So its been me...the dogs and the pellet stove for 3 days...I had to shovel my way to the pellets...did I ever say how much I hate snow?? The stove however kept the house toasty
snow ahhhhhhhh
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Cedarjunki
Minister of Fire
This is one of those times i can say i am glad to be so far north. I didnt even get a dusting
This is one of those times i can say i am glad to be so far north. I didnt even get a dusting
.....the one good thing...schools were closed so I got an extra day off
Cedarjunki
Minister of Fire
I have to admit, i dont wish the bad storms on anybody. Well kinda, sorta...
the weather has deffinetly been changing over the years and it is nice to not be in the center of the storms lately.
the weather has deffinetly been changing over the years and it is nice to not be in the center of the storms lately.
We didnt ever see a flake here in hyde park N.Y.
Now, i'm not one to complain about that but here it is, basically the end of january. I have my snowblower oiled and gassed up since october. I took the mower deck off the tractor and put the plow, weights and chains on. Both our cars have the snow tires.
It would be nice to see just a little something, just to justify all that work and expense.
Now, i'm not one to complain about that but here it is, basically the end of january. I have my snowblower oiled and gassed up since october. I took the mower deck off the tractor and put the plow, weights and chains on. Both our cars have the snow tires.
It would be nice to see just a little something, just to justify all that work and expense.
bogieb
Minister of Fire
After the last two winters of massive cold and snow, I've been just as happy to basically sit this winter out. I live alone all the time, so snow blowing/shoveling/ice scrapping and stove tending is all up to me. We didn't even get a flurry and I've only used the blower once, shoveled two other times since we only got 3-4" and not worth it to get out the power tools.
tiger
Feeling the Heat
Cold & snowy (21") here and finally consuming some pellets, thought I was going to have a huge surplus at end-of-season. A couple of weeks ago, turning on the Harman in the evenings for a few hours resulted in over-80-degree living room temps even on the lowest setting; now, I turned it to a somewhat higher setting and it's keeping the living room in the low-to-mid-70's and I'm even running it overnight instead of letting the boiler take over at night. Missed one day at the office and today my wife's employer is still shut down, so I dumped another bag in the hopper for her this morning before heading to the office.
After this storm, I am buying a snowblower
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Last year by the first of Feb we had about 4 ft of snow in the back yard and no sign of the storms ending. They just kept coming till sometime in March. And my snow blower developed an intermittent squeel that sounded like a bearing going. We made it through, the Ariens and I ! So around Nov 1 2015, blown knee and all I ripped the Ariens down and found a bad idler bearing and it needed belts. So we got snow last weekend, up to 14" predicted. We got 4" in the front yard ( windy) and 6" in the back. Yay ! But the blower is ready for the big stuff if we get it. today ? 52 deg !
Marina, I never shoveled this driveway. It would be too much area to do that way anyway. But I once plowed for the town and my truck and plow did the driveway. When all that ended I bought into an Ariens Pro series. It's been 11 years so far with that machine and it's done very well here in some mighty big storms. And Cape Cod gets the heavy wet stuff most times FWIW. Now since Ariens redesigned the belt system to a double auger belt it should be all the better. I suggest Ariens Pro or the Deluxe series. But I know others will swear by other brands just as well LOL. I guess all brands throw snow, it's the longevity factor.
Marina, I never shoveled this driveway. It would be too much area to do that way anyway. But I once plowed for the town and my truck and plow did the driveway. When all that ended I bought into an Ariens Pro series. It's been 11 years so far with that machine and it's done very well here in some mighty big storms. And Cape Cod gets the heavy wet stuff most times FWIW. Now since Ariens redesigned the belt system to a double auger belt it should be all the better. I suggest Ariens Pro or the Deluxe series. But I know others will swear by other brands just as well LOL. I guess all brands throw snow, it's the longevity factor.
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tiger
Feeling the Heat
Great info and I just went to look at Ariens at snowblowersdirect.com. If/when my little Toro gives up, it's good to know which brand (among many out there) are recommended by more than just those selling them.
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Your Toro might never give up, it's not a bad brand either. As I said, they all throw snow LOL !
tiger
Feeling the Heat
Possibly but it's one of those plastic-cased single stage units; good for 4"-6" of snow but down here we get clobbered about once every 5 years, and this time not only did I think I could not keep up, but on our street we have a lot of elderly and widows, I try to do 5-6 driveways normally including my own. A couple more big storms and I think I could kill this machine. Getting a big-boy's snow blower would help, except for finding the room to store it. Anyway, thanks for the input!
And the pellet stove I finally shut down last night, first time in a while I ran that many hours (24/7 since early Friday afternoon) without turning it off, the glass is filthy!
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Yeah it's not made for that kind of duty. A bigger machine with a quality two stage blower on board you could pretty well just wait till the end of the storm and do all 5 driveways then. I used to do other peoples driveways with mine too, a couple of ladies my wife knew at the time when we got it. You gotta figure in it's your machine that will last a long time but every persons driveway you add is taking life off double what your own yard is causing. They should be helping you own and maintain that thing!
My blower lives outdoors under an Ariens snow blower cover. It's never balked at it.
My stove has been shut down for about 30 hours now, It was 52 here yesterday, the snow we had on the weekend is all but gone today ! It's like, why did I even clear it LOL.
The thing about buying a snowblower is it won't snow for years once you purchase it. After a few years of no snow, you sell your snowblower, and WHAM you get hit with 24 inches of snow. If you decide to keep the snowblower after two years of no use, then WHAM you get hit with 24 inches of snow and your snow blower will not start.
Use non-Ethonol gas in snowblowers, generators, lawn mowers. Stewart's gas stations sell non-Ethonol gas.
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Just run the gas out at the end of the season, never let any kind of gas sit in the carburetor of any small engine. At the very least shut of the fuel and let the carb run out of fuel. My boat and my generator sit with gas in them for months using fuel stabilizer and run fine. However, in due time it has to be run out because age will deteriorate the power you get from the gas. The big hoopla about ethanol gas is that the ethanol itself will absorb moisture and then sink to the bottom of tanks etc. Generally speaking this isn't in a matter of weeks . A good point for non ethanol gas though is octane for octane it will produce a more powerful running engine. It is a safer bet in storage but the best bet in storage is an empty tank.
Peterfield
Minister of Fire
Here's what is recommended - at season's end, drain out all gas and then run machine until it stops. Then pour a moderate amount of ethanol-free gas you can buy at hardware and automotive stores. I use "Tru-fuel" but there are other brands and the stuff also has Stabil in it. Start and run the engine for five minutes and then shut down. Next season, it will start right up. I used to just run an engine dry but a few wrenches told me you can get condensation in the carb bowl if empty for a long period of time. All I know is when I start something up now, it fires up right away
tiger
Feeling the Heat
It certainly would be nice if all small-engine device manufacturers would incorporate a drainage petcock in the system for this. On my little Toro with the plastic housing, you cannot even SEE the engine. If they had a petcock and attached foot of hose, it would only take an instant to drain it all back into a jerrican for use in the lawnmower, etc. Probably adds 45 cents to manufacturing costs.
well my new toy is on the way....got a 24 inch, two stage electric start gas powered blower from Sears...
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