Raise a frostbitten hand if you like clearing snow. We thought not. Fortunately, three-stage snow blowers (sometimes called snow throwers) tackle that woeful winter chore up to 30 percent faster than two-stage models, Consumer Reports’ tests find, in part because they can clear deeper snow with a single pass. How can we be so sure? We’ve run these models through countless piles of moisture-saturated sawdust designed to simulate snowfall.
In this article
- How CR Tests Snow Blowers
- Best Three-Stage Snow Blowers
- Who Needs a Three-Stage Snow Blower?
How CR Tests Snow Blowers
It’s fascinating that no two snowflakes are alike, but that presents a problem for Consumer Reports’ testing protocol. “We need to run our tests with something we can standardize, for consistency,” says Dave Trezza, who does much of our hands-on snow blower testing. “That’s the reason we use a mixture of a certain type of sawdust, saturated with water, instead of snow.”
The mixture we use can simulate a standard snowfall or be molded into a mound that simulates a plow pile, like the ones the town plows leave at the foot of your driveway.
More on Snow Blowers
In our removal-speed test, we time how quickly each model removes a standardized pile of snow. In our plow-pile-removal test, we run the snow blower up against a large mass of our fake snow and make a visual assessment as to how well a model is able to manage the task. We also run tests that note how far the "snow" is thrown, how clean the surface is, and how easily the machine handles.
The Overall Score for each model combines results from these performance tests as well as results of our survey of thousands of CR members, which informs our brand reliability and owner satisfaction ratings. CR members can read on for ratings and reviews of the top-performing three-stage snow blowers in our tests. For a large selection of other types of snow blowers, dive into our full snow-blower ratings. And if you’re shopping for a snow blower, check out our snow-blower buying guide.
Best Three-Stage Snow Blowers
Consumer Reports has tested several three-stage models over the years, and the following three delivered similarly strong performances.
Who Needs a Three-Stage Snow Blower?
“Upgrading from a two-stage to a three-stage snow blower adds an accelerator, boosting the power with which snow can be discharged from the chute,” says Misha Kollontai, one of CR’s test engineers in charge of snow-blower testing.
Two-stage blowers have the collection augers and impeller, but don’t have the accelerator. Single-stage models rely solely on a quick-turning auger.
The main discernible downside to three-stage gas snow blowers is their predicted reliability, which likely lags behind two-stage models in our member surveys due to the extra mechanical parts needed to make all this happen.
On the upside, some of these models can be more affordable alternatives compared with the top-performing two-stage varieties in our tests. However, you might not get the extra power promised by these budget-friendlier three-stage options, though they’ll still have the capacity to chew through taller piles of snow (up to 18 inches, as opposed to an average of only 16 inches for two-stage snow blowers).
CR members can read on for ratings and reviews of the top-performing three-stage snow blowers in our tests. For a large selection of other types of snow blowers, dive into our full snow-blower ratings. And if you’re shopping for a snow blower, check out our snow-blower buying guide.
Paul Hope
Paul Hope is a senior multimedia content creator at Consumer Reports and a trained chef. He covers ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens, as well as grills, drills, outdoor power tools, decking, and wood stains. Before joining CR in 2016, he tested kitchen products at Good Housekeeping and covered tools and remodeling for This Old House magazine. You’ll typically find him in his old fixer-upper, engrossed in a DIY project or trying out a new recipe.
