2010-05-29

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


I bought this snow thrower due to all of the positive reviews on Amazon. I have to admit it does all that the reviews say that it does. Here are my observations:

1. Wheels---as others have said the wheels look like toy wheels, but I'm not out to impress anyone. I don't have any problem with them. They wheel the unit perfectly. You just have to tilt the unit back and let the wheels do their job.

2. Cord---The first time I used the unit I had to be careful. The second time it was easy. By the third time I was a pro at it. The cord is not a hinderance. I would prefer to take 3 seconds of my time to move a cord than to mess with gas or oil or (shudder) shovel!!

3. Assembly---I can't comment on this. I had read the Amazon reviews stating that assembly can be hard. I paid the extra fifteen dollars at Lowes and bought the machine assembled.

4. Ice and snow chute problems. It clogged once but I expected that. I was experimenting on some heavy duty ice buildup that our road crew created. I pushed the ice through and within a second it was clear.

I have a large driveway a medium sized driveway and a sidewalk to shovel. I managed to do all three plus my neighbor's driveway (large) and his sidewalk in less time than it used to take me to shovel just my medium driveway. Really, this thing is kind of fun. I did everything twice today with no backache and not getting tired. It's just like pushing a vacuum cleaner.

I bought this for Christmas and it is the BEST investment I ever made!!!!
Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

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


This product surpassed my expectations, even in 17 degree frozen slush. On regular snow this thing keeps up to my pace, which is a fast walk / slow run. It takes me about 10 minutes to clear my 110' x 8' driveway. The cord isn't a problem for me at all and I am thankful this unit isn't rechargeable and heavy.
Note on the slush - I didn't want to abuse this thing, so I started out using a heavy ice scraper (the forged metal kind). I gave up after it took me 15 minutes to clear a 10' x 2' patch. This slush was frozen - not quite ice, but definitely packed and stuck to the driveway. I thought I'd just use the Toro 1800 to clear away the surface snow. To my surprise and delite the unit actually pierced the frozen slush. It was tough going because I needed to supply the forward and downward force (this thing is only 25 lbs after all), but when I did my part, the Toro did its. For certain sections I had to use an angle and backward pass to wear down the slush, but the Toro did get through it.
The plow debris at the end of the driveway, a 12' deep frozen mix of slush and snow, was quickly worn down and blown away - I lifted the unit with its convenient front and rear handles to overcome the depth.
The Toro 1800 isn't too big to clear light snow, the kind that is if left in place tends to turn to ice, but isn't deep enough for neighbors to blow away with their big gas rigs. After a full day of sun I return home to a completely clear driveway, whereas my neighbors have a coating of ice over about half of their driveway.
We just had a major snow storm for our area - 20 to 30 inches of snow (February 6, 2010). The snow mostly fell at night and my wife and I wanted to be considerate to our neighbors by waiting to clear snow after 7am (although this thing is pretty quiet). I was concerned when I stepped outside into 20 inch deep snow with 30 inch and higher drifts. I started out by clearing a single path the length of our driveway - pushing forward a couple of feet at a time and then pulling back about a foot. That took some time but not much effort. I then walked up and down the full length of the driveway, using about 1/2 of the width of the snow blower at a slow and steady walk. At times the snow was higher than the top of the chute, but this thing didn't seem to care. From time to time it would clog (which is normal even for my neighbors' big rigs); I found some ways to clear it without stopping.
The mail box and end of our driveway after the snow plow had really high snow - almost 4 feet in some places. That was too high for this thing, so I just picked it up and cut through about 10 inch layers at a time. Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

2010-05-28

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


Living in Staten Island, NY, I have a single car, 30-foot driveway and a 50-foot x 2-foot sidewalk to shovel. Just used it to clear a 1-inch ice-crusted, heavy blanket of hard packed snow. Found it very quick and easy to use. Plenty of power for the job. The front of the unit must be pitched downward (handle bar pitched forward) in order to clear down to the pavement. The wheels were useful only for dragging the unit around, and the push bar should be angled back more towards the user to ease tilting the plow downward. The exhaust chute hood needed some extra shimming with no-slip matting, because the force of thrown snow tends to push the chute hood upwards.Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

2010-05-27

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


About a week ago we got three inches of snow and this thrower took care of it in no time. Then we got 10" of snow/sleet/freezing rain in Columbus, OH. When I tried the Toro 1800 -- no go. But guess what!! My neighbor's HUGH 8 HP gas blower wouldn't touch it either! The snow mix was so hard, you could walk on it in places without falling through.

My neighbors and I got together (70 year-old male, 68 year-old female, 63 year-old female, and 60 year-old female) (Okay, we had help from one neighbor's 25 year-old son). We chopped the snow into chunks with the end of the shovels, and you should have seen this baby go!! The big old gas blower still wouldn't do it.

Not only did this little Toro take care of the job, it was MUCH easier to maneuver than the 8 HP thing. It only weighs a little over 20 lbs, so even I (63 year-old female) can lift it easily.

Even though we had to chop the stuff up first, it was MUCH MUCH easier than using a shovel alone. We finished 3 driveways and three walkways in just over 2 hours. This baby is a gem

I LOVE THIS THING.


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


I used this snow blower today for the first time and was totally disgusted by its poor performance. Since this snow blower is very light, it glides over the snow and barely picks up any snow to throw. If you want to get rid of the snow, you have to press it down hard with brute force and push real hard while trying to hold the thing down to the ground. The wire gets in the way every step which is a good way to trip yourself over and fall on the hard snow and ice and break you bones. Basically, it is a heavy snow shovel with a thick wire attached to it to trip you over. It is going to give you a heart attack if you want to get rid of any snow on your drive way in front of your garage. Wait. Trying to avoid a heart attack was why I bought a snow blower at the first place. Whoever invented this piece of junk obviously never lived through a New England winter before. I should have gotten a real snow blower. Lessons learned. You get what you pay for and in my case I paid $300 to Amazon and got nothing in return. It really deserves a negative star. Please stay away from this product and save yourselves from heart attacks.Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

2010-05-26

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


I live in BUFFALO and I own and reside in a mulit-unit property. Since I don't have a garage I couldn't get a gas blower and given the severity Buffalo winters I was really hesitant to buy an electric thrower. After reading the reviews on Amazon I decided to get one and I am very pleased. This little gem clears my entire drive and parking area with ease. It truly does throw the snow quite a distance and I just used it to move 18" of wind packed snow. The only down side is that when the snow is deep and packed it takes some effort to push, but it is still much easier then a shovel. The cord is not an issue, it just takes some getting used to.

This little thing is great!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


I purchased this thrower from Home Depot for the same price as Amazon, $240. Within 2 days, we were hit with about 10 inches of snow. The machine did very well, it moved through the snow pretty easily. It was a little tough getting through the bigger drifts, but it still managed. The biggest challenge I had was with the shoot. When moving heavier snow, it tends to wander off course. Further more, the tilt mechanism is pretty flimsy. When putting the machine together, I accidentally stripped the inside of the plastic hinge when tightening down one side of the shoot. I'll probably replace one bolt and replace the nuts with wing nuts, so it's easier to tighten the tilt. All things considered, this is a very powerful little thrower and cleans my drive in short order. It could be better made, but I'm still not dissapointed. Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.