Hoping for a blizzard.

[TigerRaptor]

We got another week of 90 degree temperature and high humility. A blizzard definitely sounds good right about now.

Heck, I even bought my winter tires early.

[TheWhat]

After last year’s snow accumulation “4th most on record in Minnesota” I’ve opted for some mechanical assistance. I must be getting old because researching and purchasing my first snow blower was far more exciting than pornography.

Toro 39921

[Krom]

After last year’s snow accumulation “4th most on record in Minnesota” I’ve opted for some mechanical assistance. I must be getting old because researching and purchasing my first snow blower was far more exciting than pornography.

Toro 39921

My neighbor has a Toro single stage electric snowblower very similar to that, he really likes it and does all our sidewalks most times. The only time he doesn't is when we get a major snow or it is too warm/wet/heavy that is too much for a single stage to handle, then we take care of it with our much larger 2 stage electric.

[TheWhat]

This guy lives in Wisconsin I think and his whole channel is lawnmower/snowblower comparisons. This video is exactly the kind of snow I hate to shovel - I was especially concerned about the snow plow pack at the end of the driveway - it will destroy your body for the day, and if it freezes you're screwed. The Toro he is testing here is a model lower than the one I bought. If it can do this I'm happy because if it's a major storm the neighbor on the right has a 2 stage and the neighbor on the left has a tractor, but I don't like pulling favors if I don't have to. :]

[Neo]

Tiger, I think you mean high humidity. hehe

[Krom]

This guy lives in Wisconsin I think and his whole channel is lawnmower/snowblower comparisons. This video is exactly the kind of snow I hate to shovel - I was especially concerned about the snow plow pack at the end of the driveway - it will destroy your body for the day, and if it freezes you're screwed. The Toro he is testing here is a model lower than the one I bought. If it can do this I'm happy because if it's a major storm the neighbor on the right has a 2 stage and the neighbor on the left has a tractor, but I don't like pulling favors if I don't have to. :]

Yeah, our neighbors is just like that, the video doesn't quite give away how quiet they are, but you can barely hear it from inside compared to a gas one that is easily audible from a block away. He usually doesn't make it far in a snow storm that big though, I think he only has one battery that is around 325 Wh which limits how much snow he can really move when it is wet and heavy and putting a high load on the tool. Our 2 stage uses two batteries with a total capacity of just over 1.1 kWh which makes a big difference in endurance.

I use our snow blower almost exclusively in eco mode, even in that mode it is more powerful than our old 2 stage gas blower by a significant margin (same 24" size), in turbo mode it eats batteries in like 12 minutes flat but is insanely powerful and will chew through anything you can get into the auger and throw it a ridiculous distance.

[Isaac]

I just use one of these:

[Top Gun]

This thread amuses me considering that we didn't get so much as a flake of actual accumulation last year. Nothing wrong with the climate, no sir!

[TheWhat]

The model I purchased has 2 batteries: 7.5 and a 2.5 to make 10 “amp hours” whatever the hell that means. It requires 4 to run it - I think that means to start it you need 4Ah. It’s supposed to last an hour before a charge and requires 3 hours to recharge. Hand shoveling takes between 30-60 minutes.

For 4 years I’ve been doing it by hand and I think it’s good to get in physical activity, reps for my bag-o-bones but it’s too much sometimes. Also, it’s not uncommon for older people to have heart attacks shoveling (I don’t have hard data but meteorologists warn of people just up and croaking during snowstorms).

Hopefully it will be $1200 bux well spent. I think it will be if even to save my wrists so I can produce annoying, outdated rock music on weighted midi controllers and Fender Telecasters and Jazz basses.
:]

[Krom]

The model I purchased has 2 batteries: 7.5 and a 2.5 to make 10 “amp hours” whatever the hell that means. It requires 4 to run it - I think that means to start it you need 4Ah. It’s supposed to last an hour before a charge and requires 3 hours to recharge. Hand shoveling takes between 30-60 minutes.

For 4 years I’ve been doing it by hand and I think it’s good to get in physical activity, reps for my bag-o-bones but it’s too much sometimes. Also, it’s not uncommon for older people to have heart attacks shoveling (I don’t have hard data but meteorologists warn of people just up and croaking during snowstorms).

Hopefully it will be $1200 bux well spent. I think it will be if even to save my wrists so I can produce annoying, outdated rock music on weighted midi controllers and Fender Telecasters and Jazz basses.
:]

Amp hours a stupid term for battery capacity that is only relevant when comparing with batteries of exactly the same voltage/manufacturer. Fortunately you can convert it to watt hours which is a number that does make sense even across brands/types/voltages: multiply the amp hours by the voltage. In your case, 2.5+7.5 amp hours @ 60v = 600 watt hours. Ultimately the watt hours is the best measure of the amount of work over time a battery can perform which is why it is the chosen measure of battery capacity in electric vehicles. (For instance my Tesla Model 3 battery would be "208 amp hours" which doesn't really tell you anything useful, but the actual 75 kWh capacity number is useful because basically all EVs tell you consumption in watt-hours per mile.)

The two batteries I use in my snow blower are 56v and 10.0 amp hours, which means 560 watt hours each so they combine to 1120 watt hours.

[TigerRaptor]

Sweet X7, I do like this style. Anyway, Toro's quality control on many of their non-commercial lawn products has gone to ★■◆●. Their snow blower line on the other hand is still well built. The battery powered single stage is a lifesaver. It's powerful, light, and very easy to maneuver. You'll be quite happy with it. My single stage uses two 7.5 ah batteries, and like Krom's two stage, this machine on full power with powder snow was overkill; 50 to 60% power was enough to get the job done.

I did a upgrade to mine. It really blows.



By the way, the Briggs and Stratton snow blower I got for around $600 is now selling for $1099 at some places. Damn inflation. 

[TheWhat]

Since you guys know what you’re talking about and I don’t can you explain something to me? In some of the review videos I’ve noticed the person is just covered in snow. Is this due to laziness and stupidity? Like not taking wind direction in to consideration or adjusting the chute or is this normal? My neighbors who have snow blowers aren’t covered in snow head to toe, some of the reviews they even had ski goggles. Why?

El oh el

[TigerRaptor]

TheWhat where you living in Minnesota during the 1991 Halloween blizzard? I remember Minnetonka got hit really hard that day.

https://www.weather.gov/dlh/1991halloweenblizzard

[TheWhat]

Yes. Lagoon Ave S Minneapolis. My first apartment, I moved there a week after high school graduation. 3rd floor overlooking the street.

It was a wild week - the Twins won the WS and it was crazy honking underneath my window then a few days later was the Halloween blizzard. I didn’t have to shovel snow then. lol

I assembled and tested the snowblower this afternoon. We may get a whole inch tomorrow morning.

[TigerRaptor]

My dad couldn't go to work for a few days since his office was in Minneapolis. Highway 7 at the time was a complete mess with all the stranded cars.

[TigerRaptor]

It looks like it could be another mild winter. Normally I'd have the winter tires on by now, but not with these temperatures. 

[Flatlander]

So, last year I moved from Florida (lived there all my life) to Pennsylvania (followed my sister and her family - near Harrisburg). To keep it simple, I sold my house in Florida and moved into an apartment in Pennsylvania. Now I'm buying a house, so I will need to get all of the fun lawn stuff - mower, trimmer, edger, leaf blower (and eventually a snow blower, but this area doesn't get a lot of snow). I'm thinking electric / battery instead of gasoline, and I just went to my local big box home improvement store, but there are so many to choose from - Ego, Toro, Craftsman, Husqvarna, probably a few others. Anyone have any thoughts/experience/recommendations?

[Krom]

Into my 3rd year of Ego battery yard tools, all electric now, no gas tools left. No matter who you go with, they are all expensive though.

Worth noting that if you calculate the watt-hours (voltage * amp hours) to get everyone on the same page, Ego generally has by far the largest batteries of anyone in the space. That means more power, longer run times, fewer recharges. But they are also heavier and take a little longer to fully charge because of it. As for their tool quality, eh, I haven't broken anything yet but they use a lot of plastic and my yard is pretty small/light duty. Their batteries are far and away the best, but the tools themselves are merely "good enough" IMO.

[Flatlander]

Into my 3rd year of Ego battery yard tools, all electric now, no gas tools left. No matter who you go with, they are all expensive though.

Worth noting that if you calculate the watt-hours (voltage * amp hours) to get everyone on the same page, Ego generally has by far the largest batteries of anyone in the space. That means more power, longer run times, fewer recharges. But they are also heavier and take a little longer to fully charge because of it. As for their tool quality, eh, I haven't broken anything yet but they use a lot of plastic and my yard is pretty small/light duty. Their batteries are far and away the best, but the tools themselves are merely "good enough" IMO.

Good info, thanks. I don't have a large yard or driveway, either. My sister has a Greenworks lawn mower, so another brand to consider. Guess I will need to do some research.

[TigerRaptor]

Ego has some good deals right now. $230.00 for a 765 CFM blower with a 5.0 ah battery, including charger.

www.amazon.com/dp/B09RNDQCV3?ref_=cm_sw ... eft=1&th=1

[Flatlander]

Ego has some good deals right now. $230.00 for a 765 CFM blower with a 5.0 ah battery, including charger.

www.amazon.com/dp/B09RNDQCV3?ref_=cm_sw ... eft=1&th=1

Thanks for the head's-up, I just ordered it.

[Flatlander]

The start of something.

I found the blower to be a bit awkward to use. There is a strap, but the way it connects doesn't really work for me, since I'm left-handed. Mower and trimmer worked great though.

[Krom]

Nice, when I was gathering mine, I got the power head with the string trimmer attachment instead of the dedicated trimmer. I also have the pole saw, edger and snow shovel attachments which are really nice.

[Tunnelcat]

How do the batteries hold up for trimming? I bought a newer model 40V Ryobi leaf blower and like it so far. I use it for general yard cleaning and especially for drying the cars after I wash them. It's a lot quieter than my gas version and the rubber concentrator is great for not marring the paint if I bump the car. But the battery realistically only lasts about half an hour and that's not even using Turbo Mode, so if I run out, I swap in the second battery.

I'm still waiting for Honda to start producing battery lawn mowers for the U.S. market, because they do sell battery versions in other countries and have gotten rave reviews for them. They've totally quit selling gas mowers in the U.S. for now and California is going to soon ban gas mowers all together. I haven't seen another brand battery lawn mower I'd like to purchase yet however, although there is a newer Dewalt that looks good.

https://www.motor1.com/news/667175/hond ... wn-mowers/

[Krom]

How many amp hours is the battery you are using? A quick search suggests the Ryobi leaf blowers come with 4 amp hour batteries, which when multiplied by 40 volts comes out to 160 watt hours. So by comparison the Ego leaf blowers come with 56 volt 5 amp hour batteries which comes out to 280 watt hours. So for the same power output the Ego battery will last about 75% longer.

[Tunnelcat]

Well, I'll have to live with 4 amp hour batteries, unless they release upgraded batteries. Ryobi tends to do that with their new batteries like they did with the 18V tool ones. I've long since bought larger output 18V batteries for my power tools. What did the EGO cost you and how heavy? More amp hours, more weight???

[Krom]

Definitely a bit heavier and more bulky, even the 5 Ah packs are considerably larger than competing brands (comprised of a large series of 2170 lithium cells). The 10 and 12 Ah packs are even bigger and heavier, but will run a small tool for an incredibly long time.

[Tunnelcat]

As an old lady now, I'll have to sacrifice longer runtime for less weight.

[Krom]

Even with a 10 Ah battery attached the ego leaf blowers are still lighter than most gas powered units. Plus all the battery electrics don't have the vibrations that gas ones have, so there is a lot less fatigue during use, although they are still pretty loud (it is pretty much impossible to make a quiet leaf blower).

[Flatlander]

EGO batteries (l-r) 2.5 AH (trimmer), 5.0 AH (leaf blower), 6.0 AH (mower). I haven't had any issues with running out of battery life, but I have a fairly small lawn and driveway.

[TigerRaptor]

Earlier on when I said, "Toro's quality control on many of their non-commercial lawn products has gone to ★■◆●." Here is one of the common issues with these Super Recylcers. The right wheel is making a grinding noise (inner gears gone bad) when I move the wheel left to right.



It's just not Toro that has gone downhill. Ariens, Husqvarna, Briggs & Stratton, and Kohler have also really cheaped out.

[TigerRaptor]

If a cottontail bunny ever pops out while mowing, simply put it back in the nest and pet its little head before covering them back up.

[roid]

If a cottontail bunny ever pops out while mowing, simply put it back in the nest and pet its little head before covering them back up.

like replacing a divot while golfing


(no rly tho, i'm assuming you were joking. You can't just MOW OVER THEM in the den, especially if they're prone to pop out on their own accord, right?!)

Rabbits are literally a national pest species here, we're prolly ment to kill them on sight (i forget, i live in suburbia too long), so i dunno normal rabbit behavior other than "that thing should be dead for the good of my local ecosystem". ps: no i don't own a gun.

[TigerRaptor]

Sure.

This is why it's not a good idea to cheap out at times. The look on his face.

[Krom]

LOL Yeah, that one little 40v battery and matching motor is way under power/torque for that much snow at that high of a temperature. Although I bet if it had been ~10C cooler it would have gone right through it. Wet sticky snow is the enemy of all types of snow removal.

That being said, my ego 24" 2 stage has easily eaten through that amount of snow at above freezing temperatures with no problem other than the significant effort it takes to push it through it, although the battery life suffers for it. I think at full power it will run out our two large batteries in around 10 minutes, but it is an unstoppable beast for those 10 minutes.

[TigerRaptor]

Wet snow will definitely push the batteries to the limits. I came close to overheating mine after pushing the machine rather hard in the wet snow last winter.