Electric Lawn Mower?

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danp said:
Spray some car wax inside your snow blower, it'll help with sticky snow. Or even cooking spray.

Btw what do you guys think of the battery powered snow shovels, are they worth it for when the snow isn't deep and you don't want to bust out the snow blower? I mean this: https://www.amazon.ca/Cordless-Compatible-Brushless-Adjustable-Deflector/dp/B0DF7GYBT8/
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Prior to having snowblowers, I had a number of the toro two-stroke snow throwers that were similar form factor to your link. They worked better that a shovel and were great for the price I paid (zero). I wouldn't be paying $150 and laying a beatdown on my expensive tool batteries to run one. That price is too high for the added utilily imo except for limited use cases. For instance, if you need to clear an elevated deck often, having one of these leaning on the wall inside the door would be handy and speed up the job. Small area to clear, small distance to throw.
 
GreyGhost said:
I was laughing when I saw the Toro battery blowers. They made them look like V4's. I think they are running three concurrent batteries. I'm a little surprised the two-stage blowers aren't going with a large fixed battery instead of handfuls of lighter removable batteries. Most people aren't going to spring for more than one set when you need three or four to power it. It does allow you to share batteries between snow and lawn care though.

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Pic looks like a big single stage. I didn't pay attention whether toro makes two stage with the "V4" or just bigger singles.
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From their ads it looks like the 60 volt line can be single or two stage.
 
PrivatePilot said:
It's the older version of that one you pictured. The early models had a horrible handle design that wouldn't stay extended when you were pushing it into the snow, so they suffered massive returns. The handle was designed to be telescopic for easy storage, but the mechanism that was supposed to hold it in the extended position was a horrible design.

Those returns went into the liquidation market where they were resold. I got mine for something like $350 IIRC with the 6ah battery.

The problem can't really be fixed as the new style handle doesn't fit on the old styled base, but the "Fix" is as easy as putting a pipe clamp on the handle where it would slide down into the other part to stop it from sliding. Problem solved, and it works perfect. In the spring when I need to store it I just loosen the clamp.
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I had one of those for a day and took it back. $350 for a battery and charger is OK if it doesn't work out.
 
I had one of those Toro power shovels.

It worked pretty darned good for what it was, but it was pretty limited in that you could only blow the snow one way - straight ahead for hte most part. So it took a lot of maneuvering to get things to go where you wanted it. I also found it blew a lot up in the air which then fell into neighbours driveways, which they wern't impressed with. And I hated the cord. But for something like walkways or a deck or whatever, handy.

Anyhow, I've got 3 runs on our blower today so far, trying to keep ahead of it. It's just walking through everything. I finished my driveway and just went down the sidewalk a ways to finish the battery off before recharging, only to find that it had only used the 6ah and hadn't even touched the 4ah battery also in there, I guess I didn't click it down into the connector quite firmly enough.

Still loving this little thing.

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danp said:
Spray some car wax inside your snow blower, it'll help with sticky snow. Or even cooking spray.

Btw what do you guys think of the battery powered snow shovels, are they worth it for when the snow isn't deep and you don't want to bust out the snow blower? I mean this: https://www.amazon.ca/Cordless-Compatible-Brushless-Adjustable-Deflector/dp/B0DF7GYBT8/
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IMO they have a very limited use.

For a driveway and under 2" snow I use a snow shovel as it's faster than what I see the lady doing across the street with her battery shovel.

I think they are ideal for steps and patios where getting a bigger machine in is difficult. A healthy person could do the same with an ordinary shovel but a person with lifting issues could benefit.

I have what suits me with one issue, it's corded. Cheap to buy and run, no battery charging or replacement issues, etc. The cord is a nuisance.

I'm thinking that my driveway takes less than an hour and the 120 volt blower is at most 1500 watts, the CSA limit on plug -ins. So what I need is a light 120 volt 12 AH power supply that could sit on top of the blower.

Six 6 amp 40 volt Ryobi batteries in series / parallel could work but at ~$300 a pop = $1800. not economically feasible. Also AC switches don't like DC current.

A deep cycle lead acid battery hooked to an inverter could work and be half the price but weigh a ton.

A gas replacement for my plug in is about $800. Is it worth it to avoid rewinding a cord four or five times a year?

Where a decent blower really pays for itself is its ability to throw the snow well away from the driveway. Shoveling tends lose a foot of width or so every snowfall. As the snowbanks get higher it only gets worse.
 
nobbie48 said:
Shoveling tends lose a foot of width or so every snowfall. As the snowbanks get higher it only gets worse.
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Some of the banks in my area are now reaching 6 feet in height for people with smaller boulevards and less places to dump the snow. People are running out of places to put the snow in some places honestly.

It's only going to get worse after the plow comes by today and that windrow needs to go somewhere.

I've got lots of space in my front yard for snow vs the boulevards, but with the prevailing winds always coming from the south (when my front yard is north of my driveway), on any kind of windy day like today you might as well be pissing into the wind, all the snow just blows back in your face.
 
Plow widened the road a bit today as it was getting narrow. Windrow on my driveway was about 40" tall and 6' thick. Track blower pushed through it with no issues. Neighbour across the street had a windrow about 18"x4' and was working hard to get his two stage wheel blower through. Lots of wiggling and pushing. After watching the track blower work, when the current one dies he is going with a Honda with tracks.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Some of the banks in my area are now reaching 6 feet in height for people with smaller boulevards and less places to dump the snow. People are running out of places to put the snow in some places honestly.
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Yup! Having to use the blower now because my shoulders are complaining about how high the shovel has to go.
 
GreyGhost said:
Plow widened the road a bit today as it was getting narrow. Windrow on my driveway was about 40" tall and 6' thick. Track blower pushed through it with no issues. Neighbour across the street had a windrow about 18"x4' and was working hard to get his two stage wheel blower through. Lots of wiggling and pushing. After watching the track blower work, when the current one dies he is going with a Honda with tracks.
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SunnY S said:
That means you are moving too fast and the machine cant clear snow fast enough. . Slow it down a gear. The auger will set the pace for you. You won't need chains.
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Yeah it's not the tires fault. Either you're going too fast or the auger is a crappy design and isn't cutting into the bank well. I cut through 2ft plow banks today with my wheeled blower just fine.
 
nobbie48 said:
I'm thinking that my driveway takes less than an hour and the 120 volt blower is at most 1500 watts, the CSA limit on plug -ins. So what I need is a light 120 volt 12 AH power supply that could sit on top of the blower.
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I have a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery and inverter setup for our trailer that would run your blower for probably 1.5 hours nonstop. It weighs probably around 30#, but packs a 280ah punch.

It's certainly possible to do as you are thinking, but it won't be cheap given the amount of capacity you need- converting DC to AC through an inverter is very energy intensive task - my inverter draws about 170 amps @12v from the battery when running full tilt outputting ~15a.
 
Climbed the stairs to clean off part of the patio for the first time this winter. I adjusted the impeller to slip less and throw further. I went a little too tight so I can no longer disengage thrower. Oh well, shovel off the steps into the danger hole and let it throw the snow away.

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As for cost to operate, once I use up the gas in the tank, that will be five gallons this winter. Not a number big enough to sway the gas/electric decision.
 
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GreyGhost said:
Edit:

As for cost to operate, once I use up the gas in the tank, that will be five gallons this winter. Not a number big enough to sway the gas/electric decision.
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I'm about the same gas wise. The only reason I have considered an electric/battery is to be able to clear the driveway at 4am to get to work. I dont like my neighbors enough to really care though.
 
nobbie48 said:
Thats if the melt water can find the sewer. Wear a raincoat if out on a walk.
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The grate nearest my house is under literally about 5 feet of snow right now. I know water will find a way, but holy heck, if we get a sudden warm day, or this winter persists until the very end and spring hits fast and hard, yeah, we're going to have some problems I'm sure.

GreyGhost said:
Climbed the stairs to clean off part of the patio for the first time this winter. I adjusted the impeller to slip less and throw further. I went a little too tight so I can no longer disengage thrower. Oh well, shovel off the steps into the danger hole and let it throw the snow away.

20250216-180217.jpg

Edit:

As for cost to operate, once I use up the gas in the tank, that will be five gallons this winter. Not a number big enough to sway the gas/electric decision.
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For me it's not about cost of operation. Gas to run a blower all winter is a pittance. For me, it's convenience - at the end of the season I fold up the handle, remove the batteries, and hang mine in the rafters of the garage. Although your blower is far more capable, without doubt it takes up a lot more space the other 10ish months you don't use it.

hdsomeday said:
I'm about the same gas wise. The only reason I have considered an electric/battery is to be able to clear the driveway at 4am to get to work. I dont like my neighbors enough to really care though.
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They are quiet, that's for sure. The "slapping" of the impeller on the snow as you push it makes more noise than the actual blower itself.
 
PrivatePilot said:
I had one of those Toro power shovels.

It worked pretty darned good for what it was, but it was pretty limited in that you could only blow the snow one way - straight ahead for hte most part. So it took a lot of maneuvering to get things to go where you wanted it. I also found it blew a lot up in the air which then fell into neighbours driveways, which they wern't impressed with. And I hated the cord. But for something like walkways or a deck or whatever, handy.

Anyhow, I've got 3 runs on our blower today so far, trying to keep ahead of it. It's just walking through everything. I finished my driveway and just went down the sidewalk a ways to finish the battery off before recharging, only to find that it had only used the 6ah and hadn't even touched the 4ah battery also in there, I guess I didn't click it down into the connector quite firmly enough.

Still loving this little thing.

View attachment 72441
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The smallest toro powershovels were straight only. The slightly larger ones had turning vanes so you could move snow over a car width or so. Not magic but much nicer to use the ones with vanes than the ones that only blow straight.
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