Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I feel kind of stupid that all this happened but I thought we could all have a laugh and learn from it, so here's the story of my latest adventure in OPE.

I had to go to a cottage in Mid-Ontario, Canada ( Algonquin Highlands, close to Minden) for a building inspection. It was scheduled for Friday so I went up Thursday night since a snow storm was on the way.

I got there at about 1:30AM after replacing a flat tire on the trailer I was using to bring my snowblower up. At that point I discovered that one of the tires on the snowblower was flat. Out comes the shovel, clear enough snow to  barrel in to the driveway but we are not getting out without clearing the driveway or getting a tow.

1. Start fire and heat the place up
2. Get some sleep
3. Get up and look at the blower. The wheel with the flat tire is frozen to the axle so I can't get it off. I try to start the engine, it won't even turn over, something is frozen .
4. Put some MDF onto the toboggan, put the blower on the MDF, tie it to the toboggan and pull the blower through the snow to the cottage. No I didn't need snow shoes but I had them "just in case".
   
5. Get it into the cottage and put it reasonably close to the fireplace.
6. Watch it since we are talking a full tank of gas and even though the fireplace is an air tight I do have an imagination.
7. Inflate tire while we wait.
   
8. The snow has been melting for a while, Move it close to the door and pull once to see if the engine is free.
9. Remember that we forgot to turn down the throttle after trying to start it earlier.
10.  Quickly turn off the roaring engine since we are indoors!
11. Take it outside and fire it up. Try to engage the auger, it doesn't turn and smoke starts to come from under the belt cover. Disengage auger, turn off engine, take back inside.
12.  Use implements such as a 2x4 and a flashlight to check the auger and impeller, small bits of stone are caught between the bottom of the impeller blade and the wall of the housing.
13.  Move the impeller with the 2x4 and carefully clean out the grit.
14. Try turning the impeller by engaging the the clutch and pulling the manual start ( this time the throttle is in the "Off" position), nothing, we're still jammed;
15. Force the impeller with the 2x4, check with the flashlight. There was a small stone behind the mounting plate of the impeller arms jammed against the back wall of the housing;
16. Carefully remove the stone.
    
17. Now we remember that one of the shear bolts broke and we couldn't bang it out with a hammer and a small steel rod.
18. Get out the impact driver and say thank you for the fore thought of bringing up the compressor and associated tools ( do it all the time, right?)
19. Out come the remains of the shear bolt, in goes the new one.
20. Get it outside, start it up and all is well.

What did I learn?

1. Before taking the snow blower north, make sure it works and give yourself enough time to fix any problems;
2. If you break a shear bolt, don't forget to fix it;
3. Air tools and a compressor are nice things;
4. Toboggans are nice things too;
5. Spare trailer tires are really nice things;
   
6. You can never carry too many tools when you are towing a snowblower into snow country.
7. Even a little bit of grit can be a show stopper if its in the wrong place.
8. Check the pressure in the trailer wheels more often.