Snow Blower Equipment

Review by SManuel : Great Buy!

Bought the last model (display model) at a big box store in late November and just had the first opportunity to use it on 4 inches of snow yesterday. My drive way is 80 ft long and I have an additional outside parking spot to the side so it is a large area (about 900 sqr ft). Those that complain about the cord appear to be using it in a pattern for gas blowers - meaning go down the driveway, turn around and come back. The method for electric blowers is to start closest to the outlet, step forward three feet with the blower, step back and then move to the right or left 18in and repeat until you finish that "row", then move forward in three foot increments until reaching the end of the driveway. This is more of a completion of short rows rather than one long strip at a time and thus the cord will not be an issue. With the 4 in of lighter snow I was getting about 15 ft of throw very easily, but when I got to the end of the driveway were there was very wet snow(and I had to adjust the chute higher)and only got about 10ft at most (where the snow was wet and about 1ft high). Being from NH and using other blowers, I do not know that I would recommend this model for those receiving snow that is normally heavy and plus 1ft is the norm (but I will defer to those from regions to give actual experiences with this model and those conditions), but for an area of the country that gets 35-40 inches annually it is great!

Review by Craig Dugas : The latest Toro 1800 works great!

When shopping for a new snow blower, you're likely to be comparing the Toro 1800 with the comparable yet less expensive Snow Joe 622 (or similar). As of this writing, the star ratings are fairly close, but with a bit more research, I found people had more trouble with their Snow Joe than I wanted to risk. Here's just one forum on the topic: http://www.amazon.com/Toro-1800-Snow-Joe-622/forum/Fx3U83YN3L1OW9A/Tx3DVDQ0HKUG8TS/1 The latest model Toro 1800 (38381) has a lightweight plastic body and the required assembly takes literally about 2 minutes. It has a strong 15 amp motor that was able to cut through snow to clear my driveway and sidewalk with ease. One thing to note about the Toro 1800 is that if you do not have the necessary 12 or 14 gauge power cord, a new 100 foot cord will run you fifty bucks or more. I wouldn't recommend using the 'standard orange extension cable' as those are generally only good up to 13 amps - but check the little tag on your cable to find out the amp rating, it might be sufficient. It really is a top-end electric snow blower. It does not match up with large, heavy gas-powered snow blowers (for example, it will not blow snow that has been really packed down by a vehicle driving on it), so don't expect it to. On the flip side, you don't have to mess with mixing oil and gasoline or lubricating parts or worrying if it's going to start up when you go out in the cold - the electric motor is instant-on. All-in-all I'm very happy with this purchase.

Review by jchriste : Very happy with this purchase

I live in Utah and this past November we had the third heaviest snowfall in history. Needless to say, after the first storm I vowed to never shovel again. Two days later I had my new Toro 1800 Power Curve Snow Thrower. Excellent service and speedy delivery. Since this is my first snow blower I was concerned whether an electric could get the job done. I really didn't want to deal with the issues of a gas powered model and the reviews on the Toro were good so I decided to give it a chance. Set up really only takes 10 minutes. I didn't have to wait long to use my new investment - the very next day we had a snowstorm stall over the state. My home received around 18 inches during a 30-35 hour period. I used my new snow blower three times during that period and had great success with it. Surprisingly, the Toro does better with deep, heavy snow. Lighter snow doesn't throw very far and the wind can send it back in your face easily. I would assume other snow blowers would have similar issues in strong winds. There is a little learning curve with this model as a power cord is being dragged everywhere you go. You are also limited to a maximum 150 foot power cord so be sure you don't have a greater area to clear than that. While the Toro is easy to use, you must squeeze the handle to keep the motor running. My hands hurt after around 30 minutes of use. Small complaint as my back didn't hurt at all. The all plastic body and blade held up well and the chute was easy to direct. Overall, I think this is a great alternative to a gas powered model.