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

Hi All.  I am going to buy a snow blower soon and need some advice.  My driveway is between 20% to 30% grade for about 150 feet..   I am concerded that a wheel drive snow blower will not be able to get up a drive that steep with snow on the drive.  At what angle of incline does a trak drive blower need to be considered?  What is the primary puopose of trak drive?. 

Thanks!

Doug D

Thanks everybody for the input. 

Doug D

My driveway is around 10 to 11%.  I have a wheeled snow thrower and have no problems.  Two or three times that is very steep.   I'd be looking at a track machine for a grade like that.  Otherwise, in heavy snow, you'd have to throw snow going down hill and run up hill on a cleared path. 

DougDeLashmutt wrote:

Yeah for that you will want tracks. I have less of an incline but got a tracked model, but my wife couldn't turn it. I would suggest that if you have a steep grade and get a fair amount of snow tracks will pull you right up the hill. Some models like Honda can climb up stairs. Tracks primarily give you a lot more grip over wheels. They are usually harder to turn than a wheeled model.

Just a word of caution. When using a blower on an incline such as yours. You want to always make sure that your oil level is where it should be. Running a blower up or down an incline of any distance causes the oil to run to the front or back of the crankcase. If the oil level gets low and the incline is steep. It is possible for the oil slinger to not have enough oil to sling. And under a heavy load for any length in that condition could cause the engine to seize or throw a rod. Normally not a real concern, just something to keep in mind.

I have 10% grade and I have tracks.  Could probably get by fine with wheels, but tracks are cool, and no one around me has one.  One advantage with tracks is that it can pull me uphill when it's icy.

My thinking is that you want tracks on an inclined driveway; primarily due to the possibility of ice patches under the snow. I've been in a couple of "hairy" situations after falling on my fairly steep driveway while shoveling. Not only did I fall (yeeeeouch), but I actually slid towards the end of the driveway. Only the snowbank at the end of my driveway, prevented me from sliding out into oncoming traffic. My eyes were as big as saucers on that one. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to have a running snowblower following me down that slope. I'm going to invest in a pair of spiked overshoes this season.

http://yahoo.shoptoit.ca/shop/product--productId_6880209.html

When I first moved into this place, my car once slid completely sideways on the icy slope, even though I was crawling down the driveway, feathering the brakes all the way. After that experience, I bought bags of sand, which I store in a heated area, otherwise it'll turn into a solid frozen mass.

As for tracked snowblowers being hard to turn, well, I guess that depends on the machine, and technique. On my Honda HS1132TC, I can squeeze the bucket-raising lever on the right-side handle, which raises the bucket a few inches off the ground. Then, I can apply a bit of lift under the handles, which puts all of the machines' weight on the front of the tracks. The middle and back of the tracks are completely off the ground in that instance, allowing me to easily turn the machine. I can literally lift and tilt the machine with one finger.

Every Honda tracked snowblower owner should get a training from the dealer on how to turn this baby.  It's not intuitive at first, but once you learned and mastered it, you'd wonder why everyone is b*tching about it.

Drifter, you have the TC (totally cool) Canadian model with the lever release, us poor souls in the US have to make due with the pedal release, which means we can't activate it while it's moving.  I like to thank Honda of America for making features decision for the US market that's not in the best interests of the users. We should be getting the TC and TCD models that Canadians enjoy, not these watered down TA (totally asinine) models in the US.  Hope someone at Honda corporate is listening.

aa335 wrote:
Well hey at least the machines don't cost ya over $4500 with tax!

I'd probably downgrade to 928TCD just to stay under $4000.       The electric chute rotation and deflection by joystick is pretty cool.  Sure it costs a pretty penny when it breaks, but keep on top of maintenance it should go for a while.

aa335 wrote:
That one is $3999 plus 13% tax = $4518 LOL

Yeah we get ripped off on everything here.
I just bought a set of winter tires for the car which cost me $587(and thats without installation).
Same set on tirerack would cost a US customer less than half that!

giocam wrote:

I dunno, my Nokian WRG2's that I just bought for my wifes car cost $605 installed. That's not cheap. Of course Nokians are the best snow rated all season on the market bar none. They are the only all season with a snowflake approval rating. You do get ripped off up there no doubt. But your money is now worth more than ours so trips over the border are common now. You can save a bundle and no tax either.