Update Jan. 2013:
1. It is still working well.
2. There are metal scrape plates on the bottom, that protect the plastic down there. I wore through the Toro ones in a few years. I made myself some new ones from scrap metal, and they are doing great.
3. On the heavier stuff left by the city snowplow, I've discovered, that if I chop it up with my shovel first, that then I can take a pass with it with this unit, and it will still throw it fine, and I don't have to shovel that off.
4. When working hard, the vibrations of the unit will cause the direction of the output to wander. I have a bungie cord that I use to keep the handle stationary.
5. Now that it is more than 5 years old, when I hit really packed snow, this unit will tend to slip the belt and stop, making a loud squeaking sound. That's when I know that I've pushed it too hard, and I back off a bit, and/or give it a rest for a while and it is fine.
6. From time to time, I inspect the scrape plate on the bottom and if the plastic scraper has worn and curled up, I'll use a knife and scrape off the extra plastic.
7. It may be time for a new belt, scrape plate, and/or impeller. It has done a lot of work for me, and mechanical things don't last forever?
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end of update
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I've had this for two winters now.
I purchased this unit for a couple of different reasons.
1. I don't particularly like gas engine tools.
2. In my neighborhood, the usual snowfall is 1-6 inches.
3. It was cheap. I paid $225 for it here on Amazon in November 2006.
And I would imagine that if you are considering this unit, you don't already own a snowblower, and you are currently shoveling. Let me give you some insight into not only this unit, but making the break into snowblowers in general.
Snowblowers come in two main varieties: Single stage and two stage. A two stage unit has blades to chop up the snow and then an auger to throw it. These units are generally bigger, more expensive, but work in deeper snow and are "heavy duty"
Single stage snowblowers occupy the lower end of the market. They chop and blow the snow at the same time. Their front blades move much faster to do so.
Keep in mind folks, that this is a single-stage snowblower. It is not a self-propelled monster that chops and eats snow for breakfast. And most of the time, it is entirely feasible for me to shovel my driveway, just with more effort and time.
And if I only get 1" of snow on my driveway, you could just leave that and let the sun take care of it, but my wife likes it clean. And with only 1-2" of snow? shoveling is faster than snowblowing.
On one hand, snowblowing is good in any circumstance because it throws the snow OVER the banks on the side of the driveway, that means they won't be as big, but the banks on the grass will be wider and deeper.
On the other hand, snowblowing makes a big mess, especially if it is breezy. You can't snowblow into the wind. It just makes a cloud and recoats the driveway. But you can always shovel in the wind. I always snowblow first, then come back later and clean up with my shovel.
Also, consider the job you are trying to do. If it is a warm snow, you are going to have an inch or two of slush under the snow. No snowblower is going to do well in that environment. While this Toro unit will throw cold fluffy stuff up to the claimed 30 feet, the slushy stuff is less than 10 feet, if you are lucky! And wet slushy snow will cause the chute to clog a lot.
It does clear my typical snowfall no problem. And I have a 32 foot wide driveway, so I start in the middle and work out. Not all of the snow from the middle makes it to the edge of the driveway and has to be picked up again as I work my way out.
It does have a plastic scrape plate on the bottom and this blower does clean all of the way down to the concrete, which is nice. I guess because it is a single-stage electric, the blade spins really fast and makes quick work of the snow.
I like that it is light. My neighbor has a self-propelled two stage and in a lot of cases, I clear my driveway in half the time he does. I push it around quickly and it doesn't take a lot of work for me.
The worst area of your driveway to clean is at the street where the nice snowplow man has left you an area of thick, slushy, nasty stuff. It is back-breaking labor with a shovel, because it is so heavy and dense. It is also a lot of work for a snowblower. This unit will throw mine okay, but we are only talking about 5-10 feet throw distance for most of it. So, it has to be thrown twice. Sometimes I still shovel some of this because it is faster than slogging away at it with this unit.
So, what do you do when the snow is too deep or too dense to practically get with this machine? I do two things. One, I can "aim high" and not get all of the way to the pavement in one pass, just ride up on top of the lower layer, then come back for the rest. Also, once I have a path, I can nibble at the side, and say, only take half of the width of the mouth or less and it will be okay. But this is only for small areas. If this was the norm, I'd need a bigger unit.
But consider where you live. They say up to 10 inches with this unit, but at 8 inches, it is really working hard. But consider where you live, if you get a 10 inch snowfall once a year, then maybe this unit is for you. You don't need to buy a huge unit for that once a year big snowfall. Get the unit for your normal snowfall and get good value and usage out of it. Don't go buy an SUV because you want to take the kids on vacation in it once a year.
If you live in a place that regularly gets 10 inches or more, this is not the unit for you.
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Customer reviews
4.2 out of 5
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796 global ratings
Reviews with images
Great snow thrower
I bought this earlier this week because I was tired of shoveling the front walkway (about 80' long, 4 feet wide) - my son used to be my free snow blower, but he went off to college so not it's up to me again.In any case, my timing for this order was impeccable as we had a doozie of a blizzard with 33" of snow that ended today (in Northern Virginia).The snow blower was easy to assemble and worked like a charm. I made two passes on the walkway, the first with about 20 inches of snow and the second with what seemed like another 18 or so inches (which I presume came from some drifting). The snow was wet and heavy, but the blower kept on chugging... I'd push it into the bottom of the snow, pull it back and the snow on top would fall and then push it in again to get it cleared.It was more labor intensive than it would have been if I'd had a big two stage, self propelled thrower, but they are way more expensive (both initial purchase and ongoing maintenance). If you want something where you just steer, this isn't the one for you. But if you want something that saves you the back breaking lifting of a shovel, this works and if it can handle this storm, it should be able to handle pretty much anything.I am very happy I bought the blower and recommend it.
