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Guys,
I've always prided myself in shoveling my snow, even though we have a yuuge driveway, plus a circular drive, a fairly long front walk, plus a big patio in back.
Last night we got 6" - 8" of new snow following 2.21" of rain yesterday.
I went out at 5:20 AM this morning to start shoveling. About 6:00 my neighbor came over with his snow blower and cleared the half of the main driveway I hadn't done yet, plus the walkway and circular driveway. When we were done, I took my doggie out for a 2.2 mile walk, then started back on the shoveling as soon as we got home.
My neighbor's snow blower removes the bulk of the snow, which is very helpful, but it doesn't do a good job at all of getting right down to the concrete and pavers, so there's always more 'clean up' work for me to do because I want my driveway to be rid of all snow and slippery spots as soon as possible.
I started on that right after the dog and I got back, then ventured into the backyard to shovel the walk and the patio. I finished about 8:45 and unlike ever before, I was TIRED and SORE!
Maybe age has finally caught up with me, because we get a lot of snow most years and I've never had that problem.
So, I've started to consider finally buying a snow blower. But ONLY if I can find one that's reasonably quiet and especially one that cleans the snow all the way to the pavement.
On my hikes, I've seen guys out with snow blowers that look to be doing the kind of job I want, so I know buying one that fits my criteria is possible.
What's your experience and what would you recommend?
Thanks!
Kyle
God put it there, God can take it away. Besides, that what you have 4WD for!
I have a 300' driveway, and then several thousand square feet more between the house and the barn. I also have a skid-loader, which is my snowblower/excavator/grader/sh*t shoveler/stump remover/etc. If I didn't have it I'd MOVE!
Kyle, I just got one this winter after my youngest and strapping 18 yr. old moved into town. The one I got was from Sears and has a 26" intake. It has a been a life saver for me this year as you can imagine. I have a pretty good amount of snow to remove being in the country like I am. The snowblowers you get nowadays usually have adjustable "feet" on them. Which is to say you can raise or lower the front of the blower. Mine will take it down right to the cement if need be just like a shovel or I can adjust those feet to get above the rough and rocky parts of the paths i have to cut.
Mine is similar as the one at the link, but for whatever reason mine has the bigger 243 cc motor on it. Directional snowthrower, turning assist levers, forward and reverse, electric and pull start.
I was looking at the Ariens snowblowers at Home Depot that get good reviews but the have a steering assist function that is automatic that seems problematic for maintaining straight rows if you are in rougher conditions with uneven terrain. both the sears and the ariens are two stage.
Depending on your driveway size and snow amount, and it sounds like you are getting dumped up there in the foothills, you may want to look at those two-stage units.
Thanks, Kevin!
That helps a lot!
that's a dandy one there KPC. I have plow for my ATV for the road and most of the driveway and a snow blower for the rest of my driveway, walkway etc. I still shovel off my decks.
I have tried the WW approach but God never makes it go away before it turns into some bad ice. It's bad enough where I live.....If you don't have 4WD you can't even get within a couple of miles of my place in even a little snow. In ice you damn near need chains sometimes.
I have a diesel four wheel drive front end loader. I don't care how deep the snow is or how big the drifts get, I can get through. Once I remove the bulk I can set the blade to go right down to the black top. It is also great for retrieving deer from the swamp and a lot easier to get a deer in the loader than to try and lift it to my Gator, which is also four wheel drive.
Thanks, all!
After reading your posts and looking at the reviews, I took KPC's advice and ordered the snow blower he recommended.
We'll be getting a TON of snow in the next ten days according to the forecast, so once it arrives, I'll be using it if we get more than 3'-4." Sans that, I'll still get out the shovel and do it the old fashioned way!
You must have quit running over the Holidays...8^)
MT.
Nope!
I have no idea at all why the shoveling this morning beat me up so much.
No way can it be an age thing! lol
Kyle
I think MT was referencing the picture of you above.
:-)
Had this conversation last winter, bought a Honda which a lot of people recommended, With tracks because my driveway is gravel and steep. Have to adjust the shoes to keep the gravel out of the blower, have to adjust them for the concrete parking pad.
This next summer I am going to invent a shoe that I can adjust without breaking out the tools. Going to sell a million and buy lots of guided hunts.
Terry
I've got a Troy Bilt Storm. Last year we got 36 inches in one day. The first time I cleared the driveway it was over 20 inches deep. Gotta tell ya, it's a BEAST!!!!!
Mine has heated grips, electric shoot adjustment, and powered wheels. My drive is black top and on a fairly good hill. It cleared the snow right down to it with no problem.
You can adjust the height of the blower and should be able to run it across your drive leaving minimal snow behind. The down side to that is the bottom lip may catch edges and cracks.
"If you can tune your compound, you shouldn't have any trouble".
So he's no longer going to be a "traditional" snow remover? I mean, a "real" snow remover only uses a shovel, preferably a handmade one................ ;-)
ATV and plow will do it faster, funner (Is that a word?), and you can use the ATV for other things all year long as opposed to the blower that will sit and perpetually be in the way. I blew snow for 30 years and now that I have the plow I wonder why I waited so long to get one.
I find the ATV to be not worth the effort in small places. It's good for making a long run and shoving it to one side. Sucks if you have to do a lot of backward and forward. I ran that ATV 50 miles one winter just doing my drive and road and some neighbors. One of those neighbors has about 1/2 mile driveway I probably put 5 miles on just doing that one.
I particularly enjoy doing the preachers driveway when he is not home and do my best to insure he doesn't know it's me. He doesn't really like me and is not a particularly good neighbor.....but what the hell.
I run a Husqvarna as well. Mine is a significantly older model than KPC's but it's been a good, reliable blower for me over the past 15 years I've owned it.
An ATV with a plow wouldn't work.
Our main driveway has a retaining wall on one side, and our garage doors face the driveway on the opposite side from the retaining wall. Then there's a fence at the bottom end of the driveway.
The circular driveway also has a retaining wall on one side. As to the back walk and patio, I couldn't get an ATV with a plow to those spots.
I have a blower, and also a plow on my ATV.
The blower is a pain when we get just a few inches of the heavy wet "Sierra Cement" type of snow. The blower will only throw the snow a few feet. If it's a dry light snow, or real deep, it works great.
The downside to the plow is you have to push it someplace, and that pile of snow is not going to melt for some time. Plowing uphill can be impossible if there is more than a foot. The snow conditions dictate which one I use.
Oh, in your case I guess the ATV route wouldn't be the way to go. When you do decide on a blower stay away from Cub Cadet....I've had nothing but headaches with anything yellow!
I'm so glad I live in Texas. I'm seeing a bunch of snow on this thread. Way too cold for me.
I have a great snowblower. It resides with the nonagenarian a couple of houses to the west. Every time it snows, the snowblower magically appears and cleans our driveway and sidewalks - much to the delight of the nonagenarian, the neighbors, my wife, and myself.
It snowed while I was at school on Wednesday and by the time I got home, everything was cleared and my wife had already baked and delivered fresh banana bread to said nonagenarian.
It's a great arrangement.
Rhody,
That forecast is for elevations above 7,500.' We're at 5,350.' Down here we're supposed to get 1"-3" of snow tonight and tomorrow, then just a measly 2.58" of RAIN on Sunday.
Followed, of course, by still more days of snow!
And here I thought this was a white boy hot female porn star post... Oh Well. 70 in Mesa AZ today, same tomorrow:) But the summers suck!!!! 115 plus... :(
I just used my blower and ATV with the plow again today. Not to much to move. It cleared up last night and today. It was -15 before the sun came out. Warmed up to +/-0 for the high. Bright sunny day though and didn't feel that cold to be honest. I hope we don't get much rain around here because I live on country roads and it gets kinda muddy around here.
I have a fair size driveway that is too long to shovel over 3" of snow. I went to use the snowblower and it did not start completely my fault on the maintenance. A plow truck did my neighbors and I walked over and said how much? He said $25. I got to thinking I could pay this guy 4-5 times a year for $100-125 total for the season or own an expensive snowblower that I have to use, maintain, pay for gas, etc. He could plow for 5-7 years for the cost of a snowblower. Easy decision for me. Got his number handy for next time.
Kyle, yes it is a sign of getting old. We all have to face the facts sooner or later. As far as a snow blower, it all depends on how deep your snow gets and how much snow you have to move. We received about 10" here in our area and it was 5 degrees outside. No one was outside yet so I got my snowblower out and did my driveways and walks. Then, I started down the walk on our side of the street and did my neighbor's walk to the west along with his driveway and started down the walk to the east. I did the walk for three of the neighbors in that direction and the driveway for my next door neighbor. What goes around comes around...hopefully!
Another Coloradoan here. I am 68. Tough guy. (!?) For years, I said I would never stoop to using a blower. I'll do it the old fashion way - shovel it myself. Well, a couple years ago, one of my wife's friends moved into one of those retirement communities, where they do everything for you. The friend offered to sell her blower, a cheapie from Sears, for a $100. My wife jumped on it. So I have used it. Several times. I am now considering moving up, buying a decent blower, maybe one of those Home Depot jobs for 5 or 6 hundred $. That way, I can spend less time shoveling and more time doing something important.....like spending more time on this here website. Good use of my time? (And no, I am not retired. Still working 80-90 hrs a week, residential construction.)
Cool! Thanks for posting that. Mine is supposed to arrive on Thursday. That probably means we'll get hammered between now and then, then get no snow at all for a month!
This is an old farm house across the road from my house. It is about a quarter mile away, I used a telephoto lense from my front picture window. Off to the right side of the house is a large cement pad with a frost free spigot and plenty of hose that we keep drained. I often take my deer up there to field dress and wash out. I throw the guts out in the field and eagles love it.
Kyle, was talking to my brother in Reno this morning.e He said the way it was raining at his place you may need a boat.
Jim,
Roger That! And it's supposed to continue for the rest of the day!
The good thing for us is we're pretty high up above the nearest creek.
Just looked at the forecast. They're predicting another 1.77" of rain yet today and we already have gotten 1.88" since midnight. Then it's supposed to snow tomorrow, followed by .98" more rain on Tuesday! Then more snow still on Wednesday and Thursday.
We've already had over 4" of precipitation here at the house since New Years Day. If the forecast is accurate, by Thursday, we'll have had an entire year's worth of it!
Update!
We now have 2.67" of rain so far today, with another 1.22" forecast.
The rain rate today has been very steady, ranging from .20"/hour to .30"/hour.
I took my snow plow apart well over a year ago, Replaced anything with wear, sandblasted, primed, dipped, and repainted every piece and put it back together. It's still sitting there in my garage perfect. I could not be happier.
Weird weather for sure. Last week it was -17 at my house. I came into work this morning and it was 42. Now the temperature has dipped again and my wife cannot get to work because the truck simply will not turn on the sheet of ice that is our road now. SMH.
The Mount Rose ski resort is just 6.3 miles from our home, but it's at 8,260' while we're at 5,350.'
Two days ago it was 22 degrees here one afternoon and 28 degrees up there, Right now it's 40 degrees here at the house and 19 degrees at their lodge. The resort is closed today due to high winds. It's also very windy down here.
This weather pattern of storm after storm after storm is known as "The Pineapple Express," as it originates near Hawaii then moves up into CA and NV. We only see this once every few years and this one is the biggest and most extensive one we've ever had that I can recall.
I have skied at Mammoth when I thought they should have closed it because of high winds...some of the worst blizzard ski conditions I have ever experienced has been in the Sierra Nevada. I started to understand why the Donner party ended up eating their dead. I grew up skiing in Vail....I thought I had seen deep snow before!
Mount Rose is reporting 287" of snow so far this ski season, and we're less than half-way through it.
Especially when you get that much by the 8th of January!
We got another 4" last night and it's the wettest, heaviest snow I can remember dealing with.
Two more days until delivery!
Just bought this guy last week. Sure doesn't feel like work, and makes clearing the drive fun! I was thinking on going with a snow blower myself, but my drive is narrow with my house on one side, and my neighbors drive on the other. No real great place good to throw the snow. Now I clean my drive as well as hers.
Funny thing about it was the other day when I first used it I decided to clean her drive as well. She had a big wind drift mound of snow built up between our drives and had just enough room to park. She's not the friendliest neighbor, and unbeknownst to me earlier in the day the kids were playing in the snow bank with a couple new emergency shovels I had bought for the vehicles. My 5 year old daughter Grace, who is about as compliant and gentle as they come, got some snow on her drive and according to my wife, who had the kitchen window open, the neighbor came unglued. It's not the end of the world as it won't kill my kids to get yelled at, but my wife and I found it somewhat funny when I cleaned her drive and she came out and was real friendly all of the sudden. It was even funnier with me not knowing what had happened. I cleaned it again today. Kill them with kindness I figure......
You can't do better than an Ariens snow blower like the one K Cummings posted. Oh you can buy another brand but in time you'll want an Ariens. I had a Ariens 5 hp it was 15 yrars old when it gave up the ghost. Bought a yard machine 8 hp after 4 or 5 years it junk. And Ill have an Ariens next year.
"You can't do better than an Ariens snow blower like the one K Cummings posted."
OOOPS!
K Cummings posted a Huskvarna, not an Ariens!
Many years ago we had a blizzard and real high winds. On my road there are real large fields in front of my house. I live in the woods and the snow had piled up across the road several feet deep. I told my wife it would be a long time before we could get out. Snow plows could not possibly get down our road. Then we heard something coming. It was a huge bulldozer. He was coming up my driveway. It was a contractor that the state hired to clear the roads. It was a friend of mine driving the dozer and he said he had been on it for 24 hours, only getting short breaks for food and taking a leak. I asked him what I owed him and he said don't worry about it the state was paying him but don't mention he did my driveway. When I walked outside it was like being in a tunnel, you could not see the field.
He had taken a big V blade off a state grader and welded it to his dozer blade. Before he got to my place the grader had got stuck in a drift and they told him to put his blade on the back of the grader and push it through the drift. The dozer bent the grader like a horseshoe so they took the V blade off and welded it on the dozer. That thing could move snow. We haven't had that much snow since.
I was out yesterday touring my neighbor's 500 acre farm on my Gator, doing donuts and blasting through snow drifts. We only had a few inches of snow but there were some drifts. A couple times I got stuck, in four wheel drive. I just shifted to lock the rear wheels and it would go right through. I guess four wheel drive isn't four wheel drive unless you lock the rear wheels. It was fun. I would have had some pictures if I had remembered to put the card back in my camera. The temp is warming up now and the snow will be gone. I may go bowhunting tomorrow.
Yet more snow again this morning!
Incredibly, it was wetter and heavier than yesterday's snow. I didn't think that was possible!
When it gets to two feet the real work begins.
On Monday I reported that Mt. Rose Ski Resort had 287" of snow since the start of the ski season.
Now, just two days later, they are reporting 374!" That's over seven FEET in two days!
4" more snow already today with 3" - 5" more expected. The only good news is this time it's very light and fluffy.
In other news, the Mt. Rose Ski Resort is reporting they've had 120" - 125" from this storm alone!
Mount Rose has been closed for several days. That's partly due to high winds at times and also too much snow.
But the Mt Rose hwy. is also closed, so you can't get there anyway.
Merchants here, esp. restaurants, are hurting because so much of the food they serve is trucked in from CA and I-80 has been closed a LOT.
$h!t,
Here the snow comes again!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, ALREADY!
Damn!
The snow blower was supposed to be delivered today, but was not.
Buy what ever you want , my next will be an Ariens.
Just got in from removing an amazing amount of snow. The new snowblower of mine seems to do pretty good. I had about 8" of dryish stuff and cleared it from my driveway which is about 150 by 50. Then two passes of 100' back and forth from my shop. Then from the house to the garage. The sidewalks, and to finish things off some really old wet snow underneath that dryer stuff that comes from my road to the shop, probably 40' X 80'. That Craftsman 26" kicked ass on it. I have some pretty rough country which makes me glad I didn't get that Ariens with the automatic steering function. Mine has a small lever under each handle that is a turning assist and it worked amazingly.
As an aside, we have a couple of Maverik stations here that sell ethanol-free fuel. I use it and it seems to really make those engines go. Plus, you don't get the fuel line rot you do with what we have as "normal" gas these days. If you guys can get the ethanol-free, it's a little more money but well worth it in my opinion.
My new toy has arrived. A little bit of assembly is needed, but after that, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"
I'll know soon how well this thing works.
The snow is supposed to kick in again starting later this week, to include getting 8"-12" on Sunday and that's down in the valley. We're 800'-900' above the valley floor and thus get a lot more here.
One more tip for you...make damn sure you check for the morning paper at the end of the driveway...NOTHING will stop your new snowblower faster (or cause a bigger headache) than a newspaper stuck behind your two-stage auger. NOT FUN!
I have a troybilt snowblower and a plow. Have a grandson who works on his truck here but isn't big on putting away my tools. You ought to see how a big snowblower can launch a wrench through a bay window. Our driveway is a half mile long and it's gravel. You stand within 50 feet and you could be killed. That sucker is deadly.
I got the blower put together and running this afternoon. Correctly, I hope!
That's a good thing, because after a four day hiatus, we're supposed to get hammered again the next few days.
As for the paper, I get up about 5:00 AM every morning and the first thing I do is go out and look for the paper. If it's not there, I look again every fifteen or so minutes until it is there. There is no way I'd miss seeing the paper on the driveway.
good chance you won't see another snow flake since you went out and bought that new machine.....
Forecast is calling for 1-3" of snow on Friday and 5-8" on Sunday.
