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

Track snowblowers are a bear to push when the engine is off.  The honda I just bought is very difficult to push in just a straight line (After DIS-engaging the Transmission -Or You can Do Severe Damage).  I simply tipped it up in front, slipped a 'Creeper' (those things you lay down on with wheels under them so you can slide under the car to work on it) under it, tilted it forward so the tracks rest on the frame of the creeper, and now I can easily roll the machine any where I want with very little effort. I've even decided to fasten a piece of 2 ft X 4 Ft Plywood (1/2" or heavier) so it doesn't have to be aimed so precisely when doing this.   It has the advantage of being able to move the entire snowblower in any direction, even sideways when desired.  The Creeper I used was a Free bonus when I bought a floor jack from Summit Racing some years back, and I rarely ever used it.

borat wrote:

Ever since I discovered the that drain plug, by accident from tooling around with my $150 Snap-On 3/8" ratchet, I've been doing engine flush on a regular basis every 3.0 months.  It's good to keep those acids and moisture at bay from the mildly hydroscopic synthetic lubricant.  You should see my closed loop fluid exchange system, mildly modified from an old dialysis machine, precise to .5 ml per hour.  

I even dynamically balance on the Hunter and rotate my lawn mower tires too.  The wheelbarrow wheel gets nitrogen filled air, but not balanced.  

I got wrenches and screw drivers, metric and standard, various lengths in 5mm increments, with bar codes and computer catalogged, arranged neatly in pull out drawers.

Now where the heck is that snow?  There's people with new snow removal equipment dying to try it out.  Until then, we're just going to sit here and b*tch about dollies and red snowblowers.

aa335 wrote:
I know it might sound a little crazy, but I used to change the air in my tires on my old HS624WA from summer air to winter air in the late fall. It cost more than regular air but I think it made a big difference. Got tracks this year so I don't need to spend the extra $$$ on winter air any longer, although the guy that sold me the winter air said he has some special traction spray for the tracks. I'll let you guys know how it works after the first snow. Got to go and plant those magic beans I got from him last week...See ya!

If you're paying more than $50 per gallon for that traction stuff, you're paying too much.  I got my own Super-Tacky house blend (secret sauce) that costs 30% less with coefficient of friction of .95  It's safe to eat and very sweet.

I even got a blend of 1.25 in the works, just a bit more expensive.  Still working out the kinks.  It works too well, even ice and snow sticks to it.  Think of a wet tongue on a frozen flag pole.

I use helium in the tires during the off season.  Keeps the machine nice and light for shuffling around the garage.  In the winter, I switch to the much heavier "winter air" for traction purposes. 

     No one is perfect and I should confess I had similar issues myself.  I was unhappy and depressed all the time.  I could never put my finger on it. I’d wonder around the garage aimlessly pacing, thinking, and trying to work out just what was out of balance.  I’d pickup a hammer, run the tablesaw or start up the lawnmower but nothing was satisfying.  Life was an empty shell. 

 

   Then one day I had been sitting on a stool out in the garage for a few hours in a horrible anguished state.  I looked up and could just see a caster sticking out from a pile in the back of the garage.  It hit me like a brick. Caster! Dolly! Happiness!

 

   I got the dolly and moved it all around the garage and started feeling better.  This worked for a few days but still something was missing.  I put an engine that was laying around on the dolly and it felt good but not enough.  I put the lawnmower on and rolled it around and felt better.  I was making progress.  My psychiatrist said my relationship with the dolly was good and I should keep working on it.  Over the weeks I was transporting everything I could find.  Some things worked better than others but I had not achieved fulfillment.

 

A friend who wanted to help out and get me out of the garage stopped by and asked me to come along while he looked at snowblowers.  I figured the dealers were close by and I would not be gone from the dolly for long so I went along.  We looked at Ariens, Snappers and a bunch of others but when we got to the Honda dealer things were different.   Wow, nice machine and wicked nice red.  It might work out.  A few days later I bought a Honda track and one with wheels and brought them into the garage. 

The wheeled machine was easy to move on its own but dollying it around was heaven.  I could dolly the wheeled machine over to the track and bring the track back to where the wheeled was.  What more could a guy ask for? 

After a few weeks I could get the machines on and off the dolly from the front and sides with style and grace.  I felt happy and cured.  I called the psychiatrist and canceled my next appointment.  He said I was much better but should come in for follow-up and that I could now leave the garage.  Leave the garage?  Was he crazy?  I fired him.  By then I had setup a hotplate, small fridge, cot and cable out here so just where did I need to go? 

I boarded up the door to the house and rented it out.  The tenants pay a small rent and bring me food.  My days are busy, engaging and full of joy.  Dollying the Hondas back and forth is wonderful but the cake of course has yet to arrive.  It’s December and without some action soon………. I fear a relapse. 

Thanks for sharing, while we're all waiting here for snow to arrive, anyone else want to come out of the closet?

Come on, turd polishers, sock sniffers, and bed wetters, share your story here.  No tree huggers!

Hi trouts2: Just curious, did you eat a lot of paint chips when you were a kid???....

     Fish and paint chips are a delicacy where I grew up.  I was born with such a host of mental maladies that any damage from paint chips would hardly be noticed.   I took a Rorschach test when I was eleven and the shrink ran out of the room screaming. 

 

By the eighth grade my IQ had improved to 40 and 60 by high school.  After high school the family moved next to a university and by osmosis when walking the grounds consider myself as educated at the graduates given their achievements in beer, pot and partying.   I could now be a Menza Fellow but don’t want to show off.  I’m a solid addition to the gene pool. 

Hay, I own a snowblower.  What more could you want for proof of taste, good character and sky high IQ? 

When I latch on to handlebars and charge through EOD the blower knows who’s at the helm. 

My technique is so good I can march a 4hp through a 5 foot EOD and get results like no other.  Snowblowers feel the power emanating from the helm and use it to toss 60 and better.  It’s all in authority and firm mastery of the art of snowblowing.  Around here I’m known as The Skipper of the Driveway and have the same legal authority as the skipper on a ship.  I can marry people in my driveway after clearing and have a snowblower near by.  Not to brag of course.  Just letting you know the tall order honcho your dealing with.

trouts2 wrote:

And they said the art of sarcasm was dead.

trouts2 wrote: 
I'm ready to go with my HS928TA - just say the word......