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I bought this on a whim (in spite of the reviews) in order to combat the 6-15 inches of snow and 2-4 inches of ice we get about once a month now that global warming is freezing my butt off. After about 5 or 6 chips (using the corner of the dozer) the ice shatters and runs off the windshield like it's supposed to. I've found that if you push with the front (top) handle and drive with the rear (yellow) handle then it doesn't stress the long plastic of the handle and even performs better since you can bear down on thick ice better from the top handle. The first thing I noticed is that it's plastic. But it's fourteen bux. Plastic is not made for you to bang on the windshield and really crack through 4 inches of ice. That was four years ago and it's still going strong. Works like a charm and my kids love the huge 4 ft long sheets that fall off and shatter on the ground.Also, I read the reviews about the handle breaking toward the rear.
My solution was to run the car with the defroster on high for 10 mins, which forms a layer of water under the ice. Once that's finished I just walk out there with my IceDozer and chip at the ice by scraping at the bottom driver's side corner with force. So sure, it's plastic. I guaran-dang-tee you won't find a better ice moving toy for that price that protects your hands, lets you transfer power to the ice, and covers the square footage this thing does if you use it like I do.
The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't do very well with is big fluffy snow. I bought two of these, one for myself and one for my wife. The detachable brush works fine for clearing the snow out of the cracks on the doors so it doesn't come into the car when opening the door, but doesn't do very well when clearing away snow. I don't regret it for a minute. For frost and ice, I've never had anything work better or easier. I prefer my long handled brush for that, but it doesn't hold a candle to the frost and ice removing ability of this. If it cleared away snow better, it would have been a 5.
Some of my co-workers had come out before me, started their cars to get the defrosters working, and then scraping with the old-style scrapers. The only issue I have had with it is that it's not the best for light frost. I don't understand how people enter negative reviews for this product. I broke out my IceDozer and had all my windows cleared in less than 5 minutes. It tends to just pass right over it, scraping only little strips on the windows.I tried it on ice shortly after I received it, as we had a freezing rain/snow mix ironically about a week later. I was in the parking lot at work. I was done, but my co-workers were still scraping away, but only making minimal progress on just their windshields. I bought 2 more after that experience: 1 for my second car and 1 for a gift.Obviously, I would definitely buy again as well as highly recommend it to others.
NOTE: This is NOT a snow brush -- it is meant primarily for scraping ice.Bought one for each vehicle. blade. Will last long time too.The detachable brush is a joke. Bought too far in advance of last winter so by time used, too late to return.Way too big. MAYBE brushing off rear-view mirror. If you have rear seat passengers, must be stored in trunk. Hands-on experience makes me regret decision. It'll outdo this one and can be tossed on the floor in the back seat.
Then when it snows, opening trunk sends all snow into.Better value/convenience. Buy a hand scraper with a soft metal (brass). For what. It just gets in way -- I wound up detaching and tossing in trunk separately.
This device is the best I have used for thick ice, and snow. However it is not good at hard frost. You have to make many passes to get hard thick frost off the windows.
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