Customer Reviews

Yard Machines 31AE6GLF722 Gold Series Electric-Start 2-Stage Snow Thrower

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

 

 

I recently purchased the YardMachines Gold 8.5, 26" 2 stager to replace my snow plow that I am selling. I live in New Hampshire, so we are no stranger to 8"-12" storms, and in the past 4 years or so, a few 16" - 32" overnight storms per year.

I also own a small electric Toro PowerShovel. (works great on small storms.)

Amazon had a great deal on this YardMachines for $799, plus a coupon at checkout for $25 and free delivery! How could I beat that? A couple days after my order, New England had the Blizzard of 2005 and the price apparently jumped to $999 for this same blower. I guess that is supply and demand at work.

The blower arrived and setup took all of 30 minutes to connect this to that, read the manuals, and what not. The unit is "mostly" assembled, only requiring you to click the handle together, the snow chute and a few other very minor things.

As I had significant snow left over on the driveway (400 foot long by 30 feet wide in some areas and 20 feet in others) I set right to work.

It cleaned up nicely on the 1-2 inches I had on the ground. It cuts pretty close to the cement which is good. I then went to work on the snow banks and tried to clear my turnaround. I had about 38 inches of snow stacked up there.

Within 35 minutes or so, I had cleared all of these areas with 2 passes. Very easy, very powerful unit. It throws snow 35 feet or more and the volume of snow flying out of the chute is impressive.

The 6 speeds are nice giving you options moving around. The 2 reverse speeds also help. I am 6 foot, 185lbs and in pretty good shape. I can manhandle this blower pretty well, but a lighter weight person will have a problem. I don't think however that this unit is any worse than any blower of similar size and weight so don't be discouraged by that.

The reason I scored the unit a 4 instead of a 5 is that it is loud. I have heard other blowers which seem much quieter. I would give this unit a 4.8 otherwise, if Amazon allowed for decimals.

Bottom line: I don't think I'll be worried about large snow storms any longer. This unit is easy to start with the electrical starter, is powerful and can handle deep deep snow, and has many nice features.

I ordered the above machine from uncle joes & received a " White" with a slightly different serial number. It appeares to have the same features. Shipping was as promised, however, when dropped off by Fed Ex the box was damaged, resealed,& one side covered with oil. Examination showed no obvious damage,& with another bizzard only 2 days away,I accepted the machine with a caviot on the reciept. Further examination revealed it had been dumpted on its side,slightly bending the handle,& letting all the oil out. New oil & it seems to run OK. NO MORE UNCLE JOES OR FED EX FOR ME!!

i have not used my new snowblower yet.It come
in excellent condition.I am sure it will do the job well.
I will give more opinion when i use it next winter.
Unit seems to not switch gears right away when going from
forward to reverse or vise versa.Also the auger does not shift
left and right like it was supose too.Would rather had the manual
auger control.