...that 'S' word & lawn art

[Doug Mager]

I don't know about the rest of youse'll but this Old Fogy has depleted his bodys SNOW REMOVAL BUDGET for '09/'09!

Rec'd 4 more inches yesterday and last night/into today , another 4" (so far...) has found its way into our area.

We are now seriously thinking(???) of moving (when we fianally DO sell this SNOW MAGNET) back to Winterpeg.

At least there a snow blower becomes in a regular usable item, here, they just get clogged up with this heavy wet krap and won't blow worth a hill of beans (after a good dose of Beano, either!!) and becomes a seasonal piece of 'lawn art'.

[Booker B.]

Agreed! We had another 6 inches over the past few days. Even with our friendly neighbours plowing our drive we haven't moved the ford focus in nearly a month. At this point I will do a pitch for Subaru's - ours has been a god send during this past month and puts our toyota 4wd to shame for traction and handling.

[Paul from NWOnt]

We're only supposed to be getting another foot or so in the next couple days, so I'll take any you have left over.

Seriously, this has been the best snow year we've had in a while, and I'm loving every minute (even broke the snowblower out of hiding).

[Roy in TO]

Well maybe you can blame me.

We were supposed to have a "Snowmaggedon" a few weeks back, so I fired up my little 5 HP 24" snowblower that handled the first 2 storms of light stuff, though it struggled through the EOD (end of driveway) windrows. I spent 1.5 hours clearing the last 15 ft of side walk that the plows and new windrow remover guy took the liberty of filling up with 20" of heavy salted windrow. I stopped long enough to admire my work only to have the plow pass by again and fill in the sidewalk I had just finished clearing. 2 minutes earlier and I would have been up to my knees in it.

The next day phase 3 of Snowmaggedon hit with a few inches of the wet stuff. My snowblower grunted and groaned and got constipated with the wet stuff, so I had to do it all by hand.

I went out the next day and got another snowblower with almost 2X the HP and all we've had so far is a couple of light dustings. I get a new toy and you guys get the snow. Some days life does not make sense.

(edited for spelling)

[BobB]

Always interesting to see how folks deal with the white stuff! Our son-in-law was using his little 35 HP John Deere tractor with box scraper and front loader to clear his driveway. Around here we see snow blowers or front loaders attached to tractors ranging from Bobcats up to huge Caterpillar wheel tractors. Caltrans uses huge diesel snow blowers on the highway and once in a while they are needed to rescue snow-bound residents in this area. The county roads are plowed with old diesel pickup trucks painted in camouflage and equipped with snow plows. We call that damned thing a "berm" here and it gets especially onerous when they bring in the road graders; they call that "push-back". After using a 5 HP Craftsman snow blower for years, we upgraded to a 9 HP Honda, which handles the white stuff pretty well.

[Paul from NWOnt]

Boy... it sounds like you folks have all the good stuff. I'm still using an early 80's Craftsman model with an 8hp Briggs and Stratton. Bloody thing won't die so I can get me a new one.

Ah well.... got more coming this weekend, so it's off to do a little shovelling, and a lot of snowmobiling!

[Morgan]

I sure wish I could get some of that high tech snow removal equipment. We had over 11mm of snow from that storm just before Christmas and had drifts to 40mm.

[Roy in TO]

I sure wish I could get some of that high tech snow removal equipment. We had over 11mm of snow from that storm just before Christmas and had drifts to 40mm.

Maybe the Snow Joe 322P is just what you need

[Rick kl]

My snow remover doesn't start like it use to and when it does get going it makes all kinds of creaking and whining noises, but she does a good job!

[james kent]

We had over 11mm of snow from that storm just before Christmas and had drifts to 40mm.

Morgan
Wow!
We call 11 mm a dusting. That's about 5/8 of an inch. Are you thinking cm's? That would make it almost 4 1/2 inches.
Well, you can have my #*#[at]% snowblower. We got hit with a couple of storms at Christmas time and then a warm spell and the poor 25 year old thing just went splut, splut, phutt with the wet stuff and up and died. My snow blower doctor is out of the office until next week. Thank goodnes we haven't gotten more than a "dusting" during the waiting time. Ah well! That's what we have 4X4's for, EH? Just pack it down, spring will come eventually.
Roy
What's this thing with axels and snowblowers?
What do you have in mind for our next problem?
Can you let me know ahead of time?

[Doug Mager]

...a l'il weather related info from up here in IGLOO Country!!!

It has snowed EVERY day up here for the last 14 consecutive days, leaving us a (measured) snow compacted layer (as of this afternoon) of 24 inches, an its STILL coming down. Now, I know 2' of snow is not (for the most part) deemed a LOT of snow, but for these parts its a RECORD an I never thought I'd hear/see myself say this, but i WISH it would RAIN and start the melting process. I'm thinking my rear (eastward facing) gutters are gunna come down tomorrow, (....heavy sigh) MORE work for this coupla Seniors

[Booker B.]

Ugh, supposed to be raining today in the Comox Valley and we have had 6 inches of snow! I had actually gone out and shovel my 150' of driveway yesterday in preparation for the rain to expose the gravel.

Definitely the longest snow period we have had here that I can remember - I have kids so snow is still pretty fun but boy O boy, this is pushing it =)

Edit: Doug, I just lost one half of my gutters on Xmas eve, so hopefully you don't join the club =)

[Roy in TO]

Roy
What's this thing with axels and snowblowers?
What do you have in mind for our next problem?
Can you let me know ahead of time?

I don't kow Jim,
It seems that you encounter the problems before me.

I tried to start the constipated little snowblower today to give it the once over before putting it up for sale. It would start and then stall out. Finally figured out the throttle - governor linkage was stuck, possibly frozen. Gave it a light flick with my finger and everything seemed to fix itself. So I gave it one good pull with the new starter rope installed last week and the rope promptly broke. I called my SB mechanic and he was just stepping out.

Maybe you should be letting me know what to expect ...

Just in case. Check the tranny fluid levels in your truck. I had a bit of a scare last cold snap till I figured out I was really low.

[Roy in TO]

I'm still using an early 80's Craftsman model with an 8hp Briggs and Stratton. Bloody thing won't die so I can get me a new one.

Paul,
You might not want to be needing a new snowblower this year. Check out the snowblower threads on Redflagdeals.com

There are snowblower shortages galore in the under $1500 range. MTD that makes many of the "brand names" shut down the Canadian Plant this year. Techumseh shut down in December. B&S got caught off gaurd, manufacturers are scrambling for engines. Most of the blowers showing up have Chinese engines now and they are sold out within a day.

Home Depot had a sale on 9 HP Ariens Labour day weekend, they quickly sold out and took prepaid orders rather than issue rain checks. Many finally got theirs in Mid December.

All this is why I bought a 10 year old 9 HP Husqvarna from a guy with a snowblower attachment for his new John Deere riding mower.

[Paul from NWOnt]

In all fairness, I actually have 2 snowblowers (one would need about an hour's worth of going through), plus a few friends with plows and heavy equipment. Truth be told, I'm quite impressed with the old girl, and enough so that I may just give it a good once over this spring.

Either way, both of our vehicles are 4wd, plus the snow-machine has a trailer so winter is a pleasurable experience that comes with a nice little exercise program. As long as I can keep up with the windrow that the plow leaves, I've got things beat.

[Pamela H]

We don't need snow blowers in most of wyoming...our wind accomplishes the same thing... And its free!!..

Pam

[Doug Mager]

Our driveway is about 400' long and is a U shaped monster rising on both read connecting ends a height of about 20'. We long ago gave up trying to keep the whole thing clear, now resorting to clearing the southernmost part as best we can. We live on a covered wagon route (city bus which in itself is ANOTHER joke) and this the city realizes should be one of the first or better maintained routes. This results in a rather heavy salt laden load deposited at the top end of both ends of our driveway making for even more work!!!
Accumulation of snow last night brought a huge tree down ona powerpole, taking with it a HUGE transformer with a multitude of electrical claps of 'thunder' and a light show to rival the annual 'Festival Of Lights' AND cutting off power to the northernmost part of the top of Iron Mountain from 7:30 last evening till 8:30 today....

MORE of this "Canadian Grass", as I've heard it referred to on other sites, is expected before the weekend...

Just think, only about 70 more days till SPRINGTIME!!!! (or as we refer to it here, High Water Time!!)

[Roy in TO]

I hear you Doug,

We are on the first major street south of North America's busiest highway (all 14 lanes of Highway 401). We get a good chunk of the overflow anytime something happens on the highway. 3 bus routes pass by regularily. Fire and ambulance station 1000 ft. up the road.

We too are on a hill. Matter of fact after Hurricane Hazel in '58 washed out the bridge 10 houses down, the city raised the street in front of my house to decrease the grade of the hill. The driveway and everything on it now runs down to the house, rather than the other way around. Everthing has to go up hill.

City policy is heavy salting for the first 2" of snow no matter how much they are expecting or how soon. Plows hit the road after that. Windrows are always heavy slush. Once upon a time they used to salt after they plowed only if needed. Made for a lot easier shoveling, I think the streets were in better shape after a storm back then too.

[james kent]

Everthing has to go up hill.

Roy, I thought you knew about plumbing and stuff. I hate to be the one to let you know but S*** don't run up hill.

[Carol Ann in TO]

Roy, I thought you knew about plumbing and stuff. I hate to be the one to let you know but S*** don't run up hill.

James, don't get him started on the plumbing....

Carol Ann (his wife)