A lot depends on where you live, and how the winter is going.
I lived in Wilmington MA one winter that a single stage snowblower became useless when we got 42" of snow over a few weeks. The blower would not lift it high enough, the neighbor fixed me up by doing the driveway with his 2-stage blower.
Now, in Virginia, my 10HP Cub Cadet 1000 easily handles 6" of heavy-wet snow.
No snow blower in my future!!
