So far the shovel has performed exactly as I thought it would. I have a very small laneway and I do not need a big blower, nor do I have to room to store it. My Snow Joe is light weight, starts so easily can easily handle a good foot of snow. The shoot turns easily. It does not handle large chunks of ice well but I knew that would be the case. Follow the instructions for a good extension cord...I have a 100 ft cord.

Don't waste your money on this thing. Discharge spout keeps coming loose. So-called locking ring won't hold. Only secured by one screw. Wet heavy snow plugs discharge. Not good for 1" light fluffy snow, just blows it out in all directions. Discharge spout poorly designed, doesn't throw all the snow away from machine, some just pours out right beside spout.

I just got this assembled. There's no telling when I'll get to try it out in snow—next week or next year. But I do have strong opinions about the assembly, so I'll go ahead and review it on that basis. It was a time-consuming pain to put together. I know it's supposed to be easy to assemble, and conceptually it is. And it's not like I've never done assembly before, or have trouble following written directions. But when you're an older woman who doesn't have great eyesight and hand strength, it can be a problem! You have to line up holes, some of which are very small. Some of the handle pieces fit together tightly, and I got bitten trying to fit them together in one instance. Attaching the lower part of the crank to the base unit was almost impossible. This is done with a cotter pin, not unlike a bobby pin, but VERY tight and hard for me to spread, and the holes I had to align to get it in were small. I finally used a real bobby pin to align the holes, and then with God's help somehow managed to force the cotter pin into place. The weak point is the joint between the lower chute and the base unit. You fit it into a collar and align it, turn it to lock it, then put in a small screw to secure it at the back. Not so simple. It took me awhile to get it to lock properly because the lips of the plastic parts were so small. Then when I got that done and got the top of the chute screwed on, I found the front of the lower part of the chute had come loose, so I had to unscrew it and reattach it. I have to wonder if it's going to withstand the pressure of the snow coming out of it. I really think it should have at least one more screw, in front, to ensure it stays in place. The written instructions weren't fully accurate. There isn't a diagram that shows and labels all the parts. I almost missed the little screw for the chute. Some of the diagrams were so detailed—“busy”—that it was hard to tell exactly what I was supposed to be looking at. It also seems the instructions weren't updated to reflect manufacturing changes, so there were errors.

First of all, this machine comes with a significant design flaw. The plastic output chute comes with only one machine screw to hold it in place and it immediately blew off when the snowblower was engaged. I had to rig a few additional machine screws into the unit to hold it in place. The snowblower itself is generally effective on up to 4 inches of snow. Beyond that, it is not large enough to do the job. It does seem powerful enough to remove light or wet snow, but certainly not heavy snow or ice. Having used a gas powered snowblower for many years and going to a smaller electric machine, having to deal with the cord getting in the way of operating the unit can be annoying and cumbersome.

Bought this product for light use in Ottawa ( ie walkway and backyard paths for 2 dogs). It has worked so well in this capacity. The machine clears up to 4-5 inches of snow with no problems. While the cord can be a pain, for the uses I am using it for it was an excellent purchase. Well done Snow Joe.

I used the Snow Joe once this year. Where I live we don't get much snow (I live on Vancouver Island B.C. Canada. This is good for light snow but you need to keep it up as when the snow is heavy it doesn't work that well....with that being said I like using it, its easy to operate.

Simple to use and works well. Actually works better with a couple of inches of snow than with just a light dusting. Cleans closer to the surface than my gas powered snow blower. Battery powered would be more convenient, but I laid out the cord first and did the driveway from side to side instead of longitudinally, so the cord never got in the way.

Assembly was easy. 5" of snow fell not two days after I received this snow blower. The job that normally took almost an hour was done in 20 minutes. There was even a layer of ice under the snow that the scraper was able to get under and remove. So far very satisfied.

I've only used the Snow Joe about four times as it early in the season. However, as we get a lot of snow in Montreal, I expect to use it a number of times on my single driveway, front walkway and a large deck in the back. So far it seems to get the job done adequately. I needed a small snow thrower as I have to drag it up the stairs through the house to get it to the deck and it's quite heavy. As well, I need to store it in my small garage. Two cons are that it was somewhat difficult to assemble and the electric version is a real pain as the cord is constantly getting in the way. Maybe there is a technique but I haven't figured it out. Sometimes the throw height is very good and other times it just throws a little, even when it's not clogged. It does save me from shoveling a lot of heavy snow and I expect to give it a good workout this winter...

I bought this as I'm the one in the resonsible for snow blowing and can't lift a huge machine. This is super light and PLOWS through the snow. I've used it on 1 inch of snow to 1.5 ft of snow. The shoot gets clogged if the snow it to wet but other wise it's amazing. I gave the 4 because it's a plug in. But its stay plugged in and is beyong easy to use. Be sure to use the screw to attach the shoot to the machine. If you don't you will be sooooo very sorry.