Honda HSS724ATD

The HSS928ATD is the Goldilocks of Honda's track line and the model snowblowerforum lifers usually mean when they say 'just buy the Honda': a GX270 pushing 1,900 lb/min through a 28-inch bucket, hydrostatic tracks that hold a grade like a tank, and joystick chute control that owners describe as fantastic. Home Depot reviewers call it 'easily the best snowblower made,' and the engine routinely outlives the driveways it clears. Honesty file: this platform was at the center of the HSS wet-snow clogging saga — Honda's redesigned larger-opening chute (free under warranty, standard on current units) mostly settled it, but heavy slush can still slow the 270cc more than the bigger HSS1332. At about $3,599 it costs $1,300+ more than an Ariens Platinum 24 SHO and turns slower than Ariens' auto-turn wheels, yet nothing in the price class matches its traction or fit-and-finish. With Honda winding down parts of its US power-equipment line, grab one while dealer channels are still full.

This is the biggest gas snow blower Honda sells in the US and the machine snowblowerforum threads simply call 'awesome': a GX390 moving 2,750 lb/min through a 32-inch bucket with a 56-foot throw that reviewers joke puts snow in the neighbor's yard. Notably, the wet-snow clogging complaints that dogged the HSS928 barely touched this model — the bigger impeller and 389cc of torque keep heavy slush moving, and current units carry Honda's redesigned chute anyway. Owners' actual gripes are practical: it's 298 lb, it fills half a shed, turning the tracks takes shoulders since there's no trigger steering, and at about $3,999 it's up against the Ariens Platinum 30 SHO and Professional RapidTrak, which cost less and steer easier. But for lake-effect country, long steep gravel drives, or anywhere the plow leaves a four-foot wall, this is the no-drama pick — commercial-grade everything, decade-plus service life, and traction that makes chains-on-wheels rivals look silly.

This is the machine the r/snowblowers flex threads are about: a commercial-grade 420cc AX engine, a 23.5-inch-tall Pro bucket with 16-inch serrated augers, hydrostatic drive, and Ariens' party trick — RapidTrak, a track system that flips between wheel-speed mode, full track mode for slopes, and a dig-in mode that rotates the housing down to shave hardpack. Owners describe standing at the end-of-driveway berm and simply driving through it while neighbors rock their wheeled machines back and forth; the hydro lets you feather speed to exactly what the snow allows, and it moves a rated 79 tons per hour with 60-foot throws. Reported warts: it does a poor job scraping packed tire tracks (the tracks ride up), a few owners have chased drive-skipping under heavy load, the track hardware is exposed to slush, and at 339 lb and $3,199 it's double the cost of a Deluxe 28 SHO that clears the same width. Buyers are steep-driveway owners, heavy lake-effect victims, and people who plow for elderly neighbors half the block.