Snow Joe Snow Joe 622U1 Electric Snow Thrower-Driveways Walkways

Snow Joe 622 - R.I.P. February 16, 2010

My Snow Joe 622 died after only 18 months. The third set of belts went so I contacted the company to replace them (the two pack of them I bought last year wasn't enough).

They politely said that they're out of stock for the small belt that connects the motor to a reducing pulley and would not have them in stock for weeks.

So after only 18 months, I'm shopping for a new snow blower. I have a 6 car paved driveway so it isn't like I used it beyond its intended use.

Here's a list of the problems I encountered with the Snow Joe in only 1 and a half winters.
1. Repeated belt failures. After only a season and a half eating three failed belts is an indication of poor design. Now they can't even replace the belts because they're out of stock (guess everyone's having this problem).
2. Discharge chute attachment failure. The piece of plastic that held one side failed and a hinge on the other held the chute waving open and closed with each piece of snow through it.
3. Snow intake housing failure. The entire right side cracked open requiring wood screws to hold it together.
4. Bottom edge of snow intake failure. This also required screwing with wood screws.
5. The power bar on the handle snapped off in less than a season. At least I could still use it by holding the little piece left.
6. The bolts holding the blades fell off in the second use requiring me to replace them so I could get the rest of last season out of it.
7. Repeated clogs. Like every time I walked forward. I had to take two steps forward, and one back waiting for the clog to clear.
8. Never could get snow 20 ft unless its powder and the wind is on my back. And, if it was wet just fell a few feet away.
9. The plastic covers on the steel augers fell off in pieces.

In light of the poor quality of the Snow Joe I opted to replace it with the Toro 1800 Power Curve. The guy at the ********** had one left so I was in luck. He said that 15 years ago he was sold one and told to return it if he didn't like it. After the rest of the guys at the hardware store made fun of him he went to see if the Toro was worth the money. He was able to eat away snow plow drifts by jamming it into them, but it never jams. He said he can't keep them in stock they're so popular.

When I got home today there was only about 5 inches of new powder, a small section of 12 inch old and new snow, and a few 18 inch snow drifts that the plow made (and Snow Joe died in). Not only did the Toro 1800 throw every kind of snow 30 feet, but it never stopped. I was never able to get the Snow Joe to make it across the driveway without constantly stopping and backing up because it would clog and jam the auger. The Toro 1800 didn't stop eating the snow plow drifts no matter how hard I pushed. The powder flew away so fast that I could practically run. Even though the old/new section was so deep that the Toro was completely submerged, it still kept throwing snow. A second pass cleaned up the inch or so easily and clean to the asphalt.

I was also very surprised to see that by walking over two inch deep frozen tire tracks that ice started to fly. The Toro 1800 auger was able to beat on them and break them into pieces spitting the broken ice out of the chute without a problem. The Snow Joe 622 just drove over them without touching them so they got harder and thicker with each freeze cycle.

The bottom line is simple. The Snow Joe 622 numbers "sound" good, but are just to make it more marketable. It's poor engineering is obvious once it's put into use.

The Toro 1800 has is clearly a better design. At half the weight, and twice the snow throwing "ability", it finishes the job in a quarter of the time.

Oh, the guy at the *************** his Toro 1800 is 15 years young and going strong :-)

P.S. The link for "Buy it on Sears.com" is no longer valid (not even Sears carries it any more)

Do not buy December 07, 2009

I got this as a gift and must say this machine has multiple issues.  I don't have the receipt or I would return it.

Not a quality product December 01, 2009

This thing is noisy and gives the impression its going to fly apart.

found the model 622 very useful and effective clearing snow November 15, 2009

I have a small one car driveway and about thirty feet of walkway. I never thought i would want or need a snowblower, but thought i would check the internet to see if there was an inexpensive way to get one. I ran across an add for the snow joe, watched a video on their website and purchased the 622u1 through sears. I am very pleased with the power and the ease of the unit. I would definately recommend it.