miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
So this year I finally decided to get a snow blower...something I've thought about for a few years now, but since I have the same guy who's been plowing my driveway for the last several years, I never saw a reason to bother with a snow blower. My driveway is pretty long, and at the bottom where you park, it circles back up around...so it's like the eye of a needle, with total linear footage being about 300', plus a large parking area. It's also a gravel drive way.
I always have to shovel from my door, up the steps to the parking area, and then in-between the cars...which I will still have to, but with the snow blower, I can just clean some, back the cars out of the way, and then use the blower.
Main reason for the snow blower is that the guy who plows, the last couple of years has been subbing out, and not doing it himself, which has left me with inconsistent snow plowing...plus, no matter who plows, if the ground isn't frozen solid, they end up ripping up my driveway and pushing a lot of the gravel into the piles with the snow...so every spring, it's a chore to rake all that out and get it spread again.
This summer I put down 30 yards of new gravel, and between the inconsistent plowing and the new gravel...not to mention my poor back taking longer each year to recover from heavy snow shoveling...I though maybe I would try the snow blower...so I shopped around for awhile, at one point looking at maybe just getting a used one in good condition, that way if I didn't like using it, it wouldn't be a big loss...but then I realized that things would only get harder and harder with shoveling, and TBH, this season I got a funny feeling that my regular plow guy may decide to not bother doing it, even with the subs (I didn't care for his subs anyway, they always did a quick, half-assed job).
With all that in mind...I decided to "go big"...and I got this 3-stage monster. I can still deal with shoveling the lighter snows (I've hand-shoveled my entire 300' driveway many times in the past)...but when we get the big snows, even if it's only 1-2 times a season...or the wet, heavy snow...I just don't want to kill my back, not to mention my hands, which end up stiff for a couple of days, and then I can't play guitar.
So this is what I got...30" wide front scoop, 420cc engine, 3-stage auger/impeller system, heated grips, easy push-button turning ...the works.
The one thing I was wondering about...for lighter snows...like 4"-6"...does using a big machine like this have any downside?
I was actually thinking maybe I should also have a smaller 24", 2-stage machine...maybe something used...both as a back-up and if this one is too much for lighter snows...?
I figure with this big machine...even my 300' driveway will not be a real problem, no matter how much snow we get.
I'm curious if any of you veteran snow blower users have any special comments/tips/stories that would be good to know for a first-time snow blower user?
I always have to shovel from my door, up the steps to the parking area, and then in-between the cars...which I will still have to, but with the snow blower, I can just clean some, back the cars out of the way, and then use the blower.
Main reason for the snow blower is that the guy who plows, the last couple of years has been subbing out, and not doing it himself, which has left me with inconsistent snow plowing...plus, no matter who plows, if the ground isn't frozen solid, they end up ripping up my driveway and pushing a lot of the gravel into the piles with the snow...so every spring, it's a chore to rake all that out and get it spread again.
This summer I put down 30 yards of new gravel, and between the inconsistent plowing and the new gravel...not to mention my poor back taking longer each year to recover from heavy snow shoveling...I though maybe I would try the snow blower...so I shopped around for awhile, at one point looking at maybe just getting a used one in good condition, that way if I didn't like using it, it wouldn't be a big loss...but then I realized that things would only get harder and harder with shoveling, and TBH, this season I got a funny feeling that my regular plow guy may decide to not bother doing it, even with the subs (I didn't care for his subs anyway, they always did a quick, half-assed job).
With all that in mind...I decided to "go big"...and I got this 3-stage monster. I can still deal with shoveling the lighter snows (I've hand-shoveled my entire 300' driveway many times in the past)...but when we get the big snows, even if it's only 1-2 times a season...or the wet, heavy snow...I just don't want to kill my back, not to mention my hands, which end up stiff for a couple of days, and then I can't play guitar.
So this is what I got...30" wide front scoop, 420cc engine, 3-stage auger/impeller system, heated grips, easy push-button turning ...the works.
The one thing I was wondering about...for lighter snows...like 4"-6"...does using a big machine like this have any downside?
I was actually thinking maybe I should also have a smaller 24", 2-stage machine...maybe something used...both as a back-up and if this one is too much for lighter snows...?
I figure with this big machine...even my 300' driveway will not be a real problem, no matter how much snow we get.
I'm curious if any of you veteran snow blower users have any special comments/tips/stories that would be good to know for a first-time snow blower user?