Common Problems With Craftsman Snowblowers (According To Users)

The removal of snow from sidewalks and driveways is one of those things that folks who live in cold climates are begrudgingly forced to manage when Winter inevitably bears its frosty head. There are, of course, any number of measures you can take that may help reduce the amount of work to be done. But when a heavy snow does fall, there's just no avoiding the need to glove up and dig in.

While that tends to involve at least some level of actual digging, a snowblower continues to be the most efficient way to remove mass amounts of the powdery stuff from walkways and driveways. To that end, virtually every major lawnmower and tool manufacturer in the land has some sort of snowblower available in its product line. Craftsman is indeed included on that list, with the iconic brand currently listing ten snow removal devices on its website. Those devices come in various shapes and sizes, and offer consumers the choice of either gas-powered or battery-powered motors.

If you're a fan of the Stanley Black & Decker-owned brand, it's likely that you've already checked out some of those options. But before you invest the considerable funds needed to acquire a Craftsman snowblower, you'd be wise to read up on what actual owners are saying about them, as users have noted a few common issues with Craftsman's snowblowers. That includes a particularly worrisome trend that may occur after it's been stored away for the summer.

For the record, the news is not all bad when it comes to Craftsman snowblowers. In fact, despite a string of largely sub-4-star reviews for the devices, some of the news is pretty good, as even many of the negative reviews report that their snowblower worked great when they first bought it. The issues seem to begin mostly after the snowblower has been stored away for the spring and summer seasons, as multiple users reported that their Craftsman device wouldn't even start when they broke it out for winter number 2.

And as far as troublesome complaints go, if you do any digging on Craftsman snowblowers, you're likely to encounter enough reviews that claim the device would not start after being removed from storage to make you consider looking at another brand altogether. In our own digging, we read through well over a dozen such reviews spread between multiple sites, and they are all similar enough in detail to make us believe that this is a legitimate issue you'll need to consider before purchasing a Craftsman snowblower.

Apart from the starting issue, several other users reported performance concerns with their Craftsman snowblowers, primarily the 328cc 3-stage gas build and the 208cc 24" 2-stage gas model. For these customers, the primary problem was that their blower could not properly handle the removal of heavy or wet snow, and often failed to blow snow more than a few feet. Many also reported that their Craftsman device regularly got jammed up by excess snow during use, particularly when trying to clear heavier patches of snow.

The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the more common points of complaint lodged against Craftsman snowblowers for any consumer who might be thinking about purchasing one. In presenting those complaints, we relied primarily on reviews posted to Craftsman's website and other online outlets by real-world customers who have actually purchased and used one of the brand's snowblowers on their own. Whenever possible, certain reviews may have been cited directly to ensure an accurate depiction of the reported problems.