Avalanche Wheeled Roof Rake for Snow Removal

Product Description

The Avalanche Wheeled Roof Rake is a tool that reminds me how much I hate doing home maintenance. But since Albie down the street's mama says he's too young to crawl around on my own mama's roof to shovel the snow off... [Read more]

Top Reviews

Not Recommended!
by Henri G. (2 out of 5 stars)
January 15, 2017

This device is ingenious. And, if you have light fluffy, fresh snow, it works fairly well. If, however, there is ice or heavy/wet snow on your roof -- forget it. The Avalanche is just too flimsy.

In fact, with the pool extension it is unusable. the head and flap's weight bends the pole so much when you lift it (which you can only do if you are Superman) that the Avalanche beccomes useless.

If this device were re-engineered with stronger and much lighter materials, it would be brilliant. For now though, (especially for the price!) it is NOT recommended.
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The product works great on the first 6 inches of light snow
by Snow (1 out of 5 stars)
February 3, 2017

I am responsible for snow removal on 8 duplexes, one office and numerous outback cabins. I was excited to try this product. I live in Idaho and we currently have over four feet of snow on the buildings. The product works great on the first 6 inches of light snow. If there are any layers of hard snow, the product will not push through the snow. Looks like I will be removing the snow the old fashioned way.
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Superb Design for Snow Removal From Roofs
by QDuck (5 out of 5 stars)
February 6, 2018

I am so happy that it has not snowed enough to use this yet! However, I saw a video of this in use so I made my own. The design is perfect! Just slide it into the snow and swoosh, the snow flies down the slide to the ground. I ended up with 8 feet of snow around my house, but none on the roof. Anyway, my home-built frame was too weak so rather than design a new one I opted to buy the real thing after convincing my self that it would really work.

After opening the box though I noticed one thing that I wish was better. The chute is not long enough for the snow to slide down it and off the roof. I am worried that when clearing the topmost portion of roof that it will leave a big pile on the lower part of roof that will have to be cleaned off. If that's the case, I will probably put an extension on the chute.

Keeping in mind that I have actually not used this but something similar of my own design, I can offer some suggestions if you buy this. First, get an extension for the handle. I had to do half of my roof on a ladder in order to reach most of it and my handle was longer than this one is. Second, this thing is hard to handle when it is not on the roof. Most of the weight is 16 feet away from you. Just lifting it from the ground up to the roof takes some effort. That 16 feet also means that it is 16 feet closer to electric wires, tree branches and anything else overhead. And finally, watch out for the wind! You've got a 16 foot sail on a flimsy mast. If the wind catches that while you're trying to move it into position it might just sail away - and, if you hold on tight enough it could take you with it.

Despite the issues, this is the best solution for removing snow from your roof that I've seen. Compared to a regular snow rake it will save you hours of work cleaning snow. I highly recommend this if you don't want to pay someone else to clean your snow.
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Highly recommend
by Amazon Customer (5 out of 5 stars)
February 4, 2019

Bought this in 2016. It is "the best". Works so well, I do the neighbor's roof because it only takes a few minutes to do it. It doesn't have to be placed perfectly on the roof to work. Has extra poles to attach to make it longer to reach higher. Nothing but praise. I / neighbor have roof tapes and this has never interfered with them.

So, that being said.... I am short, so obviously just getting the pole to the roof almost kills me, but once its up there, easy peasy. It is NOT the fault of the manufacturer. Sometimes I'm trying to lift the end of a 26' pole up 15feet(?) in a snow storm.... If have only 2 lenghts of pole attached (13 feet-ish?) No problem for me to lift it to the roof, I just can only clear, maybe the bottom 4 feet of the roof, but it is done easily and quickly. When I have all of them attached, I try not to let the pole drop of the roof and just walk around & push it up the roof in different direction and let the snow fall off the roof. Snow has NEVER stuck to the plastic no matter how compact/wet the snow is.

I've used this for 4 Michigan winters with ZERO problems.
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Did not hold up after first use
by Deb (1 out of 5 stars)
February 17, 2019

I was very disappointed that the plastic tore on the first use. I purchased the rake in 2014 and it sat in the box until this weekend. After the crazy amount of snow Wisconsin got this past week I needed to remove snow from the roof.

Not much I can do now since the purchase was so long ago. For the price, it is not worth it. The $18 grain scoop type shovel I purchased at Menards got the job done. I had to go on the roof but it was much easier.

The avalanche is not a good product for heavy, crusted, or compacted snow- which is what happens when snow accumulates.
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Slip-n-Slide for snow! Perfect!
by SoldierWife1990 (5 out of 5 stars)
January 9, 2017

Got this at noon and by 12:20 I was removing snow from my roof (and it only took that long because I had to get my boots and coat on)! This is like slip-n-slide for snow! Easy to move around, works BRILLIANTLY on flat surfaces. Corners were a little tricky, but that's only because of the angle I had to work from. The peak of my roof is around 18 feet on my single story, so this did require a ladder to get all the way to the top (the last 2 feet or so) and my hubby was doing the work - he's 6'2" standing on about 2 feet of packed snow. Simple to put together and the pole is actually 4 pieces so you can make the handle as long or short as you need. Best thing I've bought in awhile!
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Great product, works fantastic, and worth every penny!
by D. Beaucher (5 out of 5 stars)
April 26, 2017

Definitely works as advertised! Our cabin ended up with over 2 feet of snow on the roof, and it can cost as much as $300 to have someone remove it. This thing let us remove the snow in an afternoon very quickly and easily. The only problem is getting rid of the piles of snow after it's off the roof. Get a snow blower for that if you're not young and able to shovel it by hand.

Update: Just had our first big dump of snow for this year, so I grabbed the avalanche and it handled that foot and a half of snow slick as you please. It turns out that there was a place on the roof that i didn't notice had a sharp edge jutting straight up that put a slice in the plastic. I repaired it with some clear plastic packaging tape, (after warming it up of course) and works great. I am so glad we got this as I can't afford $300 a pop for someone to shovel it off of my roof after every heavy snow.
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Works great on the right pitch roof
by Amazon Customer (4 out of 5 stars)
August 24, 2019

First off this thing is very heavy when completely assembled and pretty hard to maneuver once its up on the roof. That being said it works great if your roof is the right angle and isn't too tall. My house is one story and It's not long enough to reach all the way up, it might with the extension but I'm hesitant to get it because of the weight and price. Also if you have a porch like mine and the roof and is flatter than the house that can be a problem; and will require you to need a ladder to clear the porch roof with a shovel, use the Avalanche to clear the house roof above the porch, and shovel the porch roof once again. For the price its a little hard to justify seeing as I still need to get on my roof and shovel. The assembly was super easy and quick, although it generally does freeze together when using, so disassembly can be an issue if you don't have a place to let it thaw or to just keep it outside.

The last this I will say is this, and I believe this should be a big consideration. The spots of my roof that it does work well with the angle is quite a big area, and this tool does allow me to get enough snow off by myself without using a ladder making me worry less about the weight of the snow on the roof being too much. I have a spine injury so being able to get on the roof and shovel everything properly is not possible for me right now. Knowing that I can do a lot by myself even with my back as it is, not having to always hire a neighbor or expensive company, and having less chance of ice dams forming in the cleared spots is absolutely worth the money to me.
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Don't believe the naysayers, this is a great product.
by W. Vincent (5 out of 5 stars)
March 11, 2019

I'm sure it would work great on light fluffy snow, and fully expect it would be difficult to use with ice (who would expect that it would work on ice, really..) or really heavy wet stuff.. but I cleared about 1000 sqft of roof covered in 12-16" thick drifted, crusty snow that's been there for a few weeks today in about an hour or so. Most of that time was figuring out how to stand up after falling over in the 3' snowbank with snowshoes on, and resting because if I have one gripe it's that this thing is one heck of a workout.

But it does a fantastic job, and is way less work than would be getting on the roof with a shovel, or another type of roof rake. I bought but have not yet used the extra extension handle. Without it I was able to clear all but the top 6' or so of my roof in relatively short order.

If you're out of shape, or lacking any upper body strength, hire someone to come clear your roof, but if you can manage to DIY, this will pay for itself several times over in one or two uses based on price quotes I was seeing from people earlier this winter.

Got a roof to clear, and have strength and, more importantly, stamina to do it yourself, buy this, it's worth it.
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Was hoping it would work easier
by Rex S (4 out of 5 stars)
March 8, 2017

Its OK I guess. The round axel does not slide through the snow well unless it is fairly fresh. No one I know runs out after every snow to shovel the roof. You let it build until it needs shoveled then you go out and do it. Unfortunately, once it gets crusty it becomes very difficult to get it to slide up the roof. Also mine tore the plastic slide the very first time I used it because it snags on the end of our tin roof. I used it one day and it looks trashed. The fiberglass poles are wonderful though! I think aluminum poles would bend with the amount of pressure you have to use to push it into the snow.

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