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

Had problems with the weakest link, the nuts and bolts holding the directional hood on. With better quality steel for the little pieces, washers, screws, nuts and bolts (they strip with a little torque) this would actually have been a pretty decent snow blower. After a terrible time mounting the hood with these bolts and nuts, and holding the washers on too,the rest of the assembly wasn't bad. Probably better to have another person's hand to hold the rubber and metal washers on each side of hood, while installing the blower's turning device. I thought everything would be fine, even though, I couldn't get the bolts to go all the way through the nuts' bad threads. So the blower hood remained too loose. (Directions warn against OVERTIGHTENING). Threads started stripping even with a little torque. I did get the hood mounted. Then for about 5 minutes snow didn't leak out. However with motor vibration, the hood moved continuously all over the place. It was supposed to stay set, around round blower head. It was frustrating. I blew snow all over my neighbors cars and into the path which, I was trying to clear. I live in a townhouse development with narrow paths and sidewalks, so distance wasn't an issue. It actually did an exceptionally good job there--just not in a good direction. I don't know if I'd get this model again, it could just be that lot of nuts & bolts, were bad?
On the positive side and if the hardwarde was manufactured properly, this Toro 1800 would have been a powerful little machine. It threw a good distance,(a good 15 to 20 feet) and, that was even with a 100ft. 14G extension cord. They advertise 30ft. Maybe with a very short 6' cord it would have thrown that distance? I assumed I'd lose some power, with a longer cord, but they must have designed it well in that area. It all comes down to where your snow ends up that made the difference between good and not so hot.
In summary: if you find that your LARGE MOUNTING BOLTS and NUTS, look okay with decent, EARLY threading, you'll probably be happy and love this blower.The snow will end up where you want it since the hood will stay in place. It was light-weight, easy to handle, even for a 103lb., 4'12" woman (this sounds taller than 5'). I could handle it just fine even in a wet snowstorm.
It would be a nice blower for townhomes' or row homes' walks and driveways--BUT search for the hardware and test the threading prior to taking it out of the large box. You'll save yourself a lot of time if you need to pack it up and return it. KEEP THE INSDIE CARDBOARD SIDES AND TOP, just in case.
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Excellant blower for the cost! REALLY blows the snow!!!!! Bad part is towing the cord round! Highly recommended for a home owner....Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

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I HAVE NO IDEA HOW GOOD IT WORKS BECAUSE IT HASN'T SNOWED SINCE I BOUGHT IT. BUT I DID NOT LIKE THE FACT IT HAS A PLASTIC BLADE. THAT PROBABLY WON'T LAST LONG AGAINST CEMENT WHEN I DO USE IT VERY MUCH.Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

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

Update in March 2008:
This year in NJ we had about 5-8 inches of "slightly wet" snow and this thing couldn't handle it. The chute kept getting clogged up so bad that practically it was non-functional. My nieghbour came over with his Gas powered snow thrower and it was a piece of cake for it.

I don't know if had anything to do with possible limitations on available power to that electric outlet or not but I doubt that. I used a standard 100' extension cord from an outlet in Garage and we have never had any problems with any other tool operating on the same circuit.
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Original review:


For the last couple of years I had been looking for a good yet small and inexpensive snow thrower. I finally bought one this season and am very happy with the choice although today is the first time I used it.

Cost: I bought this for under $200 from Amazon in mid-February including delivery at home. Got a good deal.

Assembly: There is not too much to assemble but the handle assembly is tricky and so is the chute mounting. The large bolts for chute can be better designed so you can hold them with a screw driver from the head while tightening the nut from outside with a wrench. I couldn't get one of them all the way in and so the chute deflects during operation more often.

Storage: Small and light weight so I can just hang it on a big nail on a sidewall of my garage.

Operation: Yesterday and Today in central NJ we had about 3.5" inches of snow, freezing rain and all kinds of wintry mix. The blower worked fine, but as expected, did not scrap off the hard icy coating off my driveway or the sidewalk. It threw a good distance, farther than I thought with the heavy stuff. The cord management can be an issue but as others have said, you learn the pattern and get used to it. Light weight and electric operated is a big plus. I am very happy with the purchase. 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

The Toro 18 inch Power Curve electric snow thrower does an excellent job of throwing snow. I used it on snow that was about 8 inches deep and it had no trouble going through it and blowing it off the driveway. However, my driveway is 110 feet long and there is a wide turn-around and I found the electrical cord very difficult to manage. For short driveways (say half that long), it would be an excellent choice.Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

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Overall this is a great tool that gets the job done. It takes quite a lot of snow to make it strain. I've used it once so far on some slushy snow that was about 6 inches deep. This stuff was really soggy so it was really heavy and dense. This thing cleared it out no problem. I'm glad I got it before this nasty snow because trying to shovel this stuff would have killed me. I mean, one scoop of this snow weighed probably 15 pounds, enough to make the shovel warp.

The worst part about this product is putting the handle together. The handle is two separate pieces that have to be screwed together. But the 2 pieces are still attached by the internal wire that carries the power from the switch to the motor. It's inside the tubes and so when you try to attach the handle the wire has about 2 inches of slack that you have to find a way to squish inside the tube before the top part of the handle can attach to the bottom part. It should have just slid together like it says in the instructions but no matter how hard I tried, the only way to get the handle to slide down and attach to the base without the wire getting in the way was to squish the wire into the tube. That's not a good design. Maybe mine was defective. Don't know.

The other problem is this so called "lock" that prevents "unauthorized" users from plugging the extension cord into it. This thing is a joke. You turn the key and a little plastic lever comes out and goes between the two contacts that plug into the extension cord. I tried it to see how it works. After I locked it and took the key out, I tried to pry the little lever with my finger to see how strong it was. As soon as I touched the stupid thing, it came loose so that any "unauthorized" user could use it. What a joke. This thing is a gimmick. Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.

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Assembly was a nuisance, since the long handle consists of nested tubes in which the power line sits. This has to be assembled, getting the screws through inner and outer tubes while not damaging the cord. Once this is over, the machine worked fine, and for medium to small areas its very convenient. No fussing with gas, oil etc, although one needs a long power cord. Recommended.Get more detail about Toro 1800 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Curve Snow Thrower #38025.