Ariens AMP (24") Electric Two-Stage Snow Blower

It works great, and we love it. But it will only run for about 30 minutes for us.

We talked with Ariens, and they sent some guys out to collect it and check it out. They had it for about a month all total, checked and checked, couldn't find anything wrong. Meanwhile, we shelled out hundreds of dollars to pay for plow service in a New England winter. Eventually, Ariens said that the snow must be heavy and that a 30-minute run time was fine. The repair place protested and said the snow wasn't particularly heavy, but it didn't help. Final word from Ariens was that 30 minutes was fine (and there were times we only got 20 minutes out of it).

So....it is lovely, lovely, lovely while it's running. It is just beautiful. I was shoveling the front walk, and I called over to my husband *while* the snow blower was running. He heard me! It's easy to use. It handles the snow well. I like everything about it except the run time.

If you can clear your drive in 30 minutes, which most people with normal drives could probably do with this machine...then I would definitely recommend this snow blower. It blows snow just as fast as our huge gas-powered machine, so if you can currently blow in 30 minutes or so...go for it.

Our driveway is long though and 30 minutes doesn't cut it. The recharge time is several hours, so it's a killer problem for us.

By the way...the snow blower needs to be inside and plugged into the wall at all times. It's on a trickle charger that runs continuously: winter, spring, summer, and fall. So make sure you have the space for it, and don't bother buying a cover.

It works great, and we love it. But it will only run for about 30 minutes for us.

We talked with Ariens, and they sent some guys out to collect it and check it out. They had it for about a month all total, checked and checked, couldn't find anything wrong. Meanwhile, we shelled out hundreds of dollars to pay for plow service in a New England winter. Eventually, Ariens said that the snow must be heavy and that a 30-minute run time was fine. The repair place protested and said the snow... more

Reasonably powerful and quiet (initially) but the battery is VERY LIMITED, at best:
Battery power runs down in less than 20 minutes, even after full overrnight charge, even in relatively balmy 30 degree weather
(I ended having to borrow a neighbors gas powered snowblower....)
Unless you have a VERY small driveway it is not a good investment. It easily cleared 18 inches of heavy wet snow but only for 15 minutes.... for the next snowfall of 7 inches it worked for 20 minutes before conking out...

Reasonably powerful and quiet (initially) but the battery is VERY LIMITED, at best:
Battery power runs down in less than 20 minutes, even after full overrnight charge, even in relatively balmy 30 degree weather
(I ended having to borrow a neighbors gas powered snowblower....)
Unless you have a VERY small driveway it is not a good investment. It easily cleared 18 inches of heavy wet snow but only for 15 minutes.... for the next snowfall of 7 inches it worked for 20 minutes before conking... more

The unit is attractive, and very functional. Use of this unit is quite nice quiet and smooth, and entices with low maintenance. It has a high efficiency motor and controller from Transmagnetics, designed in the US but built in China. However, the design of the battery charging and maintenance systems is a minimal 3-stage charger. There is no active or even passive single battery module based management.

Let me explain further. There are two series strings of 12V blocks of AGM VRLA batteries, each string having 4 each. These two strings are always parallel connected. As such, when not in use snowblowing, they need to stay on float charge with this charger to maximize life. However, this assumes that there is no significant imbalance in any of the 12V blocks. When there is, any individual battery may be 1V to 2V different from the rest of the batteries. For example, while on float one of the batteries is presently +1.0V over the lowest in the same string. During bulk charge, I measured over 1.6V difference between highest and lowest in one string, with that high unit subsequently peaking at 15.6V and about 2V over the lowest. Lack of any individual 12V block bleed or charge management per battery will shorten the life of such units.

The unit is attractive, and very functional. Use of this unit is quite nice quiet and smooth, and entices with low maintenance. It has a high efficiency motor and controller from Transmagnetics, designed in the US but built in China. However, the design of the battery charging and maintenance systems is a minimal 3-stage charger. There is no active or even passive single battery module based management.

Let me explain further. There are two series strings of 12V blocks of AGM VRLA batteries,... more

I purchased mine sight unseen, from a local dealer (not SBD). The cost + time to convert a used unit drove me to buy one. It arrived with a bad battery pack. I requested and received a replacement.

Initially I top-balanced the individual batteries manually. I use the supplied charger to recharge the batteries, then use my own-implementation of a battery balancer to maintain them in top-balance. I disconnect the two strings, and leave them in a cool room. In the third winter season they are still giving full run time.
Anyone using the supplied charger, as directed, and without at least an initial check and balance, is likely to have short battery lifetime and shorter than specified run time.

I purchased mine sight unseen, from a local dealer (not SBD). The cost + time to convert a used unit drove me to buy one. It arrived with a bad battery pack. I requested and received a replacement.

Initially I top-balanced the individual batteries manually. I use the supplied charger to recharge the batteries, then use my own-implementation of a battery balancer to maintain them in top-balance. I disconnect the two strings, and leave them in a cool room. In the third winter season they are... more

We just had a big storm and I got out early after the first 10 inches and this thing really struggled. I got about 30% of my driveway done before the battery started cutting out. It would move forward then just cut out and I had to turn off the key and the motor switch then turn it back on. It would go another foot or two and then cut out again. Very frustrating. This is the first and hopefully the last season I'll be using this guy. My driveway is too small for this thing not to be able to handle it.

It worked okay for smaller snow falls and VERY fluffy snow but it can't handle the load for big jobs.

We just had a big storm and I got out early after the first 10 inches and this thing really struggled. I got about 30% of my driveway done before the battery started cutting out. It would move forward then just cut out and I had to turn off the key and the motor switch then turn it back on. It would go another foot or two and then cut out again. Very frustrating. This is the first and hopefully the last season I'll be using this guy. My driveway is too small for this thing not to be able... more

I bought this because I wanted a two-stage snow blower for deep snow and slush, and didn't want to deal with a small gas motor. Sadly, it doesn't work as well as my corded single-stage snow blower, a Toro Powercurve 1800.

It can't handle slushy, heavy snow at all. It will run for a while, and then the auger gets too much icy build up, and it stalls. Re-starting the electric motor works, but only to move the blower - if I re-engage the auger clutch, it stalls repeatedly. This was true even with a puny 1/2" of slush.

With light, fluffy snow, it has very limited endurance. It was great when it was fully charged, but at about 50% charge, power dropped off dramatically and it was only throwing snow about a foot. In lightweight but thick snow, about 12-18" deep, it ran for about 150 feet before it pooped out. This was 2.5 passes for my driveway, so I'd only cleared about 4'-5' of the width before I had revert to my single-stage blower.

Blowing snow that deep with my small snow blower was a trail but at least it worked. It's 5x the price of the Toro and doesn't work as well. I wish I could return it for a gas two-stage blower now.

I bought this because I wanted a two-stage snow blower for deep snow and slush, and didn't want to deal with a small gas motor. Sadly, it doesn't work as well as my corded single-stage snow blower, a Toro Powercurve 1800.

It can't handle slushy, heavy snow at all. It will run for a while, and then the auger gets too much icy build up, and it stalls. Re-starting the electric motor works, but only to move the blower - if I re-engage the auger clutch, it stalls repeatedly. This was true even... more

This unit has some very good features, notably the size, reliable drive, solid construction, and auger systems. However, the batteries and motor were trouble from the start. Due to a tripped breaker, my first set of batteries completely discharged during the first summer and failed to recharge. With the new set of batteries (over $200) the longest run time I got was fifty minutes in snow a leaf blower could have removed. A few months after the warranty expired, moving six inches of snow in first gear caused smoke to billow from the motor, a $500+ item. Instead I have installed a 13hp Predator Gas motor for under $300. I'll post the results on my web site.

This unit has some very good features, notably the size, reliable drive, solid construction, and auger systems. However, the batteries and motor were trouble from the start. Due to a tripped breaker, my first set of batteries completely discharged during the first summer and failed to recharge. With the new set of batteries (over $200) the longest run time I got was fifty minutes in snow a leaf blower could have removed. A few months after the warranty expired, moving six inches of snow in... more

The unit arrived perfectly. Easy to set-up, about 15 minutes, and worked just as expected.
Thanks