Greenworks 20" 12A

Ease of Operation

Near useless wheels, and the chute can freeze in place. The Greenworks 20" 12A weighs about 35 pounds, making it one of the heavier electric snow blowers we cover, but it's still light enough for owners to handle easily. A few even say it feels so well-balanced that you won't know it's not self-propelled. Others disagree, particularly if snow is wet and thick: "The machine requires a fair amount of pushing -- especially if you can't get to your plowing until after the snow has sat for a while," says one user at Amazon.com. Another writes at SnowBlowersDirect.com that the wheels "are truly puny and have little or no traction," which can make controlling this blower on slopes or ice difficult at best.

Although a few of this unit's features are a hit -- like soft blades that won't crack if you accidentally run over something -- some users say the electrical cord tends to come unplugged if you don't hold it in place, and we found a number of complaints that the chute freezes. A few owners suggest using WD40 to prevent this, but others warn that if you don't have a heated garage in which to store the Greenworks 20" 12A, the chute-adjustment handle could break off when you try to use it.

Snow-clearing Effectiveness

Good for dry snow, but wet stuff requires strategy. "It has performed faithfully on every snow storm we've had," says one Greenworks 20" 12A owner at SnowBlowersDirect.com. "Clears right down to the pavement. If the snow is constant I just go out twice so that it doesn't get too deep." However, users warn that the chute will clog if snow's very wet, agreeing that the Greenworks performs best in dry snow. Another writes, "We had 5 inches of snow overnight, it took me maybe 15 minutes to clean [my mother's] driveway, in the past it would have been over an hour of much harder work."

That said, a greater number of owners say the Greenworks 20" 12A can work through wet snow if you tackle it a couple of inches at a time, or by "lifting the handle and taking small bites," as one SnowBlowersDirect.com poster explains. On Amazon.com, another says: "My sidewalk/driveway has about a half-inch of caked-on ice/snow, and it went over that and blew off the extra 1.5 inches that was above." One user warns that the 20" 12A's relatively short chute means light snow sometimes gets sprayed around, resulting in a thin layer of new snow that requires another pass to clear.

The Bottom Line

Effective, but imperfect. Although the Greenworks 20" 12A gets better-than-average reviews for its ability to chew through packed or wet snow a couple of inches at a time, owners complain that the chute freezes in place and presents a constant risk of broken parts. Some reviewers say snow freezes inside the machine, too, in which case you need a patio or heated garage where it can thaw out. For an electric blower that doesn't require as much babying in cold temperatures, the Toro 1800 Power Curve (*Est. $300) is very well-reviewed and can tackle wet snow if you take it a little bit at a time.