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Few people know this, but a leaf blower is a fast and easy approach to snow removal. Blowers are an excellent choice for cleaning dry snow that is about 4-5 inches or less. You will be surprised at how easy it is to clear snow away with a leaf blower. And you will wonder why you have not used this simple method before.
Watch the demonstration video below to see how well this method works. It is way less effort than shoveling. And actually makes cleaning snow outside of your home a lot of fun.
Table of Contents
- Dealing With The Pain Of Snow Removal In Winter
- Video Demonstration Where We Used A Leaf Blower For Snow Removal
- How To Use A Leaf Blower To Clear Snow
- Dry/Powder Snow Works Best For Removal With A Leaf Blower
- Top Snowfall Amounts For Using A Leaf Blower For Snow Removal
- Avoid Walking Or Driving On The Snow Prior To Blowing
- Types Of Leaf Blowers That Work For Removing Snow
- Safety Considerations And Disclaimers
- Benefits Of Using A Leaf Blower To Remove Snow
- Final Thoughts On Clearing Snow With A Cordless Blower
- Leaf Blower For Snow Removal On Your Car
- Product Information On The Leaf Blower Used In This Video Review
- EGO Power+ LB6504 650 CFM Variable-Speed 56-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Leaf Blower 5.0Ah Battery and Charger Included
Dealing With The Pain Of Snow Removal In Winter
This girl certainly likes the snow. Fresh snow makes for a picturesque winter setting. Thoughts of skiing, snowboarding, and building snowmen come to mind. But clearing the snow from your walkway and driveway is no fun.
Most of us are hung up on the chore of removing the fresh snow outside our properties. The good news for us is that a leaf blower often does a surprisingly good job. If you have one, you should try it out to see if it works for you.
Video Demonstration Where We Used A Leaf Blower For Snow Removal
Watch our video below to see how well the leaf blower can handle a couple inches of snow removal from typical stairs, walkways, and driveways.
The snow in our test case was just beginning to melt at the pavement surface when we started blowing. The walkway that was protected from the sun had dry, powdery snow and did the best. It was, literally, a breeze to get done. The wet, heavier snow was more challenging.
The takeaway from out test is that leaf blowers deliver fast and effortless snow removal. As long as you have a reasonable amount of dry snow to clear.
The wet driveway did not work that well for us. The blower was definitely slower on the wetter snow. However, the bottom line is that for dry snow, there is nothing faster and easier than a leaf blower.
How To Use A Leaf Blower To Clear Snow
As we’ve seen above, not all winter snow storms are amenable to the use of a blower. Here are the conditions that work. And the ones that don’t.
Dry/Powder Snow Works Best For Removal With A Leaf Blower
Blowing works best for dry, powder-like snow. A heavy, wet snow is better shoveled. Also, get out early to remove snow with a leaf blower. Even for the dry snow. Once the snow starts to melt, especially on the surface of your driveway, the blower will have difficulty clearing out the snow.
In this case, you will either need to shovel or use a snow blower. Or better still, just wait for it all to melt. If you are talking about only a few inches of snow that is already too wet for a blower, chances are that it will melt later in the day.
Top Snowfall Amounts For Using A Leaf Blower For Snow Removal
Clearing heavy snowfall, obviously, will not work with a leaf blower. However, if you have a high-performance blower (500 CFM or more), you should be able to use it for snowfalls up to 4 to 5 inches. And dry, powdery snow lets you go higher.
But wet snow, even if it is an inch or less, may not work that well. In the wet snow, you will need more time to blow the stuff away. Which sometimes gets you close to a shoveling timeframe.
Avoid Walking Or Driving On The Snow Prior To Blowing
Walking or driving on the snow will cause it to compact on the surface. The leaf blower will not be able to blow away the snow in the areas of the footprints or tire tracks. Plan on blowing away the snow before anyone goes out and treads on it.
Types Of Leaf Blowers That Work For Removing Snow
Generally, if your leaf blower can clean out fall leaves, it will also stand up to the task of clearing snow. Look for something that can do speeds of at least 400 CFM. Not that lower speeds don’t work at all. It is just that they will be more limited and take longer to get the job done.
Either gas or cordless blowers do just fine for snow removal. Wind force and blower strength are more important than the source of energy.
Safety Considerations And Disclaimers
We don’t recommend using a corded blower for safety reasons. Cordless blowers also have a safety risk. You should carefully consider those risks before using any type of leaf blower for clearing out snow due to risk of a shock or shorting of equipment. We are not responsible for any damage or injury from this method of snow removal if you decide to try out the suggestions here.
Benefits Of Using A Leaf Blower To Remove Snow
Below are some photos of the walkway and stairs that were cleaned out with the leaf blower in our demo. Note that no salt or de-icer was used. The blowere gets everyting out so you don’t need to salt!
This brings us to the advantages of a leaf blower compared to a shovel. Blowers are much less time and effort. And you end up with a completely clean and dry surface. Almost no contest.
Steps are always difficult to shovel because of the angles. The leaf blower completely blasts away all the snow from stairs. You completely avoid any residual water, the prospect of re-freezing and the need for salt. If you have a dog, like we do, being able to stay away from winter salt is something their paws will thank you for.
Final Thoughts On Clearing Snow With A Cordless Blower
As you’ve seen in the video above, the leaf blower wins hands down compared to shoveling for small to medium snowstorms. The snow removal with a leaf blower is cleaner than a shovel or snow blower. The job can be done with the same speed and effort of a snow blower.
Leaf Blower For Snow Removal On Your Car
After reading this article, you’ve probably wondered if a leaf blower would work for cleaning the snow off your car. You would be right. A blower is the easiest way to blow off the snow from your car. Especially from the roof which is hard to get at with a snow scraper/brush.
As with the snow on your pavement surfaces, it needs to be dry. Once the snow turns wet and heavy, the blower option gets tougher for a full clean up of the snow from your car.
Product Information On The Leaf Blower Used In This Video Review
EGO Power+ LB6504 650 CFM Variable-Speed 56-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Leaf Blower 5.0Ah Battery and Charger Included
This is the leaf blower that was used in the snow removal video above. It is a top-of-the-line cordless model from EGO with blowing speeds up to 650 CFM. You can find a review and tutorial for using this blower to clean out fall leaves here.
| Name | EGO Power+ LB6504 650 CFM Variable-Speed 56-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Leaf Blower 5.0Ah Battery and Charger Included |
| Model Number | LB6504 |
| ASIN | B087RRLLQ3 |
| Manufacturer | EGO Power+ |
| Item Weight | 12.9 pounds |
| Battery | 5 Ah Lithium |
| Charger | 56-Volt |
| Manufacturer’s Description | The industry’s most powerful blower is here! Introducing the 650 CFM EGO POWER+ Blower. With air speeds that compare to a category 5 hurricane of 180 MPH, this blower can move wet leaves, rocks, mud, snow and more. With an all new lock on speed control dial, you can adjust your speed from 250 CFM to 500 CFM. When you are ready to move the heavy debris hit the turbo button for 650 CFM! |
Shaun Mendonsa, PhD is an influencing expert and pharmaceutical development leader. He writes on the topics of influence and persuasion, and develops next generation drugs in human pharma by advising international pharmaceutical CROs and CMOs. He can be reached at [email protected].
Keywords
EGO Leaf Blower; 650 CFM; How-To; Review; Tutorial Video; Power Tools; Cordless Electric Blower; Snow Removal; Lawn and Garden; Landscaping
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The blower is great as is the other Ego tools
But!
The batteries are horrible!
After only a few charges they are useless!
At nearly $500 each!
A very poor choice?!!