Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB 40-Volt iONMAX Hybrid Snowblower Review

Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB is a hybrid snow blower – meaning it can be powered by either batteries or cord. The idea behind this is that in lighter snow you can run on batteries without having to deal with the cord, whereas in heavier snow corded power source will provide you with more power. So how does it perform?

Performance

Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB has 13.5 amp motor that with its clearing width of 18 inches and intake height of 8’’ can move up to 500 lbs of snow per minute. It’s not made for heavy snowfalls – you will need something more serious that this unit but for snow of up to 6-8 inches it does perform rather well. It can handle more than that too but not without struggling.

Light, fluffy snow is no challenge for Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB – it plows through it seemingly without any effort. Wet, heavy snow is where it starts to struggle – depending how bad it’s you might have to slow down because it might start to bog down in more serious conditions. Chute sometimes gets clogged as well – it’s not hard to unclog it but can be annoying at times.

The power difference between being battery or corded powered is pretty significant – not quite a world of difference but you will definitely notice extra performance when corded.

Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB has steel auger with 2 rubbers blades.

Power Sources

Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB comes with 40 V 4.0 Ah EcoSharp lithium-ion battery. Battery life heavily varies depending on conditions. In heavy conditions you can expect it to last as little as 20 minutes, in light snow of couple inches it will last around 50. Battery had indicator to show roughly how much juice is left.

If you are planning on using corded mode then Snow Joe recommends 14 Gauge extension cord for less than 50 feet or 12 Gauge for cord that’s over 50 feet long.

Features

Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB has 3W LED headlight – it’s small but surprisingly bright.

It’s not self propelled but as it weighs just 32 lbs it’s not hard to push.

You can adjust chute by 180 degrees horizontally from control panel but vertical adjustments must be done manually. Handle is also adjustable to match for height.

Conclusions

Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB is not made for heavy snowfalls but if you need machine that cleans up to 6-8 inches of snow then it’s worth consideration.

Snow Joe iON18SB-HYB 40-Volt iONMAX Hybrid Brushless Single Stage 18-Inch Snowblower Details:

• Motor: 13.5 Amp
• No-load speed: 2200 ± 10% RPM
• Clearing width: 18 inches
• Intake height: 8 inches
• Power sources:
  • Battery (40 V 4.0 Ah EcoSharp rechargeable lithium-ion battery)
  • Corded
• Weight: 32 lbs