Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

2018 update - still going strong! Although I've managed to break a wheel off earlier this year, on one of the steps in back when I was moving it, I just had it out in what is likely over a foot of wet snow and you just have to take it slow, sometimes rock it to unclog it. I've added a video. -- I own three snow throwers, all 18". When I bought my house I started with a gas powered one, which was recalled once and which has had carb problems 3 out of 5 years after that, largely I suspect due to me not finding time to "summerize" the engine and drain the fuel in time. It is currently working but is hard to start and seems to be lacking power, I suspect the carb needs cleaning again. It also leaves me smelling like gasoline and exhaust whenever I use it. I have an electric, extension corded model, which seems slightly more powerful than the gas model, but the safety interlock switch mechanism has been touchy and occasionally it won't start at all. When it does work it's awesome, sans moving the cord, which though not too bad isn't really a hassle. The problem is I'm on a corner lot, and the extension cords just don't go that far. Thus, when I learned about the Snow Joe ION, I was excited, and since it's snowing a lot this year I ordered one. So far, I've used it twice on 1 and then 2 inches of light fluffy snow, however I have also used it to clear plowed, somewhat icy snow at the street corner and the driveway, though not extensively. I was pleased that it handles it - you have to rock in and out, it'll slow and stop if you push in too hard, but it was making progress roughly equivalent to maybe 80% of the gas engine on the big plow leavings. The fluffy snow was being thrown farther than the gas engine throw it, but not as far as the corded electric. It is quieter than both the other throwers. Pros: I really like the flashlight. It has a powered chute aiming control. The battery comes out easily so it can be charged in the house and kept warm for maximum power It seems to handle light snow very well The handle and chute assembly knobs seem to have nylon lock nuts in them and thus probably won't shake loose So far the battery seems to be holding up quite well and allows me to clear my double width driveway (20x30?) and about 160 feet of of sidewalk on a charge, at least in light snow. It is really quiet. It throws snow far enough, comparable to the gas one. It doesn't smell like fumes! Cons: It doesn't move along the sidewalk as smoothly as the other throwers. It seems to ride a bit further down and scrape more. The handle assembly seems just a bit more flexible/less sturdy than the others I have. Part of that may be due to having an adjustable joint to give you a choice of handlebar angles, or it may be due to the single U shaped fastener further down, instead of having a pair of fasteners. Over time I'll be watching this to see if it becomes an issue - it works okay so far, it just feels less solid than I want. The knobs holding down the snow exit chute seem tight but it still seems to go out of adjustment - both of my others have a more firm tooth grabbing mechanism that holds the chute angle better. Wish list: Other than adjusting the sturdiness/feel issue, if it were up to me and I was planning their next release, I'd stick a second battery pack holder on the machine and let you optionally equip a second battery pack, and when running on two batteries I'd give it a mode switch for more torque/power, so you can switch to higher amp consumption but power through heavier or wetter snow and plow piles more efficiently, or set it back on normal and have longer life (not that I've needed either really so far, I just think it wouldn't cost much to do it). Overall, though, I'm quite pleased with it so far, and I may bump up to 5 stars later after I've used it more. ======= Updates: ======= I've now used it a lot more, including on a 4-5" snow, though it wasn't a wet snow, it has been too cold: Pros: It handled the near 5" well. It can handle the tall 2 foot drifts on the boulevard okay, it just slows down and might need 2-3 passes. Cons: The rubber cover that screws down over the chute direction switch shook loose. That may or may not have anything to do with the next con - The snow chute has ceased to rotate reliably. Sometimes I am able to get it to move with the switch but mostly not lately. It will spin by hand, with some force. I do not know if it was some ice that got in someplace or if there is a wiring fault - I finally brought it into the basement to melt/thaw out and the motor is spinning it now, we'll see how it does outside in the subzero later. I'm still happy with it and still rate it 4 out of 5, but I'm not bumping it up. ========== Update with a 6" heavy snowfall ========== Twin cities got a surprise snow dump today. I'm not sure snow totals elsewhere, but it seems to me we had 6" here, and there were a few more inches on my sidewalks that had blown in earlier this week that I was waiting for today's snow to handle. The blower worked pretty well in the heavier 6" snow, and just slowed down a bit as it went, and when I hit the deeper piles where it had blown it it just slowed down more. Now, I'm on a corner, with a double wide 35 foot driveway. This was the first time I'd drained a battery dead before I've finished blowing, but I got the sidewalk all around and 85% of the driveway, which is impressive. I did have the problem with the snow chute not working, at first, but once it had warmed a bit by running it worked fine. My current theory is that the chute rotation switch triggers a relay somewhere down in the machine, and that that really is stuck when it's really cold. Warming it up bf running it for awhile or by bringing it in the house awhile seems to make it work, thus my theory. So, despite the chute issue, I'm going to bump it up to 5 stars because of how it handled the deep snow today.