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Do you shovel, plow, pay for plowing or use a snow blower when it snows?
Old 12-15-2013, 11:53 AM   #1
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Do you shovel, plow, pay for plowing or use a snow blower when it snows?

Do you shovel, plow, pay for plowing or use a snow blower when it snows?

Currently I pay for plowing but I’m seriously thinking of purchasing a snow blower. I’m guessing the pay back would be 3-4 years and it could also be used for the walkways.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:08 PM   #2
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I pay the fellow who cuts my grass to plow and shovel in the winter. He comes with a small plow when we get more than 4 inches of snow and also hand shovels and applies de-icer to the sidewalks. Lots of mornings I have to leave for w*rk before he arrives (he does commercial contracts first) but it is nice to come home and have everything done.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:10 PM   #3
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I have 75' of driveway (fairly typical suburban lot).

I use a small electric snowthrower. The cord is a bit of a PITA (unwinding, winding back up after use), but I'm going to remedy that soon with a big wall-mounted cord reel in the garage. For this small-size area I think it makes more sense than a big gas-powered unit (with all the maintenance/fueling/starting/storing issues it would entail). I'd surely feel differently if I had more area to do or if we routinely got more than 6" of snow at once.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:13 PM   #4
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I plow ours with my ATV. It takes more than hour since the driveway is 800' long.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:27 PM   #5
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Main Home: Used to throw with tractor thrower. Great machine but PITA to put it on. Bought new thrower last fall and it works good.

Cabin: Neighbor plows in trade for hunting privileges.

Florida House: Not so much.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:30 PM   #6
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I still shovel. I have a long driveway, but I figure the exercise is good for me. Now that I'm retired, I have time to work on it at my own pace, which helps. I try to never let it accumulate more than about 4-5" before shoveling, which makes it manageable. If it snows more than that, I just go back and do it again later. Not a real big deal. I've considered buying a snowblower in the past, but I really don't need another motorized device that requires maintenance and frequent repair. Most of my friends that have gas snowblowers always have them in the shop for maintenance and/or repair, or at least it seems that way. I might change my mind when I get older and just can't do the job with a shovel anymore.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:36 PM   #7
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I shovel. If it is snowing more than about 3-4 inches and I am home I'll shovel every 4 inches or so (good exercise).
If I am short on time I will use an electric snow blower.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:41 PM   #8
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I use a John Deere garden tractor to mow the lawn in the summer. Every November I remove the mower deck and put on a 48" snow blade.

Our driveway is about 300 feet long, so it would take forever to do it any other way.

After suffering through the contortions and skinned knuckles from the change from one implement to the other on my previous John Deere, I replaced it when we moved here with one that can be changed over without tools. Huge relief!

I actually enjoy the process. We've had about seven inches of snow so far this month, and the season is just beginning.
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:42 PM   #9
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Shovel. Our driveway is gravel so shoveling doesn't work very well. I just let it build up.....the Subaru Forester and good winter tires doesn't care what's in front of it. We had 3 inches over a month ago....nothing since .
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:51 PM   #10
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Old 12-15-2013, 12:59 PM   #11
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I shovel ***, the exercise is good for me, so I'll keep doing it as long as I can. I mow my own grass too.

Many of my neighbors have snow blowers, and they seem to work well (they seem to start easier than years ago, used to be standing joke they'd wear you out starting them long ago). But they often don't bother to use them unless we have (estimating, though thresholds vary) 4-6" of snow. They just shovel like me when it's light. It's physically easier to use a snowblower I assume, but unless the snow is deep, they don't clear their driveways much faster than us shovelers.

And of course others contract out plowing, usually to the same folks they also contract out to cut their grass.

*** None of us have driveways more than 18 x 30-40 feet long for reference.

Snow plowing isn't the business it used to be around here, thanks to climate change I guess. The guys that plow constantly bemoan the lack of snow here. I have no complaints.
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Old 12-15-2013, 01:01 PM   #12
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For as much time my DH is out of town and I go to work early, it is money well spent for the service. It is a big area-room for about 10 cars. There is still shoveling needed when he returns. I do the deck and stairs. That is plenty for me. When we both are not working, we may handle it differently.
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Old 12-15-2013, 01:12 PM   #13
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We go south until the snow goes away.
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Old 12-15-2013, 01:15 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by MichaelB View Post
We go south until the snow goes away.
Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner!
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Old 12-15-2013, 01:19 PM   #15
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I have two teenage boys still at home. I get their butts out there to do it!
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Old 12-15-2013, 01:27 PM   #16
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It melts eventually...
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Old 12-15-2013, 01:29 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by Al in Ohio View Post
I have two teenage boys still at home. I get their butts out there to do it!
I tried that when we had a teenager in the house (he's gone now). I spent most of my time trying to get him to actually get out there and do it (could have done the job myself twice before I got him to move). Then I usually had to finish up myself, to get all the areas he missed. Same thing with mowing the grass. That was not much fun.
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Old 12-15-2013, 01:39 PM   #18
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Quote:
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Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Al in Ohio View Post
I have two teenage boys still at home. I get their butts out there to do it!
As a teen age high-schooler in the Chicago burbs I shoveled every snow. Our driveway and walk, then up and down the street. I charged a fair price and made good money, and always looked forward to snow. Helped pay my way through college
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Old 12-15-2013, 02:12 PM   #19
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These comments always remind me of John Lindsay, a one-term mayor of NYC while I still lived there.

The reason he only got one term in office was partly due to his remarkably inept handling of a blizzard in 1969.

His famous approach to snow removal was "God put it there, and God will eventually take it away."
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Old 12-15-2013, 02:23 PM   #20
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We live in a regular home in a senior CCRC... A monthly fee that covers all landscaping, lawn, trees and shrubs, as well as snow plowing. The lawns always look like a golf course, and the plowing of driveways (double 100 foot) and shoveling of walks is always done by 8:30 AM... for the first time.
The maintenance fee also covers miscellaneous items, such as outside lighting, and more recently replacement of wood framed garge doors, with aluminum casing.
I always thought I rather do my own, but now am spoiled... There was a -11 degree wind chill this morning, with blowing snow. In the summer, when it's in the 90's, we sit and watch the mowers and trimmers and fertilizing. In the fall, the super suckers take care of the leaves. Would be tough going back.

One more thing... no worry about maintenance when we go to Florida.
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