Toro Powermax HD 1028 OXE Snowblower Test / Review

First of all I would like to say a thank you to those who have been following my blog. I am not the most prolific blogger but I am trying to make up for that by writing things worth reading.

Now lets get on with the topic today; Snow blowers.

I had been struggling with an older 8 horsepower snow blower for a while. It lasted me about 5 years but was heavy, hard to manoeuvre and was also a little difficult to start. It also had an annoying habit of blocking up with snow and ice, requiring shutting down and digging out compacted slush from the chute.

Features
This snow blower has a long list of extra features one could be forgiven for classifying as hype

1. electric start
2. quick control joystick chute
3. power max anti clogging system
4. power steering
5. locking control handles
6. overhead valve 4 stroke engine

Check out Toro's website for the full list:

Toro's website

I initially thought these features were just the marketing department having a laugh and trying to squeeze more from silly consumers. After I spoke to a few people with this machine, I kept hearing the same comments, like "easy to start and steer", and "never clogs up".

I decided that my friends seemed reliable enough so I bought myself the Toro HD 1028 OXE.

So how do these features stack up? Pretty darn good. The snow blower is extremely easy to steer around obstacles thanks to triggers that disengage the drive to the corresponding wheel:

 

The triggers are located under the handles and therefore require gloves in order to operate. This seems a little technical but you get the hang of it quite quickly. The lever on the top right is to engage the auger, the left is for driving the wheels. When you depress the right lever, then the left, you can let go of the left lever and it will stay in as you move, allowing you to adjust the throw of the snow blower with the joystick:

 



 

This makes it very easy to throw the snow exactly where you want it. Of course all this is for naught if you can't start it, and for that there is a mains powered starter motor:

 



This means that there is no battery to maintain. To be honest though, I have not used the electric start as it has started first pull every time. 3 pushes of the primer, add the choke and turn the throttle to max and you just need to pull the handle.

So how does the Toro HD 1028 OXE handle heavy, wet snow? Very well. The heavy snow gets recirculated here:

This means that if there is too much for the chute to handle, the auger mashes it up again and throws it out when the chute has enough capacity to handle it. This feature is sheer brilliance. I have not been able to bog down this snow blower yet. This feature has allowed me to throw snow that is heavy quite easily:

So there you have it, a review of the Toro HD 1028 OXE. I have hit my share of gravel with it and the plastic shows no sign of cracking or falling apart. The snow does not stick to the chute and the joystick moves the chute with ease. I am very happy with this machine and would recommend it to anyone who needs to throw snow some serious distance (14.7 meters) and needs to manoeuvre around obstacles.

Stay safe this winter and drive carefully on those slippery roads.