Have a snow thrower? Why not?

[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

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire I don't think snow usually lasts very long in southern Missouri.

You may want to check on that ...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee You may want to check on that ...

Good idea. No snow in the streets there today. The 24 hour live traffic cams in the area are helpful, as is the local newspaper (online). Remember Springfield is only about 50 miles north of the Arkansas line.

[travelover]

I live off a gravel road and the blower doesn't work for me (throws rocks through windows). So I use a snow blade to push it with my garden tractor. When the piles get too high, I use the front end loader on my emergency back up tractor.

Plus snow blowers always seem to find things buried in the snow - new telephone books, landscape lighting, ropes, wires, lost tools.........

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover new telephone books, landscape lighting, ropes, wires, lost tools.........

...the reason why you havent gotten your newspaper in 3 days.....

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny ...the reason why you havent gotten your newspaper in 3 days.....

Oh, that explains the confetti blowing around the neighborhood.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 If you need one, why didn't you get it?

I grew up shoveling snow in Pittsburgh.

In the long run it seemed cheaper to join the Navy and relocate to Hawaii. No complaints so far...

[Goonie]

I have a little 16" Toro 2-cycle, single-stage snow thrower. It does a really good job whether it's heavy & wet snow, or light & fluffy. But I still prefer to use a shovel......a lot less noise! Besides I really don't mind being outside, even in the cold and snow.....as long as it's on my terms, i.e. - mid to late morning or maybe even some time after lunch. I really enjoy being out in the fresh air (and hopefully sunshine), and also don't mind the much needed exercise!

I only used the snow thrower about twice last Winter, and only once (so far) this Winter. The only problem that I had this year, was that the dumb@$$ that used it last year (me ), forgot to to put Stabil in the fuel.....then forgot to drain the fuel out in the Spring.....what a moron! I took the spark plug out and shot with some cleaner, and then shot a squirt of ether in spark plug hole and another shot in the carberator....pulled the cord, and it spit & sputtered a little bit....but then took off running just fine! It threw the 5-6" of heavy, wet, sloppy snow about 10-15'. I've got about 100' of sidewalk, about 200 sq ft patio, and 600 sq ft driveway. It takes about 30 minutes to clear a normal snowfall with either the snow thrower or the shovel.....of course it usually ends up being more like an hour, because all of us neighbors stand around and b.s. for at least a half hour!

If the snow is deeper than about 1', the little Toro is light enough (~35 lbs) to pick up and set on top of it, and let it work it's way down!

(note to self: empty the fuel tank this year! )

[Ronstar]

I use my ATV with a plow for the driveway and shovel the sidewalks. But I broke the shovel after the last snow. Hope that means that the snow is done for this winter.

[Shredder]

My 1991 sears 5 hp snowblower finally died this winter, well it did not die but you can no longer get parts for it, I shelled out $900 for 9 hp husky. I clear the drive, walks, and paths for our pooch in the back yard. I actually like being outdoors stomping around in blowing snow, I guess it's a sickness.............Shredder

[Buckeye]

I keep asking DH if he wants to buy a snowthrower but he says "no." He said buying a second shovel for me would be much cheaper but I declined. I told him then it's a good check of his cardiovascular health. Lots of shoveling in very cold weather multiple times with no negative results is a good sign that all is well at 58. The massage for the sore back muscles on the last go around was only $50 so I guess that wasn't too bad.

[jazz4cash]

Code for "I want a new snowblower"...................

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shredder you can no longer get parts for it,

[SteveR]

I used to have two of them. Now down to one. At the cabin I had a 14hp Ariens two stage. My driveway was gravel but was 150 feet long with a turnout in front of the double garage. We got over 500 inches over the winter season. The steps and deck I had to shovel. If I were going to have a heart attack it would have been there. 4-5 feet of snow on a 500 sq.ft. deck in -zero weather at 8000 feet elevation. Not too bad for a old fart.

At the house I have a Honda 8 hp two stage. I have 2000 sq.ft of concrete to clear. I usually use a shovel if it is not too deep. I am OK shoveling 2-4 inches but if it is heavy or deeper I crank up the blower. The house borders the driveway on two sides so there is a lot of distance involved in moving the snow so if I don't blow it I either push it and then shovel it on to the snow banks or carry it there.

We also have short legged dogs so I also shovel off a part of the back yard so they can do their business without getting lost in 3 feet of snow. We averaged 2 snowfalls a week during late Dec, most of Jan, and most of Feb. That translates to a lot of shoveling.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

CTV.ca | Que. man faces firearm charge in 'snow rage' case

[SteveR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny CTV.ca | Que. man faces firearm charge in 'snow rage' case

I can see shooting the snowplow driver who shoves a three foot wall of ice, snow and salt at the end of your driveway that instantly freezes into a glacier and requires picks and shovels to remove; but not just blowing snow into your yard like in the cases in the link above.

We are always blowing snow into our neighbor's yard...it is unavoidable and tolerated...but blow it into a freshly cleaned off driveway...now you are talking homicide.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveR I can see shooting the snowplow driver who shoves a three foot wall of ice, snow and salt at the end of your driveway

Nah, you follow him home and after he goes to sleep, you hook up a garden hose and turn it on and lay it on top of his car. By morning, his car and driveway will be a beautiful ice sculpture!

I'm sure he'll greatly appreciate it.