The Best Snow Blower Reviews in 2018 – Blow Snow Like a Pro
If you live in states or countries where it snows, you know how tough it can be to keep your sidewalk and driveway clean and usable in the winter. Even if there’s half-an-inch of snowfall, you have to shovel it off, lest it freezes over into an almost irremovable icy coating. On the other hand, if there’s plenty of snowfall, you’ll struggle to get it all cleaned up with just a shovel.
Snow blowers are machines whose purpose is to make clearing out snow much easier and faster. You can just whip them out and get the work done in less time than it would take you to get started when using a shovel.
If you don’t know what a snow blower is we’ll go over that in this article and show off the best snow blowers so you could get an idea of how useful these machines can be.
Why Buying a Snow Blower?
Snow blowers are machines that are made to replace shovels as the main tool for cleaning out the snow from your driveway, sidewalk, or almost any other surface.
They all work almost the same, by using spinning augers to shovel the snow into a discharge chute and then throw it to the side. There are two main variants on this mechanism, usually referred to as single-stage and two-stage snow blowers.
The difference between the two is simple. Single-stage machines have one set of augers that do all the work of shoveling snow into the chute and throwing it out. Two-stage machines have an additional set of augers or impellers inside them which throw the snow out of the chute after it is shoveled into them by the main augers which are usually metal. Two-stage machines usually do the job faster, but they also have more moving parts that can break and in which things can get stuck.
Regardless of that, all snow blowers are a marked improvement over a simple shovel, and they can easily cut the time needed to clear out snow by half or even more, not to mention that using them requires much less effort. They are also easy to use, and almost anybody can make use of one. This is especially useful for people who have back problems or are just old and don’t have the strength to shovel anymore.
A Man Cleans Snow from Sidewalks with Snow Blower
Snow blowers are useful machines for sure, but there’s a wide variety of them out on the market, and some of those are just useless stinkers. It’s the simple reality when it comes to any product, and it’s a reality that the manufacturers will try to hide. Because of that, picking out a good snow blower can be a hard thing to do. But, we’re dedicated to helping you do that, and that’s why we wrote this article. Here we will present you with the best snow blowers we could find, our thoughts and opinions on them as well as some useful user reviews. With all that info and more, you will be able to get the best snow blower you can. So, let’s take a look at the products.
Meet the Best Snow Blowers
The Good: Great, quiet battery-powered snow blower that works well for smaller jobs.
The Bad: Doesn’t do well with heavy wet snowfall and the battery keeps falling out.
The Bottom Line: It’s a great machine for lighter tasks, but that’s all it’s good for, don’t expect it to handle heavier jobs.
The Good: Comes at a great, affordable price and it will do well for smaller jobs.
The Bad: It doesn’t work well for heavier jobs and is incredibly flimsy.
The Bottom Line: This is a good cheap option, but it is cheap for a reason, and it won’t last for long.jobs.
This is just the short version of our impressions – for more in-depth info, continue reading.
All of the Factors Considered
Finding a good snow blower can seem like an impossible task when you consider how much variety there is out there. They are not simple machines and figuring out the intricacies required to distinguish the good ones from the bad ones is not easy. That’s why we’re here to help with a list of the most important aspects you should look for when purchasing a snow blower.
Motor Strength
The strength of the motor is what affects almost everything about a performance of a snow blower. It’s paramount that you get a machine with an engine that is powerful enough so it can handle the piles of snow that you want it to clean – if it’s too weak you’ll just get a useless piece of junk that can’t do the thing you bought it for.
The strength of the engine is usually measured in horsepower, but when it comes to electric motor amperage is what you should look at.
Of course, machines with stronger engines are also more expensive, and if you don’t need such a powerful snow blower there’s no real reason to get it, so you should consider what you need and pick accordingly.
Power Source
There are two main power sources for a snow blow – either gas or electricity. Electric snow blowers can be further divided into those that use a cord and those that use a battery. Each option has some benefits as well as some downsides.
The gas powered options are usually the most powerful, easily able to handle large amounts of wet, heavy snow without a problem, even if it’s piled up real high. However, they produce fumes, noise, and vibration, are heavy, and the gas costs can pile up over time.
Electric machines with a cord are less powerful but clean, lighter and produce less noise. They also cost less in the long run, due to electricity being cheaper than gas. However, the cord can be limiting, especially if you have a lot of ground to cover.
Battery-powered snow blowers solve this problem by running on a battery, thus being far less limited regarding movement. Still, this creates a time limit as the battery won’t run for more than a few hours at most, and if you don’t get the job done in that time, you will have to wait for it to recharge.
In the end, you should pick what fits you the best.
Width
This refers to the width of the path that the snow blower “cuts” in the snow when cleaning it up. The wider it is, the faster you will get the job done and clear out all the snow as you can get more of it in one go. However, getting a wider snow blower is not always better because that makes it less maneuverable. If you have plenty of narrow pathways or awkwardly shaped spaces that you want to clear the snow out of, you should opt for a machine with lower width.
Durability
Snow blowers are supposed to be heavy duty machines that can handle plenty of tough, wet snow and clear out your driveway over and over again. They also aren’t exactly cheap – they’re a serious monetary investment. So, you want a machine like that to last for a long time.
To ensure that your snow blower is durable and won’t fall apart during the first winter, you should look for a machine that is made mostly out of metal and maybe some rubber, preferably with inflatable wheels as well. You also want it to be sufficiently corrosion resistant and designed in such a way the debris can’t easily jam in it and break it. Snow blowers made mostly out of plastic are usually not what you want, though there are some decent ones out there.
Weight
Since you will be using your snow blower for an extended period and push it forward with your own strength, sometimes through heavy snow, you don’t want it to be too weighty. Pushing a snow blower into heavy snow can require a lot of strength and isn’t exactly effortless, so having a machine that is already incredibly hard to push on its own can become a massive hindrance. This is particularly the case for older or weaker people who are looking to make their snow cleaning easier but might end up making it harder by buying a snow blower too heavy for them.
So, consider how strong you are and if you can handle the weight of the snow blower you want to buy before putting your money down.
After discussing all of the important aspects of a snow blower let’s look at how the products we picked rank.
In-Depth Reviews of 3 Snow Blowers
Key Features
Powerful Electrical Motor
This motor features around 15amps of strength, or around 2.4 hp. This is reasonably powerful for a battery-powered motor of this size, and it’s enough for it to handle six to seven inches of snowfall.
18 Inches Wide
This snow blower can cut a swath eighteen inches wide, allowing it to be highly maneuverable and work well in narrower sidewalks and driveways. However, this means it’s not suited for heavy duty use.
Durable Construction
Despite what you may think when you see that this snow blower is made mostly out of plastic and rubber isn’t true – it’s rather durable. Though it is true, it won’t hold up well if you try to use it for heavier tasks.
Lightweight Design
It weighs in at only around 28 pounds. This makes it easy to push, even for weaker people. However, it doesn’t move smoothly, thanks to the low-quality wheels, so this might be a moot point.
Customer Reviews
Who Should Buy This Product
For people who need to clear out small or medium-sized areas from snow, this machine will be a perfect fit. It allows you to do a lot of work with almost no hassle because it runs on electricity and doesn’t have a cord. The battery life is also incredibly long, allowing you to work for a long time.
What to Watch Out For
While this snow blower is great for lighter tasks around smaller properties, it is not fit for heavy duty use, and it won’t do well with heavy wet snow. If that were the only problem, it would be fine, but the battery also tends to fall out during use, which is an annoying hindrance.
The Conclusion
This is a more than decent snow blower for the price, and it will be a godsend to people who have narrow sidewalks they have to clear. It’s also clean and noiseless with good battery life. However, it’s ill-fitted for tougher tasks, and the battery is prone to falling out during work. So, while it is a very good machine, you should consider that.
Key Features
Electric Motor Powered by a Cord
This motor features around 13 amps of strength, which is around two horsepower at most. It’s not strong, even when compared to similar products and won’t be able to do heavier tasks. It’s also not as maneuverable as battery-powered models due to its short cord.
Decent Width
The width of this unit is 20 inches, which is more than decent for this type of snow blower, allowing it to do the job fairly well, though even with it being so wide it can’t handle tougher work.
Not Incredibly Durable
This is a rather flimsy machine overall that you should even try to utilize for tougher tasks as it might just fall apart. It’s mostly made out of plastic and rubber, and not good quality ones. Even the metal parts seem shoddy.
Light but not Maneuverable
This snow blower is rather light, at only around 30 pounds, but it’s not as maneuverable as that would suggest. This is due to it using a cord that might get stuck somewhere or just run short.
Customer Reviews
Who Should Buy This Product
For people who want to buy a snow blower on a budget, this will be your pick. It offers decent specs at a more than affordable price and it will do the job for you in almost no time at all. It also doesn’t cost a lot to maintain as it is an electric, corded machine so no need to pay for gas.
What to Watch Out For
It’s cheap for a good reason, and that’s because it is made from a rather flimsy material that won’t hold up for long. It’s mostly constructed out of plastic and rubber with nearly no metal in its frame. Even the metal parts inside it, like gears, aren’t incredibly sound, and they can freeze up in low temperatures, which is not what you want.
The Conclusion
For the price, this is a more than a decent machine that will do well with lighter tasks and when clearing smaller areas. However, it is not well-made, and the materials used for it seem flimsy and like they will break at a moment’s notice. It can also freeze up in low temperatures. If you want something cheap, it will do fine, but don’t expect it to last.
Key Features
Strong Gas Engine
This engine has around3HP with 208cc, making it the most powerful motor in this roundup. However, it is a gas motor, meaning it is loud and produces fumes. It is easy to start though since it has an electric starter.
Wide but Maneuverable
This snow blower is 24 inches wide, making it both maneuverable and incredibly efficient. It might have some trouble in some tighter spots, but that is rare, and it usually performs well and gets the job done rather quickly.
Great, Durable Construction
This one is mostly made out of strong, durable materials and has a lot of metal in its construction, making it easily one of the sturdiest machines we have used.
Heavyweight Snow Blower
All that power and durability comes with a price – and not just a monetary one. It weighs 198.6 pounds, making it incredibly heavy and difficult to push. It has good-quality wheels that somewhat make up for it, but it is still not something weaker or old people could use.
Customer Reviews
It started easily when I first used it and the settings for discharge direction, height and distance were extremely good.
I was a bit disappointed when I tried to use it in some deeper snow, as the engine was not powerful enough to handle it. It just wasn’t up to the job of throwing that much heavy snow. I have considered exchanging it for a stronger model, and I’m not sure what to do.
So, in essence, it does well in lighter and shallower snow, but it’s not a real heavy duty machine.
Who Should Buy This Product
People looking for a heavy duty snow blower that is sturdy and will last for a long time should look no further as this is the right product for them. While it does run on gas, it starts easily and is rather maneuverable, while still being wide enough to perform heavier jobs and get rid of tons of snow.
What to Watch Out For
It weighs a ton, and while the wheels mitigate that a bit, it’s still not usable by people who aren’t adequately strong and surely can’t be used by the elderly. In addition to that, it also costs quite a bit, compared to similar products. Then there’s also the fact that it clogs often. All of that combined might put some people off.
The Conclusion
Here we have a well-made, durable snow blower that is fit for heavy duty jobs and does them with ease. The powerful motor inside it is what makes this possible, and even though it’s gas powered it’s easy to start. However, it costs quite a bit and is incredibly heavy, meaning that not just anyone can use it. Add to that the fact that it can clog rather often and it is a tough sell despite its evident quality.
The Best Pick – Snow Joe iON18SB
As you have seen, there is an astounding amount of different snow blowers out there and what will be the ‘best’ one for you ultimately comes down to what you need. Picking just one product as the ‘best’ is thus impossible as something one person might consider trash could be seen as a treasure by a different one. When it comes to this roundup and three products we picked though, picking one that is better than the rest is far easier. In this case, it is the Snow Joe iON18SB. It just offers the best bang for the buck, being relatively cheap, having decent performance and no major flaws, while being usable by anyone. Sure, it’s not fit for heavy duty jobs, but that’s a significant downside only if you have around ten inches of snowfall, which is rare. Because of all that, it is our best pick for this article.
Video Review
The Conclusion
So there you go, the Snow Joe product is our top pick for this roundup, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the ideal snow blower for you. Some of the other products in this article or even one of the different snow blowers out there might be the right one for you. Use all the information we presented in this article to make a smart decision and to get a snow blower that you’ll love.
We hope this article was helpful to you, in the end, and feel free to show it to others if it was. Have a good day, and we hope you’ll keep reading our articles!
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