I purchased an EGO snow blower since I really liked their lawn care products and wanted to downsize from a 2-stage model. I did some research but like other big purchases now that I have it in hand and looked it over I have some concerns even though I'm only a little bit into my 90 day return window.
- Paddle design - never thought to research the paddle design of the EGO before my purchase but looking at it in the garage maybe I should have. Before I bought a 2-stage a fcouple years back I had a Toro CCR2000. It had the curved paddle design. The paddles on the Toro were designed to touch the pavement if you lifted a bit on the handle. The paddles rubbing the pavement also propelled the blower (these paddles lasted 8-years). After snow blowing I could even see faint swirl marks from the paddles on the pavement. I see on the EGO the paddles seem to be designed to never touch the pavement. Even when I tilt it forward the paddles are a good 3/4" off the pavement.
- Scraper Bar - before purchase I did see a few complaints about the scraper bar but thought this was an easy part for EGO to redesign. But, now that I looked at the machine due to (1) above I'm thinking the EGO scraper is being asked to do way too much work. The scraper bar on most single stage blowers is to protect the metal edge at the rear of the machine. Since the EGO paddles don't scrape the pavement the scraper bar does this and thus the leading edge is very sharp/pointy and looks to be prone to aggressive wear.
- Propelling Assist - since the paddles don't actually touch the pavement I'm concerned more human power will be required to move this machine along as compared to a paddle system that does like my old Toro.
- Metal Sidewall Wear - I read here some put edging on the sidewalls to prevent damage to them. After looking at my EGO since the paddles don't touch the pavement after tilting it forward the next thing to touch the pavement after the scraper is the sidewalls.
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8,810 Points
Posted 2 years ago
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10,154 Points
szwoopp, Champion
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105,770 Points
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10,154 Points
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8,810 Points
Blue Angel, Champion
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179,968 Points
1. The scraper seems to do a decent job of cleaning right to the asphalt. I didn’t check it for wear after one use.
2. The scraper seems to catch out interlocking brick less than the metal edge of my shovel does, a nice surprise. A trick I use with my shovel is to hold it at a slight angle to the bricks which helps dramatically. This also works well for the expansion joints in the sidewalk.
3. After using mine in 7-8” the other day, the only time I felt I needed to really push it was at the end of the driveway in the plow pile. Going through normal snow on asphalt seemed pretty easy.
4. I think you’d have to tilt the machine forward quite a bit to get the metal to touch the ground. I think most people are protecting that edge from hitting other obstacles.
I would certainly wait until you’ve used it a few times in decent snow accumulations before passing your final judgment. Overall I’m fairly impressed with mine so far. The chute direction works great and I love the variable speed auger!
2. The scraper seems to catch out interlocking brick less than the metal edge of my shovel does, a nice surprise. A trick I use with my shovel is to hold it at a slight angle to the bricks which helps dramatically. This also works well for the expansion joints in the sidewalk.
3. After using mine in 7-8” the other day, the only time I felt I needed to really push it was at the end of the driveway in the plow pile. Going through normal snow on asphalt seemed pretty easy.
4. I think you’d have to tilt the machine forward quite a bit to get the metal to touch the ground. I think most people are protecting that edge from hitting other obstacles.
I would certainly wait until you’ve used it a few times in decent snow accumulations before passing your final judgment. Overall I’m fairly impressed with mine so far. The chute direction works great and I love the variable speed auger!
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8,810 Points
Thanks Blue - exactly what I was looking for!
Mike
Mike
Blue Angel, Champion
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179,968 Points
Any time, Mike!
I will admit, I ordered a spare scraper for mine already just in case. You never know if it will catch on something and chip or break.
I was lucky with my SnoJoe, the scraper lasted two seasons without breaking. That’s a much lighter machine, though. The heavier Ego might not fare so well if the scraper catches while moving at speed. Time will tell.
I will admit, I ordered a spare scraper for mine already just in case. You never know if it will catch on something and chip or break.
I was lucky with my SnoJoe, the scraper lasted two seasons without breaking. That’s a much lighter machine, though. The heavier Ego might not fare so well if the scraper catches while moving at speed. Time will tell.
