Snow Blower Driveway test

[Zoodles95]

Question for those with battery powered snow blowers... how well does yours deal with the windrow the plow leaves at the end of the driveway and what voltage is yours? My driveway is not that big so shoveling isn’t a problem it’s that damn hard packed pile from the plow that I hate.


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I usually put my truck in 4X4 and break it up with my truck. I drive over it a whack if times. Then when it is broken up I run the snowblower over it.

The old Toro was all plastic so it did not like that stuff. The battery powered 80V Greenworks has a metal shaft with replaceable heavy rubber blades. A much heavier duty unit than the plug in Toro.

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[crankcall]

I'm really looking forward to a report in good snow and plow windrows with the battery powered snowblowers. I have zero experience with them but the technology seems to be moving fast.

I left my trusty gas machine with the last house and this will be my first winter in the new digs. Its a much smaller drive but I have a very serious allergy to shovels.

 

[nobbie48]

Question for those with battery powered snow blowers... how well does yours deal with the windrow the plow leaves at the end of the driveway and what voltage is yours? My driveway is not that big so shoveling isn’t a problem it’s that damn hard packed pile from the plow that I hate.


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I have considered the inability of that situation and every driveway has its own set of conditions. Having little or no boulevard makes things worse as there is no place to spread the snow from the windrow. Ours isn't too bad as they used a drop blade to minimize the ridge. What's left is a pain even with the two stage 9 HP. You just have to keep battering away at it.

I'm not a 911 worker so a delay is no big deal. I can use a ice breaker and shovel to peck away at it. My bigger worry is a liability from someone walking on the driveway. The city clears the main sidewalk and that liability falls on them. All they can do is fine an owner for non compliance.

For me a light snowfall, under 2" is just as easily handled by a shovel. When I'm in the mood and want to do the main sidewalk all the way to the corner I can manually plow a path faster than a snow blower. Angle the blade, lean on it and walk with gusto. Repeat when coming back.

I would personally like an 18" electric with the ice eater option. Think a chain saw with a wide blade or a stump grinder.

 

[Zoodles95]

I have considered the inability of that situation and every driveway has its own set of conditions. Having little or no boulevard makes things worse as there is no place to spread the snow from the windrow. Ours isn't too bad as they used a drop blade to minimize the ridge. What's left is a pain even with the two stage 9 HP. You just have to keep battering away at it.

I'm not a 911 worker so a delay is no big deal. I can use a ice breaker and shovel to peck away at it. My bigger worry is a liability from someone walking on the driveway. The city clears the main sidewalk and that liability falls on them. All they can do is fine an owner for non compliance.

For me a light snowfall, under 2" is just as easily handled by a shovel. When I'm in the mood and want to do the main sidewalk all the way to the corner I can manually plow a path faster than a snow blower. Angle the blade, lean on it and walk with gusto. Repeat when coming back.

I would personally like an 18" electric with the ice eater option. Think a chain saw with a wide blade or a stump grinder.

Maybe someone will make something like that in the future? Perhaps a second motor to drive it or a transmission to make it work.

The trick would be to get that performance at a palatable price point. I went over my budget for our snowblower but at $200 off it was close enough. 80V gives you very good performance for a lawnmower or snowblower. 120V is pretty heavy duty. Once that tech comes down in price with 6 or 8 A/hr batteries there will be little need to stay with gas. Add in a second stage and then the gap sheinks even more.

Although the 80V unit is heavier than the old plug in Toro it is still reasonably light and it is so easy to plug in the batteries and go versus having to get the extension cord out etc. Frankly, I see me using this snowblower more on some of the lighter stuff where I would have looked at the headache and time to get the cord etc with the old unit.

No regrets here for sure

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[GreyGhost]

So my neighbours have a conventional two-stage and it looks like they have now picked up what looks like a green battery powered snowblower (no idea what make/model, it has led headlights). The two-stage quickly and easily did half their driveway. The battery one is struggling to do the other half. Multiple passes to clear a line, throwing snow <10', pushing hard to get it to move, just a a gong show. Between 6 and 8" of fresh snow. Not driven over but packy. Definitely too much for the battery blower they bought.

EDIT:
They've given up on the battery one temporarily (or it ran out of juice) and have fired up the big one to finish the driveway.

 

[nobbie48]

So my neighbours have a conventional two-stage and it looks like they have now picked up what looks like a green battery powered snowblower (no idea what make/model, it has led headlights). The two-stage quickly and easily did half their driveway. The battery one is struggling to do the other half. Multiple passes to clear a line, throwing snow <10', pushing hard to get it to move, just a a gong show. Between 6 and 8" of fresh snow. Not driven over but packy. Definitely too much for the battery blower they bought.

EDIT:
They've given up on the battery one temporarily (or it ran out of juice) and have fired up the big one to finish the driveway.

We had a couple of inches of slightly wet snow and I went after it this morning with the Ryobi 21" and no problems with getting the job done. However there is a learning curve. You can't bash away like a two stage gasser.


After doing my driveway (Parks four cars) I did the city sidewalk for about 100 feet and then did the neighbour's driveway (Parks six) across the street plus about 100 feet of their city sidewalk. I still had one bar of the four on the batteries. Obviously this is not for commercial use as the next call would need a different set of batteries.

My 9 HP gas was a freight train and I don't recall ever stalling it. The Ryobi needs time to do it's job. It's light, simple and quiet and has LED headlights FWIW.

Unfortunately the Ryobi may be going back as there is a switch problem. It sticks on. I called their service guy and he was knowledgeable but felt an exchange was a lot faster and simpler than a repair. I called one of Ryobi's service depots and got a "Sorry mailbox full" message. I'm not surprised as it's a small engine shop and NO ONE gets a tool repaired in the off season so they will be jammed. It'll be the same thing in the spring with outboard motors and lawn mowers. PITA.

All said I don't want the gas one back.

One other complaint is that there is no adjustment for the blade lip and it jams on cracks and control joints. It's replaceable so I'll look at options. I may need some 3D printing assistance.

 

[GreyGhost]

We had a couple of inches of slightly wet snow and I went after it this morning with the Ryobi 21" and no problems with getting the job done. However there is a learning curve. You can't bash away like a two stage gasser.


After doing my driveway (Parks four cars) I did the city sidewalk for about 100 feet and then did the neighbour's driveway (Parks six) across the street plus about 100 feet of their city sidewalk. I still had one bar of the four on the batteries. Obviously this is not for commercial use as the next call would need a different set of batteries.

My 9 HP gas was a freight train and I don't recall ever stalling it. The Ryobi needs time to do it's job. It's light, simple and quiet and has LED headlights FWIW.

Unfortunately the Ryobi may be going back as there is a switch problem. It sticks on. I called their service guy and he was knowledgeable but felt an exchange was a lot faster and simpler than a repair. I called one of Ryobi's service depots and got a "Sorry mailbox full" message. I'm not surprised as it's a small engine shop and NO ONE gets a tool repaired in the off season so they will be jammed. It'll be the same thing in the spring with outboard motors and lawn mowers. PITA.

All said I don't want the gas one back.

One other complaint is that there is no adjustment for the blade lip and it jams on cracks and control joints. It's replaceable so I'll look at options. I may need some 3D printing assistance.

Battery sounds like it could be the best option for most people. For my neighbours it is clearly not. I just went out and took out the windrow that was wet compacted snow ~2' tall with a 5 hp single stage and stalled it ~five times. Battery with a conventional single stage just doesn't have the snot for that yet (neither does my gasser). They need to keep a dual-stage for the windrow, I just don't see how the battery one helps in their case.

EDIT:
Ryobi 20" 40V has similar headlights to theirs. That may be what they have. Reviews for that closely match my observations (bleh).

 

[Zoodles95]

I think 80V seems to be where you want to be for a lawnmower or snowblower. If 120V were available I would have bought it.

Mine is a 22" clearing path and is a Greenworks product. I have 3 Greenworks products and all are awesome (80V Lawnmower, 80V Snowblower, and a corded hedge trimmer).

I suspect that 120V with 6 A/hr will be the "normal" tech in a few years time and for the average home owner this will be more than sufficient. The lawnmower and snowblower are reasonably light and are super easy to use which makes them "wife friendly".

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[mimico_polak]

Wanted to use the snow blower I bought off @nobbie48 today....wife said no as it’ll wake up the neighbours at 7am. Thoroughly disappointed as I wanted to try it out. Now everything is practically melted so will wait for next dump.

 

[GreyGhost]

Wanted to use the snow blower I bought off @nobbie48 today....wife said no as it’ll wake up the neighbours at 7am. Thoroughly disappointed as I wanted to try it out. Now everything is practically melted so will wait for next dump.

While I won't cut the lawn that early, I figure 07:00 to 23:00 is fair game for snow blowers. Some people are earlier, some are later. The tractor with a huge snowblower on it does its route every few hours 24 hours a day when it's snowing and it is a hell of a lot louder than a residential snow blower.

 

[POWERMAN]

Are they made in Japan?

Not sure how accurate this is, but looks like some of Ryobi's product are made in China.

Ryobi Tools Review - Tools Turf

Ryobi tools are everywhere. You can find this brand of tools in virtually all Home Depot stores. And you can also find these tools well-stocked on Amazon.

www.toolsturf.com

Ryobi products made in China - country of origin, manufacturing locations | ProductFrom.com

Information about Ryobi products made in China - country of origin, manufacturing locations, manufacturer, brand, category, part number.

www.productfrom.com

 

[GreyGhost]

Not sure how accurate this is, but looks like some of Ryobi's product are made in China.

Ryobi Tools Review - Tools Turf

Ryobi tools are everywhere. You can find this brand of tools in virtually all Home Depot stores. And you can also find these tools well-stocked on Amazon.

www.toolsturf.com

Ryobi products made in China - country of origin, manufacturing locations | ProductFrom.com

Information about Ryobi products made in China - country of origin, manufacturing locations, manufacturer, brand, category, part number.

www.productfrom.com

I would assume that they all are. And 99% of their competitors as well.

 

[nobbie48]

I would assume that they all are. And 99% of their competitors as well.

The snow blower is made in Vietnam.

 

[Zoodles95]

Broke out the GreenWorks 22" wide 80V Snowblower after work. Was decently thick snow since it had been snowing all day and I did not hit it until 1:30 A.M. or so. One nice thing about this unit is that it is very quiet.

I did the usual routine. Made a path from the big shed to the gate and beyond. I left my truck in front of the house until I was done. So, the only spots not done were where the little travel trailer is parked and my wife's Imprezza. Walkway done etc.







I even hit the crunchy stuff at the front of the driveway...


All in all it did a heck of a job and this time there was still juice left in the first battery! When you really drain a battery in the snowblower or lawnmower the unit will stop and make a few beeps. At this point the battery is really drained and normally will need about 10 minutes to cool down and then it can be charged.


The battery on the left is the one which got used. It shows 2 bars but once I had it on the charger it went 1,2,3 instead of 2,3 so it obviously was just over a bar left. Just the same pretty impressive to do that much area on one charge with a decent amount of reserve left. For someone with a typical subdivision sized driveway and walkway I can't imagine that this unit would not make you happy.

My wishlist?

-Powered rear wheels (We love the self propelled feature on our lawnmower). While way, way easier than shoveling I have to put some effort into getting the snowblower to push through the stuff.

-Second stage? It does not throw the stuff super far. It is not bad but I am re-blowing some stuff I have already moved when I get to the other side of the driveway.

That is mainly it and those features may require 120V power and larger capacity batteries to make feasible. I can see that coming sooner than later. Battery powered tech is now becoming mainstream and in many cases there is little to no compromise to use it other than the price of entry.

Time to reward myself and go for a soak in the Softub!

 

[nobbie48]

The snow blower saga continues.

The Ryobi was a gift and came with the jet leaf blower as a free bonus. Value was about $750 + tax.

The switch was acting up so I dropped by Home Depot to discuss an exchange and was told that I would have to return everything including the leaf blower but that the promotion was over so I would only get a new snow blower-no leaf blower. WHAT???

Checking later the promo was still listed and in stock.

Since I was just checking out the procedure I went on with life and did a bit of research finding that the switch was problematic as were some handle issues. I also reviewed my needs and for me a 120 corded works just as well. My generous buddy and I met to look at some alternate machines and I kept gravitating to 18" corded at a third the price.

He kept wanting me to have the latest technology but we met up to return the Ryobi to HD anyway.

They accepted the return but were deducting $138 because of the way their system works and the free blower etc. We agreed to keep the blower ($168 tool only) and accept the reduced return. No that's not how their system works.

Buddy (A husky guy) firmly says "Here's how my wallet works!" and he got full credit.

Yesterday I was walking by a Home Hardware store and noticed they had 18" corded blowers on display, regular $179 marked down to $79. I grabbed one, brought it home and put it together. I didn't get a chance to try it on snow but there were shavings from the wood planer on the floor and it seems to move them quite nicely.

I'm a cheap date.

 

[mimico_polak]

I'll be honest....I'm itching for snow just to try the snowblower @nobbie48 I purchased off you, and to drive my car in a snowfall lol.

 

[nobbie48]

I got to try the 18' corded electric this morning and it works fine. I have to get used to the cord as it isn't like corded lawn mower.

Most corded lawn mowers allow you to flip the handle back and forth because they cut either way. With the blower you have to turn the machine around. A little forethought should fix that.

 

[mimico_polak]

Got to test the blower bought from @nobbie48 ... works like a charm! Very happy and it moved the wet and heavy snow with ease.

 

[Malks]

I picked up a corded snowblower at HD on clearance in Jan 2019 for $99. Best money I ever spent.

I have a single wide drive that is just long enough for one car. My problem is there is no place to put snow on either side of the driveway because of my walkway / front stairs on one side, and the walkway / stairs to the neighbour on the other side. My front lawn is basically 4' x 4' so can't pile much there. So I blow the snow down the driveway, across the narrow private road of our townhouse complex and up onto a short retaining wall on the other side. I have a 100' extension cord left over from our last house so it reaches no problem. This little snowblower is able to do what I need and works like a charm. If it ever dies I might consider the battery powered versions because the cord can be a pain at some times.

 

[Wingboy]

My 23 yr old 10 1/2 hp MTD will take care of this in about 10 min.

Done.