Review of Snow Joe 24V-SS13 24-Volt iON+ 13-Inch 4-Ah Cordless Snow Shovel, Blue

UPDATE: Finally had snow, around 4" slightly heavy snow. I used this on packed gravel and as long as I didn't try to clear it out to the gravel, I never threw any. The driveway is only the size of 2 cars. Worked fine. I also used it on a 25' x 25' wood deck. The auger picked up loose sticks that were in the snow and tossed them. The rubber piece at the bottom of the Joe takes quite a beating on uneven wood decks but that part can be replaced. The battery life was better than I thought, it was down only 1 light doing both the gravel drive and the deck.

I chose the 24V BUNDLE, which includes an additional 24 volt battery. This was very easy to put together. Follow the enclosed instructions and you'll see that you attach the handle to the middle section FIRST, than attach that to the shovel part. That way the extra cord is easy to tuck into the shovel section. I had no problems, it was together in 3 minutes. The Rapid Battery Charger WAS included in the box, in a separate white cardboard box. I didn't have to call Snow Joe for it. The batteries I got were both on 2 lights, so it took less than an hour to charge.

I'll update as soon as it snows. I was a little shocked on how heavy this is, even without the battery installed, so if you don't have some upper body strength, you might have trouble with handling this. I'm also going to be using this on a gravel driveway, the auger looks like it has a couple inches of clearance before I start throwing rocks, but it may end up not working out for my needs. I refuse to pay $1500.00 for a 2-stage snowblower, since I only have to clear snow on a spot that takes up the space of 2 cars. Check back!

Deck snow removal

Should be an adjustment on how to shoot out. Side walks are best if you go side ways on them. Driveways are ok but the shoot brings the snow back on the long drive ways so it is best to start in the middle and throw on each side.

I will update this after it's used in real snow but for now it worked in the initial charge test.
Pros:
1) Battery is easy to charge and attach and detach from the unit - that's a real plus (I have the full size snowblower as well and the battery is very difficult to install requires a mallet to pound it flush so it will engage, and then a crowbar to get it back out which is too much drama IMO)
2) decent size for days when full size blower is overkill

Cons:
1) the 3 piece handle does not lock down tight so it has an over all wobble. No matter how much you tighten the wig nuts there is little change to the stability of the bar. I will most likely try to get washers to snug it up.

Con which became a Non-event due to other reviews: thanks Amazon reviewers!
I was reluctant to buy this because of the difficulty some reviewers reported in putting the three-piece handle together and getting the cord that runs through it to fit. That observation is completely true. If you follow the assembly instructions, you'll end up with way too much cord left over to close up the connections. However on my unit, I was able to do it without any modifications by taking the three pieces and slowly connecting them a little bit at a time, this allows the chord to adapt inside the sections as you go along. Otherwise there is like 3 inches of cable/chord that prevents the thing from going together. One thing I would say is once you get it together, never take it apart"¦. Never"¦. Just don't. I think I was only able to get it together because of all the warnings in the comments from other reviewers, which I really appreciate. I was prepared going in for a little bit of a Rubic's cube moment and that helped. I knew trouble shooting would be necessary to get my unit together successfully. Thank you to the other reviewers who mentioned this issue.

Haven't had to use it yet but compact and light. Not hard to put together.