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

Wow was this a storm to remember!

Here in my driveway we only got about 14-16 inches. Here is a clip/quote from the newspaper.

http://news.yahoo.com/snow-smacks-northeast-power-could-days-122810201.html

"But in New Hampshire's capital of Concord, more than 22 inches fell, weeks ahead of the usual first measurable snowfall. Trees downtown still bright with fall colors were covered with snow. Some didn't survive — a large oak tree that had stood alongside the Statehouse fell, partially blocking a side street."

I'll post some videos but this was the heaviest wetest nastiest heartattack snow I have seen in a long time. Their were so many leaves in the driveway that I had a lot of trouble with the chute and auger clogging. I'd have to shut the machine off to clear the impeller and chute. Heavy wet snow and leaves do NOT mix. There were times I didn't think I was going to be able to finish my driveway. As long as the leaves didn't get sucked in the Toro handled it pretty well. I'd just let it ride up on the first pass and then take a second pass. We finally got power and cabl back. I guess downtown got more than we did for once.

Share your stories and vieos in here if you have 'em.

Wow, amazing.  The leaves are still on the trees and it's snowing!!!

Looks like very wet and heavy snow.  Are you expecting more?  I just mowed my lawn, it's still green and growing, not ready for snow yet.

Gets me kinda of concerned.  I'm feeling like I should stock up on 5 gallons of gas and change out my summer tires to snow tires.

aa335 wrote:

Yeah it's pretty amazing how bad this storm was. Thankfully we are not expecting more. Peak foliage season was less than 2 weeks ago! This is crazy weather. Some places had 27" of snow. Our city got 22" but here we got about 16" in some places.

I'd just gotten my Toro back on Friday. Good thing too!

I learned how good my Case can pump slush and it does a pretty good job as a shredder-chipper too! Half the snow is melted already, it never did hit 32.

We have a lot of snow on the ground but once I got it off the driveway it melted pretty quick. The problem was getting it off while it was melting AND mixed with leaves and pine needles.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
This is the kind of stories I hear about in January, not October.

In January this storm would be no big deal, just another storm with wet heavy snow. But at this time of year and over 2 million people still without power, it's pretty bad.

Third season now with the Toro 826OE. We got about 8" of heavy wet snow here in PA.

I started off thinking the Toro should be in 1st gear to handle the weight of the snow. I was initially disappointed when the chute quickly clogged with ice and throwing distance dropped to a few feet. Cleaned it and was about to put it away, when it occurred to me to experiment a faster gear. Duh.

In 2nd gear the performance improved, third was better yet,and I finally settled on 4th for the best efficiency. Conclusion is that the impeller must be fed sufficient snow to push the heavy stuff through and prevent clogging. The 4th gear provided the best balance between forcing the snow through and not bogging the 250 cc engine. The 826OE threw this heavy wet stuff about 25 feet and the chute stayed clean. The Quickstick would occasionally stiffin up a little, from ice around the outside of it, but it remained fully functional.

Once I got going, the Toro cleared the drive of Snowpocalypse in the normal amount of time. 

I did the same on my second pass because the snow was too dense to not ride up on it. I found on the second pass 3rd or 4th worked very well.

The real problem with clogging came with all the leaves being mixed in with that wet heavy snow.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Sure, blame it on the leaves. 

There are leafblowers, and there are snowblowers.  That's the problem. 

I saw a YouTube video of someone using his snowblower as a leaf blower.  At least, until his machine stalled.