Our own preference for features is as follows in this order of preference:
Non-marking skid shoes – these will not scratch or mark our driveway, especially with the interlocking stone that we have on the driveway. Don’t want to ruin this investment. The nonmarking skid shoes cost $25 if you buy them separately, many machines come with them included.
Remote Chute and Deflector Rotation – this is important from an ease of use and safety perspective. Everything can be controlled from behind the machine
Electric Start – has been useful over the years especially when the machine has been hard to start. Some people may find the recoil manual starter difficult to use and prefer the electric starter for that reason
Hand Warmers – I do not have these on my current machine, but would really appreciate having them. On cold days even with warm gloves, your hands can get pretty cold.
The other features all rank the same and are not as important to me as the above ones. For readers, you may have a different priority. The only other comment is that larger more powerful machines make quick work of lots of snow so if you can afford it purchase a 28-inch wide 10-horsepower snow blower vs. one that is 26 inches wide with 8 horsepower. You will appreciate the difference. Speed of clearance and ease of use along with more features that are auto-included are some of the criteria that I would be looking for.
One other point is that a larger machine is a heavier machine. As long as you let it do the work, they are easy to use. A heavier machine will plow its way threw snow drifts much better than one that is lighter. I found that I had a little issue dealing with snow drifts etc with a larger heavier snow blower. Compared to my old one which was 25 inches wide, the new one at 28 inches does a far better job from this perspective.
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