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?

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.