Hook me up with your knowledge: Cordless electric snowblowers

Okay, here's the situation, (parents went away on a week's vacation, and they left the keys to their brand new Porsche...)

Ahem.

Okay, here's the situation.  My next door neighbor (retired) used to clear our driveway because he was a cool guy, and we also sent him cookies now and then.  Sadly, he died this summer.  Aside from all of the reasons that sucked beyond the scope of this thread, I will need to clear the drive myself.

Because I am not home during the day, I'm going to have to do this at around 5:30am.  I don't want to be That Neighbor clearing the drive with a noisy-ass 2-stroke for a half hour at 5:30 in the morning.  I also don't want to shovel.  So, I've been looking into cordless electrics.

The reviews are comical.  It seems like all the "sponsored reviews" are glowing praise, and the non-compensated reviews can be boiled down to "this POS broke in ten minutes and can't even be used as a hammer".

So, what say the Hive?  I have a not very large driveway but also sometimes we get some peanut butter like glop that they claim is snow.  I don't want to waste $400 on crap but i also don't want to spend $800.

I'm in the industry. Straight and honest - the products aren't there yet. Don't get me wrong, they WILL be on par with the petrol stuff and without a doubt faster (much faster) then most people think (tech development curve is not linear, it's exponential). But they are not there today.

Handheld chainsaws, leaf blowers, hedge trimmers and brush cutters are all performance wise as good as the consumer petrol stuff now days. From a user (and neighborhood) friendly view, much better. But a snow blower is a different beast - the power consumption is on a completely different level.

If noise is high priority, get a corded product. The larger (more expensive) petrol machines are now days 4-stroke fuel injected and they are less noisy (but certainly not quite), but you are then looking 4 times your price range.

Sorry. Cords suck. But... get a corded.

I've had a Snow Joe for two seasons, it's the  21" model (?).  On battery it's super quiet, like less than hair dryer quiet. On cord it's louder, but not loud. 
on battery it's not powerful enough for more than about 2". On cord, 4". 
if it were heavier, it might be better getting down to the pavement. 
Its not as great as I'd hoped, but I love it. Quiet, works well, and no gas to deal with, no engine to maintain. 

With all it's limitations would I buy one again? Absolutely.  I can clear snow any time of day or  night and my neighbors wouldn't know it. My wife and kids, that weren't able to start the big 4-stroke 2-stage beast I had can clear snow now. If we're getting a foot of show I have to clear 3 times, but it's worth it to me. 

Subscribing for direct interest.

My SWMBO just closed on her new house.  Factors include:

- bad back and rotator cuff
- very small driveway
- not well-versed in the nuances of modern gasoline implements and their carbureted needs
- no garage, just a small storage shed
- PA, so usually 2-6" when we get it, but the occasional 12-24" which she could maybe tackle in a couple passes?  Or pay a neighbor kid $20 that day to shovel it?

I want to get her a blower as a housewarming gift and looking at plug-ins for simplicity.  Electric blower + 50' extension cord = the most romantic thing I can think of.

My parents used to use a high school kid to clear the driveway. Well, me. But I also did snow removal at a couple of other addresses. I used a shovel because we barely averaged more than 7 feet of snow per year.

I'd recommend you pay someone else to do it, either the aforementioned high school kid with a shovel or a pro. Either way, it's not your problem to feed/house/clothe/maintain/store the equipment.

I am thinking that I will shovel another year while the technology matures.  My biggest hurdle with shoveling is my hands.  I found some heated gloves for $250, that probably makes more sense than a not ready for prime time snowblower.  Besides, the clothes washer elected to announce that it is retiring, so that needs to take priority.

We do already have an "electric broom" but to be honest, for snow light enough where it is useful, clearing the snow is not required.

Curtis said:

My SWMBO just closed on her new house.... Electric blower + 50' extension cord = the most romantic thing I can think of.

Blower?! You barely know her!

Just buy a decent 4-stroke and call it a day. They're much kinder to the neighbors than a 2-stroke.

When I bought my house, I was given a hand-me-down Honda HS521 like the one in the photo below (but in much rougher shape). I don't think my dad ever changed the oil on it in 20 years of ownership, so I did that and replaced the plug and carb, but it still blows snow just fine.

Last I checked when I was considering an upgrade, $250-300 on Craigslist is going rate. If you can swing the extra $$$, electric start is probably worth it.

In reply to pointofdeparture :

I don't think there is room to park a 4 stroke in the yard   Driveway is maybe 3 car lengths long and kind of triangular curved shape.

Garage is a no go.  This is another bonus for a shovel - easier to keep parked outside.

Knurled. said:

I am thinking that I will shovel another year while the technology matures.  My biggest hurdle with shoveling is my hands.  I found some heated gloves for $250, that probably makes more sense than a not ready for prime time snowblower.  Besides, the clothes washer elected to announce that it is retiring, so that needs to take priority.

 

We do already have an "electric broom" but to be honest, for snow light enough where it is useful, clearing the snow is not required.

Don't have the link handy, but the people that make hot hands have a sub $20 pair of mitten/gloves on Amazon that take hot hand packs. Might be a little easier on the wallet. They're good enough for sitting in the woods all day, should be good for shoveling an hour or so. 

RevRico said:

Knurled. said:

I am thinking that I will shovel another year while the technology matures.  My biggest hurdle with shoveling is my hands.  I found some heated gloves for $250, that probably makes more sense than a not ready for prime time snowblower.  Besides, the clothes washer elected to announce that it is retiring, so that needs to take priority.

 

We do already have an "electric broom" but to be honest, for snow light enough where it is useful, clearing the snow is not required.

Don't have the link handy, but the people that make hot hands have a sub $20 pair of mitten/gloves on Amazon that take hot hand packs. Might be a little easier on the wallet. They're good enough for sitting in the woods all day, should be good for shoveling an hour or so. 

Yeah, you don't want to trust the tech of a motor attached to a spinning thing but you'll spend more money on a pair of gloves that MIGHT last a season?  My electric snow blower did great for two seasons and has already tackled an 8" dumping this year just fine. For 2" or less I use the battery, other than that I plug it in. It's great. 
did I mention I live in Michigan? We're average 48" a year. 

Knurled. said:

I am thinking that I will shovel another year while the technology matures.  My biggest hurdle with shoveling is my hands.  I found some heated gloves for $250, that probably makes more sense than a not ready for prime time snowblower.  Besides, the clothes washer elected to announce that it is retiring, so that needs to take priority.

 

Get mittens instead of gloves. No need to spend $250 on gloves unless they come with a snowblower attached.

I pay a guy to plow the driveway, but I have a corded Snow Joe (under $200 at Home Depot) for my 750 square foot deck that works great most of the time.  A 50 foot cord just covers my deck.  When it's really heavy, sloppy stuff it's not too great, or for more than about a foot, but most of my snow is very light and fluffy (Colorado powder) and it works great for that.  Last week it took 20 minutes to clear 11 inches of powder from my big deck.  This week, however, we had 17 inches of pretty heavy stuff so it was two days with a shovel.  At 73 it keeps me a bit fitter, maybe.  I'm hoping this storm that's in progress right now (9 inches so far this morning) stays powdery.  I'd say the big question for you is the heaviness and texture of your typical snow.

We have the Ryobi that uses the same batteries as my mower.

It's adequate, and in less than about 6 inches of snow, way faster than a shovel. In the really wet warm snowstorms it's pretty much useless, but we get maybe one per year like that normally.

I do like shoveling if I'm not in a hurry however, so it's not a critical tool for me.

One aspect to consider is the length of the smallest dimension of your driveway. If the snowblower can throw from the middle all the way off, then you're good. If the snowblower piles up snow on top of other snow and you then have to blow that, the electric will struggle.

In reply to Robbie :

Due to the geometry of the driveway, which is directly against the house, all snow has to be moved to neighbor's yard.  Shoveling, at least the back part where the driveway is 2 cars wide, requires a lot of carrying per shovelful.  Back starts to ache after a while but that's just the feeling of accomplishment, or so I convince myself  And curse those stupid "ergonomic" shovels that require a clean-and-jerk to get your hands high enough to carry the snow, instead of simply curling your forward arm and extending your back arm.

You need a sleigh shovel. Our driveway went between two houses, so all the snow had to be schlepped to the backyard and then piled up.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/snow-removal-and-equipment/snow-shovels-and-pushers/7200603

In reply to Keith Tanner :

That is really interesting!  That is already how I shovel, sort of, when the snow is light - more like being a one man snowplow than picking and heaving.

Looks like if it gets too heavy to shove forward, you turn it around and pull it behind you to a dropoff point?

You drive it into the snow, lever it up to grab a load, then drag it to the drop-off point. It's pretty effective, even with a foot of snow. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Sold.  Also, there's an Ace a block from where I am sitting, and I'm just out the door.

They also have birch beer.

STM317 said:

Curtis said:

My SWMBO just closed on her new house.... Electric blower + 50' extension cord = the most romantic thing I can think of.

Blower?! You barely know her!

Haaaaa!

I was hoping if I got HER a blower, maybe she would.... ya know....

.... blow my driveway too?

The original post was a bit confusing to me. I don't know where you live, or what the snow condititions are, but if you are now responsible for your parent's snow removal, you need to discuss with them what they're willing to pay for snow removal. If they want you to do it with a machine they are willing to purchase for you to use, then there are some good suggestions here. But I don't think we know what the snow conditions are where you live. Also, have you reviewed having a local snow removal service take care of it? That might be more practical for you and your parents, depending on conditions. I'd suggest you should do a bit of research into your own local situation before presenting a general question to the folks here. We're always willing to help, but the more info we have on your specific situation, the better the help is that we can offer.

Aren't electrics single stage ?  Plus they do not have powered drive wheels.

Single stage works fine in light snow, not so good when winter really dumps the heavy stuff.

 A small 2 stage ,4 cycle is a better way to go.

Dual stage, gas and the widest deck you can find. Chains on the driven wheels or ice grippers on the shoes. I've tried all combinations and I live in a place with hundreds of inches of snow a year. I am way less exhausted with that combo. The electric I tried was torquey enough and the charge lasted 85% of the way (annoying) but the design couldn't throw more than 4 inches of snow at a time. Would have been great for my deck to make quick passes during storms but ultimately, shovel and nice gas dual stage makes the most sense.