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.

Well i got general altimax arctic for my civic which are only $66 each on tirerack. I don't know what your tires would cost you in Canada but I am sure it would be a ton more than what you paid.
Cross border shopping isn't an option for me, its overall about 20 hours of driving plus a 6-8 hour boat ride to the nearest state.

giocam wrote:

Yikes! That is a long haul to the US. So not really an option for you. Most small communities in the US overcharge as well because they can get away with it. Nokian WRG2's would probably cost a bundle in Canada I looked it up and teh same tires would cost you $806. Not sure if that's installed. They are only sold through Canadian Tire up there.

Back on topic....for you Hundaa heads out there, do you feel that you can maneuver just as well with the tracks as the wheeled models ? Off topic : Nokian tires rock. It's just a shame, just like these dwindled down red buckets we get out here. We are 2 years behind in current Nokian snow tire technology ....and their current revision of the Haks are pretty damm amazing.. I thought the Hak 5 series were quite a deal, but the Hak 7 overseas trumps it 2 1/2 fold at least

Back on topic....for you Hundaa heads out there, do you feel that you can maneuver just as well with the tracks as the wheeled models ? Off topic : Nokian tires rock. It's just a shame, just like these dwindled down red buckets we get out here. We are 2 years behind in current Nokian snow tire technology ....and their current revision of the Haks are pretty damm amazing.. I thought the Hak 5 series were quite a deal, but the Hak 7 overseas trumps it 2 1/2 fold at least

I was looking into those Nokian snow tires for my rear wheel drive car a few years ago.  They look like they do a good job with traction on snow.  We don't get a lot of snow at one time, and when the pavement is dry, I'm pretty aggressive on tires so I didn't think those Nokian compounds would nog hold up too well.  Plus I wasn't comfortable with the Q or T speed rating on those tires.  I have Dunlop Wintersport 3D and it's a fairly decent compromise for this area.  Plus, with my wheel size to fit the brake rotors, the highest profile I can get is 40 series in snow tires.

i really would like a truck for my winter driving.  Good ground clearance (5" with my current car) and not worrying about dodging pot holes that sends shockwave through the car. 

8 Pots up front.....40 Profile as well.
It's all in the wheels as well to a degree.

19" clear my breaks. Another set of 20's, I need to run a 5mm spacer for it to clear it by a hair.

FWIW, the Nokians wear very well.....It's one of those tires where you run it once and never look back.

The WR is more a all season tire with snow symbol on it. I prefer true dedicated snows and true dedicated summers...

aa335 wrote:

If you have a truck or AWD vehicle that's different. if I didn't have Nokian snow tires I would not be able to get home in the winter. They really last since the WRG2's are all season tires but are snowflake rated.

chefwong wrote:

Correct, the WR is an all season tire with a 50,000 mile rating. It will do the job where I live. I used to run dedicated snows on my Miata when it was all I had but they are like running on jello here when it gets even a little bit warm. We have to use a compromise tire like the WRG2's. Our weather in New England really bits so all seasons are best for up here. My car is nothing to brag about for handling or performance anyway. If was a wee bit bigger I could almost put my snowblower in it tho.

I used to run dedicated snow tire on a Honda Accord.  Very good traction on snow and ice at cold temperatures.  Warm and dry handling, on the other hand, was unbearable.  Mushy and slow steering response, feels like the tires only have 10 psi and the threads are rolling over at every corner.  Definitely not a compromise I want.

My current car is far from a dedicated snow car (RWD, 300+ HP, 5 inch ground clearance), so dedicated snow tires don't work for me, for the snow fall around here.  Major roads are cleared often and heavily salted.  I rather buy a second skinny tire car like a Corolla with mushy handling and numb steering to begin with.  Suspension so soft that it doesn't even feel a pot hole.  The Corolla is actually good in snow, even deep now, so stable and numb, but that's all it's good for.

aa335 wrote:

I have a Honda Fit and it has very skinny tires, handling is ok, it gets about 34mpg combined which drops to about 31mpg combined in the winter. My wife can easily get 36-37mpg combined out of hers. It's not a car you'd write home about but it's ok for what we use it for. The WRG2's are great on it and go through snow like a 4x4. It sounds like you are driving a BMW 335i. Your nick kinda alludes to that. Nice car, I almost bought one. I'm saving up for when I move back overseas. I'd like to buy a nice condo in cash, so no mortgage. No snow ever again either.

Definitely go with a any snowblower with the tank tread design. My honda HS928TA (TA) being the special track, will go up any hill, snow banking into a pick-up truck or up the ramp of my trailor. The other benefit is the foot pedal to select the snow blower  height. No side skids to adjust with a wrench or that pick up rocks and break shear pins.

The other great thing is no shifting with the hydrostatic drive, joystick like lever for either forward or reverse at any variable speed, no clutch nor pressure disc to clean.

drifter wrote:

Thanks for the tip on turning! I am going to try your method. I just purchased a new track drive yamaha, and I have been tilting it up, but I didn't try lifting it forward before turning! I will try this next time out.

DougDeLashmutt wrote:

20-30% incline is the most I have ever heard!

NHSnowbeast wrote:
Right, that is extremely steep.  I have a sloped driveway but nothing like that.  Definitely tracks.  Wheels with chains will get up and down your driveway but a tracked machine won't roll away if you have to let go of it.