Customer Reviews

Snow Joe SJ620 18-Inch 13.5-Amp Electric Snow Thrower

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Just bought the model SJ621 (Same as the SJ620 except it has a halogen light at the front) at a big box club store. I wanted the unit with the light and Amazon doesn't seem to carry the SJ621, so I'll review the mechanicals of the SJ621 which are identical to the SJ620.

First used this little fellow earlier this week, and wouldn't you know it, we had our first snowfall last night...about 6" of wet, early season snow.

The Snow Joe did OK in clearing our driveway. It is a little small (18" width), which means you'll have to make more passes, and since it's electric, you might have to "double-pump" a bit, as in make a pass then make another one immediately afterwards.

Our snow was pretty wet, especially close to the driveway, so Little Snow Joe only threw it 10' at most, but using my head I was able to clear our 60x80' driveway in just under an hour. I'd imagine it will do better with drier snow.

Of course I had to go around after the Snow Joe with a shovel to clean up, but that's to be expected.

I wouldn't try wet snow any deeper than 6"...this morning I could tell this little guy was straining...this means any larger storms and you'll have to keep ahead of the snow in order to not overwhelm the Snow Joe. Note: see the 2/3/2011 update below for how this unit handled 20.2" of snow which was Chicago's third largest snowfall in recorded history...

I took the advice on the instructions and put some WD-40 on the pivot points of the chute and lever and it was easy to turn and aim.

Didn't need the light (again, only on the SJ621) 'cuz it's daytime, but after use I noticed it was covered in snow, so I'm guessing when I do use the light I'll have to keep brushing it off.

I used a 12GA 100' extension cord and this seemed to work fine.

All in all, much easier than shoveling by hand, and at this price, a very good deal.

UPDATE 12/20:

Well, this little guy just took care of another 5" of wet snow. In addition, the headlight came in very handy tonight as it helped me see where the extension cord was...even with a bright yellow cord, it's hard to see it when it's snowing hard and dark. Still very happy with the purchase.

Update: 2/3/2011: Well, I'll be darned...we just had 20 inches of snow, and the little Snow Joe handled it all, including a 4 foot drift across our driveway. Granted it didn't chomp the snow like a big gas blower, but I was able to completely clear our 30x60' driveway with the SJ621. To tackle the big drifts and areas taller than the SJ621 I had to "undercut" them by hitting them sideways, creating an overhanging corniche of snow, then this overhang would either fall on its own, or I would have to knock it down with a shovel, then I'd snow blow the fallen snow...

I ran it almost nonstop for three hours and it took everything I could throw at it.

I have to be honest...when I first wrote this review back in November 2010 I had no expectations that this little guy could handle anything more than a 6" storm, but I was wrong.

On a bad note, after finishing everything, I was using the Snow Joe to clean up some wind blown snow and it just stopped working. Suspecting a motor or impeller problem since I had just put the mechanicals through a big test, I unplugged it and looked around...nothing...so I plugged it back in...again nothing...so I pulled the plug out and saw that one of the two prongs on the Snow Joe's electrical connection had broken off into my extension cord...really odd since I had used the cord strain relief throughout the morning's snow blowing marathon and as far as I know never put any twisting torque or sideways stress on it...I have never seen this happen with any other electrical device...sent an email to Snow Joe to see about getting a replacement part, and unfortunately, after two days all I've gotten is a form reply....makes me feel a little less than confident that they're going to help me out. I will post back once things are either resolved or not.

Update 2/5/11: Spoke with Snow Joe on the phone today and they are sending me the parts and instructions to fix my unit. I expect to get these next week, and once installed, bring on the snow (again)!

Final update: 2/11/11: Snow Joe sent me repair parts, but they were for the 622 and not the 621. Looked almost identical. After an hour of getting the wiring fixed, realized the handle is not quite the right size...so I drill out my 621 and then the bolts fit. So I tighten everything and try the unit...nothing happens. Check all connections, still nothing. So I take the control box apart and realize the blade lugs on the new switch are slightly smaller than the old one, so the connection is intermittent. Toyed with the idea of soldering on new female blade connections, then thought: "Why am I going through all this - just get a new unit". Call Snow Joe and they say they won't have new units until next year, but might have refurbs in a couple weeks. They suggest I contact the Big Box retailer where I bought the unit. OK, did that, and will be getting a refund and now have to order a different unit.

After working so well, it's frustrating to have such a simple thing (the electrical connection to the unit) be its downfall. Reduced rating to 3 stars...could have been much better.

This is a great little snow blower! Bought it after reading several reviews from different sites and decided to try it. I am very glad I did. Amazon has one of the best prices on it and got it in 3 days! I was worried that it wouldn't cut thru the snow very well but others had said in their review they had no problems. Well it arrived today in the midst of another snow storm. It had already snowed 7 inches when it arrived! Got it out of the box and its super easy to put together...even your grandma could do it;)! Took it out and it cut thru the snow like it was butter! I even used it in some of the hard packed areas that had been shoveled and piled the last week and it handled it great! I love not having to worry about the maintance of a gas snow blower...you do have to get used to having the cord on there....but wasnt bad at all. I wouldn't hesitate to get this snow blower...WAY Better than shoveling! This is only Nov 30th and we've gotten 25 inches of snow already! Great Purchase!

1. I wanted something "green".

2. I live in Minnesota....lots of snow.

3. Ordered this unit after much checking and reading reviews of electric snowblowers and read enough good things about this unit that I decided to give this unit a try.

4. Ordered the unit 12/4/10 and it arrived on 12/10/10. It took under 5 minutes to read the instructions and get it set up.

5. On 12/11/10 Minneapolis got 17.1 inches of snow.

6. I took this unit out and gave this unit a work out. Most of the snow was higher (taller) then the unit itself, so I needed to pick it up (it is light enough that that it not a problem) and set it on top of the 17' (or larger) snow drifts in my driveway. I pushed the button, pull in the starter handle, she purred and dug right into the snow. It worked perfect. It worked VERY hard. I did my driveway, back walk, side walk, front steps and front walk. I was just starting to do my main sidewalk when it quit. Being perfectly honest, I read the instructions and was waiting for this unit to shut down (it says that is has a safe guard that pervents the unit from over heating) and about 1/5 of the way into the front side walk, it stopped. I was worn out anyway. 40' x 10' driveway, 50'x 2' back side walk, 35'x2' side walk, 20'x5' front side walk all 17+" of snow, it had done yeomans work.

The instruction say it will reset it self after a minute or so, but it decided I had had enough for one night and just let the unit rest over night. The following morning the snow was still waiting, but it had be come very cold over night and the snow had a hard crust, but this unit fired right up and plowed right though the stuff. The city snow plows had plowed my alley and left a 36" pile of hard packed snow across the driveway. This unit took care of that pile! To say I am impressed would be an understatement.

7. I have only used this for 1 snow fall, a total of 2 days, but those two days where monster days! I can't speak to how long this unit will last, but at this point in time, I am very happy and very impressed with this unit.

I have been clearing snow on my 80' x 20' driveway with a shovel for the past 15 years. This year, I decided to take the plunge and invest in a snowblower so that I can clear my driveway quicker than I could with the shovel. This snow blower is one of the cheapest blowers on the market with good reviews. I decided to take a risk and get it to see what others were raving about.

The blower came well-packaged. The instruction booklet is quite detailed (and there are separate booklets in English, Spanish and French, so you can throw away one of two of them and be left with one light booklet instead of hanging on to a heavy booklet that has instructions in all three languages), and putting the blower together was a snap. All you have to do is straighten out the handle and tighten the bolts. Took all of about 10 minutes. The tough part was waiting for the first real snowfall I could use it on!

Before I used the snowblower for the first time, I applied silicone lubricant to the parts of it that would come in contact with the snow. This included the inside of the chute. This is to prevent snow from sticking to these surfaces. I had good luck with liquid wrench silicone lubricant.

Fianlly, almost 3 weeks after I bought the machine, we had enough snow for me to consider using the snowblower. Yesterday night, I took it out to the driveway for the first time. I must say I am very impressed with how it did. There were about 3 to 4 inches of light powdery snow on top of a frozen-over crust. This snowblower easily took care of the snow on top. It was quite powerful and threw the snow in a steady stream. I would say the throwing distance was easily 20 to 30 feet. I had to be careful taking care of the snow right next to the garage because the stream of snow flying out of the chute seemed capable of denting garage doors and breaking glass if I was not careful!

The hard crust stuck to the driveway was a little more difficult to deal with. Because the blower is quite light, it relies on the operator to press down it so that the lip can break up the crust and blow it away. That takes quite a bit of effort, and I decided it was not worth it. If you use this machine regularly so that the hard crust never forms in the first place (this crust was left over from the last time I had cleared the snow of my driveway with my shovel, before I bought this snowblower), you should not have any problems getting a totally clean driveway with this blower.

The blower also handled the wet mushy heavy stuff at the end of the driveway left there by the street plows. Usually, it takes me a while to shovel this stuff off my driveway because it is mostly ice and water, and is very heavy. But the snowjoe had no problem sending the stuff flying without any prepwork on my part. Based on what it did to the snow, I would say that this blower can easily handle up to 8 or 10 inches of snow, and probably not get stressed out even if the stuff is somewhat wetter and heavier than the snow I took care of yesterday. With the heavier, wetter stuff, the throwing distance might be more modest, but it should still be enough to clear the driveway edges easily.

The machine is practically no-maintenance. You might have to oil the crank for the chute occasionally and apply silicone lubricant to the blades and inside of the chute every now and then to keep them from clogging with sticky snow. But otherwise, I don't have to worry about gas, oil, spark plugs and all the other things that owners of gas-powered snowblowers have to worry about. And I don't have to wrench my shoulder out of its socket pulling on a cord trying to get this thing to start when it is 10 below zero either! It took me longer to untangle my 100 foot cord before I started throwing snow and then wind the cord back up on its spool when I was done, than it took to actually clear my driveway of snow!

Things to keep in mind if you do get this machine: oil the part where the chute connects with the body so that you can turn the chute easily with the handle. Apply a water-repellent coating to the parts of the snowblower likely to come in contact with snow, including the insides of the chute (a good silicone-based lubricant does the job perfectly). Get a 12-gauge extension cord (you can use 14-gauge if you use only a 50' extension cord, but given the length of my driveway, I needed a 100' cord, and only a 12-gauge can be used with this snowblower because it needs 13.5 amps), preferably one designed for low temperatures.

When using the machine, make sure you push down on it so that it clears snow all the way to the ground. Because the machine is light, if you don't push down, the lip tends to ride up on the snow and leave a layer of snow next to the ground untouched. Keep track of the chute direction and be prepared to crank on the handle to have it pointing in the direction you want. After blowing through some heavy stuff, the chute tends to turn from either side and ends up pointing straight ahead.

Make sure you follow a pattern of snowthrowing that will keep the cord out of the way of the blower. I did passes up and down the length of the driveway, starting from the side of the driveway closest to the electrical outlet and ending up at the opposite side when I was all done. Others have good luck clearing from side to side starting from the garage and moving gradually towards the street. I used a low-temperature cord that was easy to manipulate since such cords tend to remain flexible in sub-freezing temperatures instead of becoming stiff and hard.

The main problems I see with the machine are that except for the four blades (and hopefully, the motor windings!), pretty much the entire machine is made of plastic. Even the pulleys over which the belt passes to transfer power from the motor to the blades are made of plastic. So, make sure you don't abuse the machine or use it on snow mixed with rocks and other hard debris that can damage the blade housing of the snowblower. The use of plastic also makes the machine very light (less than 40 lbs fully assembled), which can make it tricky to clear snow down to the ground. Also the wheels are tiny, so maneuvering this machine can be tricky.

Overall, this is an excellent snowblower for light to moderate amounts of snow. If you have the right cord for it so that you can supply the power the machine requires for optimal operation, you should have no problems with this machine. My only concern is the longevity of this machine given the use of plastic everywhere. But plastic can be quite strong while being flexible at the same time, so I will reserve judgment on that aspect of it until I have had a chance to use it more extensively. If you have any questions, go ahead and shoot. I will monitor the review for comments and try to answer any questions as best as I can.

Update as of 02/02/2011

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This snowblower was a lifesaver in helping me dig out of the huge midwestern snow storm that dumped about 20 inches of snow where I live. The drifts in some places were well over 3 feet high. The blower had no problem with the snow. The high drifts required multiple passes, and I used only half the normal cut-width of 18 inches because of the height of the snow, but after all was said and done, both the snowblower and I survived without undue cause for concern. The motor never overheated, the belt never slipped, the auger never slowed down, even when going through the highest, hardest-packed snow and ice at the end of the driveway. I was worried that I was subjecting a cheap, light-duty snowblower to extreme stress and it might give up any moment, but the blower never did, and could have probably kept going long after I was done!

The only problem was that one of the plastic washers that holds the axle in place broke off at some point during the exertions of yesterday and today. So, the right end of the axle has popped out of the holding bracket and that wheel is just dragging along on the ground instead of holding up the blower on that side. This was not a problem since the wheels are tiny anyways and the blower moves about as well with or without the wheels on the ground! I have sent a message to Snowjoe on their website asking them what I should do about this problem and will report back when they respond (they have promised to respond within the next day or two).

Update as of 3/5/2011

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Snowjoe did not respond by email (slight demerit for that), but I was able to get through to their customer service by phone. The representative knew what part I was talking about and arranged to mail me one right away. Unfortunately, the USPS lost it somewhere and it was never delivered to me. I called Snowjoe back, and they sent me another retaining clip which I did get within a couple of days. I have been too busy to install the part on the snowblower, but I am impressed with Snowjoe's customer service, and the fact that they were willing to honor their warranty without trying to weasel out of it with some excuse.

Update as of 10/20/2011

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Just remembered this as I was thinking about the approaching winter. As I mentioned in my previous update, the second retaining clip did arrive as promised. It is not plastic, but is made of metal. It is black, so I thought it was plastic. The fact that it is metal makes it not the easiest thing to get onto the end of the axle. Initially I was struggling, trying to get it on with just my bare hands. It does not work that way. It turns out you have to use a special tool (it is only about 10 bucks, so it is not an expensive tool) to hold the clip open and then slip it onto the end of the axle until you can get it into its groove. I finally managed to borrow the required tool from a friend and get it done well into summer, so I haven't had a chance to use the snowblower after this minor repair. I hope the clip does not pop off again this winter. I think it would have been better if the axle ends had lug nuts or something more solid than just the retaining clips to hold the axle to the frame.

Update as of 01/22/2012

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The first big snowfall of this winter hit the Chicago area this past week, and then another winter storm passed through on the 20th. The snowjoe continued to work well clearing my entire driveway in about half an hour each time (both times, the depth of snow on the ground was about 4 to 6 inches with ice and slush upto about a foot at the bottom of the driveway where the street snowplows had cleared snow off the street). The retaining clip has been working without any problems so far, and the axle has remained in place through a lot of pushes and pulls. When the snow is the right consistency and depth, this machine can and does throw it all the way across my entire driveway from one side to beyond the edge of the other side (a distance of well over 20 feet). Most of the time though, I clear one side of the driveway throwing snow over one edge of the driveway and then clear the other side throwing that snow over the other edge. This unit throws practically any kind and depth of snow over 10 feet, so I have never had a problem with moving snow incrementally off my driveway.

I have used the Snow Joe 4 times and do a dual driveway about 30ft x 60ft. I attach it with a 100ft cord. I am impressed with this little machine.

1) It is not heavy and is easy to manipulate. I hang if from my garage ceiling when not in use and it is easy to hang up.

2) It throws light snow about 15-20ft and wet snow about 6-10ft. Adequate for me.

3) Assembly was easy.

4) It cleans down to the surface with the tire rubber edges so the sun quickly melts what is left. I think this is much better than all plastic or all metal blades which leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch of remaining snow.

5) In fairness, the deepest snow I had was 4 inches, so I can't comment on deep snow, but I suspect making several cuts would work well.

6) I manipulate it with one hand and hold the cord with the other, and I find it quite easy to use. (I'm almost 76 years old so I don't like heavy snow blowers)

So to sum it up, I'm very pleased. I also think it is reasonalbly priced.

We got socked with 2' of snow just two days after receiving the Snow Joe, and we were pretty concerned about whether it could handle it. We were also VERY happily surprised! Admittedly that snow was a very light, dry, powdery snow, but still 2' is a lot of snow for a "cute" snowthrower (as our formal plow guy called it) to handle. The Snow Joe handled that storm extraordinarily well. It actually gets right down to the pavement. The cord isn't a big deal - kind of hard to miss this bright orange thing snaking across fresh white snow. Just be sure not to step on it otherwise you could fall. The electric snowthrower is ecologically a much better option than gas-powered. Plus you don't have to worry about the gas / oil mix going bad in the 9 or more months you won't be using it. Less than a week later we had another storm - Snow Joe handled it beautifully. Again, a dry powdery snow so we still didn't know how it would handle the kind of snow that causes shoveling heart attacks. Well, we found out two days ago - 4" of heavy wet snow, followed by sleet / ice / freezing rain. Our cute snow thrower cleaned right down to the pavement without a hitch. We are THRILLED with this purchase!

The Snow Joe SJ620 18-Inch 13.5-Amp Electric Snow Thrower is handy and easy to use. However, it's far and away from a gas-powered blower. I am happy with mine, but it is only useful for DRY snow (DRY meaning, not WET and in temperatures below 30 degress F) up to about eight inches. As long as the snow is dry (Dry and HEAVY is OK) it works great. But if the snow is WET (such as snow rain or melting) you'd be better off shoveling or brooming it) because WET snow clogs up inside the blade compartment and shoot and that's the end of any blowing. After almost instant clogging if one continues to try anyway he/she is almost certain to either blow the circuit or cook the motor. THAT SAID, I want to restate that I am nevertheless HAPPY with mine. I learned when I can use it or not, which in my region is usually most of the time.

UPDATE: Commenter A. Fritz offered this advice to me concerning WET snow sticking and clogging the blade compartment and shoot: [quote] "You might want to spray a high quality lubricant on the inside of the blades and the chute. This has helped mine greatly with wet snow when its above 30 degrees FYI." [endquote]

Thanks again AF for the advice. As everyone knows just two days ago the Ohio Midwest was bombarded with another 8 inches of heavy WET rain snow mostly moving up from the Gulf States. It was the perfect opportunity to try AF's recommendation of a good lubricant and I did and it worked CRC 05074 Heavy Duty Silicone Multi-Use Lubricant - 7.5 Wt Oz.. So now that I have been properly humbled, I am changing my "THREE STARS" to "FIVE STARS" and giving this terrific machine an ALL THUMBS UP!

Picked up the Snow Joe on 1/27 after the snow storm hit NYC. Spent few minutes to setup. Plugged power cord. It was powerful than I expected. It blew snow high and 7 feet away with no problem (you need to push it hard to the snow). Problem: the snow discharge chute did not stay at the position you set it. It vibrated and turned by itself. Do not follow the advice on the manual to appply WD-40 on Point A and B on page 8. I used a pc of masking tape to hold the chute position.

Does a nice job right down to pavement! A little difficult on wet snow but motor does not lose power! Only flaw is shute turns with vibration of machine. But maybe do to the fact I did DW 40 all moving parts before using it for first time. For the money you can't go wrong!

I used the Snow Joe 13.5 amp snow blower during our recent Nor'easter (~3 feet of snow) and it worker remarkably well. A cord retractor is recommended and a second stage blower for lesser amounts of snow would help, but overall it handled the deeper snow very well. I have always shoveled so this was interesting.