Hi Evan, Don’t put chains on that snow blower. The electric drive is not strong enough to take the jerking chains will cause. Amazon link 13″ x 4″ X-Trac tires will give you a little more traction. You will also need the inner tube listed on that page.

Hi Paul, want to thank you again for the advice. I bought it but it only just arrived due to (ironically) snowstorms blocking UPS. Unfortunately bought it before I saw your comment about Warehouse deals otherwise could have saved $100. Some comments:

– It came without a chute crankshaft. Called customer service which was responsive and shipping one out now.
– It can definitely blow snow, even wet Sierra Nevada “cement” snow (but not as far) — when it has traction (i.e. going downhill). However the built in tires start spinning quite easily on my pavement which has ice on it and bumps.
– Snow can get stuck in the chute easily – especially very wet snow. I’m trying to use snow spray to prevent this.
– The handles having to pull up is definitely not as ergonomic. I would

Overall quite adequate for my small but somewhat steep driveway and CA snow and very happy to be part of the cordless revolution.

Question for you: can snow tires really be that much better than the built in tires? I’m thinking I really need chains but don’t have the experience with this.

HI Evan, The Snow Joe is the right size for your driveway. It does have a high speed impeller so I’ll bet it will handle your wet snow. The only real disadvantage I see is the intake will only handle 12 inch snows. Anything deeper than that and you will have to knock the drifts down with a shovel to get the snow blower to work right.

The tires are basic. But. The snow blower is half the weight of most 2-stage machines. It’s even lighter than the Toro 824 QXE. So it will have less problem than the larger ones for traction. For less money than chains you can install a set of better tires if you need to. Carlisle Snow Tires

Here is the link to the snow blower on Amazon: Snow Joe iON24SB-XR 80V Max 5.0 Ah. It also looks like Amazon has one that they had to repackage for $100 less here. Amazon Warehouse Deals. If you watched my video you saw the box for the one I recieved was pretty beat up so I’m sure Amazon hs had a few in the same condition. I’ve had very good luck with the warehouse deals and the items is always exactly as described.

If that does not sound like a good plan for you then I do suggest the Toro SnowMaster series instead.

Thanks for an awesome and informative site. I’m really enamored with the idea of a 2-stage electric that could be as powerful as a gas one. Just some concerns:
1) Going uphill. I read some reviews of people who put chains on this thing. My driveway is maybe 40 ft long but slopes downhill towards my garage.
2) I live in northern Lake Tahoe, CA so our snow is kinda wet, though usually no more than 6″ a day even during a storm (our part of town gets less snow than most other parts)

I think somebody on this site recommended a Toro 826XE last year for my situation, but this was before this Snow Joe came out. Could this Snow Joe work for me?

@Bryan, That was a great price! I do like the way it throws snow. Snow Joe is a good company. I expect them to support this snow blower well.

After deciding to keep the snow blower, I bought some additional 5 Ah batteries today. I too take by batteries inside during the winter. My utility room in the basement has a plethora of deep cycle and tool batteries during the winter months since my garage isn’t heated.

@Byran, Yes, you can move it without power. It doesn’t hurt the axle gear or the cogged belt from there to the motor. I too wish it had a free wheel when there was no power.

I know this snow blower can handle 4-6 inches of snow faster than it will go so I wish it had a faster speed. I tend to want to use my 824QXE Toro SnowMaster because it’s so much faster.

I have a Snow Joe/Sun Joe mower and leaf blower. Because of that I have an extra set of 4AH batteries. That gives me well over an hour of run time.

Here is the Amazon link for the 5 AH: Snow Joe + Sun Joe iBAT40XR iON EcoSharp PRO 40 V 5.0 Ah Lithium-Ion Battery

What else? In this video the snow blower quit when it was clearing a snow plow drift in 3rd gear. That’s normal. Just release the controls and the over current resets.

Personally, I take my batteries inside and charge them in the house. I think this gives me about 10% more power than leaving them out in freezing temperatures.

Otherwise everything else is sealed so it doesn’t need lubrication. I can’t think of anything else.

I noticed the wheels don’t want to rotate when the snow blower has no power. Question: Is it safe to move this Snow Joe when the gears aren’t engaged or there is no power to the motor? Is there anything typical a former gas snow blower user would do that shouldn’t be done with an electric snow blower?

Hi Austin, For $1000 you have a lot of options for the amount of snow you get. Detroit area gets snow but usually averages around 40 inches. Cleaning a spot for your dogs limits you to a 2-stage. So, any of the good 2-stage snow blowers are a great choice.

A 24 inch Ariens Deluxe would be my first choice. It’s a heavy duty machine so it will go through the snow piles well and last a long time. If you wanted to get done a little faster the Ariens Deluxe 28 is a little wider.

If you don’t need a lot of options the Troy-Bilt 2860 at $899 is an excellent choice this year. It has airless tires, hand warmers and a simple crank chute. It does not have power steering but the new airless tires make it easy to turn.

Otherwise just about any 2-stage snow blower on my Top 20 list will do the job for you and do it well.

First off, great website and information! When I need to learn something new I appreciate easy to find information and someone who enjoys what they do!

That said this is what I’m dealing with. I live near Detroit, MI, so we get anywhere from small snows squalls to the 10 inches we had on Sunday, which now is freezing into ice piles. I have a single car width, approx. 80 foot driveway. The pavement in some spots is in poor repair from the previous owner lack of attention to the gutters and drains, which created some spots with about a 1.5-2inch deep cracks. I can navigate around those with relative ease but they are there. Also, I have a new puppy so I like the idea of clearing a few spots on the lawn.

My wife isn’t really able to help with snow removal and I work approx. 55 hrs a week and i’m not that handy of a person, so I need something relatively easy to maintain and operate. I’m thinking a two-stage blower, and am willing to spend up to about $1000, which is flexible if you recommend something more expensive that’s better.

Any help is appreciated and thank you for your attention!
Merry Christmas/Happy new year,
Austin in Detroit