Snow Blowers

[desertshox]

I don't see why everyone doesn't wait for it to melt by noon the next day like I do.

[GSG]

3 minutes ago, desertshox said:

I don't see why everyone doesn't wait for it to melt by noon the next day like I do.

 

I get letters from the city for not cleaning the walks when the real culprit is my a$$h@!e neighbors that drive on the sidewalks after I clean it lol

[RedDenver]

2 hours ago, NM11046 said:

I completely get it - I really had to force the jump to this.  Single gal, don't have a garage or place to store it so needed to be able to pick it up to get it into a basement after use.  Don't want to deal with gas engines and the battery versions I was looking at got heavy quick (and expensive).  Hoping this allows me to do the little storms (of which we have many in New England), the ones where I'd say "its not worth calling the plow guy" and then I'd tweak my back.   Fingers crossed! 

As long as you can stand the cord getting tangled and are careful not to trip over it, it will work great. Especially if you have another way to clear the driveway when the snow is >6 inches.

[RedDenver]

We got 10 inches of wet, dense snow last night. Snowblower motor was audibly slowing down in the deepest parts, but just barely made it through my driveway and sidewalks before the batteries died. I did notice that there was still 20% charge in the batteries when I put it on the charger. I think the motor was pulling enough power that the battery undervoltaged at 20% charge, so keep in mind in heavy, deep snow you might not get the full charge of the batteries.

 

(FYI, my neighbor was struggling with his gas snowblower. It would bog down and he'd have to restart it.)

[AZRaiderH8r]

That storm was crazy, spring snow in December. Our Toro gas blower did well, but we got almost a foot at our house, so it definitely took longer. 

[BigRedBuster]

Well, ended up getting the Ego electric. Had about 3” of the crappy wet slushy snow and I had to drive on it a couple times before I was able to get it blown off. 
 

I have about an 8 car driveway.  I got about 2/3 done and ran out of battery.  I suppose that if it were a lighter snow, I could go faster and got it done. 
 

I also hope that it cleans it off better. 

[RedDenver]

7 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

Well, ended up getting the Ego electric. Had about 3” of the crappy wet slushy snow and I had to drive on it a couple times before I was able to get it blown off. 
 

I have about an 8 car driveway.  I got about 2/3 done and ran out of battery.  I suppose that if it were a lighter snow, I could go faster and got it done. 
 

I also hope that it cleans it off better. 

I've tried a few snowblowers and none of them did a good job of cleaning off the driveway completely. We made sure to get a south-facing driveway when we bought this house, so the sun takes care of it in Colorado.

[BigRedBuster]

35 minutes ago, RedDenver said:

I've tried a few snowblowers and none of them did a good job of cleaning off the driveway completely. We made sure to get a south-facing driveway when we bought this house, so the sun takes care of it in Colorado.

Ours faces north west. But the sun hits it enough to finish melting it. 
 

This is the first snowblower I’ve ever owned. I was a little surprised it didn’t get down more on the concrete, even where we hadn’t driven. It’s like it needs more weight on the front. 

[RedDenver]

16 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

Ours faces north west. But the sun hits it enough to finish melting it. 
 

This is the first snowblower I’ve ever owned. I was a little surprised it didn’t get down more on the concrete, even where we hadn’t driven. It’s like it needs more weight on the front. 

I think it's just that a snow shovel can have a thinner edge plus you can angle the shovel just right to get the last bit of snow. Snowblowers just can't get that accurate to a variety of driveway slopes and flatness. If you really want to get that last bit use a shovel to clean off after snow blowing (I don't bother). I also think there are powered snow shovels and brooms that might get the last bit but can't handle deep or heavy snow. 

[BigRedBuster]

Well, I’m not saying I wish I didn’t buy the one I bought. It does a good job. 
 

But, we are getting dumped on today with possibly 15+ inches.  I got up and started at 6:00am.  Im only getting about 30 minutes of charge each time. It takes about 2.5 hours to charge. I thought I would get around an hour of charge.  
 

It’s noon and I’m still not over my entire driveway once. Not to mention, my sidewalk.  
 

It’s frustrating.  Granted, I think if I just had a few inches of light snow, I might be able to get over it with one charge. 

[BigRedBuster]

Well, this last time I went out, it would run for about one and a half swipes of my driveway then die. Wait 10 minutes and it would run again….then die.  Finally it was only running for a few minutes then die. 
 

I called EGO and they claim I have a bad cell in my batteries and they are sending new ones.  That’s nice.   
 

problem is, that doesn’t help me with the 15” of snow I have in my driveway. 
 

Needless to say, I am not real happy right now.  

[JJ Husker]

JMO but I’m thinking a gas powered snowblower is probably worth it. We got about 6” of heavy wet sloppy stuff last night and I didn’t even use a quarter of the extremely small gas tank and finished my driveway, sidewalk and the neighbors sidewalk. Didn’t run out of anything 

 

Seriously, when it dumps I don’t want to be recharging or messing around. The reason I got a snowblower was the time we got 36” of snow. It only gets used maybe 4 or 5 times per year. 3” or less and I’ll usually just shovel by hand.

 

Edit- Sorry @BigRedBuster I made my post before you posted your “bad cell” issue. That sucks.

[BigRedBuster]

2 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

JMO but I’m thinking a gas powered snowblower is probably worth it. We got about 6” of heavy wet sloppy stuff last night and I didn’t even use a quarter of the extremely small gas tank and finished my driveway, sidewalk and the neighbors sidewalk. Didn’t run out of anything 

 

Seriously, when it dumps I don’t want to be recharging or messing around. The reason I got a snowblower was the time we got 36” of snow. It only gets used maybe 4 or 5 times per year. 3” or less and I’ll usually just shovel by hand.

 

Edit- Sorry @BigRedBuster I made my post before you posted your “bad cell” issue. That sucks.

Well, I’m considering returning it and getting gas. I can’t go out, work for 30 minutes then wait 2.5 hours to go work 30 minutes again.  

[JJ Husker]

42 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

Well, I’m considering returning it and getting gas. I can’t go out, work for 30 minutes then wait 2.5 hours to go work 30 minutes again.  

An 8 car driveway….you may want to get a plow blade for your truck or a 4 wheeler. I’ve got a large 5hp dual auger blower and when we get over a foot of snow my 3 car driveway seems a bit big. It gets pretty deep once it’s been moved 2 or 3 times already. I try to go over it before it gets over 12” of build up.

 

I know I know, you wanted to hit it before it was 15” but…..

 

I was just considering getting a four wheeler with a blade for my work. The parking lot etc. gets done by others but all we have is a pusher blade we can put on the forklift and that’s a PITA if there’s much snow. And the fork lift struggles to get around on a dry gravel base.

[Red Five]

Get an Ariens.  I have a what they probably call the Deluxe 28 now.  It's close to 10 years old and never had a problem.  It just cleared about 8" of wet, heavy slush with no problems (3 car wide driveway) a few weeks ago.  Has electric start, but always starts 1st pull.  Turns on a dime.

 

https://www.ariens.com/en-us/power-equipment/snow-products