I bought this last year, only had to use it a couple of times, but it had a big problem. Snow gets in the housing around the exit chute, causing inability to direct the discharge. This year I fashioned a rubber dam for the housing, which is working quite well. However…I used it for a 15" snowfall a couple of days ago, and the thing literally - and I do mean literally - fell apart. The hardware for the chute fell off, and while putting that back on, I found that the nut/bolt (several inches long, very small diameter)for the chute had come off, as well as the big wingnut type thingy also on the chute was also off. I found most of the hardware on/near the blower, but can’t find the smallest nut. So much for locking washers. I must say that the blower does work pretty well, but having to deal with a stiff extension cord is a pain in the ice.
The sales map sure looks like the snow line in the USA LOL. On the other hand I have a gas snow blower in my shed and I live in central MS (of course I moved here from up north and hope to move back).
I would like the ease of care of an electric snowblower though. The gas one is a pain and can be hard to start (think gas mower) on occasion.
What a great deal and in the heat of the winter too. I’d think they charge the max during high demand time.
I paid around $200 for this exact model a couple of years ago and the only regret I have is that it’s so much cheaper now. I might just grab another at this price. I’m in upstate NY and yesterday it performed like a champ. The only problem is the compacted snow at the end of the driveway and the a-holes that made u-turns in our driveway in their trucks and compacted the snow flat to the pavement. Those areas require a couple of passes. Definitely a great investment and once you develop a technique, clearing driveway becomes a walk in the park.
Secure all the bolts and nuts. They can come loose from vibration. Blue Loctite is your friend if the blower doesn’t have nylon locking nuts.
Don’t run it with a wimpy 16 or 18 gauge extension cord. You need at least a 14 gauge, and 12 is better. 12 gauge cords let you draw all the amperage you need, but are expensive. All heavy electrical cords are cranky and stiff in winter temperatures.
I second this! I live in NH- we’ve been getting a ton of snow this winter, and there has only been one storm my electric snow-blower couldn’t handle. My driveway is long and narrow- while there are definitely some cons (mentioned above), I think the $80 I spent on one similar to this on woot last year was the best money I spent all year! Have not regretted it for even a second.
Easy solutions for these, unfortunately, I had to learn these on my own mistakes. First, always keep the chute straight. You can turn it any direction as needed, but the whole assembly should be straight. If you follow this rule, tighten the wingnuts as much as you can and never touch them, they will stay in place. Second, to keep the thin, long screw from loosing it’s nuts, mangling the ends will keep the nuts from escaping. A couple of good squeezes with pliers is all you need.
You guys talked me into it. And by “you guys” I mean all of the posters who have actually used it even in bad winters and praise it, not the posters busy bragging about how bad the snow is around them and claiming that it obviously couldn’t handle their winters.
The guys around me with powerful gas blowers have still had to go out and run them multiple times with the recent storms. The difference with this is that I’ll be able to take it out of my basement easily since I don’t have a garage. Worth it for a hundred bucks.
I recently used my 1800 on wet snow too, while the throw distance is no more than 6 ft, at worst, it throws some of it to the front of the path where the blower would re-throw it again.
I even used it to clear the wet snow off my stairs. Given the 1800’s relatively light weight, it took most of the heavy snow on the top off.
At the end, where the thrower could not get to the last inch of so of stuff that has been packed in by tires or people walking over it, after scraping them loose from the sidewalk, the amount of effort to shovel that inch of ice off was more than using the thrower to clear off the 10" or so of wet snow.
I agree too. I was going to place my order, I walked away from my computer to do some things and came back to find it sold out. Way too early in the day, Woot.
More please! Seems like a while since something has sold out fairly quick.