EGO 56V SNT2100 Snow Blower is Ready to Storm the OPE Market in 2016
It seems a little odd to be talking about a snow when most of the country should have seen their last for the season. However, the upcoming EGO Snow Blower is giving us plenty to talk about. Our first view of what I’m dubbing the Snow Beast came while on a factory tour of Chervon Industries. They were doing some testing which we’d later get to try for ourselves and get an impression of the performance capabilities.
We’re going with “Snow Beast” for a reason – this machine is substantial. The SNT2100 has a 21-inch snow clearing swath with paddles that look destined for a long life. LED lights on either side provide illumination for dark mornings when the snow worked the night shift.
One of the most user-friendly features the EGO SNT2100 offers is surely the snow chute. With a simple lever on the right side of the handle, you can switch the throw from the left to right and anywhere in between. While you could stop and change it at the chute itself, we’re pretty sure you’d rather not.
The major talking point is going to be the motor and battery system. The EGO 56V Snow Blower takes advantage of a two battery system. It’s not pulling from one battery at a time or running them in series to double the power. The wiring creates a parallel connection, drawing from both batteries at the same time and essentially cutting each one’s work load in half.
That all sounds great on paper, but you really need to try the EGO 56V Snow Blower to understand what a game changer it is.
First Impression Performance Testing of the EGO SNT2100
Snow and I don’t get along all that well. Living in Central Florida, we’re pretty happy to see each other only in pictures. The team at Chervon found a way to test the snow blower without subjecting us to freezing temperatures by using wet saw dust.
In a carefully sealed off section of the factory floor (we needed to simulate a driveway), we had a solid 2 – 3 inches of “snow” to play with. Just to make sure the test wasn’t somehow engineered to make EGO look good with no competition, we also had the Greenworks 80V model and Toro’s 518 series gas powered model to compare side by side.
The 80V model did pretty well for lithium-ion. It got hung up in several places and required some extra effort from us to push through. Toro’s model was certainly better in the performance department, but both left enough “snow” behind to require a second pass.
The EGO SNT2100 56V Snow Blower was a different story. Several of us were able to push through the “snow” using just one hand as the motor muscled the paddles through confidently. Even this Florida boy had fun with it (in short sleeves, of course). The snow blower left very little behind compared to the others showing how effective it is at lifting the snow from the surface. It wasn’t perfect, but unless you’re OCD about your driveway, it was good enough to do the job in one pass.
To simulate the piles you often find at the end of your driveway after the snow plows have come through, we pushed up the snow to about 12 inches deep. The Snow Beast made short work of it, throwing “snow” high into the lights hanging above us. Of course, this was just one consistency, more toward the dry side than the wet, sloppy stuff. It showed that EGO is producing solid performance, not just against other lithium-ion models, but even against popular gas powered models.
Like the new backpack blower, we’ll need to do some more testing before we give our final thoughts on the EGO 56V Snow Blower. It seems pretty clear that they’ve come out with a very compelling first generation into this end of the OPE industry though. Look for it to show up in stores later this year – just not in Florida. It’s going to be kitted with a pair of 5.0 amp hour batteries and expected retail is $599.
EGO 56V Snow Blower Specifications
- Model: EGO SNT2100
- Power Source: Two EGO 56V batteries
- Clearing Swath: 21”
- Run Time: 20′ x 60′ space, 6” deep
- Weight: 45 pounds
- Warranty: 5 years tool, 3 years battery
- Price: $599 with two 5.0 amp hour batteries
