Electric Snow Blower

[NoCreativity]

I will let everyone know how my big, heavy gas blower compares to the two neighbors with the battery ones. I'll do their sidewalks to assert my dominance!

I'm all for trying to reduce pollution, I have evolved to use an electric mower, blower, and weedeater, but some things you just need some good old fashioned gas power for.

 

[dmclone]

How long does the battery last on these electric snow blowers? I live on a corner house with 2-3x the sidewalk, so it would be nice to able to actually complete the sidewalks and driveway before running out of battery.

I don't own one but this video is pretty interesting

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Talk about a heavy wet snow, we must have a foot on the ground down here, took me 90 minutes to clear out the driveway, deck and sidewalk. Not sure if a single stage blower would cut it today, my 2 stage was struggling getting the wet snow out the shoot. Took twice as long as it usually does, and I only did one walk down to the cross street.

 

[dmclone]

And this seems to do about as good as my 5.5hp two stage

 

[ClonesFTW]

Ole shovel keeps me young and humble on mornings like today.

 

[JimDogRock]

How long does the battery last on these electric snow blowers? I live on a corner house with 2-3x the sidewalk, so it would be nice to able to actually complete the sidewalks and driveway before running out of battery.

I do 300+ feet of sidewalk on a single charge of 2 x 4.0Ah batteries in my 21" EGO snow blower. And I usually have a lot more power leftover. It takes 3 passes on a 5 foot sidewalk. 4 passes if you want it be be pretty.

This morning was different, however. Ran out of juice a little over halfway through due to the weight of the wet snow. I didn't have the batteries on the chargers for probably close to 8 weeks since that is when I last mowed. Lithium batteries should have a good standby time period, but I might not have been starting with as close to 100% as I would like in these batteries. Plus, I have used them for over 5 years now, so the total capacity might have reduced.

 

[Bader]

My 2 stage EGO just broke its first shear pin down in the crap at the end of the driveway, so that was fun. Did its job though! Got it out and new one put in and finished up. The batteries would've lasted, but I charged the lower one while working since I needed to pop them out anyway.

Moral of the story is make sure you've got spare pins.

 

[NorthCyd]

My single stage EGO got about 90% of the driveway done ok. Definitely can't take on snow this deep and wet (insert Beavis and Butthead laughter) going the full width of the snowblower. Have to do half or even quarter to get through it, but its better than shoveling. Unfortunately my poor little snow blower has no chance at the drift the snowplow leaves at the end of my driveway.

Our house is on a t intersection and the street ends pointing right at our driveway. The snowplow drivers always dump a ton of snow at the end of our driveway. It's 2 to 3 feet deep and 4 feet wide drift. The majority of my time was spent clearing that out with a scoop shovel. It took over an hour. Even a large 2 stage would struggle with it. I really need to call them to see if there is something they can do about it because it is ridiculous.

 

[wxman1]

My 2 stage EGO just broke its first shear pin down in the crap at the end of the driveway, so that was fun. Did its job though! Got it out and new one put in and finished up. The batteries would've lasted, but I charged the lower one while working since I needed to pop them out anyway.

Moral of the story is make sure you've got spare pins.

Not sure about the single stage but the Ego two stages come with two spare shear pins top of the chute.

 

[AgronAlum]

How long does the battery last on these electric snow blowers? I live on a corner house with 2-3x the sidewalk, so it would be nice to able to actually complete the sidewalks and driveway before running out of battery.

So I told my parents to buy an EGO two stage in part because of this thread. They purchased it yesterday, charged the batteries indoors and only got half of their driveway/sidewalk done today before it quit. It’s a three car wide driveway and a typical Ankeny sized corner lot. I’d expect a little more out of a 1500 dollar snowblower.

It has since been returned for a Toro gas.

My 15 year old Craftsman fired right up yet again last night. Adjusted the skids and off it went.

 

[Bader]

So I told my parents to buy an EGO two stage in part because of this thread. They purchased it yesterday, charged the batteries indoors and only got half of their driveway/sidewalk done today before it quit. It’s a three car wide driveway and a typical Ankeny sized corner lot. I’d expect a little more out of a 1500 dollar snowblower.

It has since been returned for a Toro gas.

They returned a 150 pound snow blower today in the midst of a blizzard? Most roads in town aren't even cleared

Maybe they had the auger turned all the way up? I and others have the same one and have not had that experience through more than one season so far

 

[AgronAlum]

They returned a 150 pound snow blower today in the midst of a blizzard? Most roads in town aren't even cleared

Maybe they had the auger turned all the way up? I and others have the same one and have not had that experience through more than one season so far

Yes, Ankeny isn’t that bad. We just took a drive in my wife’s 2WD van and it was fine. And they returned it so they had the other one for this afternoon when it started blowing again.

I’m not anti electric. I said earlier in this thread I was gonna buy an EGO when my gas one died. Just passing along what they experienced.

 

[NWICY]

I got a used Toro gas snowblower about 10 years ago, that was probably made in the late 80s or early 90s. I got it for cheap from a friend that likes to work on small engines. Every winter I kind of assume it won't start/stop working and I'll buy a new electric. And every winter it keeps working with no issues. I don't do any maintenance other than draining the gas in the spring.

I would recommend giving it a oil change once in a while.

 

[RedBlooded]

I got to use my ego for the first time. Took it slow and it did fine. Was able to get through the heavy stuff at the end of the drive way from the city plows with no issues. Had a quarter battery left by the time I was done with my 4 car driveway.

EGO Power+ Peak Power SNT2112 21 in. Single stage 56 V Battery Snow Blower Kit (Battery & Charger) W/ STEEL AUGER & TWO 5.0 AH BATTERIES Mfr# SNT2112 - Ace Hardware

The EGO POWER+ Snow Blower delivers the power and performance of gas-powered snow blowers without the noise, fuss, and fumes. Featuring Peak Power technology, this cordless electric snow blower combines the power of any two EGO 56V ARC Lithium batteries for the performance to clear even the...

www.acehardware.com

 

[Agclone91]

After watching some neighbors this afternoon I have really come to appreciate my Ariens, particularly the automatic differential. Its almost painful watching them try to lug around their machines and lift them up to turn. The ariens turns on a dime with almost no effort. They're not the cheapest option but damn they're nice.

 

[barometriclow]

Have a Greenworks 80 volt. Put it back in the garage after one minute and got the old warhorse 8 hp gas out here in Ankeny. The Greenworks was not throwing the wet snow far enough on a double driveway.

 

[barometriclow]

My single stage EGO got about 90% of the driveway done ok. Definitely can't take on snow this deep and wet (insert Beavis and Butthead laughter) going the full width of the snowblower. Have to do half or even quarter to get through it, but its better than shoveling. Unfortunately my poor little snow blower has no chance at the drift the snowplow leaves at the end of my driveway.

Our house is on a t intersection and the street ends pointing right at our driveway. The snowplow drivers always dump a ton of snow at the end of our driveway. It's 2 to 3 feet deep and 4 feet wide drift. The majority of my time was spent clearing that out with a scoop shovel. It took over an hour. Even a large 2 stage would struggle with it. I really need to call them to see if there is something they can do about it because it is ridiculous.

Which is why I snow blow the street to the curb so the plow has nothing to block my drive. Adds about 15 minutes but saves me fighting the plow when they come back. Probably get run over some day.

Also this avoids the frozen clumps that have broken my plastic shute.

 

[alarson]

Which is why I snow blow the street to the curb so the plow has nothing to block my drive. Adds about 15 minutes but saves me fighting the plow when they come back. Probably get run over some day.

Also this avoids the frozen clumps that have broken my plastic shute.

I try to do the same. Fortunately the curb length between me and my neighbor's driveway in the direction the plow comes from is only like 15 feet.

Going to have to move that snow one way or another eventually, may as well do it before the plow packs it into a pile.

 

[cycloner29]

New Toro 212 cc 721E single stage did four double wide drives today. Two of them had the ends of the drive plugged with at least 3’-4’ of snow. Plenty of power! Just had to ram those piles of wet heavy snow.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I will let everyone know how my big, heavy gas blower compares to the two neighbors with the battery ones. I'll do their sidewalks to assert my dominance!

Took me about 90 minutes to do my 3 car garage driveway today. Battery neighbor had already done his up to the sidewalk, assuming had to stop to charge batteries. Came out and couldn't do the 30 inch deep part from the city plows. He and the wife took to the shovels, and gave up them too.

Other neighbor down the street actually has a corded electric, not battery. He was out there before me and was finished a little before me, for a 2 car driveway.

Thus ends my very scientific research for the evening. Go Clones!