spring biased switch requiring constant operator pressure to remain in the on position a further switch 36 is used for changing the direction of rotation of electric motor 20 switch 36 is a two position switch positioned at the top of the hand grip 14 for actuation by the thumb of the user the electric power to drive motor 20 is provided by a cord 38 of the conventional insulated grounded three wire variety it is of course realized that the particular arrangement of the handle is subject to variation without departing from the spirit of the invention for example the reversing switch 36 could be located at another location on the snow thrower or combined in some known manner with the on off switch 34 similarly it may be desirable to provide further means to prevent inadvertent actuation of the motor such further means might include another switch mounted on loop 18 wired in conjunction with switch 34 to require actuation of both switches before the motor 20 is permitted to run such an arrangement would thus require both of the operator 39 s hands to be in position to actuate the machine a further safety feature could also be a position sensitive switch mounted on the unit to prevent actuation of the motor unless the unit is in the operating position shown in fig1 if the unit is inverted to remove packed snow it could not then be energized even if switch 34 were actuated the interior of housing 16 of the snow thrower is relatively unobstruced to minimize.