# New find Sunbeam Electric snow blower



## rjaaaaaa (Mar 9, 2016)

I only bought this because I have never seen one of these before, it's a Sun Beam Electric (120v a/c) 16" wide snow blower. It even has a nice spot light mounted on the handle (not working). I might keep this till next winter to check it out. Runs great and it's all original paint, doesn't seem to be used much. Research says it's a late 60's model ??


----------



## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:welcome: to SBF rjaaaaaa

Sure looks like someone took care of it and or it got stuck in a corner and not used much.


----------



## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Certainly is interesting. I'm not sure I'd want to use it in wet slushy stuff. Looking at that caution label, if not a snow thrower, what else could it be used as?


----------



## ELaw (Feb 4, 2015)

Wow, that brings back memories! My grandfather had one very similar to that for many years.

It worked pretty well... about as well as any electric, and was quite reliable. I used it quite a bit and the only thing I disliked about it was the chute adjustment mechanism. Well that and the fact it had no way to anchor the power cord, but I think that was true of pretty much all electrics of that era.


----------



## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

hello rjaaaaaa, welcome to *SBF!!* the light looks bigger than the snowblower


----------



## Vermont007 (Mar 29, 2015)

Rjaaaaa said:


> ". . . Research says it's a late 60's model ?? . . ."


Maybe even older . . . . pre-dating the invention of 5 Digit ZIP Codes !

I inherited a Sunbeam like that with a Massachusetts house I bought in 1975; but it was really old even then; Orange and lacking a light.

It threw slush at least 4 feet. I left it with the new Owners in 1987 . . . . I recall them being very grateful !


----------



## Rob711 (Feb 5, 2015)

That is pretty cool, looks like the side of the housing is used as a heat sink. If I had the room I'd love to pick up stuff like that.


----------



## bad69cat (Nov 30, 2015)

Yeah - pretty cool. Be nice for a deck or something.....


----------



## rjaaaaaa (Mar 9, 2016)

good eye on that zip code !!!


----------



## rjaaaaaa (Mar 9, 2016)

Rob711 said:


> That is pretty cool, looks like the side of the housing is used as a heat sink. If I had the room I'd love to pick up stuff like that.


thanks for looking
Yea the whole side is a heat sink, all the slush and snow should keep that thing pretty cool.


----------



## rjaaaaaa (Mar 9, 2016)

bad69cat said:


> Yeah - pretty cool. Be nice for a deck or something.....


we had 30" of snow this winter and I used a 20 blower, this one should take care of everything else.:signlol:


----------



## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

Gee... that is a cool find. As I look at it, I am trying to figure out what the 2 bent over brackets are for on each side? 

When I was a kid I used to mow the lawn next door to us. The older couple had a Sunbeam electric lawn mower. I do not remember how long I did their lawn, but I do remember that he had a whole plan for me on how to mow the lawn. Where I had to plug the machine in, when to switch plugs to get the back yard mowed and then how to clean off the machine and than I had to put all of the grass that came off of the machine in to an old peach basket. He had a piece of wood taped around the handle bar along with the end of the extension cord so that it would keep the cord away from the machine as much as possible. 

I think that he would give me $16 for the mow and if I trimmed it would be $19. I do not think I ever hit the $20 bill mark. Than decades later after they passed on, I found out that they were multi millionaires. hmy: 

This is the same neighbor that my brother used to clear the snow for. I do remember that when there was a big snow storm to clear, they treated us very well. I want to say in the $50-$75 range. BIG... for back in the early to mid 1980's.


----------



## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

Here's a re-branded Sunbeam I spotted the other day.


----------



## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

I usually saw them in orange as shown here. That's what we wee selling in the 70's. As I recall the wings were an accessory to bump up the width.


----------



## Toro-8-2-4 (Dec 28, 2013)

Kielbasa said:


> Gee... that is a cool find. As I look at it, I am trying to figure out what the 2 bent over brackets are for on each side?
> 
> When I was a kid I used to mow the lawn next door to us. The older couple had a Sunbeam electric lawn mower. I do not remember how long I did their lawn, but I do remember that he had a whole plan for me on how to mow the lawn. Where I had to plug the machine in, when to switch plugs to get the back yard mowed and then how to clean off the machine and than I had to put all of the grass that came off of the machine in to an old peach basket. He had a piece of wood taped around the handle bar along with the end of the extension cord so that it would keep the cord away from the machine as much as possible.
> 
> ...


That was a very good gig! I remember mowing lawns for 5 and 6 bucks when I was a teenager. 

I wonder if that Sunbeam has a lot more power with that big light not working?


----------



## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

Kielbasa said:


> Gee... that is a cool find. As I look at it, I am trying to figure out what the 2 bent over brackets are for on each side?


A place to roll the power cord I'm thinking.


----------



## rjaaaaaa (Mar 9, 2016)

Spectrum said:


> A place to roll the power cord I'm thinking.


No, they are spring type handles that you use to adjust the height of front edge of the blower. The skids are raised or lowered, asphalt or gravel !!


----------



## toroused (Mar 1, 2015)

Sunbeam and Black & Decker did very well in the early to mid 1970's with their electric lawnmowers. These had aluminum decks and excellent power. They picked up a slack in the marketplace for those who were afraid of gas lawnmowers at the time. Whether reel or rotary, gas lawnmowers were very scary back then - there were no safety features. With the electric mowers, if you took your hand off the power lever, the machine would immediately stop from a lack of juice. Gas mowers had no such instant stop at the time. I had one of these 18-20" wide deck Sunbeam mowers at the time and they were excellent machines - on par with any early model gas powered Toro. What did in both Sunbeam and Black & Decker, as so is my opinion, is that the motors did not have great hang time and burnt out after 5-6, or 6-7 years. By then, gas mowers had incorporated all the modern safety features and everyone switched over to gas.


----------



## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

rjaaaaaa said:


> No, they are spring type handles that you use to adjust the height of front edge of the blower. The skids are raised or lowered, asphalt or gravel !!


Oh yea, now I see the dimples in the stamping and side casting.


----------



## Toyboy (Dec 19, 2010)

If you get some time, you may want to check out the bearings in the motor to make sure they still have lube


----------



## rjaaaaaa (Mar 9, 2016)

Toyboy said:


> If you get some time, you may want to check out the bearings in the motor to make sure they still have lube[/QU
> Suggestion, noted. Thanks


----------

