Toro 38361 Power Shovel 7.5 Amp Electric Snow Thrower
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Toro 38361 Power Shovel 7.5 Amp Electric Snow Thrower
Customer Review: Tough little unit
Summary: 5 Stars
As other reviews have said, this is a great unit. We got it from Amazon last week, and our first big snow of the season hit yesterday. We got 14 inches of snow. The power shovel, you will notice, is rated at 6 inches or less. So it was useless, right?
Nope! First, we didn't wait until all the snow came down; we hit it in pieces. Even so, at one point we were dealing with 8+ inches. As other reviews have said (and as the manual tells you), just take it in layers: pick up the power shovel and get the first few inches, then get the rest on the next pass. At some points I'm sure I was pushing it into more than 6 inches, but it never complained.
This was nasty snow -- wet on the bottom, light on top. The kind that sticks to your shovel, so that you pick up 10 pounds of snow only to have 5 pounds sticking when you try to dump it. But the power shovel ate it all up. And didn't clog -- I noticed my neighbor, with his more powerful (and much more expensive) snow blower had to periodically stop to manually unclog his chute.
The next day, after the plows went through, we had a different type of snow to deal with; not icy, but in big heavy chunks that the plow had thrown on our driveway and sidewalk. Again, the key is to take it in layers. Even though the snow was compacted, the power shovel handled it until we got to pieces that had started to freeze up. At that point, I could hear THUNKs coming from the unit, so I stopped before I broke a blade. It handled 95% of what we asked it to do, though, and a lot of that outside its design specs.
Things I learned:
- This is a great unit, but it's not necessarily the best for 60-year-old grandmas. (Yes, I know there are 60-year-old grandmas who could kick my butt, but I'm talking stereotypes here.) Lifting the unit to do layers takes a fair amount of upper body strength; a 20-something athlete would find it easy, a 52-year-old who does daily light exercise [that's me] found it tiring after a couple hours.
- The safety grip get fatiguing after awhile. I used my right arm to hold the front handle (easier to maneuver) so my left hand was having to hold on tight to keep the safety engaged. After a couple hours my left hand was having trouble holding on. That's not a design flaw -- if you don't have the strength to hang on, maybe that's a good point to take a break -- but it's something to be aware of.
- It's electric. It shuts right down, it starts right up. I was letting it run when I didn't need to, just out of habit from gas-powered units.
- I started out using it like a shovel, going down one row of the driveway then walking back and fighting the cord. Bad method! Use it like a vacuum cleaner. That also give you better control of where the snow is going.
- You need to be aware of the electric cord. And sometimes you need to put the unit down and spend a minute moving the power cord to a spot where it stays out of the way. That vacuum cleaner thing again.
- The wind is your worst enemy. Sometimes it felt like I was walking into a blizzard when I was trying to shoot snow directly into the wind.
- The wind is your best friend. Don't shoot the snow into the wind, watch where the wind is taking it and adjust your angle accordingly. (I know, that's obvious, but it took me a little while and several face-fulls of snow to realize it.)
So far, a great investment, and one I recommend, with the above clarifications.
ADDITION (Feb 11, 2010) Since I wrote the above, we've been through two more major storms, each over two feet of snow each. Because the Power Shovel can throw over the mounds that built up on the sides of our driveway and walks, and because it handles the wet glop at the bottom of a snowfall, we made it through just fine. By staying ahead of the storms we were mostly dealing with 8" or less in each pass, and the Toro handled it all beautifully. (Until the township piled massive ice mounds on our driveway and sidewalk when they plowed. As noted, the Power Shovel doesn't do ice.) Still a Very Happy Customer.
Customer Review: Everyone that gets snow should own one of these!
Summary: 5 Stars
All I can say, is it does the job and then some.
Anyone who gets snow should own of these. First off, you have to be realistic on the expectations of the Toro Power Shovel, like any other product you buy. Would you compare it to a gas powered, 2 stage snow thrower costing $500-$1,000? Of course not, but seems that is the case based on some of the reviews here of the Toro Power Shovel.
Think of it as a shovel that does all the work for you. If your expectations are on par, then the Toro Power Shovel will amaze you.
Read the review on [...] where they rated it their BEST Electric power shovel and went on to mention:
"If you just need to clear light snow off a sidewalk, porch or deck, reviews suggest the electric Toro Power Shovel. It has no wheels, but you won't have to bend or lift as you would with a traditional manual shovel. The Toro Power Shovel incorporates an electric auger that shoots snow forward; it clears a path 12 inches wide and can throw the snow up to 20 feet. If you flip it over and change the rotor, it converts into a broom, which can be used to clear leaves, dirt and other debris. If you don't mind dealing with a cord but want more power, wheels and a wider clearing path, reviews say the Toro 1800 Power Curveinfo ( *Est. $300) will better meet your needs.
ConsumerReports.org includes the Toro Power Shovel in its latest ratings, which subscribers can access online. We found more than 190 owner reviews for the Toro Power Shovel at Amazon.com and about 20 reviews at Epinions.com; they are overwhelmingly positive. It's not clear whether ConsumerGuide.com did any hands-on testing, but its editors give a Budget Buy award to the Toro Power Shovel. SnowBlowersDirect.com reviews the Power Shovel and offers owner reviews as well."
ConsumerGuide.com highlights the following and gives it their Budget Buy [...]:
"Whether you'll love Toro's Power Shovel Plus 38361 or hate it depends on your expectations. If you expect the Power Shovel Plus to be a snow blower that takes all the labor out of clearing the drive for just $100, you are going to be very disappointed. If you don't mind doing a little shoveling and are looking for a way to make it easier on the body, however, this novel snow-moving product is for you.
The 38361 is an electric machine that requires access to a ground-fault, protected outdoor outlet and a long extension cord. This powered shovel uses a two-blade curved plastic rotor to brush snow from in front of you as you push it along. There are no wheels on the Power Shovel Plus, so you will need to do the pushing. Despite this, however, this is still a laborsaving device because it eliminates the lifting and throwing of the snow. Toro's handy, lightweight machine protects your back, but using it is still labor.
The success or failure of the Toro Power Shovel can depend greatly on the snow. Too much snow can overpower it while heavy, wet snow can present a difficult, although not insurmountable, challenge. We recommend that you consider this product for climates where limited snowfall -- primarily under 4 inches -- is expected. Though the Power Shovel is ideal for decks, sidewalks and patios, small driveways can also benefit from its use as long as the amount of snow is not overwhelming.
Pros: Lightweight, inexpensive snow collection tool, especially handy for moving light snow out of small areas, as easy to use as an upright vacuum cleaner, can hang to store
Cons: Can be overpowered by heavy, wet snow, large accumulations and big driveways; cord can get in the way."
HIGHLY Recommend this product!
Customer Review: As good as advertised
Summary: 5 Stars
I live in the near west Chicago burbs (Oak Park area). This area was especially hard hit with snow last winter, and this winter has proved to be more of the same. My apartment building has a communal shovel, but shovelling manually 2-3 times a week is not only aggravating, it's tiring and time-consuming.
Finally, I said to myself, "Self, it's time to buy an electric snow thrower." I went with the Toro electric snow shovel. Ordered it December 22nd, and it arrived on Christmas Eve.
Only today was there finally enough snow to warrant using the thing.
Happily, it worked exactly as advertised. It took a long time for me to untangle the extension cord, but that was my own fault. Once I had enough cord length, I was able to dig out my parking spot easily, so easily that I felt obliged to dig out three neighboring parking spaces as well. I know. I'm awesome.
Addendum: I live in an apartment building where the lot is plowed sporadically at best, and the only time my parking spot is plowed is on the rare occasion that I'm actually out when the snow plow guy actually cleans the lot, provided he feels generous enough to clean out empty parking spaces.
Using a regular shovel, it can often take me an hour, sometimes more, just to dig out my parking space and salt it. Including the time it took me to unravel my extension cord, I spent slightly over 40 minutes digging out four parking spaces and salting my own space this afternoon.
The pros:
Easy to use: There's a slight bit of effort required to keep the thing going, but once you get the hang of it, you can have your space shovelled in next to no time.
Power: Yeah, this is the bottom of the line Toro snow thrower, but even with that, it's enough to throw the snow a good 20-25 feet.
Weight/size: This snow thrower is light enough and small enough to only take up a small amount of space. This is especially important if you can't lift too much and/or you don't have much space to store your stuff. As I live in a studio apartment, this was something I had to consider.
Con:
Electricity: Fortunately, my apartment building has a power outlet right by the back door, so I was able to run the extension cord through that and dig out my space and a few others. On a few occasions, the cord got unplugged from the snow thrower, so I had to put it back together.
Uneven spots: I knew about this going in, but it still is a drawback. This won't clean down to the pavement in uneven spots. Still, I was able to clean down to the pavement on most of my space, so it performed as expected.
Lack of direction: today's snow was soft and powdery, so a bit of snow came back at me. The higher end model has a directional chute. Still, this did the job.
All in all, I got what I expected and a bit more out of this. I'm already glad I bought this, and my back thanks me, too.
::January 11, 2009::
Chicago got socked with about a foot of snow yesterday, so I had to use the Toro again. Once I'd cleaned off my car and moved it to the street, I was able to clean my parking space very easily.
One of my neighbors had to get out and was struggling with her shovel. I helped clear out her space as well.
All told, I'd say it took about 40 minutes to clean the two spots. There was a lot of snow, so I had to clean them in multiple passes.
The neighbor was very happy with the results. Hug happy, in fact.
Toro snow throwers: so awesome, they'll get you hugs.
Customer Review: Solution to the largest problem with the Toro Power Shovel
Summary: 5 Stars
I had lower back disk fusion surgery 3 months ago. In my post-surgical state I have trouble bending and lifting heavy objects. But I can work the Toro Power Shovel! I bought it with low expectation, thinking that either it will not work well or that I will have trouble with it due to my current physical limitation. Surprisingly, neither concern materialized. Toro easily chopped through 10 inch snow bank left from 18 inches that fell a few days ago, and I was able to push it through the snow as well as move it up and down the stairs to the house. In some areas I was able to push it one handed which was an easier position on my back, and sometimes I needed the second hand to get through a tougher spot. The handle is adjustable so with the highest position I don't have to bend too much.
Wet snow update:
I am updating this review after the first wet snow. Toro power shovel handled it well! It was a little harder to push, but I found that I could brace the handle on my thigh and that allowed me to push with my leg rather than my injured back. Then it was easy!
The hardest thing to deal was not the show shovel itself, but the 100 feet of electric cord, which was heavy, unwieldy and became almost unmanageable to coil back, especially when it became cold and covered with snow. The electric caddy was not much help, it was hard to control and required me to bend. Putting back the cord tired me out more than shoveling itself.
However I came up with a solution which works beautifully for me. Below is the description of what I came up with along with four customer photos to illustrate the solution I describe below. (To see customer photos go to the official photo at the top of the product description and click on "Show all customer photos" under the stock photo. To see the photos that go with this review, you need to look for my name as the contributor of the photo.)
I used a small water hose caddy to coil the electric cord. I put the electric caddy on a chair, which meant I did not have to bend to coil the cord. One leg of the caddy support is on the chair seat, the second leg of the caddy support is on the back of the chair. The chair provides not only the lift to a convenient height but stability so the caddy does not wiggle when you crank the handle. (picture attached) I folded the electric cord in half and began winding both sides at the same time, keeping each part of the electric code on different side of the caddy. When I reached the end of the cord I used a bungee cord to secure each end to the different sides of the caddy.(picture attached). The electric cord on the caddy felt much lighter and easier to maneuver.
I found that the Toro power shovel was stable without having to lean it against a wall when I put it a big plastic storage bin (see picture). This way when I bring the shovel in and the snow melts I will not have a puddle on the floor. The caddy with the electrical cord fit nicely on top of the shovel in the bucket (see picture).
This product is build for a right-handed person.
Customer Review: Surprisingly Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
This is review written with Montana winter experience.
The reviews were generally good with this item so I bought one, mainly for the convenience of easily cleaning the drawbridge, walkways, entry, and in front of my garage without a shovel.
This device is pre-assembled, easily carried, easy to use, fast, quiet, and very user friendly. The only drawback is not with the machine; it is getting a low temperature cord that remains flexible in the cold. I suggest the yellow Solar cord that is good to about -50 offered through Amazon. To keep the cord out of the way always completely clean the area closest to the electrical outlet and progress forward; do not go way forward and back-track. I use it like I use a vacuum.
Overall excellent!! It takes the snow right down to the ground and even gets the hard compacted snow from where the cars enter the garage without a problem. Very fast, and you can easily change the length of the shaft so you do not have to bend over. The blade is plastic but seems very durable; it has run into some small objects, plant edges, and small rocks and I notice no wear after several uses. My wife is happy to not shovel, and it is easy on her bad back, and mine.
I give it 5 stars easily, and and am buying one for the office with a low temp. 100 ft. cord. So far I highly recommend this device for the easily accessable areas of traffic when you don't want to haul out the gas driven blowers, or shovel, or snow plow. It will even tackle drifts with ease if you take your time and start waving it across the top. It is fast and simple to use. The Broom model is more expensive but is only needed if you decide to change the blade and use it for summer-time dirt blowing. This model is a great one for just snow and is at a great price. Don't expect it to be durable for heavy slush, ice, deep snow, or large areas like driveways.
Hope this helps.
Update 12-29-07
Excellent overall and still worth 5 stars and the price! I have used it many times now and it has always been very easy to use, even with crusty snow or over 6 inches. I recently returned from holiday vacation and found snow had fallen, melted, frozen, and new snow was on top. It worked as well down to the ground as with light snow and I was finished quickly without working up a sweat, straining my back, or heart, like chipping away with a shovel would. Nice product that sure makes living in snow country easier. A low temperature power cord is a must.
Update 12-21-08:
Still working great, even in -20 degree weather. I highly recommend this product, as well as the Sno-Wovel for deep snow and no back strain.