I tested DeWalt's electric snow blower over the weekend - it put my gas model in the dirt

DeWalt 60V Max snowfall thrower

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The DeWalt 60V Max snowfall blower kit is disposable for astir $1,000.
• With an all-steel auger and electrical chute controls, you'll marque speedy enactment of accumulation and drifts.
• No chute-clearing instrumentality means you'll request to walk other currency to get one.

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Living successful Cleveland, winters tin beryllium brutal with lake-effect snowfall and frigid temperatures. So successful the wintertime of 2021, I bought myself a Troy-Bilt Storm 2420 two-stage snowfall thrower. The exemplary did a large occupation until I pulled it retired of the shed to prep for a caller storm...and it wouldn't start.  

I struggled mightily with the propulsion cord earlier remembering it had an electrical start. Yet a fewer minutes and 1 hold cord later, determination was conscionable the sad, labored whirring of a state motor struggling to footwear over. 

With a tempest conscionable a fewer days distant and expected to driblet implicit a ft of snow, I didn't person clip to troubleshoot. Troubleshooting would impact tearing isolated the engine, draining the substance lines, and investigating the wiring harnesses.

Also: The champion snowfall blowers for unruly wintertime weather

And arsenic my neighbors curiously peeked done their curtains and blinds to ticker maine endanger a portion of machinery with each mode of methods for accelerated and convulsive disassembly, the agleam yellowish of the DeWalt 60V Max shone similar a beacon of anticipation from the backmost of my garage. 

The DeWalt 60V Max appears to beryllium sold retired astatine Home Depot, but is disposable astatine Ace Hardware and done Grainger.

Because it's a single-stage model, I had a fewer reservations astir the 60V Max's quality to grip overmuch much than a fewer inches of dry, powdery snow. And I disquieted astir the artillery moving retired halfway done my task. But DeWalt made a fewer plan choices that I was pleased to discover. 

Chiefly, the institution built the blower with an all-steel auger and included physics paddle controls for the debris chute. 

Taylor Clemons/ZDNET

Other single-stage models person manual chute controls. Which means that if you request to alteration the absorption your debris is thrown, you person to halt what you're doing, unopen disconnected the unit, and past set the chute. And you person to bash this each clip you privation to determination the chute, which tin beryllium an annoyance astatine best, but a nightmare if you're trying to enactment successful the upwind oregon bitter cold. 

Also: The champion utmost upwind tech: Top cogwheel for snowstorm powerfulness outages

The DeWalt 60V Max features convenient paddle triggers for controlling chute rotation, letting you instantly maneuver debris downwind and distant from you. You inactive person to manually set the chute's ejection angle, but it's beauteous overmuch a "set and forget" adjustment.  

As for power, the exemplary comes with 2 60V batteries and chargers, letting you spell from assembly -- which lone takes a fewer moments -- to usage successful conscionable a fewer hours. The power sheet features battery-level indicator LEDs for each battery, letting you cheque however overmuch powerfulness you person astatine a glance. DeWalt claims the 60V Max tin wide a 32-car driveway connected a afloat charge, and I'm highly inclined to judge them. 

I person a emblematic suburban driveway that comfortably fits six vehicles and astir 200 feet of sidewalk to maintain. With some batteries charged, I was capable to afloat wide my driveway and sidewalk sections twice, which was astir 45 minutes of tally clip altogether, earlier I'd adjacent drained fractional their power. 

And since I had truthful overmuch other power, I did what immoderate different Midwesterner would do: I cleared arsenic galore of my neighbors' sidewalks and driveways arsenic I could. I was capable to wide the full sidewalk connected our broadside of the street, arsenic good arsenic 2 of the 3 driveways, earlier I needed to locomotion backmost to my ain location to recharge the batteries.  

Also: How to take a snowfall blower: Ultimate buying usher for wintertime days ahead

The DeWalt 60V Max has 3 powerfulness modes, including an eco-friendly battery-saver option, truthful your runtime whitethorn alteration depending connected the mode you use. The powerfulness modes tin besides beryllium utilized to set your chute velocity for handling heavier oregon drier snow. The eco-friendly mode works good with caller pulverization for erstwhile you request to rapidly wide areas, portion the heavy-duty mode is large for wet, dense snow, and bladed layers of sleet and freezing rain.  

Taylor Clemons/ZDNET

Like each different single-stage snowfall blowers, the DeWalt 60V Max does not person immoderate benignant of self-propelled thrust for the wheels. But the unit's assemblage is lightweight capable that it doesn't necessitate a ton of musculus oregon effort to maneuver and control. I'm adjacent capable to physically prime it up -- utilizing due form, of people -- and transportation it if needed. 

The batteries person a spot of heft, but adjacent with some placed successful the snowfall blower, the full instrumentality is inactive amazingly casual to alteration direction. 

My biggest ailment astir the DeWalt 60V Max is that it does not travel packaged with a chute-clearing tool; you person to purchase 1 separately. While not a immense deal, not including a instrumentality that allows you to safely wide obstructions similar packed snowfall and crystal poses a information hazard. Especially if an relation is successful a hurry and reaches into the chute without reasoning portion the portion is inactive running.

ZDNET's buying proposal

All successful all, the DeWalt 60V Max single-stage snowfall thrower is an awesome small unit. With 3 powerfulness modes, you tin tackle antithetic types of snowfall and widen your artillery life. And electrical chute controls marque adjusting debris ejection speedy and easy. 

The lightweight plan makes it casual to maneuver astir curved and angled walkways and implicit uneven surfaces, specified arsenic buckled sidewalks. The all-steel auger is pugnacious capable to grip conscionable astir immoderate benignant of snow, tiny bits of ice, and adjacent sticks and different gait waste. And for astir $1,000, you'll get the snowfall blower, 2 batteries, and chargers, and countless mornings of not freezing to decease arsenic you manually shovel your driveway.