Toro 1800 Power Curve Snow Blower
$129.99 + $5 Standard Shipping
Condition: New
DISCLAIMER Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!
Well, where was this during Nemo? I could have used this on my driveway, especially since the plow left a 5 foot high, 2 foot wide pile in front of my driveway!
I’ve seen a lot of snow blowers over the years, but always gas-powered. Anyone have any experience with electric? Decent price, but I have to say I’m skeptical, like I am of electric chainsaws…
Its crazy there is actually places that get enough snow to blow around. Tell me oh people who actually get a winter, where do you blow the snow to?
…anywhere that is not on the walkways or driveway.
I saw this and thought: YES! Finally! But then saw it was electric. Guess it could work right outside the garage, but I’d need a LONG extension cord for the driveway… and then I’m worried about electric outages.
Still. Pretty good price…
I am looking for a snow blower for quite a while now, gas-powered ones, but they are three times this price. Any suggestions why someone would opt for electric for gas beside the price point? Is it better to spend some more money now to get convenience of having a gas-powered one for the years to come? Any suggestions/comments? Thanks.
edit: one more point, I live in the Midwest/Chicago
off the sidewalk and out of your driveway into your yard
Yeah, good luck with this, unless you live in Texas.
It’s electric and has no torque, which makes it completely ineffective at handling “wet” snow.
It’s also single stage, which means if you get anything more than, say, four inches of snow, this thing will clog.
I’ve had mine for nine years, and it’s pretty great. This model has the one improvement mine lacks - the directional chute locks now, mine tends to throw the snow too low if the snowfall is too wet or sparse. Otherwise, it’s abfab. You’ll be glad you got this next season when it fires right up without have to go back to the shop for a tuneup. It easily handles snowfall up to about 6-7 inches, but it’s light enough to pick up by the handle and do two passes if needed. I usually just stay ahead of the snowfall by doing a pass once it’s close to six inches, because it’s just not a big deal to do so. If you haven’t had electric before, you’ll want to make sure you have a power cord that’s long enough and flexible in cold weather.
It was a very cold, very snowy and very very windy day. University classes were cancelled (which almost never happens) and I was on a rampage. Early that afternoon I had visited a computer lab at the school and shortly after walking outside into the snow, I dropped my cell phone. I didn’t realize it until I got to the car. Then a part of me remembered hearing something weird when I had first got outside. I figured it must have been my phone, so I went back. There was 8-12 inches of snow on the ground in some spots and two students were using snow blowers to clean the sidewalks. I searched and searched and then all of a sudden I hear a “what the heck” come from one of those students. The snow blower made a funny noise and my cell phone went flying through the air at exponential speeds. Slamming back into a snow bank, my phone laid there wet, cold, and barely scratched. How did this happen? Why is there not more damage I wondered? Of course I wanted to be able to call my parents and tell them before my phone died that I would not be going home that weekend because the weather was too bad. I couldn’t see the number I was dialing and the phone had no picture at all, but it dialed and my mother answered. She said, “Hell”… (and what I figured was supposed to be HELLO) and the phone was dead. I figured, “Hell”, what a great description of what my phone just went through…
The end. I have many many more cellular phone stories… many of which are with that same phone.
Also note the puny little sissy wheels…it’s likely you’ll have to shovel a spot to start so you can get it going. Definetely not for places like South Dakota. $120 is nice, but just not useful up here
Bought this exact model on Amazon two weeks ago, and used it 6 hours ago on a fair amount of wet, sloppy snow. I concur with the reviews on Amazon… it handles snow like a champ.
Again, if you’re thinking about getting this, DO read the Amazon reviews. You need to get an appropriate gauge extension cord, which will run another $40-60 for a soft winterized one. The damn cord DOES get in the way, which is the only limitation to this snowblower as far as I can tell.
There are a few things you need not worry about with electric equipment over gas: Electric starts EASY. No need to drain fuel at end of season. Very light weight. No fire hazard keeping fuel in garage. Far less expensive than the gas alternative. Easy to store, hangs up on garage wall. No need for repair charges every 3 to 4 years.
Btw, I own a small Toro electric which my wife bought me about 25 years ago. I still have it and I still use it.
In for 3!
Yeah. I need a snow blower. It’s Denton, Tx. Can I get a leaf blower, please?!?
Good luck, everyone. Woot sells good stuff, just ignores their own hood once-in-a-while. We, down here, forgive them tho.
All depends on what you need to clean. Here’s the breakdown.
There are two types of snow blowers out there: one stage and two stage.
The two stage blowers are the most robust - they use slow moving but powerful augers to pick up snow, also breaking down the dense snow and eating through the snow packed by a plow. They push the snow into high speed impeller which throws it up the chute and out of your way. Oh, and they also are usually self-propelled too. That’s the kind you probably see most often. They require a lot of power, much more than a standard household 15 or 20 amp wiring can deliver. So they are always gas powered (as far as I know).
The single stage blowers use high speed auger/impeller combination that both picks up the snow and throws it up the chute. Those come in both gas and electric versions. The gas versions have a bit more kick to them, though can’t match two stage machines, because the augers need to spin at high speed (and therefore less power to them), making it harder to work on ice and heavily packed snow. With some luck you may be able to go through lightly packed snow that a plow left behind.
The electric models have even less power. They are great for fresh snow that isn’t packed, and practically helpless against the piles of snow a plow would leave by your driveway (especially the morning after).
So all in all - if you live where there’s lots of snow, two stage is the way to go. If you want to do a job similar to that shown on the last picture (that is just move well less than a foot of fresh snow off your driveway and sidewalks) this guy may do the work. If you are up to anything bigger - consider gas.
P.S. I own an electric chainsaw and it’s doing the work just fine… But my snow blower is a gas powered two stage kind.
Usually the yard… Or at that kid who eggs people’s houses…
This wouldn’t be feasible here. Our walkway is 100 ft in the front. Imagine keeping track of all that cord? We’ll keep to our gas powered, gets the job done, no dealing with an expensive cord that only really gets used with the snowblower.