I Tested 6 Walk-Behind Snow Blowers Over 14 Storms, and Only One Never Made Me Stop

The EGO is the best-built snow blower in this test. I want to say that up front, because what comes next might sound like I don't respect it. I do. The Peak Power technology that combines two batteries for maximum output is genuine engineering. The steel auger is solid. The 5-year tool warranty is the longest on this list. The 40-foot throw is the farthest. And the handle-mounted remote chute control is the best in the test: you adjust the chute without taking your hands off the handles.

If you already own EGO yard tools, you have spare 56V batteries in the garage, and you don't mind the weight, the SNT2114 is a strong machine.

But this is a winter tool, and winter is where the EGO's advantage disappears.

In November, on the first storm, the EGO threw snow 40 feet across the yard. By February, in single-digit temperatures, with the batteries stored in my unheated garage (which is how most people store them), the throw was down to about 20 feet and the runtime was about 60% of what it was in November. On the 8-inch storm, the batteries died before I finished the driveway. I had to bring them inside, wait for a partial recharge, and go back out.

That's a stop.

One: The cold kills the battery. This is not an EGO problem. It's a lithium-ion chemistry problem. Cold reduces battery output, and single-digit temperatures reduce it dramatically. The 4.0Ah batteries that cleared a 10-car driveway in November cleared about 6 cars' worth in February. EGO's Amazon reviews say the same thing, and it's the most common complaint: battery life varies by temperature. (Source: Amazon reviews for B08GYHM8KP; lithium-ion cold performance documented by Battery University.)

Two: 53 pounds. The EGO with batteries installed weighs about 53 pounds. That's nearly double the Braddock. On a flat driveway it's manageable. Turning it at the end of a row, lifting it over a curb, or pushing it through heavy wet snow, you feel every pound.

Three: $699 for the entry kit. The 4.0Ah battery kit is $699. The 7.5Ah kit that EGO promotes is $1,039.99. For comparison, the Braddock 23-inch corded is $349.99. The EGO costs twice as much for a narrower path, shorter real-world runtime in cold, and the same 12-inch clearing depth.

Four: Battery replacement cost. EGO 56V batteries run $200 to $329 each, depending on capacity. The 3-year battery warranty helps, but a replacement after year three adds hundreds to the lifetime cost of this machine.

The SJ625E is the most-reviewed corded electric snow blower on Amazon, with nearly 6,000 ratings, and there's a reason for that. It's affordable, it's widely available, and for a normal winter with normal snow on a normal driveway, it works. I want to say that first because what comes next might sound like I don't respect the machine.

I do respect it. For light to moderate snow, on a flat driveway near an outlet, the Snow Joe is a solid choice and a fraction of the price of the battery options. It shares the same basic advantage as the Braddock: corded electric that never runs out of power.

But there's a 2-inch and a 15-pound gap between the Snow Joe and the Braddock, and both matter more than they sound.

The Snow Joe cuts a 21-inch path. The Braddock cuts 23. That's one more pass per row on a two-car driveway. In the cold, one more pass is five more minutes.

The Snow Joe weighs 35.7 pounds. The Braddock 23-inch weighs about 27. After 20 minutes of pushing through wet snow, eight pounds is the difference between "that was easy" and "my arms are tired."

And then there's the chute.

One: The chute. This is the most common complaint in the SJ625E's 5,800 Amazon reviews. The chute comes loose during use, changes direction on its own when the machine vibrates, and in some cases breaks off entirely. On my unit, the chute slipped twice during a single storm of wet snow. I had to stop, reposition it, and tighten it by hand in the cold. That's a stop.

Two: Wet snow clogs it. The SJ625E handles dry powder well. Wet, heavy snow is a different story. The auger housing is tight, and heavy snow packs into it instead of throwing clean. I cleared the auger by hand three times during the 5-inch wet storm. Each time I had to kill the motor, dig the packed snow out, and restart. Three stops in one storm.

Three: The weight. 35.7 pounds is nearly nine pounds heavier than the Braddock. For a 20-minute clearing that's manageable. For a 30-minute session in heavy snow, it wears you out. One of its most common Amazon review themes is that the weight is a problem for older users.

Four: Plastic handle connectors. Multiple Amazon reviewers report that the plastic connectors between the handle and the body break within a season, making the machine unusable. Metal hardware would fix this. Snow Joe uses plastic.

The Greenworks has the widest path of any battery machine in this test: 22 inches, just one inch short of the Braddock. The 80V brushless motor is efficient, and the 13-inch clearing depth is the deepest on this list. On paper, it should be the one to beat.

In November, it was. The first storm, dry powder, the Greenworks threw snow 25 feet and cleared the driveway faster than the WORX and almost as fast as the Braddock. The 22-inch path made a real difference.

Then winter happened.

One: One battery, and it's not enough. The kit comes with a single 4.0Ah battery. On a cold day with wet snow, it lasted about 15 minutes on my driveway, which wasn't enough to finish. The Greenworks 80V battery charges in about 180 minutes, so there's no quick top-up. You're either buying a second battery ($150 to $200) or waiting three hours.

Two: The cold hit it harder than the EGO. Both are lithium-ion, but the EGO's Peak Power tech seemed to manage cold better. The Greenworks' power dropped noticeably below 20°F. By February I'd stopped relying on it for the full driveway.

Three: 49 pounds. Lighter than the EGO but still heavy. After pushing it through eight inches of wet snow, the weight catches up to you.

Four: Mixed reviews on reliability. With more than 5,000 ratings and a 3.9-star average, the Greenworks has more unhappy owners than the EGO. Battery failure and motor issues appear in the reviews more often than I'd expect from an 80V machine.

The WORX is the mid-range battery option. It uses the same 40V architecture as the Braddock cordless (two 20V batteries running together), but it costs about $420 for the complete kit versus $499.99 for the Braddock cordless. On paper, that looks like the better deal.

In practice, the WORX falls short in three places that matter. The clearing depth is only 10 inches, two inches shallower than the Braddock corded and the Snow Joe. The throw distance is 20 feet, five feet shorter than the Braddock. And the rubber-tipped auger, while gentle on surfaces, doesn't break up heavy snow the way a steel auger does.

The WORX Power Share platform is a real selling point if you already own WORX tools. The 20V batteries work across their mower, trimmer, drill and saw. But if you're buying a snow blower and you don't already own WORX tools, the batteries are a cost with no other use.

One: 10-inch clearing depth. Two inches less than the Snow Joe and the Braddock. On a 6-inch storm, that's fine. On an 8-inch storm, you're making extra passes to skim the top and come back for the rest. That's time and battery you don't have.

Two: Runtime in the cold. Like every battery machine in the test, the WORX ran shorter as the temperature dropped. By February, the two 4.0Ah batteries covered about two-thirds of my two-car driveway in wet snow. Not enough.

Three: The rubber auger struggles with packed snow. The rubber-tipped auger is gentle on decking and pavers. It's also gentle on packed, wet snow, which means it doesn't break it up as aggressively. The plow pile at the end of the driveway was a problem every time.

Four: 47 pounds. Heavier than the Braddock corded, in a machine that does less. The weight is in the batteries and the housing, and you feel it on every turn.

I included a gas machine in this test because a lot of people are considering one, and the Toro is the name most people think of first. The Power Clear 518 ZE is their entry-level single-stage: an 18-inch path, a 99cc engine, and an electric start button that's supposed to make cold starts easier.

The Toro has two things none of the electric machines have. First, it runs on gasoline, so it never needs a battery or a cord. Second, the rubber paddle auger makes contact with the ground and scrapes it clean in a way no electric auger does. On packed, slushy snow, the Toro cleared down to bare concrete better than anything else in the test.

Those are real advantages. They're also not enough to offset what gas costs you in practice.

One: Starting. The electric start button works when the engine is warm or when the temperature is above about 20°F. Below that, I needed the pull-cord backup, and a pull cord on a cold engine in January is an arm workout. Two mornings I spent ten minutes trying to start it before giving up and plugging in the Braddock. That's not a stop. That's a failure to launch.

Two: Noise and fumes. A gas engine at 6 AM is the kind of thing that gets a note from your neighbor. The exhaust blows back at you while you're clearing. Every electric machine in this test is quieter by an order of magnitude, and none of them put exhaust in your face.

Three: Maintenance. Gas means oil changes, spark plugs, fuel stabilizer for storage, and draining the tank or running it dry at the end of the season. None of the electric machines need any of this. Over three years, the maintenance cost and hassle close the price gap between the Toro and the Braddock.

Four: 18-inch path. The narrowest in the test. Five inches narrower than the Braddock 23. On a two-car driveway, that's two extra passes. In the cold, those passes matter.