SN74018

After having a smaller gas machine with electric start quit on me and head for the junk pile, I had to make a choice, do I buy another $600 smaller gas job that sits in a shed for months while I am tripping over it trying to get to other tools and lawn mowers.... while it is trying to figure out a reason to gum up its own carb even with stabilizer in the tank and then when you need it sputtering a blubbering until it clears it's throat? I knew there would be a huge power discrepancy but I still considered this unit here. On the battery operated unit side is the fact that the batteries have come a long way. Who would consider buying a battery operated drill years ago...no way. Also, this is light easy to pick up with a handle in a balanced position. My wife wouldn't hesitate in using this because it is a less of a hassle and light....pop in the battery, take it outside, push the button and pull back on the rail and you are blowing snow. Where as the gas unit made you want to go shovel ("it's not that much" rational) just to avoid the hassle of pulling out and the starting of ole Mr. cantankerous.Performance and area cleared: I have a driveway to an old farm house (blacktop paved) that is about 90 feet long, 9 feet wide and at the top I have a turn around area of about 30 feet wide and 15 feet in depth.I have used the unit about 6 times on snow that I would call medium/light, this was the deepest (approx 4 1/2 to 5 inches in places) to just yesterday morning on heavy/wet snow about 1 1/2 inches deep, plus some "in between stuff"Works great on the light to light medium throwing it maybe 15 to 25 feet....(would blow light snow that far, easily and more).But on the heavy/wet stuff even only 1" 1/2" to 2" it doesn't "bog down" but it has trouble throwing any distance, maybe three to five feet... it's kind of like water coming out of a hose at slow speed but with that said I still made the same amount of passes on my drive way and it was moving the snow over a little more on each pass. It's just that if you are expecting heavy/wet you better go out and clear it every 2" or so in my opinion or you will be in trouble with this machine. With that said, while the adjustable chute works great (I have to move my snow pretty much to the left) if the chute is positioned in a straight ahead fashion you get a much more distant throw even with the heavier stuff than if the chute is angle severely.Headlights: Great...my wife leaves for work at 5 am and we have used the lights and they are very effective.Have I cleared my entire drive and turnaround area on one charge on all these occasions? Yes, absolutely.. unit did not slow down. There are three lights on the battery (indicating charge) when done, I had one light left.Charging time: Seems to me to be about 1 and 1/2 hours. I think it took 2 hours at one point after clearing the 4 1/2 inches.Would I buy again? Yes, for sure... it's to convenient not to AND my father in law after seeing it's performance bought the exact same model. He loves it because it is so light.Words for thought: This is the 18 inch model. This company offers this, I think in a 22" model. I had already purchased this unit before I saw that one but that unit seems to have the same battery and motor while trying to move 4 more inches of snow....I did not investigate thoroughly but if that is the case I would pass on that model and buy this one...you be the judge.Lastly, took me 15 minutes to assemble....it is practically put together for you and it seems to be heavy duty enough to handle the amount of snow that it is engaging.Is it a gas snow blower with that kind of power. No way...but....has there been a snow yet here in western PA that this battery job didn't handle??? No there hasn't. Will there be??? Probably. Hope this helps.

Easy to assemble, I heard some reviews saying this was hard to assemble and I couldn’t disagree more. It probably took me about 15 mins and that’s only because I put the piece of the handle with the chute crank on facing the wrong direction. To the other users complaining that they think they got a used unit from a seller. That’s a fault with the seller you need to file a complaint with them giving the product a low review doesn’t help that. The only con I have is I don’t like the wheels on this very much I wish they were bigger as cutting through wet snow proved difficult for the tires. Overall though I’m happy, the product was easy to assemble, rather inexpensive and feels well built. I will update this review after I get some snow to reflect it’s actual performance. So if you never see this review updated it’s because Mother Nature smiled on me never gave me a reason to test it. However I’m in CNY so I doubt that’ll be the case.UPDATE: So we got some snow, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning (which is when I’m writing this). Not much about 2-4” but there was some ice underneath because it had rained a few days prior. Well this thing is a powerhouse! It had no problem dealing with the snow or ice, it even took care of the icy plow drifts at the end of my driveway with no effort. It surprisingly worked fine on my gravel walkway too and did it without spitting rocks all over the place. I ran the snow blower for about half an hour and it didn’t lose any power and the battery was still almost completely charged. I say this as an estimate because when I put the battery back on the charger it only took 15 minutes to get back to 100%. I’m going to leave my review at four stars because now having used it in the snow and ice I can say I hate the wheels on this thing even more. If the wheels were a little bit larger and more substantial this would easily be a 5-star product. Either way this thing has saved my back, my time and was worth every penny!

After struggling with many gas-powered mowers, I gave up and went for this one, and it is working very well. Has enough power to get about 1/4 of my several acres with one charge, very lightweight and stores in an amazingly small space. Has a self-propelled option with speed control, very good. A power saving mode, where it reduces speed for areas of shorter grass, and revs up for higher grass. Has not gotten bogged down even with wet grass so far. Definitely recommended.,