6AM, 1/29/23
I have a long driveway (about 10 car lengths, concrete), a large parking area in front of the garage, and a bluestone and brick patio entrance area to the front door. I live near Milwaukee. I liked the original SnowJoe, but the electric cord was becoming a nuisance. The battery version, though a few inches narrower (18"), seemed like a cost effective solution. It handles 1" snow very easily, was particularly good on the patio where a shovel snags on bricks, and I could do the whole job on one battery charge. But wasn't being challenged... until..... Last night we had 8-10" of powder snow. Up at 5:30 AM I fired up the battery Snow Joe.
It careened down the long driveway and quickly plowed away the 8" layer like a hot knife through butter. I was impressed. It was clearly using a lot of energy, so I expected I would have to recharge. At the end of the driveway, the plows had piled about 1.5 - 2 feet but Joe had no trouble munching through it all, taking smaller bites. I probably used most of the battery energy here. I didn't want to run the batteries to zero (experience with Ryobi products I learned this is not a good idea because the battery has its own logic circuitry and if this is not powered the battery goes totally dead and it becomes very difficult if not impossible to reactivate it, using various tricks found on google forums )
On one battery charge Snow Joe did the whole long driveway, and part of the parking area (I may go over it again since a small half inch snow layer remains). Now recharging and should be easy to finish in an hour. I am impressed by the sheer bulk of snow removed and the convenience!!! With the cord I couldn't reach the last few feet of the driveway where the snow plow piles are, would spend half the time moving the cord around, and I would be cussing like a sailor. If these sorts of large snow storms were more frequent I would buy some more batteries, but nothing wrong with a long coffee break. I will complete this report when I'm done with the job.
8:40 AM
Charging takes a about an hour and fifteen minutes
I couldn't quite finish the job on the second charge. Enough
to make driveway passable, and the patio, but not quite elegantly finished.
Rather than waiting another hour-fifteen of charging I cranked up my old Joe with the plug-in cable to finish the job. NEVER AGAIN... You spend 2/3 of the time, dragging the cable around and replugging it in. The cable is heavy (14 amps) and it gets stiff in the cold weather. It has imited length of 100', too short for my driveway (I had bought an extension but didn't bother with it). Cable is a real nuisance. Also, I didnt notice any better performance out of the cable Joe.. The battery one performed just fine and seemed to deliver more power than the cable version ... (remember, power = energy/time; maybe there's
a lot of resistance in the 14 amp 100' cable that reduces power. ..from experience I know
that a 12 amp cable doesnt work at all with the old snow Joe.)
Far better to wait an hour for a recharge and only use battery Joe.
Old Snow Joe and Cable are going to the J-yard.
Overall I remain quite impressed with the battery 18" Show Joe. It cuts through 8" of powder snow
quickly and efficiently. It can bite away at the multiple piles that the city snow plows leave at the
end of the driveway.
It does leave about a quarter to half inch of snow that can be removed on a second pass, but
never completely.
The energy storage of the batteries is a bit shy for my wants, but I am patient and
can wait out the 1:15 hour recharge time, or buy additional batteries.
I give this little 18" battery powered Snow Joe 5 stars.
Addendum: After all this, I have noticed a rasping noise coming from the battery Joe. Hopefully I didn't
do fatal damage. It did munch some ice at the end of the driveway and that is a stress point. Will not be happy if the one big snow fall requires I have to purchase a new machine. We'll see.
Snow Joe 24V-X2-SB18 18-Inch, 48-Volt IONMAX Cordless Snow Blower Kit (w/ 2 x 4.0-Ah Batteries + Charger), Blue
4 | 4,794 ratings
Price: 312.59
Last update: 08-30-2024
About this item
[POWER SOURCE TYPE]: Battery Powered
[48V POWER]: Included 2x 4.0-Ah batteries offer up to 40 minutes of rechargeable runtime
[DURABLE]: 4-blade rubber-tipped steel auger clears a path 18” wide x 10” deep in a single pass
[POWERFUL]: 1200 W brushless motor clears up to 14 tons of snow per charge
[LED LIGHT]: 2W LED headlight lights up the night for safer nighttime clearing
[48V POWER]: Included 2x 4.0-Ah batteries offer up to 40 minutes of rechargeable runtime
[DURABLE]: 4-blade rubber-tipped steel auger clears a path 18” wide x 10” deep in a single pass
[POWERFUL]: 1200 W brushless motor clears up to 14 tons of snow per charge
[LED LIGHT]: 2W LED headlight lights up the night for safer nighttime clearing
Product information
| Brand | Snow Joe |
|---|---|
| Power Source | Battery Powered |
| Product Dimensions | 23.6"D x 19.7"W x 20.8"H |
| Item Weight | 0.01 Ounces |
| Color | Blue |
| Maximum Throw Distance | 20 Feet |
| Voltage | 28 Volts |
| Item Weight | 0.01 ounces |
| Manufacturer | Snow Joe |
| ASIN | B07YT8VZF6 |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | 24V-X2-SB18 |
| Batteries | 2 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Customer Reviews |
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars
4,756 ratings
4.0 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #70,710 in Patio, Lawn & Garden (See Top 100 in Patio, Lawn & Garden) #3 in Snow Blowers |
Top reviews from the United States
Amazon Customer
This thing is a Gem!
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2023
Edward M Bartel
Super maneuverable, just a couple reservations
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2021