Snow Joe Electric Snow Throwers

These machines are generally useless if the snow is at all wet. I had one of these last year and threw it away. Unless you are trying to only blow very light powder, don’t bother.

If I buy a snow blower here in SC for my grandsons. How much snow will it blow? Enough for a snow man? :slight_smile:

I felt the same way you do before I actually tried using the machine. I doubt you used one of these before. My family has two electric snow blowers. If you have realistic expectations, they are fine. This is a single stage and it will work as well as a similar sized single stage gas machine.

The best part is you never have to worry about mixing oil and gas. You don’t run out of gas and have to make a run to the gas station. You don’t end up with a garage smelling like gas. You don’t need to spend the cost of this machine getting a tune up every year. It starts right up without breaking your arm.

You will have to factor in the cost of a decent extension cord designed for use outdoors. Trust me, don’t cheap out on the extension cord, you will regret it. You also have to deal with not running over the extension cord. You need to throw the cord over your shoulder to get it out of your way. But you will get the hang of it quickly.

If you live in a location that gets a lot of snow, this is not the machine for you. If you live in a place that gets snow a few times in the winter and it is under 10 inches at a time, you should be fine with this machine.

Arghh… I just ordered one of these from amazon last week for $100 more although it was the hybrid version that has the 40V battery but also allows the cord.

Strongly debating whether that feature is worth it or should i cancel/return and pull trigger on the cordless. Heck, I could almost buy both for the same price and have redundancy but also don’t have space in garage.

Any advice from the Wootiverse?

Why does the corded machine look to be twice as big as the cordless machine? Specs say they are both 18" wide.

I live in Florida - will this throw the beach sand that becomes a problem this time of year?

I bought the battery one previously. It’s true they don’t like heavy wet slush, but 99% of the snow I’ve ever had to blow with it has been fine. It’s light enough that if the snow is too deep I can make a couple passes at it. I have a 2-car garage width driveway and a sidewalk that I use it for, and never run out of battery. Sometimes I’ll go around back and do a path to the shed and deck, and that’s pushing it. It can handle a few inches pretty well, and all I know is that it’s better than a shovel. I also don’t smell like gas when I’m done or cuss out the dang pull cord for breaking off… haha. It’s great for “easier than a shovel most of the time” action. Good luck! PS: I’m in Minnesnowta, we know about winter here. :wink:

It probably could, haha, it’s got rubber flappers! :slight_smile:

I would say keep the electric option, it sounds cool. If it’s got a little more power it wouldn’t hurt for those big snowstorms!

Although if it’s the SAME power with the cord as the battery, I’d return it and buy the battery one here if you have a “typical” sized driveway to do. Good luck! :slight_smile:

One, I don’t know of any snowblowers that require mixing gas and oil. Two, people don’t generally tune up their sniwblowers, but treat them similarly to their lawnmowers. Three, a flexible when cold 100’ cord 12gauge, will cost about $75. Four, I’ve had a snow joe bought from Woot, and it worked for two seasons before the gear stripped. It was fine for what it is and will work for lots of people with a short driveway.
The battery model won’t last long, and really only makes sense if you have several devices using the same battery so that you have more than one battery.
Oh I replaced my broken snowjoe with a Briggs and Stratton single stage snowblower for $360 from HD. it’s similar to the snow joe in that you push it, but it’s light and well balanced. It barely uses any gas, has electric start, but it’s so easy to pull start, I never use it. If you need more power than a snowjoe, I highly recommend the B&S. Oh, I’ve had a snowblower for 45yrs.

And it’s not the same power. The battery is rated for 500 watts. The corded model is 13.5 Amps. Multiply by your voltage and you have 1500 watts or three times the power.

I have had a few of these. The first lasted about 4 Maine winters. I generally use them as backup and for clearing decks and walkways around my apartment building. They are light to maneuver and in soft to medium packed snow they throw with in-your-face speed. I drive the snow off my decks through the railing slats! I also used this, almost like a shovel, to clear a huge 6foot drift on a flat roof a couple of winters ago. Saved me hours back-breaking work! These are not my first-line of snow clearing equipment, but they sure are handy in a big storm to clear out some pesky details that would require lots of hand shoveling.

You don’t know of any snowblowers that require mixing oil and gas? Those are called two-stroke engines and lots of single stage blowers are two stroke…

bought one of these from amazon recently. Works pretty well once you get used to the cord and moving around it. the cord quality matters for getting enough power to the machine. Live in north Buffalo and its been fine so far, but i dont live in the south towns where most of the snow goes

Like I said I’ve never seen a snowblower that needed mixed oil and gas in 45 yrs. I’ve seen plenty of string trimmers and leaf blowers and outboard motors that used mixed oil and gas, just not snowblowers.

He is referring to a different hybrid unit, what I was saying is that if the hybrid puts out the same power with battery or with AC as the battery one, you might as well get the battery one.

Don’t think so but when it’s 102 degrees and 97% humidity the auger may throw enough air to help you make it to winter.

I picked up the battery model when Woot had them a year ago. I’ve found that if you spray the paddles, chute and collector area with silicone, it will stop the snow/slush from accumulating or sticking. If you pre-cool the thrower by letting it acclimate to the outside temperature, it operates better. Last January, this unit was able to throw an 8" deep combination of day-old, refrozen snow/slush/ice mix, 10 - 15 feet, down to the pavement on my 60’ X 20’ driveway plus 150’ feet of walkways along with a wood deck and still had 25% battery left when I quit.