Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025 Get it now!

I live in the Washington DC area. While we don't get a ton of snow every year, about every 7 years we get a big one of around 20 inches or so. As I write this, we are in the middle of a forecast 20-30 inch storm.

I bought this unit from Amazon in 2003, and it was one of the best purchases I ever made. Since I've had it, it has been a great performer, and cleans snow right down to the pavement. It's never failed to work, and never have any parts broken on it.

I like that it's so small and lightweight. It spends most of it's life hanging on a hook in the garage. Since it is light, it's easy to lift it over my head to hang it. It also has a handle behind the eject chute, which comes in handy for lifting it to clear off steps, picnic tables, etc.

I want to address some other reviewer's negative comments:

This is a light duty, single-stage, 18" snow thrower, priced at $335. Don't expect it to behave as well as a 24", $1900, 2-stage gas powered unit. Please get a grip on your expectations of what this can and cannot be expected to do.

As for the person that said it needs a way to lock the cord into the socket: It doesn't need one. Toro put a loop on the handle that you run your extension cord through twice. Do this, and the cord will never disconnect. You should have read the instructions before using!

The intake on the unit is 18" wide, and about 11" tall. You're not going to get 24" of snow to be taken into the opening in one pass. Put down your cocoa and do what I do: Go out and clean your driveway 2 or 3 times in a big storm. It's fun to use this thing!

Yes, you can suck up the cord in the blower. But all you have to do is develop a workable, systematic pattern to clean your driveway, and the cord danger is no longer an issue.

Wheels: Yes, they are toy-like. But to clean down to the pavement, you need to rock the unit forward to get the scraper down, and the wheels just hang in the air. The wheels just hold the Toro upright when you let go of the handle.

Performance: I have a 40 foot, 2 car wide driveway, and about 160 feet of sidewalk to clear, plus my back deck. In a 6-8" storm, it takes about 15 minutes to clean the driveway, 20 minutes for the walks, and 20 minutes for the deck, including the steps. That's for a heavy, wet snow that we usually get around here. A light, fluffy snow goes much, much faster.

Throw distance for heavy wet snow: 5-8 feet. Light and fluffy: 15-20 feet, maybe more.

Recommendation: Get a heavy duty extension cord, and spend the bucks on a long one. I tried using this with a 50 foot cord, and it wasn't enough. A 100 foot cord makes life so much easier. Well worth the money.

Change I would want Toro to make: Make the eject chute a better design at the top. It's a pain to assemble, and once you tighten the bolts down, it's no longer adjustable. Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.