2010-03-27

Buy Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025


This was shipped by Amazon "collapsed" and it was impossible to fit the handle together. When I called Toro they said that they never ship these direct to customers since a special tool may be required even to fit the handle together.
There is a reason these are sold assembled...
I'll write back when mine is working!Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

Cheap Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025


I've been using this snowthrower for 5 years now, and it works ok, but has definite limitations. If you have a driveway that's longer than 30 feet, then seriously consider buying a gas-powered one. To me, the hassles of using this snow thrower is balanced by the relatively few days of heavy snow where I live, and also by my dislike of maintaining gas-powered tools. Recommended with reservations.

PROS:
- Lightweight and compact, so can be stored in shed easily.
- Electric, so virtually no maintenance.
- The electric motor is surprisingly powerful.
- Simple to set up and use.
- Works very well with dry, powdery snow.
- Quality construction, and zero problems in past five years.

CONS:
- Lack of torque and lightweight plastic construction means that it cannot handle compacted, icy, or wet snow. (This is when you feel like junking this tool.)
- There should be a mechanism that 'locks' the electric cord connection to the thrower, so that the cord doesn't keep disconnecting.
- The handle should retract and telescope for leverage and also to facilitate storage.
- The tiny plastic wheels must have come from a toy factory. They provide no traction and are merely useless appendages.
Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

2010-03-26

Cheapest Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025


I just purchased a Toro 1800 and after reading the reviews on it, I could see why a lot of folks were complaining that the chute hood would not keep its height throw adjustment. What I did was take a Dremel tool, attach a cutting wheel to it and cut a slot on the head of the smooth carriage bolt right in the middle of it. Just deep enough so you could fit a short/wide flathead screwdriver into it. Then while holding the screwdriver in place you can use a open ended wrench or socket wrench to tighten the lock nut really tight. Works great!Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

2010-03-25

Discount Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025


Arew you kidding me? This thing is perfect. Not only can I do my driveway, I can load it in the back of my explorer and do myparent's driveway and my mother-in-law's driveway. Even better, my kids love to use it which means I get to stay indoors!!! Sure, it is only for wet snow that hasn't frozen over but it is maintenance free. Use it to your heart's content!!!!Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

Save Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025


Generally speaking, I like Toro Products, but in my experience the Toro Power Curve 1800 just doesn't cut it. I use an electric lawn mower in the summer, so I figured I'd try an electric snowblower for winter snow removal. How bad could it be? It was bad. The only thing the 1800 has going for it is its ease of use. There are really no controls to worry about. You provide your own electrical extension cord which plugs into the 1800; then just squeeze the red plastic bar at the top of the handle and you're good to go. It is lightweight, but unfortunately that is its greatest drawback and liability. I am in New England, and the first time I used it with about 4 inches of snow, the 1800 was fishtailing all over the place. It just couldn't handle it. It wouldn't go in a straight line either, and had terrible difficulty overcoming the resistance of a minor snowfall. Believe it or not, the wheels are hollow plastic like the ones you find on a child's toy dump truck. Remember the Tonka Toys? These wheels are useless. The least Toro could have done would have been to use solid wheels that have some heft. Another dynamic that I hadn't anticipated was the difficulty working with a power cord in freezing temperatures. The cord quickly becomes very stiff, unwieldy and uncooperative, and has a mind of its own. A bad scene all around. I returned the 1800 and got back my $329.00. The Toro Power Curve 1800 is nothing more than a glorified electric snow shovel. As much as I was trying to avoid buying a gas engine snowblower, I had to do it, and went with a 5 HP gas snowblower. My snow problems are now solved. Frankly speaking, you will be much better served with a 5 HP gas snowblower from either Toro or Honda - both of which are excellent, and head and shoulders above the electric 1800.
Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

2010-03-24

Low Price Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025


This little snowthrower handles our 3-1/2 car long by 2 car wide driveway quite well and quickly. We're in the Philadelphia area, and this winter we got a few 6+ inch snowfalls. I found it easy to go out and do a pass after about 4-5 inches had fallen, and then a second pass later when more snow had fallen. It handled more when I pushed it, but I found it more convenient to just plan to make 2 passes (separated by 4+ hours).

The aim of the throw is easy to adjust. The unit is amazingly light and manueverable, fit easily into our small 2-car garage (along with 2 cars). No gasoline maintenance hassles. Before buying it, I thought dealing with the extension cord might annoy me, but it really hasn't been an issue.

The bottom line is, it just works, it's simple, and it's fast.

I only have two very minor issues/warnings, and neither detracts from the 5 star rating in my opinion, since they are both easy to avoid.

1- If your municipality throws cinders on the road and the end of your driveway, you may not want to run the Toro over the cinders. The cinders are SHARP and one got embedded into the plastic, jamming the unit. I easily fixed this myself once I put the unit back in the garage for an hour or two so the snow melted off and I could see why it was jammed.

After that happened, I decided to just use a shovel on the last 2-3 feet of driveway if the township has already dumped cinders. (I'd rather shovel a couple feet than risk damaging the thrower--and possibly be without it for the next snowfall--and have to dislodge the cinder. Other folks may choose to live with the occaisional jam.) If the township hasn't dumped cinders, I'll use the thrower everywhere, and it even handles the plow crud.

2- The mouth of our driveway is only maybe 7 feet from our neighbor's driveway, though most of the length of the driveway, it's much farther from the neighbor's driveway (both driveways are angled).

When I get near the mouth of the driveway, if I'm not careful, this unit throws the snow TOO FAR, into my neighbor's driveway! I don't want to be a rude neighbor, so I found that with a little practice, "pulsing" the electric motor reduces the throw enough to get the snow to land in the grass between drives. Now that I've practiced the pulsing a bit, it's easy. I imagine that just about any thrower (gas or electric) would have this problem--and I bet that an electric is easier to "pulse" to avoid this problem than a gas thrower is.Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

Lowest Price Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025


I have used the toro twice once on 4 inches of snow and once on 7 inches of snow and it clean down to the pavement with little or no effort. The snow was wet and heavy on the 7 inches and it cleaned and threw the snow with no problem. The cord was less of a problem then I thought it would be,and the low handle did not bother me at all. I am 6 foot tall and never gave the handle a second thought. I also like the idea of just pluging it in and getting to work. A great machine for the money.Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.