When I bought my Toro snowblower 19 years ago, I never really worried about how terrible the “headlight” (read small glow thing on the handlebar) was, I also hadn’t realized snowblowers (and other small engines) don’t have a real electrical system, and I quickly learned that light provided almost zero illumination for nighttime ops. So I went and bought a pair of 32W LED ATV Off-Road driving lights and mounted them, I’d tried using a motorcycle battery in a 3D printed battery box, but that solved the illumination issue, but ugh lead acid batteries are terrible. So this year I found a 3D printed adapter to use Dewalt Max batteries, and man do they light up the scene. And when one runs out you chuck another from the charger in. My 5Ah battery will give me about 2-2.5Hr (in the cold), and like most folks who do a lot of making I have multiple batteries of my chosen tool brand. It also powers a LED orange strobe since I often am out in the street while town plow ops are ongoing (that is the thing on the post on the right side of the blower that is covered by snow in front of the chute (it is still blinding even covered in snow). The switch is an illuminated waterproof switch (red glow bottom right) on the deck.
Great result. You guys have a lot of snow!! Good luck!
My CC has twin LED headlights that are fine for the daytime use they’re subject to 
The advantage of working from home and now being retired is I only clear the snow during the day.
But I did add impeller flaps because the snow would cake up in the gap between the impellers and the chute throat and I’d have to clear them every 20ft with our last snowstorm. The factory gap was over half an inch and now it’s only the thickness of a credit card.
I think Toros have an even larger gap but maybe only 3 blades on the impeller? I’ve got 4 blades on mine and they seem to pack up pretty quick with wet snow. And since it’s a 3 stage it’s a PITA to get in there with the two front plate impellers. Last snowstorm I ended taking those off since I didn’t have the deep drifts or snowbanks they’re designed to cut into.
Snow Blower Impeller Modification…
Something I have never seen. However this year I have made the decision to switch from gas to the big Ego 28” electric, it’s expensive (but so is annual maintenance on the Toro which after annual service (that things goes through belts like crazy) the maintenance pays for the Ego in 4 years! Plus I am sick of gas spilling and one thing I really want are the heated handles. The Ego has 4 LED headlights. The purpose of the headlights (other than seeing better at night) is to be seen REALLY well by the plows. Those guys drive like it’s Death Race 2000 on our street and so easy to get run over (The town for some reason never pushed the bank back to the width of the street so if I don’t move the banks back a couple feet 2 cars can’t pass each other (what is super annoying is they narrowed the street by 5’ to make it “2 plows wide” but the plows drive down the middle (grrr). plus I need to blow the storm drains or we get huge puddles/ice in the street. All of that puts you at risk of being run over so the lights really help to be seen from hundreds of yards away. Since I live right on a bend in the street you often don’t get much warning. When the town uses the big highway plows you hear those and see them from far away, but when it’s a contractor in a F-250 there is little warning.
Here is a better look at the 3D printed part
And here is a photo of a street off my street to show you why I am out in the street fixing this at least near my house. That is supposed to be wide enough to let 2 cars pass. I mean it is 2 days after the big storm they’ve had plenty of time to fix the streets…
All I can say is that I’m very thankful we don’t live with that much snow anymore. I don’t mind the little we get, but to have that much, no thank you. Been there, done that, threw the t-shirt away.
So I actually know the answer to the street width thing.
Plows used to be driven by city employees who drove the same routes year after year and knew them like the backs of their hands.
In the last ~20 years most cities in the US switched to seasonal employees (the contractor in their F250) and they were destroying curbs and infrastructure because they didn’t know/care what was there.
So almost all those same cities switched their contracts to some version of “You can’t go within 18” of any infrastructure, and if you break it you have to pay for it" which means those contractors usually leave a good 3’ unplowed to guarantee they don’t hit anything.
So saved money in the short term but lost both experience, and service.
Sigh!
When you get the new one, check the impeller for clearance. If there’s much of a gap, it’s just a place for snow to get packed in. The impeller “flaps” are like tire rubber, pretty thick with embedded cords. It you install them too tightly against the housing they just wear down as the impellers spin so they’ll seat into your machine’s profile and then that’s it for years as the snow has no effect on them.
Depends on what kind of snow you get as to whether it packs in or not. I don’t snowblow until after the snowstorm has passed so I don’t get fluffy snow much. Usually if it’s not a wet snow coming down, it’s had enough time to consolidate and become packable. The 3-stage used to be really useful in CT to carve into snowbanks and the walls of snow that get built up over the winter but don’t do much extra help down here in our small snows (5" or so).
I don’t miss the New England snow. I used to do what you do in terms of cutting back the snowbanks close to the curb and closer to the mailbox so the mailman could easily get the postal truck in close. If you don’t get to the edge of the driveway or road every time, by the end of the winter you’re lucky to squeeze one car through.
Wow! Such richness even around snowblowing. I must say I never even considered the ability to blow snow at night. Seemed like only a daytime activity to me. The GF really does change the game.
If you need to get out to go to work in the morning, it becomes a nighttime activity 
What I never understood was a neighbor who mowed his lawn at night. That just seemed weird. 
In NC retirement I need to do neither. No more getting out to work and almost none of us have lawns (we’re in the woods and most people opt for wood chips/mulch and flower gardens.)