Today’s snow removal machines make quick work of clearing the white stuff from driveways and sidewalks—saving your back from the strain of shoveling and tossing aside heavy snow. Yet while the terms “snow blower” and “snow thrower” are often used interchangeably (even by manufacturers at times), the two machines are actually quite dissimilar in terms of power, functionality, and price. We’ve put these two side by side—snow blower vs. snow thrower—to identify six notable differences. Keep reading to find out which snow removal machine is best suited to your climate, property, and budget.

A snow blower is more powerful than a snow thrower.

A Snow Thrower is single-stage machine, meaning it gathers snow and tosses it out a chute in a single motion. The power generated by a horizontal spinning auger picks up the snow while also creating the force that expels snow out of a discharge chute, usually to a distance of 15 to 25 feet away.

A snow blower works in two stages; like a snow thrower, it has a rotating auger to scoop up snow, but the snow is then fed into an impeller, which is akin to a powerful fan that launches the snow up to 35 feet away, or farther. At the even more powerful end of the Snow Blower spectrum are three-stage blowers that feature accelerators that chew through hard-packed snow and even ice, crushing it and feeding it into a mighty impeller that can launch snow up to 50 feet away.

Snow blowers remove a wider swath in a single pass.

Single-stage snow throwers are on the smaller side, and they remove snow in swath widths between 11 inches and 22 inches, depending on the individual machine. Two-stage snow blowers can clear up to a 26-inch swath of snow, while three-stage ATV Snow Blowers can remove as much as 30 inches of snow in a single swath. In areas that get frequent snows, a snow blower that removes a wider swath will significantly reduce the amount of time spent clearing away snow.

Snow throwers work better with light snow accumulations.

Because they’re smaller and less powerful than snow blowers, ATV Snow Throwers are better suited to removing light snow accumulations of about eight to nine inches, maximum. The top of the front intake chute on a snow blower is higher than it is on a snow thrower, so snow blowers can tackle deeper drifts and accumulations of 15 inches or more. In addition, small snow throwers are often not self-propelled, which also makes it more difficult for the operator to physically push them in thicker snow accumulations. The majority of snow blowers on the market today are self-propelled.

Equipment for snow and ice removal includes plows, pick-up trucks, skid steers and compact equipment, all-terrain vehicles, front-end loaders, and other pieces of large equipment.

• Straight plows. Equipment operators using a straight plow should make all passes away from buildings and toward the perimeter. The general rule is to avoid angling the blade toward a building. The goal of Snow Sweeper is to get the snow as far away from buildings as possible.

• V-plows. Operators can use a V-plow to make an initial breakthrough. This V-position also is effective for hard-packed snow, ice, and deep drifts. Operators can set the blade in the straight position or angled position for general, wide-path plowing or stacking, and they can use the scoop position for clean-up and carrying snow with minimum spilling.

Tiller or cultivator? Gardeners often use the two words as if they mean the same thing, but they are actually different tools. The machines look similar, although tillers are usually larger than cultivators, but each is built to perform a unique function in the garden, and they aren’t really interchangeable. A rototiller, or Tiller, is the heavier and more powerful of the two. Tillers are made for digging deeply and aggressively to break open the soil—for instance, when you’re creating a brand-new garden bed or to getting started at the beginning of the season. Different models offer a range of configurations and functionality, such as rear or front tines, variable depth settings, forward and counter-rotating tine operation, and more.