Every Major Snow Blower Brand Ranked From Worst To Best

Whether you need a specific machine that fits your snow-blowing needs or want to know if you've made the right purchase, it helps to know where each brand stands. Hopefully, our roundup of the major snow blower brands will help narrow down your options, or at least provide a good overview of each manufacturer before you continue your research.

Autonomous snow blowers work so differently that they might as well be considered different tools, so they aren't included in this list. And while electric snow shovels can help you chip away at small pileups, in some areas a true snow blower is a must-have. That's why we're focusing on blowers and blowers only. Whether you need a small, cheap machine to clean the occasional pileup or are looking for a one-stop solution for liberating a large area almost daily during the winter months, you'll find the brand for you on this list.

Greenworks is a brand you often see at retailers like Lowe's and Tractor Supply, but its reputation is not the best. Greenworks' website showcases dozens of snowblower options, with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to as much as $2,000. Unsurprisingly, the higher-priced models tend to have better reviews, though like most Greenworks products, their average user review rating is below four stars.

Looking at Greenworks in isolation, the ratings might not seem so bad. However, those products are nowhere close to being the top-rated models of any hardware store, nor did Greenworks receive much recognition from industry experts in their best-of lists. Neither Wirecutter nor The Spruce included Greenworks in their best-of ranking of snow blowers.

One possible reason for the brand's lack of popularity could be that Greenworks only makes electric equipment, and doesn't offer gas-powered alternatives. Based on its reputation and reviews, we suggest you look to other brands, at least when it comes to snow blowers.

You might not have realized that Honda makes more than just cars. As it turns out, snow blowers are part of its business, too. However, Honda snow blowers are not cheap. The brand's two-stage models range between $2,600 and $9,000, making them far more expensive than other brands on this list. In fact, most buyer's guides on the topic only mention Honda snow blowers to nod at their exorbitant price tags.

Reviews from consumers on Honda's website are decent enough, so there must be some happy customers somewhere. It's hard to find them anywhere but on Honda's website, though. Honda snow blowers don't rank highly on most retailers' websites because you can't buy one of those from most retailers. Home Depot, Lowe's, and Tractor Supply simply don't sell them. That said, Honda's dealer locator page suggests that some local businesses and online stores do indeed carry the products.

Honda might very well be a great brand of power equipment, but this kind of exclusivity can make every purchase a pain. You might need to hunt down a Honda-approved service center for repairs, for example. Forget about store-backed warranties, too. Those factors, together with the price, make Honda one of the least desirable snow blower brands.

Another major brand name in the power tool industry, you might be surprised to find Ryobi on the "bad" side of this list. Our analysis focused on industry reputation, reviews, and how widely available snow blower brands are, and sadly, Ryobi fails on all those fronts. Not only do Ryobi snow blowers lack professional reviews and didn't appear on any industry best-of lists that we consulted, but the brand sells only a handful of snow blowers.

At the time of writing, Ryobi sells only five snow blower models, and the only major hardware store to carry them is Home Depot. As far as user reviews go, Ryobi isn't terrible, but it's not the best, either; One model had an average of 4.1 stars and another had a 3.9. On the upsides, Ryobi's 40V snow blowers should run for about 45 minutes on a single charge, which is not bad for the standards of electric snow blowers, though this is only possible with a (very expensive) 40V/8Ah battery.

It might not be fair to include Milwaukee on our list at all because, at the time of writing, the brand's snow blower is not yet available for purchase. However, Milwaukee's M18 Fuel Dual Battery Single Stage Snow Blower has been announced, and the company seems quite excited about entering a new area of outdoor power equipment. Given that there are zero reviews available for this product, we can't really judge Milwaukee based on its performance. Still, the brand itself has a positive reputation, which hopefully will hold strong as its snow blower rolls out.

Milwaukee is always working on new patents, but not all of them become real products, like the M18 Fuel snow blower. Who's to say, this might only be the first of many blowers in the brand's lineup. Milwaukee products are usually available at Ace Hardware as well as other big hardware stores. Chances are that the same will be true for this blower. Finally, the main reason this coming-soon products ranks somewhat high in the list is that Milwaukee is a top-rated power tool brand with a strong reputation and an excellent track record.

DeWalt is a good tool brand with a loyal user base and plenty of excellent products. The only reason it doesn't rank higher on this list is due to the limited number of snow blowers available from the brand. At the time of writing, DeWalt only listed four snow blowers on its site, one of which is really an electric snow shovel, while the rest are all single stage. While DeWalt snow blowers are available at Home Depot, where they have received good user reviews, four models aren't enough to judge an entire brand. With the smallest snow shovel getting 3.5 stars on Home Depot, the brand doesn't impress in terms of user reviews, either.

That said, we should point out that our worst-to-best ranking doesn't mean you absolutely shouldn't buy any particular brand of snow blower. If DeWalt has the tool you need, it doesn't really matter if there are brands with more choice: you still got what you needed. Rather, we hope that seeing a reputable brand low on the list might inspire you to do a bit more research than you would have done otherwise, since you might find something that fits your needs better.

Troy-Bilt is another big name in the power equipment industry, and for good reasons. The brand has one-, two-, and three-stage blowers. Skimming Troy-Bilt's website, we noticed that the two-stage blowers have the best consumer reviews. While most Troy-Bilt two-stage blowers have at least an average of four stars or higher, some options are below that threshold.

One potential downside of Troy-Bilt's snow blowers is that those products might not be available at your favorite retailers. Although one of the brand's models is among Home Depot's top-rated snow blowers, those products are not available at Lowe's or at Tractor Supply. That said, Troy-Bilt does allow consumers to purchase directly from its website, so you don't have to hunt down a local dealer to get your hands on one. None of the expert sources we reviewed recommended Troy-Bilt snow blowers, and the brand isn't incredibly popular among users, which is why Troy-Bilt landed near the middle of our list.

Given Craftsman's reputation for producing all manner of outdoor tools and equipment, you might not expect it to be the best in every product category. That might be why few expert reviews recommend the brand's snow blowers wholeheartedly. Even on Craftsman's own website, these snow blowers only average four stars out of five. The only consistently positive impressions we could find of those products are on Lowe's website, and those are only consumer reviews.

Only a handful of Craftsman snow blower models are available at Lowe's, and still, not all of them have positive reviews. Some of the brand's products in the lineup seem to be safe bets, based on reviews, but those can be really expensive. Due to the middling reviews, which suggest buying a snow blower from the brand could be a gamble, and the high price of those products, we ranked Craftsman lower than other major brands.

Briggs and Stratton is the first brand on this list we can really recommend, largely due to its wide availability, good product reviews, and range of options. Prices run between $400 and $900 at Home Depot, which makes them relatively affordable. Briggs and Stratton has over a dozen snow blower models, though only some of them appear in Home Depot's top-rated category.

That said, we couldn't find Briggs and Stratton products on many other big-name home improvement online stores. According to the brand's dealer locator, you may need to travel pretty far to get access to the entire range of products. For example, there are apparently no dealers within 150 miles of Sacramento, California.

Briggs and Stratton doesn't seem to be very popular with professional reviewers. That's another reason why, despite some great consumers reviews, it's not among the best brands of snow blowers. The New York Time's Wirecutter even labeled Briggs and Stratton/Murray "lesser" in its recommendations for the best snow blowers.

Another middle-of-the-way brand, Yardmax isn't the most popular maker of snow blowers, but that doesn't mean we can dismiss it outright. Consumers at Tractor Supply, for one, seem to be overwhelmingly happy about their purchase. Yardmax has one single-stage snow thrower and four 2-stage blowers, with some models being displayed in Tractor Supply's "most popular" category, meaning they are highly rated by buyers.

All three top-selling Yardmax snow blowers at Tractor Supply have more than four stars out of five, and prices range between $700 and $1,000. However, the fact that you can't find Yardmax models at other big retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's is a point against the brand, which is another reason why we wouldn't label it one of the best. Another reason is the lack of battery-powered options. While this isn't surprising for large snow blowers, we would have preferred to see the option. That said, Yardmax is not one of the worst brands on this list, either, if consumer reviews are any indication.

Westinghouse has a small collection of snow blowers, but the brand's reputation moves it toward the better end of our list. What bumped Westinghouse into favorable territory is the fact that it has good reviews at Home Depot and Lowe's, with multiple models available at each retailer. Perhaps surprisingly, Home Depot's top-rated Westinghouse models are corded electric options, with both receiving a rating of 4.5 stars.

Westinghouse corded snow blowers also received hundreds of positive reviews at Lowe's, another store that sells many different models from this one brand. Prices range from under $200 to $539, with sizes going from 18 to 23 inches. Like other major brands, Westinghouse was not mentioned at all in our review of experts' recommendations. However, given the brand's reputation and the positive user reviews — both on retailers' sites and on the Westinghouse website itself — we decided that this is one of the best options if you're in need of a corded snow blower.

Ariens' snow products run the gamut from single-stage, home use snow blowers to professional-level and even track-equipped snow removal machines. While the brand does manufacture lawn equipment, too, the fact that it has an enormous focus on snow blowing equipment gives it an advantage for the purpose of this list.

While Wirecutter didn't endorse Ariens as the best option on the market, the website pointed out that the brand has a great reputation and calls out some of its most beloved features, like auto-turning. The Spruce recommended the Ariens 28-Inch Two-Stage ST28DLE Deluxe as the "most powerful" snow blower.

That said, while Ariens is undoubtably a great snow blower brand, one caveat is that its products' availability suffer from a certain exclusivity. We couldn't find any Ariens products at Home Depot or Tractor Supply, though you can purchase the equipment at Lowe's. Reviews are good there, too, which confirms Ariens' position on this list.

Ego is constantly making new tools to choose from, including a strong lineup of snow blowers. On Ego's website, most of its snow blowers, from the 21-inch model to the 28-inch self-propelled one, are rated highly by consumers. Though you can't get an Ego snow blower from Home Depot or Tractor Supply, authorized retailers include Ace Hardware and Lowe's. At Lowe's, Ego is one of the highest-rated brands in this category, with thousands of reviews averaging to 4.4 stars or higher for multiple models.

Buyers clearly consider Ego to be one of the best brands for snow removal, and industry experts seem to agree. The Spruce recommended an Ego snow blower for two categories: best for budget and best cordless electric. Wirecutter also named Ego as the best cordless option. While electric snow blowers from other brands fared poorly with consumers, Ego has edged out the competition, earning it this spot on our list.

The runner-up for our pick as best snow blower brand, Cub Cadet, has quite a reputation when it comes to winter outdoors equipment. The brand's snow blowers are available — and highly-ranked — at two of the most popular online hardware stores: Home Depot and Tractor Supply. Cub Cadet snow blowers might be expensive, but consumers and professional reviewers alike seem to think they're worth their price.

At The Spruce, the Cub Cadet was labeled the best self-propelled snow blower option. Self-propelled blowers are usually very expensive, which helps explain the cost of $1,309. Experts at Wirecutter, on the other hand, named the Cub Cadet 2X 26 as "best for gravel driveways", touting its excellent features for the price.

If you have the budget for it, a Cub Cadet snow blower is clearly an excellent choice. Overall, the brand is known as one of the best, and looking into it, it seems like there are some good reasons for this reputation.

Of all the major snow blower brands we analyzed, Toro is the only one that was available and highly rated at all major retailers we analyzed. Toro had multiple options at different price points on each store, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of positive reviews per product, all with great average scores. The Spruce agreed with consumers, awarding the Toro SnowMaster 724 QXE the title of "best overall", beating competitors like Ego, Ariens, and Cub Cadet. Wirecutter's first- and second-place recommendations were both given to Toro. No other brand we looked at received comparable endorsement from professional reviewers.

Toro's snow blower collection includes every kind of model you might think, from single stage and two-stage to commercial snow blowers, both in battery-powered and gas varieties. Not every Toro model was so highly reviewed by consumers, but a whole host of models earned higher than four stars out of five, which is more than we can say for most other brands. While every user's experience will be different, Toro has the most positive reputation of any snow blower brand, making it the very best option on our list.

We determined snow blower brand reputations based on reporting by industry experts like the New York Times' Wirecutter and The Spruce. We also considered reviews from users and professionals. The lists of the most rated snow blowers on Home Depot, Lowe's, and Tractor Supply informed our ranking, as well.

In our analysis, brands with multiple high-ranked models earned a better ranking than brands with only one or two highly-rated models. Online-only retailers like Amazon were not included in our analysis of product reviews because it can be difficult or impossible to buy a snow blower online and have it shipped to your home.