Husqvarna Outdoor Power Equipment Husqvarna St 330 Residential Snow Blower 30" 369Cc

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I bought this in November 2018 and it was my first snow blower. I have a 500 foot drive, so I thought I needed something fairly fast. All in all that has probably been the right decision. Early and late season wet snow can take a lot of work, but snow blowers are always going to be at their best on powder, so that's not a condemnation of this machine. The down side of a large snow blower is that it is heavy, and somewhat difficult to control. I find the reverse gear very slow even at the maximum speed, so it can go forward very fast, but if you are thinking of going backwards and forwards you are going to spend a lot more time in reverse. Early on I broke a few shear pins at the top of the drive, where the city tends to plow me in. But I learned to take my time and avoid pulling in chunks of ice. So now I have a cache of spare shear pins that I haven't needed in a couple of years. I've gone through three scraper bars and four sets of skids. It is important to set the skids at the right height for what you want to clear. Same with the scraper, you need to pay attention. Oil changes aren't the easiest, but are typical for these machines. I usually find the heated hand grips get too warm. I am working hard and wearing gloves already, so the extra heat usually isn't needed after a while. Other than the slow reverse the other real disappointment is the headlight, but that was changed on later models. On my 2018 the headlight is obscured by the chute when it is firing to the right. Pretty stupid design.

Moves a lot of snow but leaves a 1 inch skiff on the driveway so bring out the shovel… The hand warmers are brutally ineffective even at -10C and an hour into a big clearing job. It is a brute , meaning heavy and cumbersome.