I'm looking to upgrade from my old gas snow blower, which has been a hassle to maintain and store in my small garage. I'm considering switching to a cordless model since I already own several DeWalt 20V batteries. I found the DCSNP218 online, but I've seen mixed reviews about how it copes with the heavy, wet snow we often get in Illinois. Last winter, I tried a cheap electric model that failed after just two storms due to motor overheating and cracked plastic in the cold. I don't want to spend over $300 on a snow shovel that won't last. I'm hoping to find something that can quickly clear my driveway without getting jammed and ideally works with my existing batteries. What models have you had good success with? Are there any attachments or kits that work better than standalone shovels? Also, I'm curious about the runtime on a single charge for clearing about 6 inches of snow. If you've made any modifications for better performance or added grips, I'd love to hear about that too. I'm really tired of shoveling by hand when my blower doesn't do the job.
2 Answers
Last year, I used the Ryobi expand-it snow thrower with the 972 power head, and it was fantastic. I literally had several neighbors borrow it! It saved my back a ton, but just a heads up, it's a 60V system. If you're dealing with heavy snow, that extra power is essential to get the job done right.
I have a single-stage snowblower that I absolutely love. It was on the pricier side, but it performed surprisingly well last winter, so I didn’t even need to pull out my gas-powered two-stage blower. Definitely worth considering!
I'm planning to get the expand-it this winter too since I was super impressed with how it performed on the tiller!