Will A Snowblower Fit In A Minivan? (Which Ones Will?)

If you live in a part of the country where you get a lot of snow you will be quite familiar with a snowblower (also called a snow thrower by some people). One of the biggest issues with using a snowblower is hauling it around if you want to go help family and friends dig out or want to try and make some extra money by snow blowing other people’s walks and driveways. 

Of course a snowblower will fit in the back of a pickup truck without any problem but what if you only have a minivan? Can you get a snowblower in the back of it? 

Small snowblowers will easily fit in the back of a minivan if the rear seats are removed or laid into the floor. Larger two stage and three stage snowblowers will also fit but you will have to slide up or remove/fold the second row seats in some minivans. 

A full sized two or three stage snowblower will have handles that are 40-45” high (depending on the model). The rear door of almost all minivan models will be 40” tall so the largest snowblowers will have to be pushed inside at an angle. Then once it clears the rear door it can be put down on the floor and it should either sit entirely flush or if you have the biggest snowblowers the front will be tilted slightly off the ground. 

You don’t have to lay a large snowblower on it’s back or side as it will fit into a minivan just like normal. 

One of the main issues with putting a two and three stage snowblower in the back of a minivan is their weight. Picking these large machines up is difficult because they are heavy and also bulky which makes lifting them up into the minivan difficult for most people. 

Some people will try and use ramps to make it a bit easier to put the snowblower inside but then you have to worry about damaging the bumper if the ramp moves (which is really easy). 

In general it will take 2 decently strong people to pick up one of these full sized snowblowers and put it into the back of a minivan but it will definitely fit! 

One word of caution, make sure to use a tarp or two on the floor as you will absolutely get ice/snow inside your minivan from your snowblower after using it! 

What type of ramp can you use to put the snowblower in a minivan? 

As I mentioned earlier using ramps to load a snowblower in your minivan is not ideal because they can easily slide off and damage your bumper. However, if you don’t have a way to lift it up then there are a couple things you should know about ramps for minivans. 

Using a ramp that is a bit longer can help you a lot when loading the snowblower into the rear of your minivan. There are different models of ramp available that are of various lengths. 

However, it is advised to find a ramp that is between 70 to 80 inches long to keep the slope to a minimum. 

The ramps for a minivan will need to be the arch shaped ones and also be made of bars which are resistant to skidding. 

This arch should assist you while you are loading the snowblower as it should help you place your equipment above the bumper to try and ensure that you don’t damage it. 

The anti-skid bars are going to help you in giving a higher amount of traction and decrease slipping while you load the equipment as well. 

One possible issue that you might face with an arched ramp is being too tall for the rear door.  The ramp won’t be too tall but once you put the snowblower on it could be. 

Just be sure to test out any new ramp once you get it by using it to put the snowblower in and out of your minivan so you can return/exchange it if you need to. 

Is it safe to carry a snowblower in a minivan? 

Now that I have covered that snowblowers will fit inside of a minivan the next logical question that many people have is whether it’s safe to put it in there. After all it’s full of fuel and is a large machine so it might seem to be unsafe.

Although snowblowers are large machines with fuel in them as long as you keep them upright and don’t smoke while they are in your minivan then it’s pretty safe. 

However, if you turn the snowblowers on their side they will begin to leak gas all over your minivan which will cause you to inhale fumes and is a huge fire risk as well. 

Another thing to consider is how secure they are. If you have a ton of extra space on all sides of the snowblower it could easily shift when you are accelerating or braking and could damage the interior of your vehicle. 

To avoid that make sure that the snowblower is firmly in place and doesn’t have the room to move very much. 

Should you carry a snow blower in a minivan? 

Now that I’ve covered that snowblowers can fit in a minivan and that it is relatively safe to do so the next question that you should be asking yourself is should you. 

Should you put a snowblower in your minivan? 

Should you haul a heavy piece of machinery around in it? 

If you have a nice minivan or one that you are concerned about getting dirty then hauling a snowblower around in it probably isn’t a good choice. However, if you don’t mind if your minivan gets a little bit of snow, ice, and grime in it then hauling a snowblower will be just fine. 

I’ve hauled a large variety of different things in the back of my minivan including 

• Drywall
• Snowblowers 
• Lawn mower
• Plywood
• Moving boxes
• Couches
• Kitchen table 
• Etc. 

Yes, some of these items were dirty and scuffed up the sidewalls inside my vehicle but being able to use the family minivan to haul virtually everything is worth the small scratches, scuffs, and dirt (that my kids probably would have put there anyway). 

 Conclusion

I hope that this article has been helpful in answering your questions about whether you can fit a snowblower in your minivan and whether you should put it in there at all. 

I personally wouldn’t want to use a minivan to haul a snowblower unless I had someone to help me load and unload it as I’m not a fan of using ramps with a minivan. 

Although it can be done I’m just not really a fan of doing it that way and I would be afraid that I would tear up my bumper or even damage the rear door. 

Now that you know that a snowblower will fit you have to decide if you want to put it in your minivan or not.