Just about a year ago, I reviewed an EGO POWER+ battery-powered snowblower. I’m a lifelong “shovel the old fashioned way” guy who lives in Southwestern Ontario’s snow belt. I grew up shovelling snow and I’ve never been a big fan of snowblowers. But the EGO POWER+ won me over. No motor noise, no exhaust, no having to store gas in the shed, and lots of technology onboard–even heated handle grips. Unfortunately, this 24-inch wide snowblower was just too big for my narrow driveway. So this year, I decided to hope that EGO’s approach would pay off on a much smaller scale and I bought an EGO POWER+ 12” Snow Shovel.
Key to this decision were two primary factors. First, and foremost, its 12-inch clearing path means this battery-power snow shovel could be used beside the cars parked in my narrow driveway. With the house on one side of the driveway and a fence on the other, I could not operate a 24-inch snowblower without the constant risk of scraping the cars. Second, I had been impressed by the way the EGO POWER+ battery-powered snowblower moved snow and had my fingers crossed that the much smaller Snow Shovel could still deliver.
EGO POWER+ 12” Snow Shovel Key Specs:
- 12-inch wide clearing path
- Throws snow up to 25 feet
- Directional control
- Two-speed, variable speed trigger
- Overload protection clutch on auger
- High-efficiency, brushless motor
- IPX4 weather resistance rating
- Replaceable scraper bar (sold separately)
- Folding handle
- Compatible with EGO POWER+ 56-Volt batteries
- Sold as snow shovel head only, or as kit (with head, handle, battery and charger)
- Weighs 16.7 lbs with 2.5Ah battery
Assembly And Use
The Snow Shovel arrived in a single box, with the handle folded. I straightened it and adjusted the circular, lower grip. I already had an EGO POWER+ 56V battery and charger, so I ordered the tool only. My 10.0 Ah ARC Lithium battery (which slides and snaps into place on the control end of things) is heavier than the 2.5Ah battery that is usually included, so ultimately my setup weighed more than the advertised 16.7 lbs.
To start using the Snow Shovel, you select a speed, press a lock-off button and pull the trigger. The auger spins up and you are off to the races. Snow is thrown straight ahead, with the option to change the direction by 60-degrees–however, to do this, you need to reach down to the louver adjustment knob, which is located on top of the Snow Shovel head.
The Big Question: Does it Work?
I wasn’t expecting to be able to try out the Snow Shovel this early, but we had an early blast of winter this year. We weren’t even two weeks into November when a storm dropped six inches or so of snow. With temperatures hovering around freezing, it was wet, heavy snow. These were going to be tough conditions for a battery-powered snow blower, especially one with a plastic auger. But it was also awful stuff to shovel by hand, so I didn’t hesitate to bring the battery up from the basement.
I started off by clearing the end of the driveway where cars are parked. The Snow Shovel’s 12-inch clearing path allowed me to run down the driveway without fear of scraping a car. Snow launched straight ahead to the empty bottom half of the driveway. The Snow Shovel had no trouble with the heavy snow so long as I took my time and used the lower speed setting. If I pushed it too hard, the auger would struggle until I backed off. While you can adjust the snow output to be thrown at an angle of up to 60-degrees, I quickly settled on leaving it pointing straight ahead and adjusting my angle of attack to avoid spraying snow in inconvenient areas. That meant going side to side for the bottom half of the driveway (to avoid spraying snow on the cars or on the road).
Speaking of the road, my winter nemesis is the heap of snow and slush left at the very bottom of the driveway by the combination of sidewalk and road snow plows. This is where I started to hit the limits of handheld battery technology. However, by working slowly and cutting down the heap by taking multiple passes at the several foot-high pile–working my way down in narrow sections–I was able to do it. It definitely would have been quicker to tackle that bottom of the driveway heap by hand, but it most certainly would have required a lot more physical effort.
I then spent 20 minutes or so clearing a path for the dogs on the back deck. In all, I spent about an hour blowing snow and the 10.0 Ah ARC battery showed it still had 3/4 of a charge left. Even better, I never broke a sweat.
And that’s my take on the EGO POWER+ 12” Snow Shovel. It took a little longer than it would have to do the job by hand and required a bit of planning in terms of where you want the snow to end up, but having a battery-powered auger do the bulk of the work sure beat having to shovel the driveway the old fashioned way. Given its ability to handle heavy, wet snow, I expect it is going to make short work of the fluffier stuff that’s on its way.
Expect to pay around $360 for the EGO POWER+ 12” Snow Shovel with a battery and charger, but if already own EGO Power batteries and/or the pole, you can save money by buying just the tool.
