I am looking to purchase a new 2-stage snow thrower. The small single
stage old-hand-me-down one I have leaves me with a lot to hand shovel,
especially if I get more than a few inches or it is wet snow. I have a
125' driveway in the snow belt with a wide pad at the bottom (3 cars
wide).

Some of the models have a plastic impeller and some (more expensive)
models have a metal impeller. One salesman suggested that the plastic
impellers can be prone to breakage when it gets cold and some ice or a
rock is sucked up by the auger. Does anybody have any advice for or
against getting a model with the plastic impeller? Is the salesman just
trying to sell me a more expensive snow thrower? I really like the unit
that happens to have a plastic impeller.

Assuming I settle on the unit with the plastic impeller, how important
is it to have multiple speeds? The unit I am looking at in Sears
(Craftsman model 88255) has 3 speeds, but similar models at Home Depot
(Yard Machines) and Lowes (MTD #96098) are only single speed (and I can
get 10% off there). None has reverse - is this important? My current
snow blower is single speed, but is a LOT lighter and easier to
maneuver than the models I'm looking at.

Will I notice a 2" difference in clearing width? Some of the models I
am looking at are 24" (Craftsman) and some are 22" (the equivalents in
other stores).

The next model up is the Craftsman #88355 (or the Troy-Built #96177 at
Lowes or similar Yard Machines at Home Depot). All have 24" clearing
widths and metal impellers. They have larger impellers and augers than
the ones I listed above. Is this a noticeable difference? They are also
heavier than the above models. Will this make it harder for me to
control? It seems so in the stores, but it is really hard to tell
without actually running one.

Another possibility is the Ariens model #5520 in the Home Depot ad, but
it hasn't hit stores yet for me to look at. Other threads here seem to
like the Ariens brand. According to their website, it has only a 20"
width. Is the Ariens that much better quality that I should sacrifice
clearing width? Other than that, it sounds like a great machine on par
with the "next model up" ones I listed. They are all the same price.

Basically, I'm looking at the lower end of the 2-stage snow throwers.
All that are on my list right now have 5.5HP Tecumseh engines and are
in the $500-600 range. I'm not so concerned about features like
electric start and lots of speeds (although I think more than one speed
might be useful?). My current one had electric start. I found it to be
easier to start by hand and never fixed it when it went bad.

Sorry this got so long. Thank you for any and all advice!

Lisa