Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

What my wife and I were thinking is using a Toro 1800 for light snow and slush that the 2 stage won't really pick up. That 1/2" of slush turns into glare ice and our entire driveway is uphill. Will the electric Toro handle like 2" of slush wet snow and leftovers from a 2 stage or a small storm? We really do want it down to bare pavement. If you have one we'd love to hear about it. We would not be using it for EOD or anything substancial, just cleaning up the light and small nuisance stuff. That would open up a lot of possibilites for us if the Toro 1800 really works as advertised. Don't need to throw the snow 30 feet as long as it can be thrown a few times. We live with my 85 year old aunt and she broke her hip because of the ice in the driveway 2 years ago. That's why we want it down to bare tar. Our driveway is uphill and is not perfectly flat. Thoughts?

Thanks.

Steve, I owned a Toro 1800 Power Curve. I bought it used but in good condition. At the time, I was using a garden tractor with a snow thrower attachment to clear my driveway. I wanted a smaller machine to do my front walk. The 1800 would throw 6" dry powdery snow about 15 ft., but in any other conditions (wetter, deeper, or crusty snow), it was not up to the task. The 1800 does not have the type of rubber paddles that help propel a gas powered single stage machine forward, probably because it did not have any power to spare. The power cord was a nuisance. On the plus side, it was quieter, had no exhaust smell, and was easy to store and maintain. I sold it after one season.

I see where 'ask the builder' used slip-on ice cleats for snowblowing:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CT76InY7WA

 

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=MHGNCMYMENYDBLAQBBKSCO3MCAEFAIWE?id=0074019831265a&type=product&cmCat=froogle&cm_ven=data_feed&cm_cat=froogle&cm_pla=0610106&cm_ite=0074019831265a&_requestid=5296

 

http://www.shopwiki.com/climbing+Cleats

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Snow-and-Ice-Grip/product-reviews/B000XZZLV0/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

bw12 wrote:
Thanks for the info. I know it's not a very powerful machine but I'm only looking to clear up what a 2 stage leaves behind. So you don't think it will blow that snow and get down to pavement? I won't be blowing more than a inch or so of anything except maybe slush. I've seen YouTube videos and it seems to do a good job with small stuff. Do you think the 1800 has enough power for that? I'm not having a lot of options. My wife thinks we should have the guy plow and use a smaller single stage to get EOD and the places the plow doesn't get. She phrases it a bit differently but that's what she means. She thinks a Toro 421 would work if we were plowed and just went over it to scrape it down. But I don't know if a toro 421 would do that.