Craftsman  30 In 357cc* Dual-Stage Snowblower w/ EZ Steer, Electric 4-Way Chute Control

Because of when I purchased this blower (late in season), I've only used it once this winter. It performed very well, though I did have to adjust chute control right away, and even after that, it tends to "travel" instead of holding position. Other than that, I'm quite satisfied with the purchase. I'm using it on an approximately .2 mile long asphalt drive and so far, it's done a good job of cleaning down to the asphalt surface without leaving much residual snow cover.

I bought this to replace an old Yardman 33" with a 357cc engine. Two good things on this machine: the motorized chute works well, and the impeller is very fast allowing the machine to shoot snow a fair distance. However, it is so light on the front that it runs up over the snow even at the slowest speed. A great deal of effort is required to push up going forward. Weights are needed on the top of the front: 10,20,30 or more pounds. The front opening is tall enough but the auger isn't high enough to make advantage of this. The auger should be 15". It is nice to be able to run right up against a wall, but I would give that up if there were wings on the sides that could be pulled forward and in front of the side edges. As it is, even at low speed, snow falls out to the side as you move forward on the second run. This leaves another pile of snow between blown paths that has to be cleaned. I am really unhappy because it takes so much physical energy to run this.

This blower clears snow fast but I have never used speeds 3-6, maybe if I needed to clear a parking lot. Controlling chute from handle bar is nice but single joystick is a learning process to operate especially on the busy right hand grip. A separate up/down on one side of handle bar, and a left/right chute swivel on the other would be better. Some times the cables get in the way of the snow exiting the chute and have to reach over to relocate them. Over all this blower recommended by Consumer Reports lives up to their high rating.

I've used the snowblower on a 6" snow that was pretty wet. The engine acted like it wasn't even being worked. There is a little bit of a learning curve as I need to get the chute operation done better and figure out the pivot steer. This snowblower has lots of nice features and I am very happy with this snowblower and am happy I bought it.

I used this after a 13 inch snow with minor drifting. Motor never bogged down even when the snow got wet from thawing out. Be careful going through a lot of soupy wet snow or you can clog this like I did. I love the LED light on this which makes everything much easier to see in detail. One of the reasons I bought this. Super bright white compared to the junk halogen models out there. No bulb to replace in the future! Took me an hour and a half to do a 200X40' are, and that's using a snowblower for the 1st time. Do not buy a machine bigger than this, as this size will take you for a ride already. It is extremely heavy, and mine was in a box/crate. Will take atleast two strong people to unload off a pickup truck. Already comes with oil in the motor. After a hour and a half I still had half a tank of gas left! Your neighbors will definitely be jealous when they see this thing shooting snow 40+ feet out there. For the first time I actually look forward to moving snow now.

Worked fine in a small storm but 27 inches of wet snow was a great test. No problem cutting through 3 foot drifts of wet snow. Machine was able to throw the heavy snow a good 25 feet. After 6 hours of heavy snow, no problems. Heavy machine but I'm happy to have it in a storm like that. A smaller machine would have struggled, this machine made it easy. If it holds up as well it worked it's a winner. Time will tell.

I bought this snow blower last winter. it worked well but we didn't have much snow. this year we had a blizzard and this snow blower was awesome. I do snow removal commercially. A lot of my accounts need sidewalks and walkway done where a plow will not fit. This blower handled everything I put in front of it. At first i wasn't sure if I would like the joystick but I found it OK to use. Its a little hard to get it moving

After much research I decided to replace my 15YO 30 in, 11 HP craftsman with this unit. The new unit has the same size engine and capacity but the design appears to be more rugged. The larger auger and impeller appears to clear snow faster. Only one opportunity to use so far & the EZ-steer and electric chute control takes some getting used to but cut 1-hour off my snowblowing time. Also made short work of the pile left at the top of the driveway by the town plow.

Very impressed with the power of this machine. It takes a little getting used to since it is a large machine, but after an hour I felt like I was back in control. Assembly instructions could have been a little easier for the non-mechanic. It took me about an hour.

I was so excited to get my new Craftsmen.  It is a beast.  30" wide and a 357cc engine.  For the first year, it ran like a top and devoured any snow you could throw at it.  Now here I am the first major snowfall of the following year and I can't get it to keep running.  I had it on full choke and the minute it goes off choke it dies.  Just can't keep it running.   I followed the protocol for summerizing and changed the oil before I put it away.  Now, I have to drop about $100 for a Carb Kit, Plug and gaskets.  I hope this takes care of the problem.. I called Sears and they told me that it was outside of the warranty and any/all services would be charged including a diagnosis fee.  It was very upsetting to hear this.  My old Craftsmen snowblower was 19 years old and ran like a top until the day it finally died.  It's just over a year old and I have to spend a bunch of money to get it fixed.  If I had the choice to do it all over again, I would not have bought a Craftsmen.  It's just as upsetting.....