a lot of options. EGO, Ryobi, and Toro rise to the top with models that have a 12-inch clearing width and 25 feet of throw powered by brushless motors. Of those three, the EGO Multi-Head Snow Shovel Kit is the best in our book. As part of their attachment system, you’re getting the same performance as the other top picks but with a powerhead that gives you 4-season versatility.

• Motor: Brushless
• Stages: One
• Clearing Width: 12 inches
• Optimal Clearing Depth: 6 inches
• Rated Throw: 25 feet

Greenworks 40V 12″ Cordless Snow Shovel

For $260, it’s tough to find a better overall deal on an electric snow shovel than Greenworks’ 40V model. With a 12-inch intake, it can send 6 inches of snow up to 20 feet away. It comes in a lighter, easier-to-manage design than folds down, saving space over full-size snow blowers.

• Battery: 40V 4.0Ah
• Clearing Width: 12 inches
• Optimal Clearing Depth: 6 inches
• Rated Throw: 20 feet

Ryobi 40V HP Brushless Whisper Series 22″ Two-Stage Snow Blower

Ryobi claims its RY408150 40V snow blower has more power than a 243cc gas model. As part of the brand’s Whisper Series, this tool is up to 44% quieter than gas and even beats other battery-powered snow blowers.

With a 22-inch clearing width and capable of clearing drifts up to 18 inches, the dual brushless motors deliver as much as 30 minutes of runtime. Loaded with two 8.0Ah batteries, that’s enough to clear around 20 car spaces on a single charge. Ryobi also gives you a variable-speed self-propelled auger that you can control via a speed dial on the control panel.

• Battery: 40V 8.0Ah
• Clearing Width: 20 inches
• Optimal Clearing Depth: 18 inches
• Rated Throw: 45 feet

Skil PWR Core 40 20″ Single Stage Snow Blower SB2001C-10

The Skil 40V single-stage snow blower was the brand’s first, and it didn’t cut any corners. The 2,000 RPM impeller has enough power to toss snow up to 30 feet. The 20-inch x 10.5-inch opening is big enough to let you quickly clear away snow buildup from sidewalks and driveways. It has user-centric controls and lacks only a self-propelled feature to make it perfect.

• Battery: 40V 6.0Ah
• Clearing Width: 20 inches
• Optimal Clearing Depth: 10 inches
• Rated Throw: 30 feet

Best Snow Blower Brands

When it comes to the best snow blower brands, it’s tough to beat Toro. With a wide range gas, battery, and electric models to choose from and excellent quality, they cover just about everyone’s needs.

Cub Cadet is another brand to look closely at. Their X-series models cover single-, two-, and three-stage needs with performance-enhancing innovation.

If you can afford the price tag, Honda’s lineup is solid and is powered by its legendary small engines.

On the battery side, both EGO and Greenworks enjoy an excellent reputation across their entire line. Both even manufacture capable battery-powered two-stage self-propelled snowblowers. EGO even offers features like heated handles.

Ryobi and Skil also make compelling snowblowers as part of each brand’s 40V brushless series.

Best Snow Blower Buying Guide

What is a Snow Blower and How Does it Work?

A snow blower is a machine that picks up snow, accelerates it through a chute, and directs it away from the area you want to clear.

As you move the snow blower forward, snow enters through the front and is caught up by paddles or augers. They spin fast enough to throw the snow into the top of the housing at high velocity, where it concentrates into the chute, and its momentum carries it away. Two- and three-stage models have additional hardware to aid in the process.

The chute it adjustable, so you can switch the discharge from one side to the other as you change directions.

Gas vs Electric vs Battery-Powered Snow Blowers

Gas-powered snow blowers are popular options thanks to the power they generate. The biggest, strongest models are gas, and there are even tracked models for really tough conditions.

Like other gas-powered outdoor power equipment, snow blowers have challenges. You have gas and oil to deal with, yearly maintenance and winterization needs, high noise during use, and emissions. Maintenance on a snow blower is often a bigger headache than other OPE tools because it usually sits dormant for many more months of the year than it operates.

Electric snow blowers are a popular option because they eliminate the maintenance and emissions of a gas engine while operating at much lower noise levels. Just plug it in and go. They’re also the least expensive models to buy.

It’s the cord that causes the headache, though. You need to manage an extension cord to reach all the areas you want to clear. Extension cords are also more limited in power due to the maximum current allowed by the 120V outlet and the cord length.

Battery-powered snow blowers are gaining momentum for several reasons. Like electric models, there are no emissions, little maintenance, and much lower noise. These tools can also reach higher power levels, and you can now find two-stage models that operate solely on battery power.

The major downside is that they can be more expensive than gas models in the same power range. You also need to manage the battery levels. Some snow blowers need several hours to recharge the batteries before you can continue if you run out. You can overcome that with extra batteries and rapid chargers.

Single Stage vs Two-Stage vs Three-Stage Snow Blowers

When we talk about two or three-stage snow blowers, we’re talking about additional mechanical elements that make clearing heavy snow easier.

A single-stage model has a set of paddles that draw snow up and push it away. It’s great for light snow up to 8–10 inches, depending on the model.

A two-stage snow blower replaces rubber paddles with a metal auger that breaks up icy and chunky snow at the front intake. Behind it, an impeller takes over to direct snow through the chute and away. These can typically handle up to 16 inches of snow depth. Because the auger doesn’t contact the ground the way rubber paddles do on the single-stage, two-stage snow blowers are a better option for dirt and gravel driveways.

When you want to go nuclear on the worst of the snowfall, a three-stage model is what you want. It’s the same concept as a two-stage and adds a wide front auger set perpendicular to the side augers. The side augers feed snow and ice into the middle where the center auger breaks it up and sends it to the impeller to be sent away. Three-stage snow blowers can often handle 20 inches of snow depth or more.

Clearing Width

The width of a snow blower plays a big role in how quickly you can clear snow. This is very similar to how a lawn mower’s deck and blade width dictate how much of the lawn you can cut per pass. The wider the clearing width, the stronger the machine needs to be, and you often see the price increase along with that extra capacity.

18 to 20 inches is a good place to start for electric and battery models for smaller driveways. If you have a long driveway or more surfaces to clear, look toward models in the 24- to 30-inch range to make the work more efficient.

Throw

How far a snow blower can throw snow also determines how efficiently you can work. If it just flops out of the chute right next to you, you’re going to double the amount of snow you have to pick up on the next pass. All of our best snow blower picks do a great job at sending snow away, but if you have an extra wide driveway, you may need to take special care where you direct that stream.

Keep in mind the throw is typically measured with soft, dry snow, not heavy, wet snow. The 30 feet of throw your machine promises might only be 10 or 15 with the wet stuff. While 25 feet is a good place to start, we prefer to use snow blowers with a throw of 30 feet or more.

Convenience Feature to Consider

There are several features to look for that can make your snow-clearing chores easier. Here are some of the top options you may want on yours:

• Self-propelled drive system (multiple speeds are even better)
• LED headlights (you’re working in the darkest part of the year)
• Heated handles (trust us, they help)
• Tracked drive system (more surface area contact with the ground improves traction)
• Handle-mounted chute direction adjustment (it’s easier than reaching down every time)
• Electric start on gas models (no one wants to pull a cord when it’s that cold outside)
• Adjustable skid shoes (helps avoid digging in on gravel and uneven surfaces)

Can You Use a Leaf Blower as a Snow Blower?

Yes, you can absolutely use a leaf blower as a snow blower! Keep your expectations in check, though. A leaf blower can move light snowfall off of hard surfaces and can be very effective at clearing off your car.

Battery-powered models are the best leaf blowers for this job since you can pop in the battery and work without having to convince a gas blower that’s been sitting for a couple of months to get going again.

A leaf blower won’t get you through the entire winter. Just like with wet leaves, the heavier the debris, the tougher it is for a blower to get things moving. So, while it’s great for your car and early-season snow, it’s going to be less effective as winter rolls on.

Need some recommendations? Check out our picks for the best leaf blowers and best cordless leaf blowers.

How Much Does a Snow Blower Cost?

You can get a cheap electric snow blower for less than $100. On the other hand, high-end gas models can cost several thousand dollars. Our recommendation is to buy the highest quality that’s within your budget.

Look for a model with the power you need first, followed by the best build and then the convenience features you’d like to have. An underpowered snow blower will only frustrate you. Of course, it’s no good to anyone if it doesn’t run, so sort the performance and quality out first.