Customer Reviews

AVALANCHE! Original Roof Snow Removal System AVA500 with 17-Inch Wide Cutting Head and 16-Foot Quick Connect Light Weight Fiberglass Handle

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Baltimore was hit with about 80 total inches of snow this season and as the sun came out in between storms, we started getting nasty ice dams. I didn't really do anything about it (I mean, I spent 2 days shoveling out my 100 foot driveway, what am I going to do about 5 foot drifts on my roof?) until I saw that my library was flooding.

First thing to say is that the Avalanche works best when you use it IMMEDIATELY after a snowfall. The system is ingenius--you're basically sliding a conveyor belt underneath the snow and snow on your roof comes sliding down off of it. It truly works better and with less exertion than a traditional roof rake. But don't get me wrong, it's still a lot of work and you'll be exhausted afterwards.

If the snow is very wet or if you've let it sit and melt like I did, you'll have more work trying to push the head of the Avalanche through the snow. This is where my first complaint comes in. While the head of the Avalanche is very high quality metal, you get 4 fiberglass poles (which are connected with metal interlocking systems) that you can snap together to your desire length. These poles are probably designed to be as lightweight as possible, but they bend. And the longer the length (i.e. all 4 poles), the more the bending is evident. Thus, when you're pushing at the end of the handle, you want the head of the Avalanche to push straight through the wet snow, not for the pole to start wobbling and bending on you. One more suggestion I'd make to the Avalanche people is that they should make the handle end in a D-grip, like on most snow shovels (like this). For the amount of exertion put into raking the roof, making the design a little more ergonomic will save a lot of strain on your customers' hands, arms, and shoulders.

My main criticism though is that the plastic sheeting is sorta flimsy. It ripped on the first use. The poles also look like they're developing hairline cracks. If this item only cost $50 like other traditional snow rakes (or like one other Amazon reviewer paid for it back in 2005), then maybe I'd say, "oh well, it was a lot of snow." But for over $100, you'd want it to be pretty sturdy and dependable. I also agree with another reviewer that there should be a way to wind up the plastic sheeting; it's unwieldy when moving the Avalanche from one part of the yard to another, especially if you're also wading through a lot of snow on the ground.

I will say however, that I'm glad I got this instead of the Avalanche Drift Buster because I was able to use this one in reverse. I brought it up to the attic and 2nd floor windows and, by starting at the roof's bottom edge and positioning the sheet below, I could pull the Avalanche towards me and send the snow flying off. That way, I was able to reach certain places on my roof that was hard to reach from the ground.

In the end, the Avalanche worked very well for a roof rake. But there were parts of my roof that I ended up climbing up and shoveling the snow off with a traditional snow shovel. In those areas, I felt that I worked faster, with less exertion, and removed more snow (right down to the roof), allowing the sun to melt the remainder more quickly. But I have to admit that it was very dangerous, and I limited that shoveling to the parts of my roof that weren't very steep. In the other parts, the Avalanche was able to remove enough snow or at least make channels in the drifts to help aid the melting process. If the rake were below $90, or if the company guaranteed free replacement parts, I'd up my review to five stars.

If you found this review helpful, please let me know.

I just purchased this with overnight delivery after getting hit with the "Blizzard of 2009". We ended up with around a foot of snow, but it piled up on the front of our house. We had a problem with ice dams last year, so I wanted to remove the snow before we had to break out the buckets and sponges.

The AVA500 comes disassembled, but goes together in several minutes. "Snap" (pop-up) buttons are used to hold the four pole segments together as well as for attaching the frame. The vinyl roll snaps into the bottom of the frame.

Usage is trivial: assemble to the desired length, unroll the vinyl, put the wheels on the edge of the roof, and slide the frame up the roof.

Oh, and stand back - this product is appropriately named. The snow literally flies down the sheet and off the roof.

Roll the frame back towards you, and repeat on the next section.

You typically only need to go up a few feet to prevent ice dams, but given how easy this was, I probably went up around eight feet.

Another plus: the wheels on the frame will prevent any shingle damage.

It didn't have a problem with two-day old snow, which had packed and melted somewhat.

Only negatives I can see so far are:
- No easy way to wind up the roll (it's only eight feet, but still, a knob would have been a good idea)
- The vinyl will eventually rip and need to be replaced; it's reasonably thick but will eventually catch on something.

It works as advertised, as long as it is completely calm out. I found it extremely frustrating to use when there is even the slightest bit of crosswind. The plastic blows to the side and folds over and makes it nearly impossible to use. Also, the plastic tears very easily. After the first use I had numerous rips and tears from catching on the corners of shingles near roof edges. You can cut the plastic and then reattach, but you then lose that much reach up the roof. I had 6 tears anywhere from 6 inches to 6 feet from the head of the unit. I will probably have to replace the plastic, which according to the manufacturer's website is about $30. I was being careful, so my guess is that I will have to replace the plastic roll every time (or every other time) I use the unit, so you may want to take that into account. A simple switch to a fiber reinforced, tarp-type material would probably prove much more durable. A couple of simple changes and this would be a 5 star rating; however, living in Minnesota, I see me spending somewhere around $120 a year just to replace the plastic rolls. Not a good situation.

With the amount of snow we have received in Minnesota this year, I needed a solution to remove snow from my roof. I wasn't going to risk standing on the roof or damaging shingles. This proved to be a worthy solution. Does everything it advertises. Only disappointment is the slide ripped after one use. Instead of buying the replacement slide off of the manufacturer's website for $25, I bought a roll of Gorilla tape and it fixed it without a problem. I would recommend this to anyone looking to remove snow from their roof.

Just recieved this today and took it out to use it. Went together easy, was easy to move on the roof and the snow came down just like it's supposed to. I still have 3" of ice up there, but at least the snow is off. I agree with the other review, it would be nice if there was a knob or something to help rewind the slide, but I'm still very pleased with it.

I purchased this tool on Monday, it was here on Wednesday! We cleared the roof yesterday! With all the poles connected (16 ft) it's a little cumbersome to lift the tool to the roof. But, that's the hard part. My husband had to break the ice on top of the 2 feet of snow drifts. So, while he worked on the roof, I worked from the ground. Before I knew it, I had a 5 foot clearance with little to no effort. Once the tool is under the snow, it slides on to the plastic and doesn't stop until it hits the ground. We have mounds we have to clear, but that's easy compared to working on the roof. It's work and it's tiring. But, it's not nearly as much work as it would be without it. Normally, my husband is on that roof for a couple of hours trying to clear that stuff. Not this time. An hour and a half and we were done! I recommend the Avalanche!

The hip roof and 5/12 pitch on my house doesn't shed snow readily. The pitch and shape seems to make the snow drift heavily to one side when the winds are high. Very little seems to blow off. At one point in 2010 I had a huge mountain of snow on my roof. I had just bought the Avalanche snow tool and it was the first snow I used it on. With this tool I was able to get most of it off the roof which allowed the remaining snow near the ridge, which I could not reach, to quickly melt. I was amazed that I could get so much snow off the roof. As I expected the tool is sort of cumbersome with such a long fiberglass handle, so it takes some effort to move it. But the job was far easier than I expected. Once you move the device to a point where you want to start removing snow, pushing it up the roof is relatively easy, even when it is as deep as it was on my roof. I bought the one with the larger wheels, which I think helps. I really like this device and I can't imagine anything better to get snow off of a roof safely and quickly.

This device is as advertized. I can stay on the ground and get 80 to 90 % of the snow off my roof. It is not a tool to be beat on. It is lightly built because it has to be used on the end of the long pole. The whole key to using this tool is to remove the snow with it right after a snow storm. Don't wait until a crust has built up on the snow, because this tool is not designed for that. I am very pleased with my purchase and it is well worth the money.

The slickest, easiest way to take snow off a roof. Easy to handle. It is the fastest & safest way to clear off half of your roof. We had over 20 inches of snow on our roof. The snow slid off the plastic in nice,17 inch wide chunks that were just about as long. My neighbors plan to get one for their own roofs.

We have several residential rental properties that we maintain. over the past 15 years we have used many different types of roof rakes. The Avalanch is by far the the fastest and least amount of work. It does a great job!