Let's talk Snow Blowers

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. :cool:

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?

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So like...do most of you guys live in the southern, warm climates that get no snow...? No one uses a snow blower...? :D
 
So like...do most of you guys live in the southern, warm climates that get no snow...? No one uses a snow blower...? :D

I live in Jersey and have a broken plastic shovel. Light snow I shovel so I can drive my car and turn it in my driveway. When it's really heavy I keep the car at the edge of the driveway and back out. Then I only have 5 steps and 2 landings. Though I do shovel a way to the garage. We have some outdoor cats I feed, and they hang out in the garage in bad weather. It's funny, they come out and roll around in the snow.

I'd need a huge plot of land before I'd buy a snow blower. My way of thinking is, if I can get out of the house into the car and out of the driveway I've shoveled enough. If I had a long driveway that I needed to drive down, I'd own a snowblower. But, I don't. I never quite understood people who need to shovel everything when there's a ton of snow on the ground. They're not having a barbeque with guests in 20 degree weather. Though we do have a BBQ we use in the wintertime. CHARCOAL not that propane crap. Nothing tastes better.

Enjoy your new toy!
 
I never quite understood people who need to shovel everything when there's a ton of snow on the ground.

New Jersey is a different ballgame. I lived in NJ, both in upper and central parts, and while I do recall a few good snowstorms in the 20+ years, there wasn't much to warrant snow blowers and plowing concerns.

I do like to clear off my decks, even though I don't use them in the winter...but if you leave the snow on them, it eventually turns to a slab of ice, and that will destroy your deck if you leave it go, year after year...and here's the other thing, up this way, we can get 3-4 small storms during the course of a week or two...4"-5" each...which isn't much to worry about, but if you don't clean up, it will just build up, and that older snow turns to frozen snow and ice, so then you're stuck with it until there is a good enough thaw so that you can get at it.

With my driveway, I can ignore 6"...and my 4x4 SUV can just drive through it, but then it packs down, and if it warms a little during the day, or it's just a sunny day, there will be a bit of melt, and then freeze, and the next day you have ice on the driveway.
Plus...if I don't keep the driveway clean...my oil delivery guy won't come down it, my mail carrier won't bring my any larger packages, and same thing with FedEx and UPS, though they will usually walk down anyway, but it's not fair to make them slog down a snow/ice covered driveway.

So up here I always clean up as much as I can after each snow storm. That said, the last couple of years they've been more like rain/snow...which can be a nasty mess if there's enough of it...but when it's light, it usually will melt off if we are in a warm spell. It appears that they are predicting a slightly warmer winter again up here, by 2-3 degrees above normal...so I'm expecting more wet snow, instead of the deep snows, but that wet stuff is a bitch to shovel.

I do have the ability to park up at the end of my driveway...but then I would have to walk up/down the snow covered driveway, which is worse.
 
When we have snow, the trains stop, roads go mad, it makes the news and people get told to stay indoors. Most times we get about an inch or two. Other countries seem to do so much better!
 
I got a 2-stage about 10 years ago - had been shoveling 100%, with only a rare plow pass from a neighbor before that - and that would always leave the gravel piles you mentioned to shovel/rake out in the spring.
NO experience with such an automated beast as that. But snowblowing, just like lawnmowing, always took it out on my hands - the constant vibration, gripping, etc. Trying to play guitar later the same day would always be a challenge.
Now the wife has the snowblower (and house), all I have to shovel is my little balcony!
 
No Snow in So Cal...but it's just an hour away in the winter IF we want to play in it...Me no likey Beautiful but it's just not worth freezing my ass off for more than a couple days..

So I got nothing ...I am interested in pressure washers but have not pulled the trigger yet....
 
... it's just not worth freezing my ass off for more than a couple days..

So I got nothing ...I am interested in pressure washers but have not pulled the trigger yet....

Well...I have even less desire to sweat my ass off in 90-100 degree temps for more than a couple of days...never mind most of the summer.
The way I see it...when it's super hot, you can only dress down so much, and you're still sweating.
With the colder days...it's just about adding or removing another layer, and you stay comfortable.
Mind you...I'm not talking about Fargo, ND or Michigan kind of bitter, endless winter weather. Here in Southern NY it's really cold for maybe 2 weeks out of the winter...but we can still get a good deal of snow, so the snow blower will get use.

Oh...I have a pretty decent pressure washer.
I went with an electric motor, and it's not super powerful like some of the commercial monster gasoline powered washer, but this puppy WILL strip paint with the high-pressure nozzle if you get close enough.
I used it last summer to strip all the gray/green crud off my wooden retaining walls, and also before I re-stained my decks.
I have yet to use it to wash my house siding or the windows...but I just resided the whole house, so I won't need to for awhile.
 
Well...I have even less desire to sweat my ass off in 90-100 degree temps for more than a couple of days...never mind most of the summer.
The way I see it...when it's super hot, you can only dress down so much, and you're still sweating.
With the colder days...it's just about adding or removing another layer, and you stay comfortable.
Mind you...I'm not talking about Fargo, ND or Michigan kind of bitter, endless winter weather. Here in Southern NY it's really cold for maybe 2 weeks out of the winter...but we can still get a good deal of snow, so the snow blower will get use.

Oh...I have a pretty decent pressure washer.
I went with an electric motor, and it's not super powerful like some of the commercial monster gasoline powered washer, but this puppy WILL strip paint with the high-pressure nozzle if you get close enough.
I used it last summer to strip all the gray/green crud off my wooden retaining walls, and also before I re-stained my decks.
I have yet to use it to wash my house siding or the windows...but I just resided the whole house, so I won't need to for awhile.

You're in NY. My sister lives in Glen Falls. She's sent photos of the snow they get.

When my mom passed away she left the house to me, with the stipulation if I ever sell it I had to split the money with my brother and sister. Karen never wanted to move to Babylon. I spent most of the time in NY at her apartment. In 95 the snow storms were terrible. I spent the weekend in the city and when I finally made it home the snow had turned to ice and my tires were stuck to the ground. I went in the house and the furnace had broken and there were icicles coming out of all the faucets. I did not touch anything. Luckily the guy changed the igniter, I put the heat up to 90 and within a few hours the house was back to normal. Not one pipe burst. The car took a few days for the ice to melt enough to drive it.

If the snow is going to destroy a structure, it should be cleared. But, I've seen people doing their entire driveways that can hold 4 cars and they only have one. The walkways all the way around their houses, and everywhere else they can push that thing.

We moved to this house in 2007 and there's been 3 or 4 really bad winters. I forgot what year it was, but the first snow came in at about a foot. I'd shovel that, and the next day there'd me another 6", then another 6, another foot. The mounds at points were over 6 feet. I felt bad, because the only place to put the snow from the front of my driveway is on the edge of the neighbors lawn. It was like a frozen fence.
 
When I was a kid we earnt cash clearing snow off neighbours drives with shovels.

Guess we are different people today?
 
Miro. I just read the first post, but man, you have my sympathy!

That’s a long driveway, and a plow and gravel driveway???? Well, they just don’t go together.

I got a gravel drive too. But I don’t bother. I got a truck. And when it snows, the bed fills up with snow and with all that weight over the rear tires, I have no traction issues. :)

How about when it snows, you just say the hell with it and stay home and record? Snow will melt on its own ;)
 
I've seen people doing their entire driveways that can hold 4 cars and they only have one. The walkways all the way around their houses, and everywhere else they can push that thing.

Again...if you only clear the snow for one car...the next time it snows you have less and less room to put the snow, and that snow you didn't clear has turned into a frozen slab of rock-hard snow and ice...which is why most people clear off their entire driveways and walkways. :)

I've seen people who only clear a path as wide as their shovel...and then they're stuck with that.



Miro. I just read the first post, but man, you have my sympathy!

That’s a long driveway, and a plow and gravel driveway???? Well, they just don’t go together.

I got a gravel drive too. But I don’t bother. I got a truck. And when it snows, the bed fills up with snow and with all that weight over the rear tires, I have no traction issues. :)

How about when it snows, you just say the hell with it and stay home and record? Snow will melt on its own ;)

You must not get all that much snow, never mind the wet slushy snow that will freeze at night, and in the morning it's a mess.

Up here, many driveways are gravel, these ain't the suburbs with sod lawns and 20' paved driveways from the garage to the street. Here many people have longer driveways, and they are covered with t's what's called Item #4 stone, which is a slate stone crushed into pieces about 1"-2", and comes with a lot of stone powder...so after you spread it, it packs down real hard and locks in. It's not like loose gravel or that pea stone you see at the expensive homes, where it's laid down like 4" deep and makes that crunchy sound when you walk on it. :D

The stone driveways here are pretty solid, however, if it snows early in the winter when the ground is still unfrozen...the heavy plows will dig into it. I always ask the guys to adjust their plows, but they are all too lazy to do that, and some don't even have the "doughnuts" on their plows to keep the edge up about 1"...so just by the nature of how the plows are mounted on most pickup/4x4s...they get dropped right on the ground with the full weight of the plow, and that bottom edge will dig into soft ground...and scoop up a lot of stone with the snow...even dirt if it digs in deep.
It can be avoided, but they all want to do a fast job and get to the next driveway because many of them are out for hours and hours doing the rounds...so no one wants to "finesse" the job and avoid destroying your driveway.

I know if I had a truck with a plow, I would never rip up my driveway...but it's not cheap. A good plow and all the mounting can set you back $4k easy...plus you need a heavier 4x4 truck...and then you have to put the plow on and drive around with it all winter long, even if you see no snow. It just isn't worth it for one driveway...which is why many guys try to get some customers to help pay for the plow and the wear and tear on the truck. If you plow a lot...you will beat the piss out of your truck.

TBH, I don't mind shoveling...I look at it as 2-3 hours of good exercise...but it can be a real chore when the snow is heavy and wet or half frozen, and my back gets beat up pretty bad.
 
I have one I purchased for my neighbors and myself. Not wamajama like yours, but close. We use ours on concrete and blacktop. If you look at at the blue height adjusters, I would think for gravel you would set those to about an inch or two. You would still have some snow, but the bulk would be cleared. So those I would raise to keep gravel out.

Even when the snow start to slush, I still use the blower, but it doesn't "throw" it. But does move it. Also, and this probably sounds dumb, but I start in the center, and throw to the right outside and work my way to the edges. So center, then back the other way to the next and work out. I find changing the chute direction to be a big PITA. The way I do it, you don't have to change the chute direction as often or at all.
 
You must not get all that much snow, never mind the wet slushy snow that will freeze at night, and in the morning it's a mess.

True. Only a couple of times a season. Average 2 inches per snowfall. Last year we got 8 inches one day.

But rarely does it stay long because weather is relatively mild. It may drop to zero or below but that’s rare. Range is usually lows of 35 to highs of 50 degrees. So it melts completely in a few days and we don’t have the slushy ice.

I do remember the east coast winters, and am not envious . ;)

Made a bunch of money as a kid shoveling drive ways. Sometimes you’d have to do them twice though. You clear the drive so they could get out, and then the city snow plow would do the street and block the driveway again.
Most were smart enough to wait till the plow went through....but some..... not so much.

It’s ok, they’d pay extra.
Kept me in vinyl and black diamond strings :)
 
Hands up if you can remember when............you shoveled the snow.........You pushed your lawn mower.......you trimmed the hedge with a pair of shears............you swept up the leaves........washed the car with a bucket and sponge...........put a screw in with a wooden handled screwdriver...........used a hammer to put nails in.
 
Well...I have even less desire to sweat my ass off in 90-100 degree temps for more than a couple of days...never mind most of the summer.


yeah but it's a dry heat.....:facepalm:.......:laughings:

Yeah that's why there are Fords n Chevies.......one mans hell is another mans heaven..

My Pops grew up in Parnell Michigan near Flint...They moved to California when he was 12 (1929) and he kissed California's ground...He had lived on a farm in a time when all the modern conveniences did not exist...He hated snow...never once took us to the mountains to play in it...My first experience was when I was 16 and could drive myself up the mountain...It's a pretty thing from inside a warm cabin...The more I think about it the more I realize some of my most unpleasant experiences have happened in the snow...Cracked ribs from a failed snow boarding attempt...my first skiing trip was a nightmare...My daughter pregnant with her first slipped in it and fell on a cabin trip we all took and had to go to emergency..... I do enjoy tubing and playing with the grandkids for a weekend or so...but I'll take maintaining my swimming pool year round over shoveling or blowing that shit off my driveway...If I want to play in it...it's generally just 45 minutes away for at least a few months of the year...If I want heavenly snow Tahoe is just 8 hours of a beautiful drive away.
 
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Hands up if you can remember when............you shoveled the snow.........You pushed your lawn mower.......you trimmed the hedge with a pair of shears............you swept up the leaves........washed the car with a bucket and sponge...........put a screw in with a wooden handled screwdriver...........used a hammer to put nails in.

Check...check...check...check...check...check...and check.

I still use all those tools regularly.
Right now...I've got hand tools scattered throughout my house as I work on multiple projects...and outside I have my table saw and miter saw set up and ready to go. As a matter of fact...I need to go cut up a bunch of planks I bought yesterday into corner braces for the acoustic panel frames I already made...though the braces are more for keeping the insulation from flapping back, but they will also sturdy up the frames too.

I am a total DIY guy...I can do most anything, and I don't say that to brag, it's just my nature to take interest in things...and of course, there's always a need for something to be done, and if you always pay someone, it gets expensive or things don't get done if you can't. My neighbor can't do shit on his own other than split logs for his fireplace...and even that, he has his cousin come help.

I paid contractors to do the bulk of the construction work for my new studio...but I worked right along with them, and many things they let slide, because they knew I would do it...and better. Even the head contractor told me I can come work for him anytime...and was surprised at how many things I knew how to do...he said most people these days don't know and don't care to know.
 
yeah but it's a dry heat.....:facepalm:.......:laughings:

Yeah that's why there are Fords n Chevies.......one mans hell is another mans heaven..

Mt Pops grew up in Parnell Michigan near Flint...They moved to California when he was 12 (1929) and he kissed California's ground...He had lived on a farm in a time when all the modern conveniences did not exist...He hated snow...never once took us to the mountains to play in it...My first experience was when I was 16 and could drive myself up the mountain...It's pretty thing from inside a warm cabin...The more I think about it the more I realize some of my most unpleasant experiences have happened in the snow...Cracked ribs from a failed snow boarding attempt...my first skiing trip was a nightmare...My daughter pregnant with her first slipped in it and fell on a cabin trip we all took and had to go to emergency..... I do enjoy tubing and playing with the grandkids for a weekend or so...but I'll take maintaining my swimming pool year round over shoveling or blowing that shit off my driveway...If I want to play in it...it's generally just 45 minutes away for at least a few months of the year...If I want heavenly snow Tahoe is just 8 hours of a beautiful drive away.

We were year-round kids...and would spend most of the wintertime playing outside in the snow, going ice-skating, sledding...etc.
I spent 20+ years skiing my ass off...not just the 2-3 times per winter...more like 4-5 times per week. Still have over a dozen pairs racing skis that I have not wanted to get rid of, plus tons of ski cloths and gear.
Back in the day...we would already be planning for winter in August, when the ski sales would kick in. :)
I stopped skiing a bunch of years back...my right hip and other joints were not going to last if I kept going...and I didn't want to go skiing and just take it easy...we always skied hard-n-fast, and I know if I kept it up, I would need to have surgery done to fix some joints later in life...and that didn't appeal to me.

Funny...the other day I drove past a local ski area (small, only a couple of lifts)...and I thought they had shut down completely a few years back, but I noticed that the main lift was repainted, and they had new signs up. I was only there once before to check it out...nothing to write home about, but there were a couple of decent looking runs. So as I drove past, I though maybe this year I make a small comeback...it's only 15 minutes away from me...but I'll see how motivated I am when the snow flies.
 
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