I was wondering that too. It would be easier without the cord for sure, but the cord really isn't a problem. I got used to that because I have a little electric mower for my little yard. They do have battery powered mowers now, but they don't need anything like the power required to throw snow.
Just for the record-- My postage stamp is a 2 car wide driveway 150' long. It has 2 turn arounds- and is on a wide state road so there is plenty of 'end of driveway'. Plus about 100' of sidewalk-- and I make a path around the house for the oil & gas deliveries- and the dog.
We get an average of 80" of snow a year-- but the last year I used just the electric, we got over 100"- a couple storms were over 18".
It is an electric single stage blower- much like my Toro 12amp.
Up to 6" of snow, the 12amp Toro is as fast as my 24" 7HP gas 2 stage. It is just narrower & I need to drag a cord around. Part of the reason they get so much power into throwing the snow is they only handle it once-- and no power is used to move the machinery.
6" or more of very wet snow-- and I challenge anyone with a 2 stage gas blower to keep up with the 12-15amp electric.Once you get over a foot, the Snow Joe/Toro class of electrics lose some of their 'luster'. In packed snow they don't work well at all. [just break it up with a shovel, and scrape the pavement clean with the little guys]
A couple things that I can do with my electric, and not my big gas blower;
On the level, they pull themselves into the snow. Not so much on a steep hill-- but enough so it took a *lot* of snow to encourage me into re-incarnating my old gas blower.
I'm with the OP-- For $300 or so, they are *amazing* little machines.
Jim
-snip-
I'll just say on the 'thrower' vs 'blower' terminology, that I think one of the terms was in use when some company with a big market share started using the other to set themselves apart. [Ariens??? 1950's??]
But as for Jack's-- Great business-- lousy website.
Jim
-snip-
That's a nice looking machine. I looked at them 5-6 years ago and they were a lot more 'Toy-like'. [The one with a headlight is $189 on Amazon-- $10 less than the un-headlighted one?]
I just tie a loose 1/2hitch in the cord around the handle to take the weight off the plug. I do it with the Toro blower and the Remington tiller I use. They each have different, but equally ineffective ways of holding the cord.
Jim
re: "[Ariens??? 1950's??]"
Ariens used "thrower" from '52 through '79, even specifically saying "Throw (not blow) Snow" in their earliest brochures:
"Whether you call them snow blowers or snow throwers you can call Ariens The King of Snow=AE"
If you click on the either of those terms, you go to the same webpage describing their models.
For a pretty neat collection of Ariens brohures from days gone by, check out this site:
Just looked at the PC Richard's listing thinking maybe to get one before it's too late but WOW: "Expected to ship from manufacturer: 01/22/11" In four weeks? In a middle of winter? I guess, they don't stock up on snow blowers (snow throwers?) in winter... The demand probably fluctuates so much from winter to winter. Otherwise you'd think they'd be making those all summer to have enough on hand for a time like this.
------------------------------------- /\_/\ ((@v@)) NIGHT ():::() OWL VV-VV
OK, I have the definitive answer to this pressing issue.
I started a discussion about these terminology options at http://www.opeont= henet.com ("The Best Snowblower & Lawnmower Forum.")
snowblower snow blower snowthrower snow thrower
After a few back and forths in the forum and some on-line dictionary searches, I finally concluded:
"I'm sticking with snowblower 'cuz it's easier to say and easier to type."
A moderator responded with:
"We did the same thing when discussing this site name. So that makes it official. ;-) "
Great minds apparently *do* think alike!
There was something wrong with them or it always "slushed" rather than snowed. You should be able to get 7'-15' vertical lift and perhaps 30' or more horizontal throw from even a small two-stage blower. Enough that they have a snout to direct the flow, to limit the distance. I could *easily* throw snow into my neighbor's driveway, even though they were separated by at least 30' (15' setbacks, IIRC).
They will leave some. There are generally skids on the front to adjust this. You don't want the bottom edge of the auger chamber to catch on surface irregularities.
Large blowers are very heavy. Driven wheels make them manageable in all circumstances. I tried to not have to go through snow deeper than the auger. In large snow storms I'd do several passes during the storm. About 6" at a pass was optimum. Any more and it got to be work. Any less and it wasn't worth the extra pass, though I'd generally do a pass before going to bed.
I had two, in the 15 years I lived in Vermont. The first lasted thirteen but the wheel bearings wore out and they aren't replaceable so bought a left-over in the middle of the season, cheap (sold it when we moved South). The second one was much larger (10-11HP, don't remember) had a "cab" thing to protect the user from wind (and blowing snow). That was a really nice feature.
I taught our, then, teenager how to use it, but he didn't do it often. It was easy enough to do it myself. The big thing is to *NEVER* reach into the thing, even when it's off. Use a stick to clear it (had one set aside for this purpose).
...and then major snippage ensued...
re: "The big thing is to *NEVER* reach into the thing, even when it's off."
Why not? When it's off, I mean.
It's awfully tough to change parts if you can *NEVER* reach into the unit.
re: "Use a stick to clear it (had one set aside for this purpose)."
Many units now come with one of these included:
They're only about $10 bucks if you don't have one. I know, sticks are free. ;-)
That's how snowblowers are made (one run, once a year). In heavy snow years, they sell out. They're gone.
And what goes fastest, at least from the borgs, are the smaller machines.
MY HD and Lowes both have units left, but no entry level units - only the bigger machines.
Lowes has one that could probably do most of my driveway in one pass!
1) Compression. 2) It's too easy to get complacent. Absolutes won't fail you.
So did my second blower. A stick works better and come longer (no bending over or crawling around reaching into the machine). When the snow (slush) was sticky, I'd just plant one in a snowbank to the side of where I was working.
Like I said, I had one exactly like the one pictured on my second blower. I preferred a stick, or even broom handle.
Yup.
That's what I ended up with mid-season (about this time of year). They knocked a couple of hundred off and threw in the cab, though, so the price was close to the entry model, earlier in the season.
A little exaggeration, no? ;-)
They weren't 2-stage. Small deals, don't remember the power, but I'd guess just a couple HP. I think they worked as designed. Good for sidewalks until they break. No complaints from me since they cost very little. If I do buy another snow moving machine, I'll get a beefier model than those. I see a decent one goes close to 200 pounds. These were about 60-70 pound soaking wet.
--Vic
DA)
No, seriously, they had one of these left, tucked away in the corner of the garden section:
Absolutes won't get your shear pins changed either. ;-)
... snip ...
Speaking of "compression" (in the electronics realm) ...
You know how they tell you to ground yourself before installing a chip or card into a PC to discharge static electricity?
The next time you power down your PC, remove the power cord and press the power switch to turn the unit back on. Watch/listen carefully to what happens.
That's a step that's not often mentioned in the installation instructions.
Up here in Ontario that's the way it's been for decades. I used to sell and service the little suckers back in the sixties. And I explained WHY that distinction was made - which is kinda common sense.
Goes way back a lot farther than WIKI - which, by the way, DOES agree with me.
That's your opinion, and you are definitely entitled to it.
Most places that sell them today don't know squat about the product, much less what the proper namr for it is. Don't use that to base an opinion on!!!
Like I said - don't base any opinion on what resellers - particularly discount chinese crap importers, call what they sell today.
-snip-
Cool page-- My F-I-L had one of the tractors with all the attachments-- That's where I remembered the Snow-Thro terminology from, now that I see it. He was always careful to call his snow
*blower* [a 2 stage, 10 HP, something-or-other] a blower, and his Thro a thrower.If it is good enough for ope, it works for me.
Jim
Ah, that explains it. Single-stage snowblowers aren't worth buying.
Make sure it's a two-stage.
My wife and I could easily lift mine into my pickup, so they weren't anywhere close to 200 lbs. A hundred, perhaps.
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