"ameijers" wrote in message

I'm in a similar situation to OP- first driveway, at least here is snow
country, of my own. Mebbe 22x60, so not very big, but the middle part is
sloped, and it is heavily coated asphalt. I figure a blower is cheaper
than
a new tranny for the car, making multiple attempts to get up the hill. Are
the cheap generics (MTD label this year) that Sam's sells for ~$350, any
good? Or am I better off getting a plow guy on retainer? No idea how
much
the going rate is for those.

A lot depends on the layout. In my case, the garage is at the end of the
drive. Plow driver has to back in and push the snow out across the street
but now leaves about 20 feet of packed snow. I get better results using the
blower.

As for the cheap MTD, that is what I have. My MIL bought it for me and it is
not the model I would have bought for myself, OTOH, it works. Sure it
takes longer than the big two stage models, but it is vastly superior to a
shovel. If you have the money, buy a two stage and you won't regret it. If
all you can do is the cheap one, you will enjoy it every time you think
about what a shovel would have taken you. .

At the end of the drive where the plow has packed the snow, mine takes some
time, taking small bites, to get through. Mostly, my neighbor will come
over and do that for me. It is good to treat neighbors and their kids nice
just to reap those benefits.