Snow JoeElectric Snow Shovel

Bought this to clear snow we seldom get on the west coast, however i was able to use this item yesterday after a 12 " of snow dropped during the night. small action video and driveway picturesthe good- worked well with fluffy snow (12") - throw the snow very easy and was easy to move used 150 ft of extension cord- was able to scrape the driveway to the pavement even after a truck left tracks.- for it purpose it worked greatThe bad- snow built up around the auger , however that may be due to the depth i was using it at- the connector plug is a 2 prong and very small should be either a 3 prong or a larger diameter to except a larger connector- directional throw or have it v'eed to at the top to funnel the snow.also the handle could be a little bit strongerOver all happy with the unit. would recommend itI 'll post pic later

As a quick background, here in Ottawa, Canada, we can have some really harsh winter weather and folks who move here very quickly get used to the realities of massive snow storms. As with most people in our neighbourhood, we have our snow plowing contracted to a local service provider but that still leaves us with the responsibility of clearing our walk ways and the occasional municipal dump right in front of our driveway. For the past 15 years, I have been shovelling with a non-electric shovel and, trust me, it is back breaking work :) ... after looking at a Snow Joe for over a year I finally bought it last winter and ... I could not have made a better purchase. Out of the box, it took less than 5 minutes to assemble it. We had a few pieces missing and some concerns but a quick call to Snow Joe’s customer support took care of all of it. I had read a lot of reviews that talked about how the chute is in front and the shovel throws the snow only in one direction. True, it does take some getting used to but within the first few runs I had mastered the grid that I had to follow to make sure that the snow fell away from me and in the right places. I would though say that the snow drift is an issue if the wind is strong, which would also be the case with most other shovels and plows. What used to take over 30 mins every time in the bitter cold before, took me an average of 5-8 minutes this last winter. Having a Snow Joe was a real blessing, though for the next one I may consider buying a cordless one because having to manage a cord in heavy snow adds a little bit of work. Nothing that would stop be from highly recommending it though :)

I bought this to help me cleaning my deck and my front stairs. For the deck it works really well and by that was almost worth the purchase.For the stairs it's so so. The unit is a bit heavy, not a big issue for decks or driveways since one doesn't lift it often, but for stairs it gets tiring.Another thing that doesn't help is that it's not possible to adjust the direction of the snow flow. It's always forward. In my case I have two options, direct the snow towards my car or my neighbors'.Overall It's a good unit with plenty of power, if the next iteration is lighter and has adjustable snow flow, it will be a true winner.

This shovel performs as advertised. It is very powerful for it's size and throws snow quite far, but only in the direction the shovel is pointing. If it is windy, it makes it harder as the snow can blow back at you, depending on the wind direction. You sort of need to plan your attack based on the wind direction. It is easy enough to control shovel angle for snow direction. It is a bit heavier than I originally expected but easy to get used to. You also have to constantly work around the cord, but that was expected. If the snow is deep or heavy, you will need to take multiple passes at it to work your way down through the pile.The one main drawback is the poor quality plastic auger. The very first time I used it, the auger caught a small rock about the size of a golf ball that was under the snow and snapped the auger in half. The auger turns very fast and gets even more brittle in cold weather. Luckily I had ordered a spare auger based on other reviews I read. Changing the auger was pretty simple and it was back in use in about 15 minutes. If you buy this shovel, plan to also buy a couple spare augers sold on Amazon as well for a reasonable price. Make sure you keep away from anything that can catch the auger such as brick, stones, patio edging, etc. Use a regular shovel for clean up close to obstacles that can be hidden by the snow.Overall, the shovel works well for my purpose which is to clear a walkway too narrow for my snow blower, as well as clearing my back porch and patio. Using this shovel, I can easily push the snow to an area I can get at with my snow blower. If they changed the auger from a plastic one to a stronger metal of some type, it would be a bit heavier but worth it. With a stronger auger, I would have given it 4.5 stars.Update: Tried to use it a couple days later in a bit heavier snow. but not too heavy. The auger drive belt split and jammed between the motor pulley bracket, cracking the bracket. I contacted Snow Joe and they are arranging return shipping and are sending a replacement snow shovel out to me. Concerned over plastic parts in cold weather.

It's useful only if you have a huge space like a parking lot or farmland. Unfortunately, this electric shovel has no way to control where the snow gets sent. It only shoots snow out directly forward which is a bad concept.The first flaw is that it shoots snow directly forward. But the idea is to move snow off to the side, just as if you were using a normal shovel manually. If you are shoveling a sidewalk, what good is shooting snow directly forward? Then you'll just have to continue forward to shovel the same snow that was shot there by your shovel earlier.The second flaw is that snow just shoots up in an arc with no proper way to angle it. So all it does is blast snow into your neighbour's yard or into the public street. Either way, it's irresponsible and just rude. You can't control it so that the snow gets displaced off to the side along your fence. Instead, the snow gets launched 25ft over your fence, and outside of your property. Not very useful. As a poor alternative, you can tip the shovel forward to lower the angle of the snow being shot out, but that just makes it very awkward to hold, and using this technique, the shovel will no longer contact the bottom of the snow properly to scrape it clean.Lesser issues is that it's relatively heavy for what it is, so it's a bit cumbersome to use. The trade off is almost a wash, when you may end up being less tired putting labour in with a lighter normal shovel, as opposed to lugging an uncontrollable heavier electric shovel.Things that would improve the overall rating would be if:1) it has some sort of shield in front to deflect the angle of the snow so that it doesn't spray snow into an uncontrollable high arc.2) the bottom handle has an angle adjustment to make it more comfortable to hold the shovel in different angles.Overall, I'm very disappointed with this product and regret not spending more to just get a proper snow blower with a chute that can be angled to direct snow off to the side. With the inability to control the arc or power of the snow being shot out, it only ends up going over your fence and into your neighbour's yard. It's so bad that I can literally launch snow from my back yard, across the entire alley, and into my neighbour's back yard. It's ridiculous...