POWERSMART 24 INCH GAS SNOWBLOWER vs POWERSMART 24 INCH 80V BATTERY SNOWBLOWER - Which is BETTER?

#garagegear #snowblower #powersmart

BEFORE YOU UNBOX A POWERSMART 80V CORDLESS BATTERY SNOWBLOWER, WATCH THIS! Powersmart sent me an email a few weeks ago asking me to REVIEW their 24 INCH BATTERY POWERED SNOWBLOWER! I said, "Sure!" In this video, I UNBOXED and ASSEMBLED their 80V CORDLESS ELECTRIC SNOWBLOWER. This machine was EASY to put together but were there a few ISSUES with mine when it arrived? LIKE & SUBSCRIBE!!!

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[GarageGear]

Here are LINKS to each of the snowblowers used in this video. Thank you everyone for supporting the channel!

PowerSmart 24” Gas Snowblower


PowerSmart 24” 80V Battery Snowblower

[waynestefinashen]

Very honest review JB. Powersmart actually reached out to Jake at EP but the blower he told them to ship got sold out on Black Friday. Recently we got in a Powersmart snowblower for repairs and you can tell that the materials used are of low quality when compared to other brands but: you get what you pay for my Dad always said. Powersmart snowblowers are perfect for the homeowners that you described in your video but i wonder how long they will last with extended use. The only issue we have had with the B&S engines on snowblowers is no throttle control so they are at high rpm right off the start. Minus 29 degrees F and you can not warm them up on a low idle and boom there goes the connecting rod. Presently have 4 of these this year alone and we are making more money off them selling parts then if we reinstalled a new connecting rod. As for battery operated equipment buyers will likely realise a minimum of $100 Cdn per year cost just to replace the battery in 5 years at the longest period. Just think if this was your EV who wants to wait over an hour to charge batteries? Not me!

[Rebel]

I think I'd go for the gas model. I have a driveway about 80 feet long but narrow only widening out at the end closest to the garage to park two vehicles side by side. We only get a heavy snow of over a foot about once every ten years or so. Most winters the most we'll see at once is 6 to 8 inches, but that will generally be wet, heavy snow. We're in Southern Indiana and it seems the heaviest snows happen right around the freezing mark. We will occasionally get snow when it's down in the 20's but it's generally pretty light stuff. I live in a rural area and I don't even know anyone else with a snowblower. Until about ten years ago I'd never used a snow shovel, just an old grain scoop shovel to clear it with (That is older than me cause I had to use it to shovel the snow with on our farm when I was a kid). Now I'm 55 and it takes a lot longer to recover from shoveling the drive and oft times we'll elect to just leave the snow in the drive and run the vehicles up and down it till it's packed down real good. This year I bought a corded electric snowblower that I'm voiding the warranty on by adding homemade skid shoes as it's a single stage blower, but if it makes it last a season it'll be worth it and next fall I'll buy the gas model.

[GravesBllts]

I'm in Western NY - after the 3rd year in a row of having some mechanical issue with my gas blower; I decided to go maintenance-free with the Ego Power+ SNT2406 with 2 10Ah 56 batteries. I imagine Ego won't be sending you units any time soon to test/review, but they are lightyears ahead of this Powersmart electric. It cut right through the most recent Blizzard on Turbo and even chopped up some pretty big drifts around 4 feet. Ran almost continuously on Turbo mode for 45 minutes and cleared an 8-car single driveway out to 5 feet into the road (Plows had not been through yet. Rapid Chargers (2 included with this package) had the 10Ah batteries fully charged from dead in about an hour.

Thanks for the comparison and would love to see a review of a higher-end Battery-powered unit like the Ego would compare to your Ariens if you get your hands on one.

[garysiers]

I have the PowerSmart 24bs that was delivered in October 2024. I followed the instructions, assembled the snow thrower without any issues. Put the oil, and gas in, and followed the starting procedure. It fired right up, and ran perfectly...everything worked, so I moved it off to the side in my garage until needed. It's now January 2025, and I went to start the snow thrower, again following the starting procedure, and it would not start. I tried both the pull cord, and the electric start. I brought it inside a heated area of our home, and left it set overnight. I took it back out into the garage, tried to start it, and it acted like it wanted to start a couple of time, but ended up just turning over. I replaced the gas, removed and inspected the spark plug, and the spark plug is fine. It's acting like it's flooded, but I only pushed the priming button 2x, each time it tried to start it, but it still failed to start. I'm leaving it set awhile, and will try to start it again. The snow thrower is brand new, I've not had to use it once this winter. I'm mechanically inclined, and have repaired many types of equipment with success, but this being a new unit, and under warranty, I don't want to start taking anything apart. I shouldn't have to. Any ideas on what could be the issue, or any ideas on how I might be able to get it started. Thank you.

[TecumsehRulesbcserk]

I would definitely prefer the gas one because if there happened to be a blackout caused by a snow storm then you don’t have to worry about charging anything. Now I know that a lot of these new Briggs snow engines have a problem in their overhead valve system particularly on the exhaust side valve. For some reason the exhaust valve guide has a tendency to pop out and cause the entire valve to fall out of alignment. That then causes the valve to hit the piston head and break it, making the entire engine lock up. The only fix is to pull the head off and replace both the valve and it’s guide. Now I’m not sure if this is still an issue with the newer engines but it could still be since this company’s been having a lot of quality issues. But chances are that plastic speed selector lever is going to break before that happens, seriously that is a bad idea because when plastic gets old, it becomes brittle and breaks. All I wonder now is which chute control system is going to break the first? the gas one or the electric one?

[Samichou]

I just got a gas model from Home depot. That was basically the only model available now that wasn't 2500+. Hopefully I don't run into too much issues with it. I would have liked a slightly more expensive model but, can't find anything else.

[jaybooth]

Great honest comparison review and actual demonstration in the heavy wet snow! The battery model has some safety issues that really need to be addressed. I’ll stick with my JD and Troybuilt (the beast.) Cheers buddy! We’ll talk soon!

[georgedrake]

They are great snowblowers if you live in Florida

[scottmcbee]

I’ll keep my Ariens deluxe 28 for New Hampshire winters. Great review!

[richardgodshaw]

Great review JB, wondering what you think of the ego snow blower is is I'm in the outline when it comes to lawn mowers. I see they have a 28-inch now along with the 24in version and I have Winters much like you. Any recommendation on if I should spend the extra money and go with the 28in or will the 24-inch be sufficient? I truly appreciate your opinion and all the great tips you have supplied on maintenance.

[TheLawnLover]

I would definitely choose the gas model. That looks like a decent unit. Great video summary of both of them JB 👍

[douglaslippertindy]

Great job comparing these two budget snowblowers, JB. As you noted, as long as you fit the machine to your unique need, you’ll be fine. (Although the augur rotating after you release the lever would be enough to scare me away from they that machine.) Thanks for doing this fair comparison.

[TorBoy]

My neighbour (Toronto, Canada) bought a Powersmart gas snow blower from Home Depot about 4 years ago (B&S 212cc motor, 24") and it works quite well. It starts first pull. That said he tried to push into the snowplough bank and broke a plastic auger bushing. These little white bushings (I can see them on your machine) seem to not be for sale on the web, and seem to not be available for sale from Powersmart. It's all ok to buy cheap Chinese products if you're not going to heavily use them, but don't expect them to last. I think he paid $750CAD at the time. Replacing that white plastic auger bushing will take a lot of effort.

[ecttreker]

It sounds as though both these units should be last choice options, maybe even after a shovel!👍👍

[geargeek]

When blowing snow, mowing, or similar task I want to get it done. Waiting to recharge batteries doesn't get it done. Plus the replacement cost of batteries, or having an extra one on hand, at some point becomes cost prohibitive. How long will a battery last? 🤷🏼‍♂️ Gasoline equipment can last 20 years if maintained properly at minimal cost. I'm have yet to be convinced that battery power is the way to go.
Thanks the honest and informative review.

[TomM]

I run a Poulan Pro 30 inch blower. It is 3 years old this winter and no major issues, only thing I don't like about it is it only has one reverse speed. It has a 254 cc engine and according to Poulan rated at 10 1/2 HP. I watch a lot of videos of guys with their snow blowers and the biggest gripe I have is they are sometimes forcing their machine through heavy stuff, just take your time and let the machine do the work, might take a little longer but your not as tired from wrestling your machine around.

[JBRion]

JB, I’d love to see a review of Greenworks 2 stage snow blowers, they have a 60 and an 80V version. I’d also love to see you review the Toro 60V 2 stage.

I would say to compare to Ego but after the blower review you did, that did it for me. Happy with my choice 8yrs ago with the Greenworks Pro 80V mower, 7 yrs on the snow thrower and 6 yrs on the blower.

[WJCTechyman]

I would use neither. Power Smart parts are apparently hard to find. Those Briggs snow engines are pretty reliable but not as reliable as MTD's PowerMore. I had one on a Husqvarna made Craftsman, and cleaning the carburetor was a pain in the rear. I had to remove quite a bit of shielding to get to the carb. Not ideal. I now have a Cub Cadet, and despite the lacklustre customer reviews, the machine has been relatively trouble free. The engine was the largest installed on a walk behind snow blower up to that point when I bought it back in Winter 2020-21. The thing's basically a 420cc Honda GX390 clone and boy is it powerful. There are a couple of times it got clogged with slush where the engine was still running but the auger was stalled, causing the belt to squeal. It's only been twice where that happened in the two years I have owned it. The only downside is I go through 2-4 shear pins each season but at least they're doing their job. There is one thing the Briggs engine has that I have yet to see on a Powermore: a fuel shutoff. Of all of the things that look Honda on this machine the one thing they didn't copy over was a fuel shutoff either on the carburetor or in line. Honda GX engines, even the GC engines all have some kind of shutoff, but why is it missing on the Powermore?

[jamesorsby]

Ten inch augers, ten inch auger housing depth, thin metal, and thirteen inch tires won't work here in Chicago for heavy lake effect snow.
My Ariens Deluxe 24 catches hell a lot of the time, so I can only imagine what those models would be like in that kinda stuff.