[RallyJon]

I'm tripling the size of my driveway this summer from about 1300 sq ft to about 4000 sq ft.

I currently have the smallest gas-powered Toro Powerlite single stage blower. Performance was fine for the usual 4-6 inches we get around here, but really struggled during the 12-20 inch storms. The 16" width was a drawback. Incredible quality--bulletproof. I've done zero maintenance on it in 6 years, not even drained the gas tank over the summer--and it's never failed to start.

Anyway, I figure I need something bigger for the larger area. There are a couple of nice 20-24" single stage blowers from Toro and others. But they might be marginal in a big storm. The smallest two stage blowers are 24". Much bigger than that and they break my budget and won't fit through the cellar door.

So is there a huge difference in performance between the biggest single stage blowers and the smallest two stage blowers? I don't want to be a power tool weenie here and buy twice what I need--I just want the right tool for the job.