Snow blowers and the fanatics

[Rey]

I have a dual stage snowblower, and I think they are big, heavy, and difficult to maneuver. Yes, it has power drive...BUT (and everyone always has a big but), the power drive in reverse is very slow, so I often find myself having to manually pull it backwards after every row. This is difficult and tiring, and if I were to buy another one I would get a smaller one that is easier to pull backwards.

Smaller ones are usually single stage, which still work okay for a smaller area. The smaller, cheaper single stage ones usually have 2 cycle engines. These are a pain because you have to mix oil in the gas, and when they run, they STINK. If you don't mind your coat, pants, hat, and everything else smelling like stinky, oily exhaust smoke, get one of those. 4 cycle engines run much cleaner and you don't have to add the oil. An ideal unit would be a small single stage snowthrower with a 4 cycle engine. Not sure what is available in that setup though.