pirep: greenworks 80v snowblower

[GeorgeC]

After our last blizzard, I decided that shoveling 10 tons of snow by hand was for the birds. Being an RC guy, the greenworks 80v snowblower caught my eye due to its having a lithium ion battery and a brushless motor.

I'm impressed! We just got some snow, and it did 200' of my alley and a good amount of sidewalk on a single charge. It throws the snow pretty vigorously. It's quiet. The charger is pretty smart.

Unsurprisingly, the plastic auger doesn't appreciate debris much. It's easy to clip the seams in the concrete if you're not careful with the deck angle. A low voltage alarm would have been nice.

Overall, a really nice piece of kit.

 

[PaulS]

Ariens Platinum 32 for me, I'm always amazed at the amount of snow a quart of gasoline can throw.

 

[James331]

Northern guy myself, I only go gas, usually top em off with 100LL, unless you're keeping the stuff in a heated area batterie and cold are not friends.

 

[timwinters]

batterie and cold are not friends.

Actually, if the battery is charged, it'll keep its charge longer if stored cold. It's hot weather that'll drain a lead acid battery.

When I was a kid, Sears had a DieHard battery commercial in which they parked a car on a frozen lake for a month or two and then hopped in and started it up. But actually this was best case scenario not worst case. Parking that car in Death Valley for a month or two in the summer and seeing how the battery handles it would've been a better test.

OTOH...you don't want to store an uncharged battery in sub freezing temps.

 

[weilke]

Out of all the power equipment that I have, the snowblower is the one with the longest gaps between uses. I have my doubts about the longevity of a battery pack in that situation. What's wrong with a gas engine ?

 

[RJM62]

Out of all the power equipment that I have, the snowblower is the one with the longest gaps between uses. I have my doubts about the longevity of a battery pack in that situation. What's wrong with a gas engine ?

That was my reasoning, too, when I decided on my Husqvarna gasoline-powererd snoblower a couple of years ago. In addition, the snowblower is the piece of equipment that I would want least to have to stop and recharge in the middle of a mission. It only takes a minute to refill it with gasoline.

Rich

 

[PaulS]

Batteries generally have a lower capacity at lower temps, this is true for a LI ion battery, which is used in the greenworks battery. Of course, just the act of using the battery will heat it up, which may make the effect moot.

My experience with snowblowing is nothing compensates for horsepower, I bought as much as I could find for the size I wanted.

 

[weilke]

My experience with snowblowing is nothing compensates for horsepower, I bought as much as I could find for the size I wanted.

Dunno. I rather have a blower that doesn't clog than one that does. HP is only part of the deal, the design of the impeller, housing and chute are just as important. I have gotten excellent service out of a Toro.

 

[flyingron]

I have a TroyBilt I bought 12 years ago which has worked well for me. The thing sits disused in the garage for a year at a time and fires up and runs every snow storm.

I have MIXED feelings about GREENWORKS. This is one of Lowe's inconsistent house brands (don't even get me started about Utilitech). I have one of the Greenworks electric lawn mowers which I'm pretty happy with. The greenworks pressure washer on the other hand is an unmitigated piece of crap. I got one replacement while it died under warranty and then it died again.

I got the troybilt when I had a 180' driveway. Now I live in a town house. It's rather humerous to fire the thing up to do my 20' of driveway but I then do the sidewalk in front of my house (to do this I have to clear the sidewalk down the entire street) and then I wander around and help anybody whose out shovelling their driveway by hand.

 

[denverpilot]

This plus the 28" John Deere works for me.

 

[Spotter626]

Yep always go 2 stage if you can, a world of difference in performance and harder to plug.

 

[Challenged]

I have a Greenworks 40v mower and their trimmer as well, and they've both held up better than expected. So much easier than dealing with gas. Now if only they'd build a four seat airplane...

 

[GeorgeC]

I have a Greenworks 40v mower and their trimmer as well, and they've both held up better than expected. So much easier than dealing with gas. Now if only they'd build a four seat airplane...

I ended up getting the 80v mower as a father's day present to myself. Works really well.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

My experience with snowblowing is nothing compensates for horsepower,

The ability to start when it is cold helps a lot too. This is an issue with the lower cost blowers - they make them too lean to meet the emission requirements. Electric solves that problem.