Snow Joe Ultra SJ620 18-Inch 13.5-Amp Electric Snow Thrower

Well I've had my Snow Joe for about a month now, but today was the first time I was able to use it. We only got a couple inches of powdery snow, & I could have easily used the shovel, but wanted to try out this snow thrower. As I expected, it went thru it like butter, and threw the snow nicely into my yard. Even with the small amount of snow, it was still easier than shoveling it, and I was done in no time. I have about a 3-car driveway (long), and shoveling that can be a real pain (literally) if we get a big snow storm. So I got this Snow Joe with a 100 ft outdoor cord, and it worked great. I didn't mind messing with the cord too much either -- though part of the reason is that I also got a cord winder so I literally wound up the cord when finished in about 30 seconds. I believe this Snow Joe will go through 6-8 inches of snow just as easily as it did 2 inches. I'm actually HOPING for a bigger snow storm so I can give this thing a better workout! Very glad I got it, and I have to say that when I saw the price on the website tonight, I was floored!! It's about $40 less than when I bought it, and I thought I got a good deal!I'll update this review after we get more snow and I've used this machine some more..* Update, January 2014: we got a storm recently with about 6 inches of snow. The snow was powdery, but still had some weight to it. This Snow Joe once again went right through it without any trouble at all. I finished my entire 3-car driveway, plus a small amount of sidewalk, in about 15 minutes. If I had done that using a shovel, it would have taken 3-4 times as long. This Snow Joe was a great purchase!!!** Second update, Feb 13, 2014: today my Snow Joe got its best workout ever. We had a huge winter storm overnight, and today I had about 12-15" of snow on my driveway. It was not dry snow, but the heavy, wet variety. A straight head-on path into all of that snow was a little much for the Snow Joe -- a little too much height to the snow. BUT, I took my time, and made a single path down the length of my driveway. It was slow because if I kept pushing non-stop, the Snow Joe's motor would bog down. But once I got that initial path done, then I did "half a swath" at a time, instead of doing a path the width of the Snow Joe's blades. This worked very well, and by doing only half a swath at a time, the Snow Joe easily did my entire driveway. (except for the 2 foot wall of snow by the road where the plow had gone through) The chute only got clogged once, but that was easy to fix just by scooping out the snow. Thankfully, the Snow Joe saved my back (and heart) from one heckuva lot of work today. Thanks Snow Joe!!! I am 100% sold on this unit now - and would buy another one without thinking twice about it.** Update March 2015: I just used my Snow Joe again this winter for a big storm we just had. We got about 6-7 inches of snow and it was sort of mid-way between wet and dry snow. As usual, the Snow Joe worked wonderfully, and cut through it down my 3-car driveway, plus sidewalk, in about 20 minutes. I have to add, that re-adjusting the chute for the direction that the snow is thrown, ON THE FLY, is pretty easy. You can change not only the direction, but also the height that the snow is thrown. (adjusting the height must be done while the unit is stopped) This thing was a GREAT purchase, I wish I had gotten one years earlier. I live in a townhouse development, and I bet my neighbors all wished they had one of these also!! They were all out their shoveling for an hour, and I was done in 20 mins. If/when this one breaks, I will get another without hesitation or delay!** Update from Jan 2016: well I just survived Snowpocalypse (blizzard) of 2016!! This was a monster storm! Today when I left my house after squeezing thru the front door that was nearly drifted shut, I measured 16-18" of snow on my driveway. (the driveway on the left in the pic is mine; thankfully, the buried car is not...) I had to do some manual shoveling. However, the SnowJoe worked in two ways. One, it worked if I took off a top layer of the snow, bringing it down to about 8-10". It went thru that with no problem. Two, I shoveled a single path all the way down to the concrete down the middle of my driveway. Then, I used the SnowJoe, taking the full 16-18" of snow, but only did about 1/4 swath (of the width of the SnowJoe's intake) at a time. I had to angle the Snow Joe up slightly as I did this, in order to get the top of the snow. This then left a small layer of snow (1-2 inches) on the ground, but that was easy to get later. Bottom line, I used this little machine a great deal today, and it saved me a LOT of extra shoveling!! I have had this machine for 3 years now, and today's experience was just more evidence that it is worth its weight in gold! I even had a neighbor watching me today who told me later that he wished he had one.

Just had the opportunity to use this yesterday, March 21, 2018 when we got 13 inches of snow in PA. The first time I used it was when 8 inches was on the ground. This handled the snow very well. It was a heavy snow, the packing kind but not overly and slushy. My driveway is approx. 16 feet wide by 40 feet long.I took my time and walked about 12 foot to create a lane and then worked sideways from that going across the driveway. This unit handled the job without any problem. It was as loud as a heavy duty vacuum for noise comparison. I also bought a large outdoor extension cord to use with this unit. The wheels wouldn't roll over the cord so I didn't have to worry about the cord clogging the unit when backing up.The unit is light and I raised the wheels a little bit so the front got right down to the blacktop of the driveway. I didn't expect this unit to go into a couple of feet of snow for removal all at once. But the 8 inches of snow didn't cause any hesitation of the Snow Joe. I made my second pass when 5 inches of snow was on the ground and it handled that as easily as it handled the 8 inches of snow.It clogged once with packed snow. I pushed the snow down the shoot and we were rocking and rolling once again with no other clogging issues.The handles fold down over the unit for storage, which is very convenient. Will it replace large snow-blower units for huge jobs? No. Will it handle driveways like mine? Yes! I like that I don't have to mess with gas and oil, pull or electric starts and batteries that lack the power to do the job.What about the electric cord? I hooked it to the machine and around the collar of my coat, down and over my other shoulder. Worked good to keep it out of my way while working. I think I may use a backpack in the future to keep any loose cord in place and feed out while I'm working on the longer sections of my driveway. Plus now I have the cord that can work on multiple items in my arsenal of equipment around the house.

This 18" Sno-Joe is a snap to assemble and very easy lightweight / easy to maneuver. I got this for my 86-year old father and his 75-year old bride (yes, they're still spry and yes, he re-married a younger lady). Dad didn't want a gas snow blower and I didn't want him throwing snow at his age. He said to put in this review that if they can push a snowblower like this, anyone can. That said, I had them set up some agreements with a few families in their neighborhood. On days with heavy, wet snow, those families can come use dad's Sno Joe to clean his driveway and side walk and then borrow it to go clean theirs. :-)Out of the box, the only thing you're putting together is the handle and the extension lever that allows you to move the direction of the chute. Everything else is ready to go. Like I said, this is a very lightweight unit and easy to push. Four or five inches of snow is not a problem AT ALL. Just be sure to buy a 15 AMP OUTDOOR (blue 14-gauge) power cord. Read up on this! There are so many stories of people burning out their machines because they use under-rated extension cords. If you buy these cords on Amazon in the summer they are reasonably priced. If you wait until winter they are unreasonably priced, and you're better off going to Lowe's or Home Depot.By the way, this unit makes hardly any noise -- hardly more than a hair dryer, really. You can easily talk over it. Throws snow 15' - 20' easily if it's medium-weight snow. A little shorter if it's wet, a little farther if it's powder. Very reasonable blower for the price. If you're looking for something lightweight that you can hang on the wall in the off-season, this a decent blower that's easy on the budget.

With no experience with this type of product, I wasn't expecting it to work that well, especially in the wetter types of snow. However, I was pleasantly surprised!First of all, there only assembly was to lock the upper part of the handle, then attach the directional bar (to change chute direction) and then tighten. Good to go after that.It's lightweight, very maneuverable, even it wetter snow although, with most electric, corded devices, the cord is a bit of a pain you know that going in. And once you get used to planning your route, it's easy enough.I've used it twice since the purchase date; once on dry powdery snow and once on the wet snow. I should add that I am using this on a paved driveway that is on a slight downgrade, about 18' wide and 25' long. I have no idea of its performance on a gravel driveway, but I would expect it will pick up rocks and thrown them given there is a "scraper" piece on the bottom of the machine before the auger.Powder Snow: It works great!! Don't expect a gasoline engine performance but it will throw the snow about 15 feet and I had 0 troubles using the full swath of the machine in about 8-10 inches of powder.Wet Snow: The first recommendation, don't clear your vehicle and then expect this will dig into the packed wet snow. It will skim off the surface but it is much better to clear the wet snow before walking on it to pack it down in any way. That takes a bit of planning but hardly the end of the world. During this type of snow, where it started to rain as I was clearing it (about 5-6 inches) I wasn't able to use the full swath without moving slower (to be expected). However, when I used about 1/2 to 3/4 of the width of the machine it did a much better job and is still SO much better than shoveling. I finish the driveway in about 2/3 of the time.Would I buy it again? Well for the amazing price of a couple of hundred bucks, saving time and back damage (lol) of shoveling........ABSOLUTELY!!

After last winter I knew a shovel wouldn't cut it. I was attracted to this snow blower because of the price. I ordered and received this within 2 business days and was able to test on the first snow fall of the year. I have owned an electric snow thrower before so I had no issues looking to buy another. To my surprise this unit isnt as larger as it seems in the picture. The unit is very light which makes it easier for my 110 pound wife to operate. The balance is off so to throw the snow you need to tip the unit forward. The blades or augers will pull the unit forward. So while it may seem weird that the balance is off and how light this machine is, its actually ok. The 2nd snow fall this season I got my 2 car drive way cleared within 10 minutes. It took me longer to get the machine out, get the extension cord out and get it ready to work then the work itself.So the pros are, its a fair price, its light weight, its easy to use and it works wellThe cons are the thumb screw to assembly the handle broke when putting this together, you need a proper 12 gauge extension code which may run you $50 and this isnt the best in wet sloppy snow. It really works best with light fluffy stuff. So if you plan to clear your driveway when the snow plow comes, good luck and bring a shovel.

Arrived under estimated time, assembly is simple unfold handle and tighten the handle screws, insert chute crank through the guide and install the attachment screw. Finally got some snow to try it, about 3-4" not a lot, I do have to clear the porch and stairs down making a deeper pile, just go slow and let it work without forcing it and it worked superbly. Requires 12ga electrical cord so motor doesn't bog on load with 100ft cord, no bogging incurred. 14ga will work for 50ft or shorter and 16ga won't handle it, and will end up damaging the motor or burning the cord as it can't supply enough current. The unit is light enough that I can move it up to the deck and up the stairs to the back walk easily. Know that it is not a gas powered unit and not designed to do the load they are designed for. Our area does not get huge dumps at once like the east, so it does what I expect of it. The one issue I have and it seems to be with all snowblowers is that it doesn't clear right to the surface, it leaves a hard packed skim that does not scrap off with a shovel after, this is do to the auger pulling the snow back under itself to throw it out the chute, so the spinning auger packs that skim down against the surface, it is a devil of a job to try and get down to the surface after with a shovel, need more like an ice scraper to peel it off then shovel the loosened stuff off if you want bare surface when done. I'm well pleased and excited to use it again, NOT excited to have more snow though. A word of warning on the 15amp model, most home circuits are only 15 amp so with the motor being 15 amp putting it under load or under gauged cord you will find yourself tripping the circuit breaker. Also I see no need of the extra cost for the lighted model, if you can see well enough to shovel without added light then you can see to run the machine. No gas, oil, spark plugs, starter cord, hard starting or engine maintenance in a smaller lighter package, just a pwr cord to contend with and limited to its length.

Good quality blower but cord becomes stiff in colder weather and it’s hard to move around.

A snowblower for $200 ?!! And made in China................well I really wasn't expecting much , and they didn,t disappoint me , I didn't get much. Right out of the box , I had to take the deadman control switch off the handle to assemble it as the cord was too short , and guess what , when you get it all assembled , the switch won't fit back in the original holes where it us supposed to go , the cord from the motor is too short by 3 inches or so. So now what to do , splice in some cord , or send it back , or I could drill two more holes and mount the swutch lower down on the handle , but then it wouldn't be in the correct position to hold it down while running , I'm a DIY kind of guy , so I'll deal with it , but many people couldn't , for that reason alone , it gets one star from me , I'll update when I actually move some snow with it , but I probably won't change my rating , such a stupid little thing , but aggravating.