Toro
Toro 60V Power Max e26
Toro's flagship battery two-stage is the closest anyone has come to a no-excuses electric: 26-inch bucket, 20-inch intake, triggerless steering, Quick Stick chute, hand warmers, LED light, and two 7.5Ah packs claiming up to 30 car-spaces of clearing. In cold powder it genuinely delivers gas-adjacent performance - instant torque, 45-foot throw, and a silence that makes dawn clearing neighborly. The 4.0-star Ace average tells the honest story, though: wet, heavy snow is its kryptonite, cutting throw to a lob and draining packs fast (one forum owner measured about 11 minutes per battery under max load with the grip heaters on), and at $1,899 plus $300-plus per spare pack the economics only work if you're already in Toro's 60V ecosystem or simply done with gas. The third battery port is the pressure valve - hot-swap and keep moving. Against EGO's two-stage it trades blows: the Toro steers better and has the nicer chute control, EGO's batteries cost less. For sub-10-inch storms on a four-car paved drive it's excellent; lake-effect country should stay gas.
Two-stage machines add an impeller behind a steel auger and ride on adjustable skid shoes: anything deeper than about eight inches, anything wet and heavy, gravel surfaces, and the compacted wall the city plow leaves at the end of the driveway.
Price and availability on Toro’s site may differ.
Specifications
Highlights
Pros
- ✓Feature parity with the gas 826 OHAE, including heated grips
- ✓Instant torque and no bogging in cold powder conditions
- ✓Third battery port enables mid-job hot-swapping
- ✓Near-silent next to a 252cc gas machine
- ✓Zero engine maintenance - no oil, fuel, or spring tune-ups
Cons
- ✗Wet, heavy snow crushes both runtime and throw distance
- ✗Grip heaters and headlight visibly accelerate battery drain
- ✗$1,899 up front plus $300+ per additional battery
- ✗Runtime anxiety on driveways past roughly 6-8 car lengths
Owner Insightssummarized from owner forums and reviews
The 60V Power Max e26 is Toro's flagship battery two-stage, and owner sentiment splits cleanly along one line: snow type. In powder it acts like the real thing — 25 to 30 feet of throw, triggerless steering swinging the 26-inch bucket around effortlessly, and operation so quiet that early-morning clearing without annoying the street is one of the most repeated owner compliments. The three-battery port design is unique in the class and is how owners extend it to genuinely large properties.
The practical experience is push-button winters: no fuel, no carb, instant starts, QuickStick chute control, and heated grips. But the honest owner reports set expectations for the hard days — in saturated, heavy snow one owner measured throw collapsing to barely 10 feet, and running loaded with the grip heaters on can drain a pack in about 11 minutes. Batteries are the economics of this machine: $300–400 per spare, indoor storage in winter, and the rated parked-car runtime numbers assume cooperative snow.
It fits paved suburban driveways in regions of frequent light-to-moderate snowfall, for buyers done with gas maintenance — and it's at its best bought on discount: owners who caught the deep clearance windows around $899 for the two-battery kit describe it as a steal, while at the $1,799 list price most owner math favors Toro's own gas 826 OHAE for the same money. Against its e24 sibling, you're paying for two extra inches, bigger included batteries, and the auto-steer; against every gas machine, you're buying silence and zero upkeep, not raw wet-snow muscle.
What owners like
- +Quiet enough that owners specifically praise clearing at dawn without disturbing the neighborhood — a repeated real-owner theme
- +Triggerless auto-steer swings the wide chassis around with fingertip effort, a feature the cheaper e24 doesn't get
- +Ships with two 7.5Ah packs and offers a third onboard port — the only battery two-stage line owners can load with three batteries for extended runtime
- +In powder it performs like a proper two-stage, with owners reporting 25–30 feet of throw
- +Push-button start every time in any temperature, with no gas, oil changes, or carburetor upkeep — the core reason owners switch
- +QuickStick chute control places snow precisely without stopping the machine
- +Heated grips are aboard for cold sessions (with a real runtime cost when used under load)
- +Deep clearance-price windows appear — owners have grabbed the two-battery kit for around $899, roughly half MSRP, at which point sentiment calls it a steal
Common complaints
- −Wet, heavy snow is its documented weakness: one owner reports throw distance collapsing to barely 10 feet in saturated snow versus 25–30 in powder
- −Runtime under hard load with the grip heaters on can fall to roughly 11 minutes per battery, per owner reports — budget packs accordingly
- −Spare 60V batteries run $300–400 each, so building to three packs adds serious money
- −The parked-car-count runtime ratings assume up to 10 inches of favorable snow — real wet-snow output is far lower
- −Recharging between rounds takes planning unless you own extra chargers
- −Cold-soaked batteries lose capacity, so packs need indoor storage and a carry-out routine
- −It's a big, heavy machine to maneuver in the garage with the power off
- −At its $1,799 list price it's a hard sell against Toro's own gas 826 OHAE — owner enthusiasm correlates strongly with how far below MSRP they bought it
Common Questions
How does it handle wet, heavy snow?
What's realistic battery runtime?
Is the third battery port worth using?
e26 or Toro's gas Power Max 826 OHAE for the same money?
How should I care for the batteries in winter?
Compare the Toro 60V Power Max e26
Related snow blowers
More from Toro →
Toro 60V Power Max e24
~$1,59924" wide · 60V 6.0Ah × 2 · 172 lb
The e24 is a real two-stage - friction-disc transmission, triggerless steering, Quick Stick chute, 20-inch intake - that happens to run on a pair of 60V packs, and that framing matters more than the marketing. With the included 2x6.0Ah batteries, owners report clearing a two-car suburban driveway of powder with charge to spare; instant torque means it never bogs the way small gas engines do, there's no warm-up, and maintenance is basically nil. The catches are the ones forums hammer: wet, heavy snow slashes both throw distance and runtime, the motor spins whenever the machine is switched on, and replacement packs run $300-plus - which is why the third battery port feels less like a luxury than a necessity for anything past 60 feet of pavement. At $1,599 it undercuts the e26 by $300 while giving up two inches of width, hand warmers, and the bigger 7.5Ah packs. Ace reviews average 4.0 stars - powder-country owners rave, wet-snow owners grumble. Best for single-width drives in cold, dry climates, ideally with a shovel or gas backup for the March cement.
Best for The cold-dry-climate homeowner with a modest driveway who wants two-stage capability with zero gas maintenance.
Toro Power Max HD 828 OAE
~$1,74928" wide · 45 ft throw · 240 lb
This is Toro's heavy-duty tier - HD frame, commercial-grade auger gearbox, 16-inch deep-lug tires, and a 21-inch-tall all-steel bucket that eats the end-of-driveway berms a standard Power Max nibbles at. With the 265cc 928 OAE discontinued, this is now the 28-inch machine in Toro's HD line, keeping the ubiquitous 252cc Premium OHV; spec-sheet shoppers fret about the displacement, but owner reviews (4.5 stars, 400+) say it powers through plow walls without drama because the Anti-Clogging System keeps the impeller loaded steadily instead of gulping. Triggerless steering makes 240 pounds pivot like 150, the Quick Stick flicks the steel chute through 200 degrees, and there are no shear pins - hit a frozen newspaper and the engine stalls rather than snapping hardware. The comparison everyone runs is the Ariens Deluxe 28: similar money, Ariens has auto-turn and the dealer cult, the Toro clogs less and steers easier. Knocks: no hand warmers at this price (the kit is $126), and it's a garage hog. For 100-foot drives and plow-strike duty, the honest pick.
Best for The long-driveway owner who fights a municipal plow every storm and wants HD durability without stepping up to 300cc money.
Toro Power Max HD 1030 OHAE
~$2,14930" wide · 45 ft throw · 290 lb · heated grips
The 1030 OHAE is the biggest snow blower most homeowners should ever need: a 302cc Toro Premium four-stroke swinging a 30-inch all-steel bucket with 21 inches of intake, throwing snow up to 45 feet. It's the machine for 150-foot rural driveways, drifted-in corners, and the concrete berm the county plow leaves at 5 a.m. - owners report it barely notices two feet of accumulation taken in sensible bites. Triggerless steering is what makes 290 pounds livable, unlocking the inside wheel as you lean into turns, and the hand warmers, LED light, and Quick Stick chute control mean you never take a glove off. Toro's no-shear-pin gearbox and Anti-Clogging System carry over from the rest of the line, so maintenance amounts to oil changes and a friction disc someday. Knocks from the 4.5-star, 220-plus review base: it's enormous to store, heavy to load in a truck, overkill for under 40 feet of pavement, and its price bumps against the Ariens Platinum 30 SHO, which brings 414cc for a few hundred more. If snow is a lifestyle problem where you live, this ends the conversation.
Best for The rural or lake-effect homeowner with a huge driveway who wants one machine that never meets a storm it can't out-muscle.
Toro Power Max 826 OHAE
~$1,49926" wide · 45 ft throw · 194 lb · heated grips
The 826 OHAE is the sweet spot of Toro's two-stage line and the machine most often cross-shopped against the Ariens Deluxe - the forum verdict is that you can't go wrong either way, but the Toro's Quick Stick chute control beats Ariens' crank and it typically costs a few hundred less. Same proven 252cc four-stroke as the 824 OE, but the extra $100 buys the stuff you actually feel: triggerless Auto Steer that unlocks the inside wheel when you tip into a turn, hand warmers, an LED light for 6 a.m. storms, and a 26-inch bucket. The Anti-Clogging System meters intake so wet lake-effect snow keeps moving, and there are no shear pins - the engine stalls on impact by design, which owners initially distrust and later brag about. Honest knocks: 194 pounds is real weight when the drive is disengaged, friction-disc speeds need occasional cable adjustment, and the poly upper chute looks ordinary at this price. At $1,499 with a 45-foot throw and 20-inch intake, it's the default recommendation for anyone clearing a four-plus car driveway in serious snow country.
Best for The snow-country homeowner who wants the full comfort package - auto-steer, heated grips, headlight - at the mid-tier price.
Toro Power Max 824 OE
~$1,39924" wide · 45 ft throw · 184 lb
The Power Max 824 OE is the price of entry to Toro's two-stage world and probably the best value in the lineup: $1,399 gets you the same 252cc engine as the flagship 826 trims, a 24-inch bucket with a full 20 inches of intake, and a legit 45-foot throw. Toro's Anti-Clogging System is the sleeper feature - it meters what the auger feeds the impeller, so heavy wet snow keeps flying instead of packing the chute - and there are no shear pins to snap; hardened gears plus an engine that deliberately stalls on impact stand in for them, which unnerves first-timers and delights everyone else. The Quick Stick joystick moves chute and deflector in one motion and is genuinely nicer than Ariens' crank. What you give up versus the 826 OHAE: no triggerless steering, no hand warmers, no headlight - and 184 pounds takes some muscle in turns. Against the Ariens Compact 24 (223cc), the Toro throws farther and clogs less; Ariens counters with auto-turn steering. Over 1,100 Ace reviews average 4.5 stars. The pragmatist's two-stage.
Best for The value-focused buyer stepping up to their first two-stage for a 4-10 car driveway who can skip heated grips and auto-steer.
Toro SnowMaster 824 QXE
~$1,24924" wide · 40 ft throw · 131 lb
The 824 QXE is the 724 with a 252cc engine in place of the 212cc and six more pounds on the scale, and that is genuinely the whole difference. Same 24-inch in-line auger, same Personal Pace drive, same 18-inch intake. The larger engine is the answer to the SnowMaster's one real weakness — wet, heavy, late-season snow, where the smaller motor has to be driven slower to keep the auger spinning. For $50 more it is difficult to argue for the 724 unless the machine is going to live somewhere the extra six pounds matters.
Best for The same paved two-car driveway as the 724, in a region where the snow arrives wet and heavy rather than dry and light.