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

      I have watched many snowblower operators :

Some never use reverse but always tip back their machine and haul it backwards.

Some are constantly  engaging and disengaging their  auger/ impeller clutch, "karunch, karunch,  karunch "

Some try to help their snowblower by pushing

Some use too high a gear in the heavy snow

Some blow the snow against the wind

I am sure you can think of many other things?

Thing that always drives me crazy is the ones who try to blow the snow as far as possible, making these huge roostertails. Then the breeze blows it all over the place, the sidewalk, the parts that have already been cleared, bushes, THEMSELVES! I try to place it just to the side of the driveway, in windy conditions with light snow I've even blown it down or horizontally.

Some blow the snow from their driveway/sidewalk onto the street. 
 
Some operators are too lazy to remove snow, they just drive over it with their big SUV's.  That's fine, at least take care of the sidewalk, if they have them.

Snowblower operators that wear motorcycle helmet.    Gets foggy in there doesn't it.

Snowblowers that have flashing beacon, backup beeper, and reflective tape all over.

royster wrote:
This is in the same category, but I witnessed a snowblower operator (female) blowing snow at 1 AM during a blizzard.  It was high winds, total whiteout condition, could barely see her but clearly heard the noise of the 2 stroke engine.

We got a total  20" of snow the next morning, some drift areas were 3 foot tall.  I couldn't even tell where she was had snowblowed the night before.  The wind had leveled everything that she did.   I give her an A for effort, E for common sense.

Bill_H wrote:
This same thing doesn't bother me.  I find it entertaining to watch actually.    It's funny to watch the operator having to stop the snowblower, turning their face away from the snow that flew back to them.   Repeat every 5 feet. 

I will sometimes pull mine backwards (if I'm on flat ground, or downhill is towards me), because it's quicker, especially if I need to bring it back 8 ft or something. I'll admit I disengage the augers at the end of a run. In part because I can move my hands around more, in part because it's related to disengaging the transmission-lever-interlock, and in part because that way it's not flinging random bits of snow in an arc as I swing it around.

There's also the issue of *when* to snowblow. I feel bad if I'm out at 6AM on a Tuesday, after getting a decent storm overnight. But, frankly, I need to get to work. And I can't get out of my driveway. So, with apologies to my neighbors, I'm going to fire it up.

I don't feel guilty going out to snowblow at 6AM or even 5AM if it's a workday. Everyone's kind of in the same boat as far as getting to work so I can't imagine anyone having a problem with a neighbor clearing their driveway at that time of the morning. Most of the houses/driveways are pretty much all the same size and length in my neighborhood so we all need about an hour or so to do our driveways. That does not leave too much time for sleeping in a bit to catch a few extra ZZZ's....

   Even though I do not go to work, I work from home.  I still like to get out early if there has been a storm overnight., maybe just a habit,

but I like to have a neatly groomed driveway and parking lot.    A thing of beauty ?      I don't blow snow until it has stopped snowing and the plow has passed by.

My neighbours drive way is only about 50 feet away,  so I am careful not to blow any snow that far.

The other side is just trees,   so I aim high and let the snow fly, especially if the wind is  favourable.

My favorite is when you see people making a pass down a driveway.  Then cranking the chute like crazy so they can blow the snow off the same side of the driveway.
 When there is plenty of room for blowing snow to both side of the driveway.  They start on one edge of the drive and work to the other side.  Instead of starting in the
center of the drive and working out to the edge on both sides at the same times.  No chute cranking needed just turn around and make another pass.
I always assume at some point they will figure it out.

I blow to one side of the driveway when it's windy.  Not ideal but it's easier to turn the chute crank than to try and out muscle mother nature. 

jrtrebor wrote:
Guess you never been in Saskatchewan in winter.  You can't fight mother nature cause you'll lose every time.  There is only ONE direction to blow snow here, and that is with the wind, of which we have lots.  Vary the elevation, yes, and maybe a little variation off the wind direction but never anything close to into it.  Try blowing into the wind and...YOU DIE!  That being said, you can really make the wind do good things for you if you treat it right.  But then, I dont have to worry bout the neighbors driveway ar much of anything else here - out in the country.

And for the newbies that like to PUSH the blower:  I find it's always a temptation and sort of a reflex action.  But all it will get you is stronger muscles, at best, and a hernia if not.  It'll be like trying to push the ass of a draft horse that's hitched to a plow and is working through a field.  Push as hard aas you like but you won't go any faster.  So, just set the blower to the optimum speed for the current blowing conditions and have a nice walk behind it as it does its job - making minor steering corrections as required.

I will blow it into the street, only if I'm out before the plow, because with 12 foot hedges & fir trees right up to the edge of the drive I don't have much choice. It makes little difference to him, no neighbors on the side after me. If the plow has passed, then I dump it on top of the eod, then off to both sides on top of the banks left by the plow. So i need both height & distance from my machines so i don't end up with 2 huge piles at each corner of the drive. Didn't have much trouble this year,  since I only got the blower out twice and that was just for amusement.