Briggs & Stratton 1697293 Snow Blower, Red/Black

Edit - Feb 2021Wow, what a difference a few snowfalls make. I initially gave this Snow Blower a 5 star rating. I'm dropping it to 2. While the engine performs beautifully...it starts up easily in the coldest of weather (15 below today) and the performance is terrific...it is a terrible machine in actual use. The augurs should self-propel, but the poor design of the skids make it almost actively work against you, particularly in lighter snow between 2 and 5 inches. If there are any cracks in the pavement at all (sidewalks) the front skids will bump up against it and stop the machine in its tracks. If you have rougher pavement or are going up even a slight incline, it fights you. There's no way to adjust it either. I think it performs better in deeper snow (6 inches or more), which is great, I guess. But it tops out at 12 inches anyway. If you have less than that, it is VERY frustrating to use. Might as well just use a shovel, I guess. If I had a choice to buy this again, I would not.So far, so good. Unboxed it and assembled it today. I went together fairly easily, although the assembly instructions are terrible. It's all picture graphics and they're trying to cover multiple models so it's pretty confusing. Luckily, it only goes together one way, so just set aside some time, be patient and methodical, and you should be OK. It took me about 45 minutes from getting it out of the box to startup. Once I had it together, I added the oil that's included and topped off the gas tank and verified the electric starter worked properly. Push of a button and it started right up. The recoil start works fine too with just a single easy pull. It seems to be a very solid machine and doesn't feel like it's going to shake apart like my old Toro did. No snow yet, so I won't be able to comment on how well it clears my driveway. The augur looks formidable though, so I do not anticipate any trouble.

I live in New Jersey and while some winters we'll barely get any snow, there are years where we get a couple large storms. I needed a blower that is easy enough to manuver around yet can handle some decent snow once in a while. I bought a two stage unit a few years back, but it was too big and heavy. It was difficult to manuver and was a waste for what I was looking for. I decided to try out this Briggs and Stratton model due to the larger engine and the Snow Shredder auger.This last weekend we were pummeled with close to 22in of snow over two days. About 9 inches of fluffy snow fell by Monday morning and I couldn't wait to try this out. It cut through every single inch and didn't hesitate one bit. The plows left a decent pile just over a foot tall and again it didn't hesitate one bit. Of you get light, fluffy snow is highly recommend this. It seemed light it could take much, much more.Part 2 of the storm was a little warmer and the snow was heavier and wet. I went out for the second pass with 10in on the ground. The blower was a bit harder to push, but nothing is complain about. It blew right through the majority of my driveway and patio with no issues and very little effort. The plows did what the plows do and left 20in of compacted snow to clear. This is when this started to feel like a single stage blower, but it still was able to take care of it except with two passes. My previous single stage wouldn't have been able to handle that pile but this tore right through it.To make a long story short, if you're looking for a powerful single stage snow blower that is easy to manuver but can handle the heavy stuff get this. It may be the most powerful you can get short of moving up to a two stage.

I agree with what others are saying, assembly wasn’t bad, but the instructions are terrible. They need a much better technical writer.The unit itself started very easily and with just 2-3 pulls the first time. Tried it on some snow that fell a few weeks ago and it really throws the snow far!The light is two LED bulbs. Seem plenty bright. The electric turn for the thrower chute is very nice and convenient.Looking forward to getting a good snow fall or two this season yet and really test it out.

I recently replaced a 2 stroke single stage snowblower that ran out of umph. The new snowblower arrived in a box. I would say you should be moderately skilled to assembly this. I was excited to switch to a 4 stroke, no mixing gas and the exhaust fumes are MUCH cleaner. Got a moderate snow and this machined made easy work of it throwing the snow a good distance for a single stage. The down size is it is much heavier than a 2 stroke of the same size. I'm fairly fit, so not a big issue for me, but others may struggle with the maneuverability. It starts super easy, and runs great. Recommended.

I had a large 2 stage snowblower for years. Worked well but now I am getting older this blower is getting too heavy and hard to move around. I ordered this new blower and love it. It is smaller and much lighter and easier to move around..With this new one it clears snow right down to sidewalk and leaves it clean and I don't have to go back with a shovel to clean up the leftover snow..It is not self propelled but the rubber flaps that pull snow into machine also helps pull machine along. Not hard to move forward.Easy to assemble (only a few parts). It has a electric start But I have not used it yet. This starts with 1 or 2 pulls at most.

Easy to assemble but make sure you tighten all of the screws. I lost one of the quick disconnect knobs that hold the handle in place. I thought it was tight but after the first use, it was missing. Had to have fallen off somewhere. Hopefully I’ll find it after the snow melts. The bolts should be those plastic nuts that self tighten. Throws the snow farther than I ever imagined. The first snow was very wet and this had no problem. I noticed a copy of this at homedepot for a lot less money but i think the engine was smaller. I would not go any smaller, this engine is the bomb and starts with 1 pull.my 90 year old father always tells me to go with a B&S engine and he wasn’t wrong. Again, don’t go smaller than 250CC