Best Snow Blowers Under 1000
With winter approaching it’s a great time to preemptively find yourself a snow blower so that you’re prepared when the snow hits. Many snow blowers can be expensive and for the typical homeowner a commercial snow blower can be overkill especially when you consider that they usually cost over $1000 and require a lot of fuel to operate effectively. Today, I’m going to be telling you about the top five most well-rounded and popular snow blowers under $1000 so that you’ll be prepared with the right tool when winter hits. The way this review is organized is that I’ll start with a couple smaller snow blowers first and then we’ll take a look at a couple larger snow blowers for those big yards and commercial projects.
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Here is a list of the Best Snow Blowers Under 1000
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Top Five Best Snow Blowers Under 1000
The daily drivers...
5. Snow Joe Ultra SJ623E 18-Inch
Rating: 4.2 / 5.0
The Snow Joe Ultra SJ623E is an 18 inch wide snow blower that’s currently Amazon’s most popular snow blower on the market right now. Priced at a very affordable $169.99 for the holiday seasons this is a great snow blower for residential use. The Snow Joe includes a few very unique features that came in handy in my trials. The first is the included light meaning you can use the snowblower in the evenings when it gets a little darker, the light’s very bright and has a considerable range so you can see pretty far ahead.
It’s important to note that this is an electric powered snow blower so that means you need to have an adequate amount of extension cord length to properly run this. In my tests it performed quite well even with a 100 foot cable daisy chained to a 50 foot cable so you shouldn’t have a problem with range. When it comes to actually blowing the snow this machine works like a charm, I can usually have it clear about six inches of snow on one passover so it’s not going to perform very well in a harsh winter but that’s because it wasn’t designed for harsh winters.
Snow Joe Ultra SJ623E 18-InchVideo Review
The Snow Joe Ultra was designed to clear driveways and walkways in residential areas when it’s a typical winter day outside. Overall I’d recommend the Snow Joe Ultra to people with a smaller home or that’re looking for something that you plug in a few times a year and don’t really have to maintain.
4. Snow Joe iON18SB
Rating: 3.9 / 5.0
The iON18SB is another popular offering from Snow Joe. What makes this snow blower unique is that it’s battery powered and the battery works quite well lasting about 45 minutes on a single charge. From my own experience though I’d recommend factoring in the cost of a spare battery into the cost of the purchase because if you have a particularly bad snow day and this is all you’ve got you’re going to have to make a few pass overs. Being an electric powered motor as opposed to fuel powered the iON18SB is particularly quiet meaning you can take care of your driveway at night or early in the morning without worrying about bothering your neighbors.
The iON18SB is also a lot easier to use than gas powered snow blowers since it requires much less maintenance and you don’t need to stockpile gas. Compared to the socket powered SJ623E the iON18SB is quite expensive at $283.99 at the time of writing this article, but once you factor in the spare battery you’re looking at over $400 which is a lot of money for a similarly sized 18 inch snow blower. I’d recommend the iON18SB to older people who can benefit from the reduced maintenance or people who live in more temperate climates where winters aren’t as bad.
Snow Joe iON18SB Video Review
If you live up north in Wisconsin, Minnesota or upstate New York I’d recommend looking into a gas blower just because it’ll be more useful during the rougher snow storms. While it’s almost superior to a gas blower in every way the one major shortcoming of the iON18SB is its weaker engine compared to common gas blowers, as I said earlier it struggles breaking up and blowing really thick snow but it shines in less performance intense situations.
3. GreenWorks 2600202 13-Amp 20 inch
Rating: 4.4 / 5.0
The GreenWorks 2600202 is a 20 inch snow blower that’s usually around $200 but is currently on sale on Amazon for about $174.99. This snow blower isn’t particularly unique in any way and performed exactly like you would expect a $200 electric snow blower to perform. From my experience it’s similar to the SJ623E in it’s performance handling about six inches of snow well and struggling with anything more than that in one pass.
I wanted to mention this snow blower though because it is just a little bit larger than the SJ623E with a similar performance and often can be purchased for about the same as the SJ623E so if you find a good deal on the GreenWorks 2600202 it holds its own compared to the more popular Snow Joe products. If you decide to go with the GreenWorks the only thing to consider is that the chute often gets clogged, this is due to the very small hole in the chute which snow can freeze over as it’s being pulled down into the blades. This is a relatively small issue though as you can always add ice or snow repellant to prevent this.
The big boys...
2. Poulan Pro 961820015 21 inch
Rating: 3.6 / 5.0
The Poulan Pro 21 inch blower is very attractively priced for a gas snow blower at about $196.98 on Amazon right now. Compared to the electric and battery powered snow blowers on the market the Poulan Pro is a power house. In my experience using it I’ve yet to discover a limit to the amount of snow it can throw working with snow packed as deep as 8 inches it handled the task quite well. The only major drawback is that this snow blower can practically only blow snow forward so that might be a deal breaker for some. Another issue that can probably be related to the low price is that the snow blower’s chute isn’t as sturdy as one would expect and will sometimes angle itself on it’s own when dealing with heavier snow.
Otherwise, this is a great snow blower for first time home owners and veteran home owners alike, it’s affordable price makes it easy to work into the budget and we were more than satisfied with the performance in my home. It handled most tasks quicker than our electric blowers but the performance benefits of gasoline are well documented. This is the first gas blower that we’ve looked at so it’s important to remember that there are added steps to maintenance so if you do choose to go with a gas snow blower it will really help the longevity of the machine if you follow the maintenance schedule which isn’t too demanding.
1. Briggs and Stratton 1696619 27 inch
Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The Briggs and Stratton 1696619 is the most powerful snow blower you’re going to see on this list. This machine was clearly designed to perform in a class of it’s own. I thoroughly enjoyed using this machine to deal with the snow in my driveway because it was simply so effortless. Of course as a dual stage engine there was a little preliminary work before it was up and running but the electronic ignition makes starting this thing a breeze and the 27 inch clearing path makes quick work of smaller jobs like the driveway or the walkway to my house.
The one caveat I have with this snow blower is the cost at a hefty $719.99 currently on Amazon. However, this price is completely justified when you realize you’re buying a snowblower that will last you for decades. Throughout the course of my time testing this snow blower there was never anything that made me feel like the price wasn’t justified. The build quality is solid, the performance is great, and the large size is extremely helpful.
Ultimately I’d recommend this to someone who is looking to make a first and final investment in a snow blower. If you have a smaller yard or a short driveway I’d pass this one up but if you own a business or have a larger home you’ll appreciate spending a little more on this snow blower because of how easy clearing your driveway and yard will seem to be.
Conclusion
When working with gas based motors it’s important to use the right oil for the right engine, generally 87 octane is a safe bet but consult your user manual to just to be sure. Another consideration when using a gas powered snow blower is that they require much more maintenance than an electric snow blower, for more information you can check out Lowe’s guide to maintaining single, two, and four stage engines, it’s really informative and has an appropriate amount of depth to reference. Whichever system you want to use it’s just important to have a snow blower so you can keep your walkways and driveway safe for your family.
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