OT: Battery operated snow blowers

loco_engr

Looking for recommendations
TY

GrateEggspectations

Friend just bought this and has been very happy. 

https://egopowerplus.com/two-stage-snow-blower-snt2400/

I, on the other hand, bought a gas-powered 306cc 30” Briggs and Stratton at a similar (regular) price point. I’m loving it. 

I’d love to see them compete. 

nolaegghead

Pro-tip with Lithium batteries.  They should not be charged below 5C and used below 10C.  Warmer is better.  Anyone with anything Lithium chemistry should put the batteries somewhere warm if they plan on using or charging them.  No problem at all storing them sub-freezing.

rifrench

Thanks, Nola.  I'll leave my Stihl battery chainsaw in the shop 'til spring. 

RRP

nolaegghead said:

Pro-tip with Lithium batteries.  They should not be charged below 5C and used below 10C.  Warmer is better.  Anyone with anything Lithium chemistry should put the batteries somewhere warm if they plan on using or charging them.  No problem at all storing them sub-freezing.

I'm confused - my trail camera uses ONLY Lithium batteries and here in IL it can get well below 1C (you said 10C but I assumed you meant 1ºC) but that camera has never failed me. BTW it takes 10 AA of those batteries and I have gotten hundreds of shots in the dead of winter for months and half of those are taken at night so the flash is being used as well. 

nolaegghead

Ron, I'm talking about high discharge batteries.  If you are using AA batteries I would stick with alkaline for cold weather.

RRP

nolaegghead said:

Ron, I'm talking about high discharge batteries.  If you are using AA batteries I would stick with alkaline for cold weather.

Thanks - but my trail camera specifies Lithium ONLY and has never failed me. 

nolaegghead

RRP said:

nolaegghead said:

Ron, I'm talking about high discharge batteries.  If you are using AA batteries I would stick with alkaline for cold weather.

Thanks - but my trail camera specifies Lithium ONLY and has never failed me. 

That's a low current application.  The lithium will last much longer even at cold temps.  You just pay much more for the batteries.

RRP

nolaegghead said:

RRP said:

nolaegghead said:

Ron, I'm talking about high discharge batteries.  If you are using AA batteries I would stick with alkaline for cold weather.

Thanks - but my trail camera specifies Lithium ONLY and has never failed me. 

That's a low current application.  The lithium will last much longer even at cold temps.  You just pay much more for the batteries.

Thanks for your explanation.

nolaegghead

Not that anyone cares but the lithium AA batteries put out 1.5 volts.  Usually lithium batteries are 3-3.2V.  The chemistry is a little different (there are a number of different chemistries for LIthium batters).

"Lithium iron disulfide batteries contain a non-aqueous electrolyte designed to operate even in extreme temperatures from as low as -40°C up to +60°C. They also include a resettable overcurrent safety device that protects the user by switching the battery off if it is misused in devices."

Botch

RRP said:
I'm confused - my trail camera uses ONLY Lithium batteries and here in IL it can get well below 1C (you said 10C but I assumed you meant 1ºC) but that camera has never failed me. BTW it takes 10 AA of those batteries and I have gotten hundreds of shots in the dead of winter for months and half of those are taken at night so the flash is being used as well. 

Back in '92-'95, I spent a lot of time photgraphing between Grand Forks ND and Baudette, MN.  I spent most of the time out in the winter months, because spring/summer/fall (June thru end of Sept) the mosquitoes were just too thick.  I'd done many hikes/days between 0 and -25º F.  We were shooting film back then; the batts would give up, but I eventually could judge the exposure by the time of day/cloud cover and set my manual FM-2 appropriately.  The only thing I had to be careful of is advancing/rewinding the film too fast; at those temps you supposedly ran the risk of getting "static electricity" marks on the film (I never saw this).  I didn't use flash anymore by then.  
Heh, I skipped my daily 2-mile walk today, because it was 32º and windy today; guess I'm getting weak/old/lazy...   

paqman

I did not know that a battery operated snow blower was a thing.  Do you get lots of snow?  I would be worried to run out of battery.

I have owned several snowblowers and pulled the trigger on an Honda last year.  It is my best snow blower so far.  If you decide to go gas, I highly recommend it.

loco_engr

paqman said:

I did not know that a battery operated snow blower was a thing.  Do you get lots of snow?  I would be worried to run out of battery.

I have owned several snowblowers and pulled the trigger on an Honda last year.  It is my best snow blower so far.  If you decide to go gas, I highly recommend it.

I just spent $200 on an electric starter for my gas snow blower, worked yesterday and today after another 2-3" snow, my snow blower wouldn't start using the electric starter and started to make a grinding noice, so I figured it's shot.  With a bad back, I can't use the pull cord with enough juice to get it started.  
HTH

fishlessman

i would want to see one in action before buying one. i use a cordless drill to push an 8 inch drill auger while ice fishing and after trying a few i settled on milwaukee. it had a little less torque than another one but it didnt overload. weight difference between gas was dropping from 35 pounds to 13 with the little drill. it was a game changer

Mark_B_Good

My neighbor has one ... I think he said it's 40V, and uses 2 batteries?  We had about 4" of snow a couple of days ago and it worked pretty well.

poster

fishlessman said:

i would want to see one in action before buying one. i use a cordless drill to push an 8 inch drill auger while ice fishing and after trying a few i settled on milwaukee. it had a little less torque than another one but it didnt overload. weight difference between gas was dropping from 35 pounds to 13 with the little drill. it was a game changer

How much ice do you go through? I have a 6" and can get through maybe twice with one battery. I use a Dewalt drill as it was the only one with 3 speeds at the time. I keep it in 1 which was a lot lower geared than anything out there a couple years back. I cant imagine an 8" working without one hell of a drill pushing it. We get about 36" of ice here

chard

poster said:

fishlessman said:

i would want to see one in action before buying one. i use a cordless drill to push an 8 inch drill auger while ice fishing and after trying a few i settled on milwaukee. it had a little less torque than another one but it didnt overload. weight difference between gas was dropping from 35 pounds to 13 with the little drill. it was a game changer

How much ice do you go through? I have a 6" and can get through maybe twice with one battery. I use a Dewalt drill as it was the only one with 3 speeds at the time. I keep it in 1 which was a lot lower geared than anything out there a couple years back. I cant imagine an 8" working without one hell of a drill pushing it. We get about 36" of ice here

I just started using the 8” kdrill with the Milwaukee M18 this year.  I punched 12 holes in a foot of ice the last time I was out (first full week in January) and still had 3 of the 4 lights on the battery gauge.  So much better than lugging a gas auger around.  It’s been mild so far but there should be a couple feet of ice + when I get out next and am curious to see what happens with this setup when the ice is thicker.

alaskanassasin

I prefer a hatched but we only got through about a inch of ice.

fishlessman

poster said:

fishlessman said:

i would want to see one in action before buying one. i use a cordless drill to push an 8 inch drill auger while ice fishing and after trying a few i settled on milwaukee. it had a little less torque than another one but it didnt overload. weight difference between gas was dropping from 35 pounds to 13 with the little drill. it was a game changer

How much ice do you go through? I have a 6" and can get through maybe twice with one battery. I use a Dewalt drill as it was the only one with 3 speeds at the time. I keep it in 1 which was a lot lower geared than anything out there a couple years back. I cant imagine an 8" working without one hell of a drill pushing it. We get about 36" of ice here

im using a nils shaving style bit and the m18,  ive done 20 holes thru 20/24 inches of ice with 1 battery. i bring 2.  my older dewault wouldnt do it but i think that one was a 14.  i have the m18 mounted to a clam plate and 5 amp batteries