Poulan Pro PR291E30 Review

(Rated: 4.5 / 5) Review by Frank Lowery
Noise
Ease of Assembly
Maneuverability
Balance And Handling
Result Quality
Check Price
Related pages: Best Gas Two-Stage Snow Blower, Best Snow Blower, Gas Snow Blower Buying Guide, Gas Two-Stage Snow Blower Buying Guide, Gas Two-Stage Snow Blower Reviews, Poulan Pro, Poulan Pro Snow Blowers, Snow Blower Buying Guide, Snow Blower Reviews,

When you are a homeowner with a long driveway who lives in an area that experiences fairly heavy snow accumulation through the winter, you need a machine that can handle whatever Mother Nature can throw at you. That means you need a powerful snow blower that can provide a high snow cut depth to deal with whatever the biggest snow storms can drop on your region. You also want to make sure your snow blower has the kind of extra wide clearance that can allow you to clear your driveway quickly and efficiently.

The best machines for dealing with this kind of situation are gas powered two stage snow blowers. They have the kind of powerful engines that can support extra wide, extra high intakes and throw snow farther than smaller snow blowers can. With one of these workhorses in your garage, you will be ready for whatever snowfall accumulates.

Review Summary

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 is such a big, powerful snow blower that once you have it ready to go in your garage, you will actually be looking forward to the next big snow storm in your area. It has a convenient push button start so you will no longer be straining your shoulders pulling on a heavy starter cord. Once it gets going, you will be pleased with its overall fuel efficiency and low emissions output – it is even compliant with California Air Resources Board emissions standards, so you can use it anywhere in the United States.

The clearance width on the Poulan Pro PR291E30 is a full 30 inches, which will allow you to clear snow from your property quickly and efficiently. And this big monster has a 23 inch snow cut depth, so there is virtually no snow storm it can’t handle with ease – no matter how much accumulation you receive, the Poulan Pro PR291E30 can handle it. And even with its size and weight, this snow blower is easy to use: thanks to its big, deep treaded tires, self-propelled drive and convenient power steering you will have no trouble maneuvering it around your property and over uneven terrain.

Specifications

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 is a two-stage gas snow blower with dimensions of 37 x 50.9 x 32 inches. It has a push button start. It has a 291 cubic centimeter Overhead Valve 4-cycle engine. It has a self-propelled drive system with 4 forward speeds and 2 reverse speeds.

The clearing width on the Poulan Pro PR291E30 is 30 inches, and the snow blower’s snow cut depth is 23 inches. It can throw snow up to 35 feet, and its snow chute rotates 180 degrees manually. It has an ergonomic handle and power steering, and a convenient floodlight for use on dark days. It has rubber wheels that are 16 x 5 inches, and it weighs 268 pounds. It comes with a 2 year warranty.

Description

Once you get the Poulan Pro PR291E30 out of its shipping crate, you will see that it requires almost no assembly and is pretty much completely ready to go. In just a few minutes, you can get it set up, fill the gas tank, and be ready to start clearing snow. All that is left at that point is waiting for a good snow storm! The Poulan Pro PR291E30 has the kind of ultra high snow cut depth that will allow you to clear the deepest snow drifts easily – it is a full 23 inches tall. You will be able to easily and quickly clear deep snow fall while your neighbors are calling in professional snow plows to clear their driveways.

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 has a wide clearance as well, which is important. It is 30 inches wide, which is enough to clear an entire sidewalk on a single pass. It also means you will be able to clear your driveway in just a few passes, which will save you lots of time and effort and have you back indoors before you know it. And because it has big, deeply treaded tires, a self-propelled drive system, and power steering, this baby is very easy to maneuver around your property. Even on long driveways with steep inclines, this snow blower is easy to use.

This snow blower is also designed to be fuel efficient and CARB-compliant, which will be a relief to consumers in California or any of the other 14 states that enforce these restrictions. It also means you will not have to spend as much money on gas to fuel it, and its engine will require less maintenance to keep it running smoothly. If you live in a region that gets hit with heavy snow storms during the winter, you want a machine like this in your garage.

Pros

When a winter storm hits, you want to be able to clear your property as quickly and efficiently as possible, but a lot of snow blowers don’t have what it takes to get the job done. And many two-stage gas snow blowers are gas guzzlers that pour fumes into the air. With the Poulan Pro PR291E30, you get the kind of snow clearing power you need to remove snow quickly, and you have high fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

1. 30 inch wide clearance : The clearance width on the Poulan Pro PR291E30 is a full thirty inches, which means you will be able to clear your driveway and sidewalks in fewer passes and less time. You can clear a one car driveway in five passes or less with this snow blower. This is the kind of efficiency you want on a two-stage snow blower, because it means you will be back indoors where it is warm before you know it.
2. 23 inch snow cut depth : The other reason two-stage snow blowers have such excellent performance is because of the high snow cut depths they can support, and the Poulan Pro PR291E30 is no exception. It has a 23 inch snow cut depth, which means you will be well equipped to handle whatever snow fall Mother Nature can bring your way. You will be happily tackling deep snow drifts in no time, as this snow blower can cut through them without breaking stride.
3. Self propelled drive system : On a big snow blower like this one, a self-propelled drive is a must. This feature means you will be able to maneuver it up inclines or on uneven ground with no trouble. And not only is it self propelled, but it has four forward speeds and two reverse speeds, so you can pick the speed that is right for your pace and then simply steer the snow blower. Its reverse speeds also ensure you will have no trouble in tight corners of the driveway, too.
4. Push button start : If you have ever tried to start a gas powered snow blower the old fashioned way – by pulling a heavy starter cord – then you will understand why a push button start is such a great thing to have. I can’t remember how many times my shoulders ached after starting machines that way. With this system, the electric starter revs up the engine every time, so you are not left struggling to start the machine in the cold and inclement weather.
5. Power steering and big wheels : In addition to having a convenient self propelled drive system, the Poulan Pro PR291E30 has power steering and big wheels, which will help to make it even easier to maneuver around your yard. Instead of struggling to turn the snow blower under your own power, you can steer it with the slightest of effort to move the controls. And the snow blower’s extra large wheels with deep treads make it easy to maneuver over slippery or uneven ground.

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 30-inch two-stage gas snow blower is perfect for homeowners with big driveways who live in regions that receive a lot of snow fall during the winter. It is fuel-efficient and can handle big snow storms easily and efficiently. Its variable speeds and power steering make it easy to maneuver around your driveway and tackle tough jobs quickly.

Cons

With all of these great features, you are going to find it difficult to believe that there are areas in which the Poulan Pro PR291E30 is not quite perfect. It is so easy to use – startup is a snap, and the snow blower practically maneuvers itself around the driveway with its self-propelled drive and power steering – that it doesn’t seen like it could have any drawbacks. But let’s examine some of its problems.

1. Snow blower is quite heavy : The Poulan Pro PR291E30 weighs 268 pounds. That is a lot for a snow blower with its clearing width and snow cut height. It will make it a bit difficult to pull out of the garage without turning it on, but thankfully the big wheels make this job less difficult than it could be. Once you get it started up, the power steering and self-propelled drive make the weight virtually a moot point, which is good.
2. It has a large footprint : This snow blower is not only heavy, it is also quite big – but that is part of owning a two-stage snow blower with a thirty inch clearance width. At the same time, the overall dimensions of the Poulan Pro PR291E30, at 37 x 50.9 x 32 inches, could present a few issues. A snow blower of this size will take up a lot of space in your garage or tool shed, and it may not fit into tight corners easily.
3. High vibrations : The Poulan Pro PR291E30 produces a lot of vibrations while it is running, which can make it a difficult snow blower to operate. It also vibrates so much that you have to be careful to make sure the skids and drift cutters are firmly attached, with bolts and screws tightly in place. Otherwise there is a danger that the vibrations can loosen the attachments to the point that they might fall off.
4. Rather noisy : The Poulan Pro PR291E30 is not a quiet snow blower by any stretch of the imagination. While this is quite common for gas powered two-stage snow blowers, especially when they are powered by big, 4-cycle engines, it can still present issues. If you have neighbors who are close by, and a heavy snow storm drops several inches overnight, leaving you to clear it early the next morning, you run the risk of waking them up with the noise.
5. May struggle with very wet snow : In spite of the fact that the Poulan Pro PR291E30 is a two-stage snow blower with a fairly powerful engine and big intake, it may still struggle with wet, slushy snow. This is a chronic problem in lots of other snow blowers, though, and I don’t think it reflects poorly on this one. But be prepared for it to not throw wet snow as far as freshly fallen snow, and avoid this problem by clearing snow as soon as it accumulates.

Taking all of these Cons into consideration, you can see that none of them speak to flaws in the design or manufacture of the machine, and they are all heavily outweighed by all of the Pros the machine has to offer. This is a big snow blower designed to take care of heavy snow fall, and it’s expected that it is going to be noisy and heavy. What’s important is that it can handle tough jobs.

Product Comparison

When you are making a big purchase like a two-stage snow blower, you want to be sure you are getting the best product for your price range. Therefore it makes sense to do some comparison shopping before you settle on one model or another. While most of these machines are self-propelled and have similar engines, they differ in terms of clearance width and intake height, and some have more accessories than others. The chart below compares the Poulan Pro PR291E30 with two similar models.

	Poulan Pro PR291E30	Murray 1695539	Power Smart DB7651-24
Type	Two-Stage	Two-Stage	Two-Stage
Dimensions	37 x 50.9 x 32 inches	38 x 26 x 30 inches	38 x 26 x 30 inches
Start	Button push	Button push	Button push
Engine Manufacturer	Poulan Pro	Briggs & Stratton	Power Smart
Engine	291cc – OHV LCT	205 cc – OHV	208 cc – OHV
2-cycle / 4-cycle	4-cycle	4-cycle	4-cycle
Drive	Self-propelled	Self-propelled	Self-propelled
Speed Control	4 forward / 2 reverse	4 forward / 2 reverse	4 forward / 2 reverse
Clearing Width	30 inches	24 inches	24 inches
Snow Cut Depth	23 inches	21 inches	21 inches
Throw Distance	Up to 35 feet	Up to 20 feet	Up to 35 feet
Handle	Ergonomic	Ergonomic	Ergonomic
Light	Floodlight	n/a	n/a
Chute Control	Manual 180°	Manual 190°	Manual 180°
Wheels	16-Inch x 5-inch	13-Inch x 5-inch	13-Inch x 4-inch
Weight	268 pounds	197 pounds	180 pounds
Warranty	2 years	2 years	1 year

As you can see, there are a few differences from one model to the next. The Poulan Pro PR291E30 has the highest clearance width and snow cut depth of the three snow blowers, and its engine has considerably higher displacement than either of the other two models. It is also the only one equipped with a headlight of any kind, and it has the biggest wheels. At the same time it has the largest dimensions and weighs the most of the three.

Conclusion

Depending on what region you live in, you may get a steady number of snow storms through the winter that drop moderate amounts of snow fall, or a lot of big, deep blizzards that drop a lot of snow at once. In either case, you need a snow blower that will be able to consistently handle whatever winter can bring your way. The following pros and cons should help you decide if the Poulan Pro PR291E30 is right for you.

Conclusion Pros

1. 30 inch wide clearance.
2. 23 inch snow cut depth.
3. Self propelled drive system.
4. Push button start.
5. Power steering and big wheels.

The clearance width and snow cut depth are probably the most enticing features on the Poulan Pro PR291E30. They ensure that you will be able to consistently handle whatever snow fall could come your way, and do so quickly and efficiently. The power steering, push button start and self propelled drive system are all guaranteed to make using this machine easy and hassle-free.

Conclusion Cons

1. Snow blower is quite heavy.
2. It has a large footprint.
3. High vibrations.
4. Rather noisy.
5. May struggle with very wet snow.

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 is a big beast of a machine designed to tackle tough jobs, so naturally it is going to be heavy and have a large footprint. But if you do not have a long driveway and do not live in an area that experiences heavy snow fall, it may not be the right machine for your needs.

Final Word

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 is a tough workhorse of a snow blower that is designed to handle deep snow fall quickly and efficiently. If you live in an area of the country that gets frequent and heavy snow accumulation through the winter, you want a machine in your garage that you can count on to clear your property easily. A big clearance width and high snow cut depth are important aspects of any snow blower, but they are particularly useful on a two-stage snow blower with the kind of design and manufacturing that can support them.

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 has a powerful 4-cycle engine with a 291 cc displacement. The engine is able to support not only the auger and impeller fan, but also provides enough power to drive the snow blower at four variable forward speeds and two reverse speeds. In addition, it has power steering to make maneuvering it even easier and a convenient headlight so you can see what you’re doing.

Best Price

The Poulan Pro PR291E30 is not exactly cheap, but for a powerful two-stage snow blower with an extra wide clearance width and snow cut depth of nearly two feet, it is very reasonably priced. There are plenty of comparable two-stage snow blowers that are considerably more expensive than this model. And those models do not have the kind of great design features that the Poulan Pro PR291E30 does. So while this snow blower is definitely a big investment, it is also a good one: this snow blower will be at your side ready to clear deep snow through many tough winters for years to come.