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

I bought a new Honda HS520A for my wife but she did not find it particularly useful because of the following: 1) the blower was a loud bugger; 2) it took a little more effort to pull start; 3) she rather shovel and keep the $600 for whatever shopping; 4) my son is 15 1/2 so she can retire and give him the shovel; 6) still more than one knob.  I thought my son would be interested in using HS520A but he said that he has too much homework and operating OPE does not interest him.  So he likes to wait for me to come home since I enjoy snowblowing so much and he does not want to take that enjoyment away  (my kids call me snowblower freak).  No I took the HS520A back next day to the dealer and they sold it to next guy in line for more that what I paid for the day before.  So the best snow moving equipment is either you or the shovel.  My wife did not give me any grief when I bought HS35 for $15 + another $85 for parts since she came out $500 ahead. 

So is this a question or just venting?   My wife isn't typical as she likes to operate the snowblower when she has the time. Most of her workmates prefer their husbands to plow or snowblow the driveway as well. So I guess it's a guy thing, generally speaking.

Your son isn't old enough to care about this sort of thing. My kids weren't when they were that age, once they got ther own place(s) that changed.

    My wife  didn't like to operate my old 33 inch Craftsman / Murray but likes to operate my Husqvarna with power steering, heated grips and hydrostatic drive. She says it is like driving a car.

Gotta get your wife and kids out shoveling snow more often, especially after a big storm.  I'm starting my kids early, they're out there with their toy shovels at 2 YO. 

Interest or not your son is old enough to help out.  If he is not interested in the blower then make him shovel.  I guarantee his interest will peak pretty quick.  I have a neighbor that asks me to mow his yard when he can't because his 16 year old son doesn't "want" too.  No excuse for laziness.  My Dad would have kicked my butt if I left everything for him to do when he got home from work or even worse let my Mom do it. lol

aa335 wrote:
That's a good way to teach children work ethic and responsibility. 

I watched my neighbour raise his kids.  He didn't let them do anything in the yard.  No cutting grass, no snow shoveling or operating any type of OPE.  The son was well into his twenties and never lifted a finger around the yard.  I mean nothing.  We have fairly steep driveways and if there's even a lick of snow on them, you're not getting up unless you have four wheel drive.  I recall numerous times, the son would come home after a snowfall, leave his car on the street then walk up the driveway to wait for the old man to come home to clear the driveway.  Once he cleared the driveway, he'd drive the son's car up and park it in the garage.  Every time.   The father is a good 65+ years old.  They have since moved from the neighbourhood.  The father said it was too much work taking care of the yard etc.  Well, had he put the son to work,  (he was still living at home at 27 years of age) he wouldn't be working as hard. 

The son is pretty much useless and the father is the reason that he is.   Teach them when they're young.  They'll actually enjoy the companionship and the activity of accomplishing something. 

MN_Runner wrote:

You have the 2 stage machine so HS520A was additional. I do not think you would miss it.Hopefully HS35 will provide equal or better service than HS520A.

I will be traveling to visit my family overseas in December. If the wife can not use the single stage simple machine, shoveling is the way to go.I know she is not going to shovel when there is a snow blower.I hope she operates it according to the manual.I will explain what I know to her and hope for the best.

The deal breaker for my wife was the starting part.  When she pulled, she said why is this thing so hard to pull.  AA335 is right about having an electrical start for the MRS.  But an electric start has an issue of its own too, my wife probably would say why is this thing so complicated.  I would say the shovel is the simplist and most elegant snowblower out there.

MN_Runner wrote:
There's always something.  It's too noisy, smelly, too hard, too complicated.  You can only do so much to make it easier. 

borat wrote:

I have a neighbor like that.  Some fancy hot shot executive.  6 foot 2 that moves a little single stage snowblower or a shovel like he was about to slip a disc on his spine.  I don't think he has a medical condition, I see him throwing the foot ball around in the summer.

Last year, we had a blizzard early February.  Wife was outside snowblowing against the wind at 10 PM.  I don't know why, the wind just puts back what she went over. 

Next day, there was 20" of snow on the driveway, 25" at the EOD.  Wife was outside shoveling, the snow was too much for the little snowblower.  Where was Dad and the 15 year old son?  Inside.  They didn't come outside until my neighbor and I was 3/4 done clearing their driveway and sidewalk. 

aa335 wrote:
Embarrassing

MN_Runner wrote:

Ok my wife is only 84 lbs. and she's 4'10" tall and here is a video of her starting our snowblower for the first use of the season. My wife is awful with technical things and yet she was able to start the Toro.

It's not complicated at all you slide the throttle lever all the way over, turn the choke switch all te way left, press the fuel button 3 times, and Pull start it. Then after 20 seconds turn the choke switch and you are good to go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u9Y7ELfI3M

mvedepo wrote:
Yes, he drives a manly 4X4 with chrome wheels.  It's been offroad, climbing the curb while on the way to Starbucks.. 

Steve_Cebu wrote:

Your wife looks like a good sport.Certainly not the norm when it comes to snow blowers, lawnmowers.

blumonster wrote:

Yeah, she really is a gem. But she likes doing a lot of stuff so that's good. She'd like to have more time to do it but not with her current work schedule. I showed her how to use teh leafblower and she really wants to use it some more but it's mostly done now so she'll have to wait until next fall.

Steve,

Not only your wife a good sport but she is one good looking/fit woman.  She probably can kick my butt!

MN_Runner wrote:

Thanks and yeah she can probably kick my butt as well!

Thankfully she isn't like that at all.

 At 15 1/2 My Father was Dead from a heart attack.  In those days 15 year old sons replaced the snowblower quite effectively.  But the there were no video games, Mc Donald's had one burger store out in Centereach Long Isand, and nowhere else on Long Island, and we had not yet coined the term, "Couch Potato".    My Mother only shoveled snow when I wasn't around to do it, a rare occurrence at 15  A Honda Engine, with fresh gas, a clean or new spark plug and all the controls properly set starts on the first pull, and I own two of these engines GX 270's rated at 9 HP, one is 11 years old.  If your's didn't start on the first pull, you were doing something

Incidentally . . . I use ONLY 100% Synthetic Motor Oil in these engines Because Non-Synthetic or synthetic blends contain Parrafin Wax in the oil which Thickens and makes starting in cold weather when the oil is thick, considerably more difficult.  100% Synthetic 0-W40 Amsoil 4 cycle oil is what I use exclusively. 100% Synthetic Oil has NO Parrafin Wax to thicken when cold, and create Engine Sludge as the engine operates. 

I think women from Japan are tough and rugged.  My wife would like to have one of these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiPpp3HqbOA&feature=related.  She thinks she can easily handle this one without any problem and too bad we don't have it here in the USA/Canada.

MN_Runner wrote:

That would be almost useless where we live. Sure as a power shovel for 2"-4" of snow it might be good but 12"-22" of snow i think it would just stop like it hit a wall. It looks easy to use tho.

The other problem is where do put all the snow that accumulates after each storm. It's like having a plow on your tractor, at some point you'll run out room to store all the pushed snow. I guess it would work if you had light accumulations with warm spells in between snow storms.

FrankMA wrote:

Exactly we no longer have a guy come and plow because during a bad winter we run out of room for the snow. That power shovel would be great for some jobs, but not as good as a snowblower IMO.

MN_Runner wrote:
That thing is a joke.  Why not just remove the auger and impeller from a regular two stage machine and go to work with that?   If I were to rely on something like that, my driveway would be as wide as a deer trail by mid winter and the snow banks would be eight feet high.