Have a snow thrower? Why not?

[Walt34]

In the thread about snow I noticed a lot of people have long driveways, yet wrote of having to shovel 2+ feet of snow from driveways 100 ft. and longer. One of the best $900 I ever spent was for an Ariens snow throwing machine. It was hard to write the check for something I don't need but two to five times a year, but when we get a heavy snow I'm always glad I bought it.

If you need one, why didn't you get it?

 

[freebird5825]

got me a 90 foot driveway, dbl width with turnaround and a big honking 14 HP Ariens snowblower to match. <tim allen tool time sounds in the background>

i just rebuilt the carburetor guts on it. it runs very well now.

 

[hankster]

Mines too small

I was too cheap and bought the 5 h.p. model. It's a two stage but just isn't capable of launching the snow far enough if the wind is blowing from the wrong direction (when the wind blows here, it really blows!) After the first substantial snow storm this winter, I was unable to get the stupid thing to start I went in the house and called a local guy with a big diesel pickup and a hydraulic plow. He came out and moved more snow in 5 minutes than I could have moved all day! It was $25 well spent. Think I'll sell the snowblower and put the money in my "Hire the snowplow guy fund"

Hank (gettin' lazier every day)

 

[saluki9]

I'm getting one.

Until now I've paid for a plow at $20 each time. This year we had 20+ snowfalls and he got a little aggressive.

I'm figuring that around July I should be able to find some deals on Craigslist.

 

[CRABBY JERRY]

Sold my house and gave a good neighbor a pretty good deal on a never used arien also. It was an insurance policy. As soon as I bought it , we didn't get any more snow.

 

[Khan]

It will melt.

As I can do it on my own schedule, snow shoveling is a physical and mental discipline/exercise.

The Tao of snow: becoming one with the snow and the sunlight and the squirrels.

I really don't like gasoline engines.

I also rake leaves.

 

[chinaco]

Thought about getting one. So far, I'm using a shovel.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Good exercise to use a shovel. Or pump up the economy by paying the neighborhood kid 50 cents

 

[Rustic23]

Snow?

 

[Razor]

Good exercise to use a shovel.

Depends on your physical condition.
Let's be careful out there.



"After a heavy, wet snowfall, we'll get five to six times the number of heart attack cases that we would on any other typical winter day," says Dr. Hargarten, associate professor of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
At least 75,000 heart attacks occur each year during or shortly following strenuous physical exertion. About 1 in every 3 of those heart attacks are deadly, says Murray Mittleman, M.D., a researcher at the Institute for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center West in Boston. Many of these heart attacks and deaths occur among people over age 60 who have been shoveling snow.
"A lot of people think, 'Oh, it's just snow. I can take care of this.' They think of it as just another domestic chore like mowing the lawn," Dr. Hargarten says. "But snow shoveling is a lot more strenuous an activity than power mowing. Shoveling causes changes in blood circulation that are a lot more stressful on the heart."
Those changes in blood flow can be particularly risky for people over age 60 who are sedentary or who are unaware that they have heart disease.
"As you move along in years, you tend to get less exercise, and activities like snow shoveling become more dangerous," Dr. Hargarten says.
A study of 10 sedentary men in Michigan, for instance, found that just 2 minutes of shoveling snow raised heart rates above the limit commonly recommended for safe exercise. And if you are out of shape, the chances that you will have a heart attack in the hour following a physically draining task like snow shoveling are 53 times greater than that for a person who is physically active, Dr. Mittleman says.

 

[W2R]

"But snow shoveling is a lot more strenuous an activity than power mowing."

OK, that was definitely persuasive so I've made up my mind. When we move north, I'm not shoveling snow at all!!

I stopped power mowing a couple of years ago, because it was becoming more and more strenuous the older I get. I'd rather pay someone to mow and then pay to go to the gym, where I can exercise regularly without over-doing.

If snow shoveling is more strenuous than that, I will hire someone to do it or else just wait for it to melt. I don't think snow usually lasts very long in southern Missouri.

 

[bruce1]

65 HP diesel tractor with an eight foot blade. Handled four foot drifts the morning. Would be better with a front loader. Also have a cousin with a plow on the front of his truck.

Bruce

 

[ScooterGuy]

Electric snow blower

Back about a year or so, we bought a Toro Snow Blower. It only cuts about 18" wide, so I do one cut on the way out and another on the way back, with a looonnng extension cord. Works well and uses no gasoline.

 

[73ss454]

I bought a Toro about 30 years ago while living in NY. Never had a problem with it and last year I dropped it off at my DS's house and moved to Florida. Glad that's overwith.

 

[FinanceDude]

I'm the snow thrower...........for a couple more years, and then my sons take over..............

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I dont have one. But it was 75ish out there today so I think I'm okay.

We did get some snow about 10 years ago. Couple of inches. Went away in a couple of days.

I'm laughing it up now. In four months all y'all can give it back to me about it being 110 degrees here.

 

[Darryl]

Neighbor kid has a snowblower warm clothing time and a desire to make $20. All I have is the warm clothing.

 

[freebird5825]

re y'all can give it back to me about it being 110 degrees here.

count on it!
i often wonder why i stay in the snow belt. the usual reasons were job, house, inertia. it will be interesting as the FIRE act settles in on me long term, how i feel about the cold white stuff. DH2B still works here, so there's my new reason.
i have lived in AZ, CA and FL. they just short term visits (a few months) with my mom, many moons ago as she enjoyed her retirement. AZ was too dry, CA was too close to tourist areas (Anaheim), and FL was just for a summer. i enjoyed FL but wasn't there for hurricane season.

home is where the heart is.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

My heart hated the frickin snow.

It likes sitting out on the lawn in february and march reading the paper in shorts and a tee shirt and thinking 15 minutes into it that I oughta move into the shade.

 

[jazz4cash]

Good exercise to use a shovel. Or pump up the economy by paying the neighborhood kid 50 cents

50 Cents? That's not LBYM, thats child abuse.

 

[jazz4cash]

See Thrift Store Thread........I have a Pawn Shop Special Toro S-200, which I refurbished for $25. I bought it in Indiana where we had 100ft drive. It's very small, but does pretty well. Most of the machines they make now are larger. I only use it now to annoy the neighbors, but we had no snow this year in DC. I expect the local stores will have deals on unsold new machines unless they shipped them all to the Midwest.

 

[Khan]

I used to pay some locals $20 to shovel the driveway; don't need that now I'm retired.

 

[thefed]

i threw a 42" plow on my riding mower....as long as there's only 5-6" of wet snow,or maybe 8-9" of fluffy stuff, I'm okay.last yeari didnt keep up and made it 3 feet into the wet stuff before calling my buddy with a real plow

Saturday was like "king of the Hill" with all the neighbors riding their tractors, drinking some warm drinks while doing it, b-s'ing a little bit while we'd meet in the street. then the neighbor with the 4-wheeler started doing all the old folks drives after clearing US (the guys on the riding mowers)a path down the street to help. it was great fun

 

[Walt34]

What spurred me to buy it was 2 heavy snows a week apart. I literally couldn't throw a shovelful any farther. That and it was cheaper than another hernia, not to mention the pain involved.

It was a good deal. Bought the snow thrower and we didn't see snowflake one for four years. Worth it to me. Then the statistics caught up with us.

 

[Jeb-NY]

Long driveway (500'+), large turnaround area, large tractor with 6 foot V plow blade on the front and 6 foot straight blade on the back. I think this last storm put us past 10 feet for the Winer.

Jeb