The History of Snowblowers

Did you know that the snowblower was invented by a Boston, Massachusetts teen all the way back in 1941? William P. Murphy created his machine to make clearing his 100-foot-long driveway easier. The first snowblower used a one-cylinder Briggs and Stratton gas engine coupled with a custom-built chassis and centrifugal clutch for the blower; it weighted more than 100 pounds. While Murphy’s machine was useful, snowblowers didn’t have much commercial success until Toro released the Snowhound, the first mass-marketed residential snowblower, in 1953. It cost around $200 and could plow a seventeen-inch-wide space in powder up to one foot high. Today, there are many snowblowers on the market and many people who live in areas with heavy snowfall consider them a necessity for getting through the winter season.