Champion 100535 27" Two-Stage

24" wide · 40 ft throw · 250 lb

The 2X 24 is Cub Cadet's entry two-stage and the one owners usually point at when someone's budget won't stretch to an Ariens Compact 24. The IntelliPOWER 243cc engine is the real story — an electronically governed carb that Cub claims holds up to 18% more usable power, and owners do report less bogging in wet snow than the old HP version. You get trigger power steering and a tall 21-inch intake at a price where Ariens gives you neither. Owner sentiment runs genuinely positive (4.1 across 381 Home Depot reviews) on power, throwing distance, and maneuverability, but the honest knocks are real: it's MTD-built, so the forum crowd questions long-term durability versus an Ariens gearbox, several long-term owners report carburetor gumming that demands religious fuel stabilizer or end-of-season draining, and the plastic chute parts feel cheap next to the steel elsewhere. Buy it for a 2-3 car paved driveway in 12-inch snow country; skip it if you regularly face wet coastal cement — that's where the 26 or 28-inch bigger engines earn their keep.

Best for First-time two-stage buyers with a mid-size paved driveway who want power steering without paying Ariens money.

24" wide · 40 ft throw · 208 lb

The Storm 2425 is Troy-Bilt's entry two-stage and one of the cheapest name-brand paths to real auger-and-impeller snow clearing. The formula is simple: a 208cc engine, 24-inch bucket, 20-inch intake, and the Just One Hand control layout that lets you adjust the chute mid-pass — a feature bargain machines skip. Owner sentiment on the Storm line is steady rather than glowing: it starts easily, handles 8-12 inch storms fine, and the lifetime chute warranty is a nice touch, but the 208cc is the smallest engine you'll find pushing a 24-inch bucket, so wet heavy snow forces half-width bites, and there's no power steering, headlight, or heated grips at $1,229. The owner-forum framing is blunt: this is an MTD value machine — the same bones as a Craftsman 24 — so buy it for the price and the dealer network, not for heirloom durability; an Ariens Compact 24 costs ~$100-200 more and out-muscles it with a 223cc and better build. For light-to-moderate snow regions where the driveway is two cars and the budget is firm, it's a sensible, honest workhorse.

Best for Budget buyers in moderate snow regions who want name-brand two-stage basics on a two-car driveway.

27" wide · 40 ft throw · 205 lb

The 1227MD (sold in current production with S1227 badging) is the value counterpunch to the $1,650 Ariens Deluxe 28: a 27-inch steel bucket, notched steel augers, aluminum gear box, and Briggs' own 1150 Snow Series 250cc engine — cold-rated to 20 below — for roughly $500 less. Owners consistently say it has 'plenty of power to throw snow, even wet snow,' and its 40-foot rated throw holds up in real use; the Free Hand control that lets you crank the chute while still driving is a genuinely good piece of design. What you give up versus the name brands is refinement and serviceability: there's no trigger or power steering, so the solid axle makes end-of-pass turns a workout on a machine this size; heated grips and power steering are reserved for the pricier 1227MDS; and one recurring owner complaint is that pulling the impeller/wheels for service requires a bearing puller most homeowners don't own. As a straightforward, well-powered two-stage for average Midwest winters at a near-Costco price, though, it's one of the best honest values in the 27-inch class.

Best for Value-focused owners with two-car driveways in average snow regions who want name-brand-engine power without the $1,600+ price of an Ariens or Toro.

24" wide · 35 ft throw · 206 lb

The ST 224 has been Husqvarna's volume seller for a decade, and the current version quietly fixed the old model's biggest gripe by adding trigger power steering as standard. It's the classic first two-stage: 24-inch cut, 23-inch intake, 212cc engine that starts on the first pull (owners brag about this constantly), and a hands-on tested throw of 30-35 feet — good with powder, adequate with wet cement-snow. Around $1,099 it sits between MTD-built box-store machines and the Ariens Compact 24, and that's exactly how the ownership experience reads: sturdier auger housing and a 10-year cast-iron gearbox warranty on one hand; a friction-disc drive, stretchy control cables, and plasticky chute hardware that generate most of the complaints on the other. Note that heated grips, which the old Lowe's-era 224 had, are gone from the current spec. Treat the first-season belt adjustment as scheduled maintenance and it'll clear a two-car driveway for years without drama.

Best for First-time two-stage buyers with a standard two-car driveway and regular 6-14 inch snowfalls.

24" wide · 40 ft throw · 163 lb

The pitch here is a Briggs & Stratton engine at a price where the value tier usually fits an unbranded clone. At 163 lb it is one of the lighter 24-inch two-stage machines in this catalog — about 25 lb under the Ariens Compact 24 — which makes it easier to turn and store, and correspondingly less planted in heavy snow.

Best for A standard two-car driveway where a recognised engine brand matters but a dealer network doesn't.

24" wide · 40 ft throw · 187 lb

The Compact 24 is the cheapest way into a real Ariens two-stage, and the appeal is that the money went into the metal: all-steel bucket and dash, cast-iron gear case with a 5-year warranty, and the same Auto-Turn steering as the Deluxe line. Owners consistently call the build quality absurd for a $1,300 machine, and the 120V plug-in electric start means it fires on the first press in January. The honest knock is the 223cc engine — forum owners report it bogs in deep, wet snow at anything above the lowest speeds, and it's noticeably happier in fluffy powder than in the slush a plow leaves at the end of the driveway. At 187 lb with a 20-inch intake it's genuinely maneuverable, which is why it sells to people with one- or two-car paved driveways in moderate-snow states. Against a Toro Power Max 824 OE, the Toro clears wet snow with less drama, but the Ariens is the sturdier machine you'll still be running in 20 years. Buy it for the frame, drive it a gear slower in the heavy stuff.

Best for One- to two-car paved driveways in moderate snow regions where build quality matters more than raw wet-snow power.