Side by Side Comparison of: Snow Joe

I live in Northern Virginia (near DC) and last winter (Jan 2016) we got 36 inches of snow spread over 2 days. This was the first time I had a chance to put my new Snow Joe to work. I ran the machine after the wave of snow (about 12 inches). Overnight another 20+ inches came in. The federal government and all schools were closed. It was slow going but this machine just kept chugging and blowing snow until my driveway was clear.

I've owned my Snow Joe since Nov 2015. This winter is setting records for our area. More snow than ever before in recorded history. None of my neighbors had snow throwers. Well, that is until this winter. Watching me clear my 4 car driveway in just minutes while they slave away manually shoveling theirs. So, I began doing my next door neighbors driveway as he is elderly. Then have loaned it out to two other neighbors across the street. My elderly neighbor now owns a snow joe and my neighbor across the street ordered his today.
Pros: Really throws the snow, especially fresh stuff when the temperature is cold enough to keep it frozen.
Even though it's not self propelled, you can just about push it as fast as you can walk and it will clear the path in front of you.
I like the LED lamp and very torquey motor. Doesn't bog down unless the snow is very heavy.
Cons: Theres room for improvement. 1) If you have ANY imperfections in your surface over 1/8" the snow joe will catch it and stop so fast it will just about throw you over the handlebars. 2) The LED lamp is not really bright enough to help unless it is pitch dark outside. 3) The chute throws about 95% of the snow in the direction it is pointed, but about 5% of it shoots to the right. What this means is that if you begin at the right side of your driveway, it will constantly shoot 5% of the snow over swaths you have just cleared. This can be remedied by starting on the left side of the driveway. 4) If you use ice melt on your driveway after cleaning it, the snow joe will have problems clearing the next snowfall due to the slushy snow below. It's best to just not use snow melt if you want to use the snow joe to its fullest.
Summation: Look at the photos so you can see my snow joe in action, clearing 6" of snow from my neighbors driveway. I'd buy it again, but really wish they would fix the annoying issue with the unit snagging any imperfection in the surface and add a guard to the left of the chute so it throws snow in only one direction.

This is my second season using this snow thrower. Plug it in to a 100' cord and I can reach all my driveway and sidewalks...even get neighbors sidewalks (mostly). Love the adjustable direction so I'm not throwing snow straight ahead that I will have to run over again. Far more powerful than expected. Usually throws heavy snow about 10' and light snow over 15' to 20' depending on direction of discharge. Didn't think the headlights would be a big deal - I was wrong. Sun goes down so early in winter and having lights is extremely nice. Love it!!

Snowzilla dumped 36 inches on our area in NoVa. We cleared once when the snow was 4 to 5 inches deep and the SnowJoe was really great. On Saturday morning the cars were gone, drifts were over four feet and all we could do was wait out the storm. When it abated we started by clearing a path to provide some maneuvering room and we then began widening it. Again the Snow Joe was a fantastic workhorse machine but it was clearly not in this weight class of storm. The snow was so deep in spots the ejection chute couldn't clear the top of the snow. We came up with a solution that saved the day! Since I'm in my later 60's my daughter would cut down the snow into a previously cleared area and we would use the machine to throw it from there. It worked like a charm and we cleared a 60 by 12 drive and 28 feet of walk way in about six or seven hours over two days. The guy across the street has a 36 inch high intake on a Yard Machine 2 stage thrower and he was only a couple of hours quicker. I wish I had the cordless but for $199 the corded 15 amp thrower is a steal and proven that it can tackle snow beyond the specification threshold. It is a great product.

I am a disabled veteran and recently had cervical spine surgery (September 8th). I decided that I might need help in clearing my large deck when the snow arrived. This past Tuesday the snow arrived in southern Colorado with abandon (extreme winds) and it was piled much higher than the 12" that the Snow Joe was designed for. Well I wanted to get the deck cleared so I powered up the Snow Joe and went to work... remember I can't lift anything, since the surgery, over 8 lbs. The Snow Joe did a stellar job and I highly recommend it. I have attached a picture to show what I tackled on my deck in around 15 minutes. Consequently I highly recommend this electric snow blowing machine. BTW, this was not powder this was very heavy late fall snow.

LOVE THIS THING!! I bought this late in the season and didn't think I would have a chance to use it. Well, as it turns out, we're getting a huge snow storm in Pa today. Over 2 feet of snow and this machine cut my work in half. It works just like a mini snow blower. AMAZING! I wish I had gotten one of these sooner. You can't use it on 1 foot of snow unless you figure out a way to do it. I used it on my deck. When I first brought it out there was at least a foot of snow so I skimmed the top of the snow until I was able to use it properly. It REALLY does a GREAT JOB! I have already recommended this to family and friends. Worth every price! Since most of the parts are plastic I would not recommend this product on a stone driveway. Highly recommended for a patio, deck, sidewalk or blacktop driveway.

Writing the review for two reasons: 1) the product worked great this last winter on the driveway with 2 to 4 inches of snow depending on drifts etc. I was able to do a 40 foot doublewide driveway by working from the middle to each side and it easily threw the snow off the drive. 2) I did have and issue with the handle and called the manufacture. I spoke with a rep named Kevin and he was very helpful in getting the issue resolved. No regrets in purchasing the product and no more back breaking shovel. While in NC you might not get snow at all some winters, it is nice to have this tucked away in the garage to quickly and easily clear the drive and sidewalk.

Two words: Get one! This surpasses every great and wonderful electric product I have ever bought! Chicago suburbs' 2015 snow has been brutal and I couldn't keep up with 16"-20" on my front sidewalk and porch until this was delivered. Great size. Great power. It cut my labor in half, time and pain. (Tip: sunglasses help, too.).

I've had two other brands of snow throwers that didn't come near to the power and ease of use that this new one has provided to clean off our 10 x 70' deck. Easy to assemble, light weight and powerful enough to throw the snow up over the railing. It is remarkably well designed making it very easy to use.

Everyone should own one. Great for decks, walkways, smaller driveways - anywhere you need to remove snow quickly. You are only limited by the length of power cord you are willing to carry. Not good for ice.

I received this the night before a 5" snow storm. The storm was followed by freezing rain so by the time I got out to use this, it was a solid 4" of heavy wet snow. I purchased the yellow 12/3 100' extension cord with the blower, and I recommend you spend the extra money for the extreme weather version as the yellow one got annoyingly stiff and would not lay flat.

Anyway, the snow blower was easy to assemble in my living room (no oil or gas, so why not assemble inside where it's warm?) it is light weight and has a handle on top for lifting it into a truck or moving it over things in the garage. I was impressed with how it worked despite the heavy snow. I wouldn't recommend it for more than 4-5" of heavy wet snow but for powder it would chew through it like butter.

What would normally take me 2 hours of shoveling, was done in 25 minutes with this thing. And my back didn't hurt from lifting snow with a shovel. It is still a workout to push this thing through the snow if the snow is heavy though, but less time consuming and less work by far than shoveling. As with everything, I wish it had more power but 15 amps is the limit of what most people's homes can supply. I run mine using a 20amp adapter through the rv plug in my rv garage so this on its own circuit.

Get a cold weather flexible cord though, dealing with 100ft of stiff 12 Guage cord is a real chore during operation and when putting it away. All in all very satisfied, this will make a great non stinky addition to my snow tools.

Only used it for one day so far, but this little thing i champion. I do snow removal, and offer deck clearing as part of my contracts. for years I've been breaking my back clearing them with a shovel. This little blower f*#(*$ rocks!! light enough to carry up a flight of stairs, with enough power to clear 12" of snow easily. Only reason for 4 stars is the way the handle attaches to the main body is very flimsy. I replaced the one bolt it comes with with 4 from the hardware store and problem solved.

I had this for one season before rating this product.
As all electric units, the snow clearing effectiveness relies mostly on the muscles in your arms. If you can "push" the blower through the snow, it will clear it. Unlike most gas units which are self propelled (making it easier to clear deep snow).
Don't let the width of the unit fool you... You might be able to clear a wider path in one shot, but you'll have to "push" that much extra weight of the snow, specially wet snow.
I chose this unit not for the clearing width, but because of the horizontal bar handle. Most units have a single grip control for one hand, which can get tiring after a while,by his unit has the bar control, allowing the user to switch hands to rest, manage the extension cord, etc.
PS... Make sure you pick up a GFCI outlet or extension cord with built-in circuit breaker.

Snowpocalypse 2016 Report with SnowJoe: 8:50PM I just did my first driveway pass with about 8" on the ground, and it did a pretty good job. I would have liked a more aggressive scraper bar, but I think the blower's light weight is what really causes the scraper not to dig in. In the deeper plow made drift at the end of the driveway, where I was looking at very heavy 12-16" depths, the blower did an admirable job. Just be sure to go slowly and to not to bite off too much at once. In the deepest places, I took less than half the blower width at a time, and the job was done. I usually dig out a path for the dogs in the back yard for them to get outside and do their thing, and I gingerly used the SnowJoe this time, lifting the front edge slightly to not allow it to dig in and it performed flawlessly. I will update this review through the weekend, as it looks like we are going to get more than 2 feet of snow over the next 24 hours.

UPDATE, After the storm: So as I expected, the SnowJoe worked well with the rest of the snow we received. The deeper stuff was a challenge, but I kept up my technique of knocking it down with a shovel and then useing the SnowJoe to blow it away. All told this snow blower kept up to the task with 30" of snow. In 2010 by comparison, we received about 20" of snow here and it took me 8.5 hours to clean off my driveway by shovel alone. This year, with much more snow, I was able to do the same job in around 3.5. I'm still very satisfied with this machine, it is certainly adequate for the amount of snow we normally get in the mid-atlantic, and it is capable of making the large amounts much easier to deal with.

Bought as gift for daughter but she received a snow blower from friend so we kept it and it works very good only thing I wished we had gotton cordless but 100 foot cord works well with it and for the price it was a great deal

Snow Joe and Sun Joe make good products; I have the Sun Joe telescoping chainsaw and find it useful. This electric snow shovel is equally as useful. Six inches or less of powder is ideal; heavy wet snow is a bit challenging. It certainly does well around walkways and porches/decks, and around vehicles that a snow blower can't quite touch. You do have to tie the chord in a loop around the handle so the chord doesn't get unplugged from the unit. It certainly is much better than the old classic snow shovel. Very pleased with the purchase.

Just used this for the first time. I'm too old to shovel my walk myself and too young to admit it! This was easy to use; a bit heavier than I expected, but manageable. I had trouble directing the snow in specific directions, but I think that will come with practice. Only problem I had was the box arrived with three manuals -- none in English! But I found it online.

The unit met expectations. It was able to clear fluffy snow quite well. One has to be upwind so as not to get covered in snow.
Heavy wet snow was more of a challenge. It is best to tackle the heavy snow as it is falling and not wait
for it to solidify. The machine was able to clear 6 inches of light fluffy snow easily. Heavy snow tackled early and often
was the best solution. It is not meant to be an 8 HP 30 inch snowblower. It was definitely easier to move snow with the
Snow Joe than by the snow shovel lift and throw method.

Throws snow like a champ. It doesn't really like heavy or compacted snow but with a little more elbow grease it still does well. I am glad I got this item

I got this over the 322, and Toro - because of the 7.5amp vs 10 amp rating on the 323E. Chose this over the 324E due to price, wider, and I did not need the LED light. Amazon Prime delivered right on time and I was able to test this out after the Thanksgiving Eve snowfall in Northern NJ. We ended up getting about 6" of wet packed snow. Overall, I am happy for what it does for the price I paid. This will definitely not replace a gas or even push style electric snow blower/thrower, but it gets the job done and is less work and heavy lifting than regular shoveling.

General Tips:
- During assembly, it might help to use a small thin wire/tiewrap/twistytie etc. to hold the inner-wire in place so it does not obstruct the assembly bolt when threading through the two pieces
- Spraying down the Plastic Auger / Grinder with Silicone Spray helped A LOT with wet snow. Make sure the lubricant you use is safe on Plastics.

Annoyances / Shortcomings:
- Check which direction the wind is blowing before using - otherwise you will probably just hit yourself. Can't adjust throw direction or angle
- Need to hold down trigger for the motor to work (argh safety features)
- Sweet Spot seems to be 3-6" snowfall. Less than that is probably easier to just push the snow out with a wide shovel. More than that you will probably run into problems with the inlet height only being 6.5"
- Auger is PLASTIC - stones/rocks, maybe even large chunks of Road Salt could definitely mess the paddle/blade up when spinning at high RPM. I would definitely advise caution using the shovel on the road surface in front of a driveway due to road salt / loose gravel / etc.

Remember - its cheap - dont expect miracles!

Used in our harsh North Dakota winter last year where we had repeated snow fall, but I needed something more than my darn shovel to save my back. This little guy did a decent job helping me clean up light snowfall, or at least stay ahead of big buildups where we were getting several inches over night. It will not work anything over 7-8 inches in front of the blade; it's simply too much to practically use. But that is indeed the trade-off. I should have bought a bigger gas-powered blower, but I don't plan on staying in ND forever, so this was a solid compromise.

CON: I could use a sturdier handlebar system, this one seems it might break if I keep pushing, so I'm constantly babying it.

Snow blower is decent for lesser accumulations of snow and mainly pathways. I purchased this to help out until we can buy a large gas snow blower. I live in NH and we get several inches of snow each storm so in order to keep up with the storm I spend a large chunk of time outside during the storms. If I wait until the storm is over it's it's very hard work (especially if the snow is heavy) to use this snow blower since it is not self propelled. So all in all if you have small areas to clear, less amounts of snow or don't mind spending a good deal of time in a storm, then this is a decent product. I keep telling myself that it's better than shoveling.

It powers through dry snow quite well but I find the shoot needs to be redesigned. It isn't tall enough to direct the snow properly without it falling all over the machine. The base part needs to be longer and the adjustable deflector shorter. This would create a smoother transition and direct the snow where you want it to go. Its very light and easy to maneuver and perfect for my decks. The price was right and I like it so far.

Machine appears well made and putting together was easy. Just my luck, this got baptized during the blizzard after 4ft of snow. It could not work its way thru that. But it worked fine with 2 inches of snow on another occasion. best for light snow removal

Just used it after storm Jonas and 30 inches of snow. Clearly this is not designed to cope with that depth of snow, so we used it 5 times over the weekend to chip away at the drive as it snows. It did a decent job, some things to consider:

It feels a little flimsy, it's not very sturdy/hardy
It throws the snow an 'ok' distance, however the chute doesn't move as much as I'd like to control the direction of blowing
Because it's light, it doesn't get right down to the asphalt like a heavier unit

So it's ok, if you get a light fall every year, go for it. If you get 2 or 3 bigger storms, spend up.

Well, you limited with the types of snow it'll work on. I got it late in the season so I didn't get to try it very much but from the little use I had it was easy to see this thing takes some work on wet heavy snow, nearly as much as shoveling does. I can see where it has benefits with dry powdery snow but once it wet and heavy I found it required a pretty good effort to jam the shovel into the snow before it would actually move it with the impeller. It has it's place but I expected more.

Heavy and blows snow straight up which comes back onto your face. Only works in fluffy snow.

I rent a garage but I am required to shovel the driveway which is about 10x15 feet. I bought this shovel after the torturous winter in New York last year. Constant shoveling and in the big snows hiring some kids. Well our first snow this year was a blizzard. I attempted to shovel with the snow joe but it was no match for the snow. I was about 1/3 done and fearing a heart attack when 4 boys came by and I gave them $40 and they finished up. I would say that the shovel should be good up to about 7 inches not the 30 we got. My expectations were a bit high.

I use this to clear the snow from my deck. It moves the snow quite well, but I'm taking one star off because it tends to throw too high, so too much snow blows back on you, at least here in Colorado where the snow is light and dry.

I'm take another star off because I'm left handed. As a safety feature, you have to squeeze the trigger and push a button simultaneously to make it go, which is fine except the button is positioned perfectly for the right thumb.

It works well with a few inches of powder snow. As advertised to be fair. My problem is with my small hands, short fingers, I have an ackward time with the handle button location. Its a hard reach for me. A man wouldn't have this problem.

I was able to use this twice before it completely stopped working. Very disappointed in the quality.

I'm so disappointed. Just tried it in heavy snow. Anything more than 2-3 inches, and the spout repeatedly gets clogged. I would have to stop to punch out the snow, and continue moving very slowly. You also have to stop to adjust the angle of the spout constantly because the force of the snow coming out pushes the spout upward. Finally, assembly was kind of a pain, and it's just not well-made. One of the locking mechanisms just doesn't work.

this is great is 2-5in of snow. but anything more it gets clogged and stops working. If I could go back I would return and buy a gas one.

Beats the heck out of shoveling the wet stuff we get in central Virginia. It also seems to keep snow away as it has not snowed since I bought it.
Subsequent snows have revealed a severe flaw, the discharge chute is rough textured inside and wet snow of 8" is a clog producing mess. I dropped the review to 2 stars because of the flaw. Additionally the chute has two bolts that will not tighten and if the deflector is not upright the chute clogs immediately.

Works great... when you have the magic snow at just the right weight and depth. This machine is no match for March snow, at any depth. Apparently wet snow gums it up and stops it working. I got this so my parents wouldn't have to shovel, they've shoveled more than used the machine so far this winter.

Returned, as too hard to push in snow deeper than 6 inches.

no way to deflect the snow downward or change the direction of the snow being thrown

I would not buy this again. On the surface it looks like it might make it faster to clear off light snow on your driveway/walkway. I thought it would be more like a shovel with the powers of a snowblower. Well, without wheels underneath, this is more like a heavy shovel with some snowblower capabilities. Next lightweight electric snowblower will be the mini traditional ones with wheels with the blower spraying out the snow with an adjustable ejector tube. I had sone of these but my wife ran over it last winter. Thought we would try this instead and hated it. Don't waste your money for making snow removal actually harder on your body. Shoveling snow is hard enough.

Worthless in wet or heavy snow, it doesn't grab the snow just pushes it like a shovel. So when you have light powder with NO wind it works, but that's not really when you need it.

i got a great deal, so thought i would finally find out what the hype was about, on the electric power shovels. it seems like a good idea and my sj323 is made well and it does throw snow, but unless you are using it on a smooth surface like a deck, it requires a lot of effort to lift and push... 15 lbs on the end of a stick is no back saver!!! it is portable, but this thing needs some wheels to make it more useful. i wanted it to be a good tool investment, but honestly, it will end up hanging on my shed wall... and the cable logistics are daunting -which i would deal with if it performed better. yeah, it works, but i am going to upgrade to a better hand shovel and save my arms and back.

finally got around to opening the box and assembling the snow blower. there are no hardware inside the box to mount the handle to the blower and the chute has no hardware either and also a broken plastic piece that holds the wire to the frame

Dead on arrival! Doesn't turn on not even the led lights turn on. I even tried a different extension cord rated for 15 amp and doesn't turn on at all. Not even the built on flash light.

The first one I ordered never made it to me. The second one was not operational. The price matches the quality you get...

Bought this at the beginning of the season and just had the first opportunity to use it. The chute clogged at every push and is nearly impossible to unclog- as a matter of fact, while trying to unclog the chute for the third time, the plastic diverter cracked. Not an item I would recommend and because I bought it 6a weeks ago, I am ineligible for a return- do not buy this. I had a smaller Toro for 10 years that I loved before it broke and unfortunately I chose this instead.

only good for fluffy happy snow. anything heavier will bog this thing immediately. unlike gas units, this won't propel itself. you end up having to repeatedly smash the thing into the snow to get anywhere. on packed or heavy snow kw, you're honestly better off shoveling. you're basically pushing an automatic broom.

Can't use for last snowstorm in NJ on March 13rd with ~6inches of snow. Ended up using my shovel all the way

the worse thing I have ever ordered from Amazon ! The assembly was supposed to be easy wrong. The 2 tubes that need ti be connected with a screw and bolt is impossible. There is the wires going through the tubing that are just as wide as the tubing. There is no way to get the screw in there. Directions say to use a wire to move the wires over. You can not get the wire close enough to do any good.

Plastic parts, broke on the first use. Unfortunately I bought this in summer, so i can't return it any more either

Seemed to work as reported until bearings seized after less than 10 minutes of light usage.
From minute one the unit made a grinding noise.
Chinese quality control at its finest. I doubt it was ever plugged in at the factory for testing.

I thought it was going to be a work saver. Motor burned up second time I used it. The snow was light and fluffy.