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

We are smack in the middle of February  and here in Montreal Quebec Canada , i've only taken the toro out twice. Talk about no snow. Seems when I was a young lad growing up in the 70's and early 80' s we had so much more snow.

Have you guys used your machines much this year? I've used more wd40 and oil than gas

Cheers

Jim 

3 times for me                                                                                18 degrees

Sorry guys, I lost count again.....

C

4 times but not much to throw away hehehehe

Hi Guys!

"From your question I see you've met my wife!"  

Stated in fond rememberance of Henny Youngman.A comedian that could make you laugh without vulgarity.

Here on Long Island we've had two opportunities to use the machines. Really surprising in light of all the fall rain. We have had stretches of cold weather but it's been dry during those times. The last two weeks have been wet but very warm.

Marc

We have had one decent snow at 15 inches and one dusting at an inch. 

They say 3-5 inches on Monday.  I believe it when I see it.

Twice so far. One 18 incher and the next was a wet sloppy 2 inches. See what happens this weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Global warming effect?

I recall much more snow in the 70's-80's.  Seems the wind chill was more significant then as well.

Not enough

4 times, did about 20 driveways each time and about 500M ( 660 yd) of sidewalk.

About the only challenge was going further up north and clearing 2 cottage driveways,  60cm ( 24" ) some crusty stuff. Some digging to break things up.

The old blower with a new B&S 11HP throws snow beautifully.

newtonian wrote:
I suspect that not only was there acutally more snow when we were all younger but we were also a lot shorter. We also probably carry more insulation too!

I've lost  count like Chris - probably at least 8 times this season starting with an early 7" storm on November 13.   Most have been in the 3-8" range but we got over 30" between the blizzard and the small storm that followed in late January.  I'd say the last few years have been above average in my area but the snowstorms when I was a kid still SEEMED bigger.    lol      -Bob

well here in Nova scotia ...

we have most of you beat.

we got about 15 inches of very heavy wet snow in november really created havoc here ,took out most of the power in the entire province.

then there were a few small dustings ..nothing significant till boxing day .then we got hammered.

on monday we got 20 inches ,on wednesday we got 15 inches and finally on sunday we were blessed with another 20 inches.

all in one week...yikes we were workiny like crazy to clean up our own mess and on top of that ,i work as a ope mechanic...and as you can imagine we were busy.we sold out of our entire repair parts in about a day .and because all the other shops in eastern canada were faced with the same sort of snow ,getting more parts took a while.

its almost a 2 months later and we are finally getting back to normal.ive been working saturdays all this time and i could finally take this one off...got some much needed sleep.

i could handle anothere big snowstorm now ...they are good for business and we do have a couple of snowblowers left.

later chris 

TomP wrote:

ditto

this means the machine has been worked once this season

Just once...sigh. 

Some talk of snow this weekend.

LL

One "real" storm (about 15 inches) in Chester County.  One about 1.5 inches (took out the blower to see how it did in the small stuff)..and like the others, hoping for something worthwhile Sunday night.

Walt

In my area we had about 12 inches of white on 23 December, three storms since then about 4-6 inches. The Toro 726 has worked like a charm thus far. Maybe 2-4 inches coming 20 February, we'll see.

AZ

How many times this winter did you get the beast out?

Hey, what I do with "my buddy" is none of your business!

Marshall wrote:

LOL,

Marshall,

He didn't ask you what you did with it, just how many times you had it out!

Sounds like I have the greatest number of uses, but not the winner for total snow fall amounts.  My blower has been out 10 times so far, and my neighbors machine has been used by me three times.  In early January, I put on the Sendec tach/hour meter.  My display is reading 9 hrs..  The weatherman is calling for a 1" event tonight but nothing more.  I want to continue to try out my chain tensioner modification and now my new adjustable carburator.

bbwb

bbwb wrote:
Ritchie's experiment got to you?

Only once and I played for an hour.  We are supposed to get 3-5 inches Sunday into Monday. 

Not much :( I think I should refresh my gasoline in the tank in case of

If I had a beast I would tell him to eat the snow then I would not need a snowblower lol

When I bought my machine I tried to get everyone I knew to kick in on it since I was sure the minute I bought a snowblower the snow would end, forever.  I thought of it as insurance against snow! So far it's worked well as insurance. I've only used it twice, once last year and on the 12 incher we got this year. It's worked wonderfully when it was needed and it's great insurance.

Like others said we are expecting a minor snow event in eastern PA this evening but it sounds like it's not enought to even bother firing El Toro up.

Jerry

Awesome picture AJace!

Only good week of snow here outside of Buffalo was a few weeks ago when I was vacationing in Mexico...my son had all the fun.

I have been using the Ariens 1332 DLE every few days to clear drifts and a few inches here and there.  I am really waiting for a nice "dumping" to really test the baby out.
So far it has never come close to bogging down or clogging.

Nothing worthy of a picture yet, but here we still have almost a few months of snow left.

The way I see it, you don't cry because you just paid for another year of fire insurance and your house did not burn down all year...........
It's a fact that we have good and bad years, and as long as I live here, there WILL be snowfalls worthy of my snowblower.

Frank D.

5 or 6 times, utah, bought it in late december.

Used mine 1 1/2 times, 2nd time it broke down and needed major repair, ready to go now.

Marshall wrote:

Paula - Don't read below response

Marshall- You're too funny. I dunno, word has it a mosquito would have a hard time finding a place to land on the beast

itzbinnice wrote: itzybitzy, I am glad to hear my beast is the topic of your discussions.

Marshall- Sorry, no offense intended.

Oh geeze, none taken! Likewise, just spoofing around! 

bbwb wrote: I came in here to read all the posts and saw this one...  Robert, I had no idea I have the makings for a fan club that has been following my example.  I'm flattered  BTW....my Sundec tach/hour meter shows 5 hours.  I'd say 50% of that was due to experimenting.  I hope all your ad-ons are working as well as mine.

Get the beast out? I got to find it first!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Actually, I've only had mine out twice. I've been thinking about a new blower, but a winter like this makes it hard to justify the cost for what I'd like to buy. Besides the old JD is running nice right now, mostly with help from the forum, so I should just be grateful for what I have. It does the job, and well.

                                                                                       Thanks,    Kevin

I lost count at 10.  I'd have to say at least 12 times so far this year.  I wont go out until it's at least in the 3" mark.  I think official totals are around 70" or so since december.

OK, it's 3 times now. We got about 5 to 6 inches of mildly wet snow. I went out at 6:15 am to get my wife's car cleaned and cut at least a path for her to go to work. I owe her. I work nights and she's gone out on countless nights and warmed my car up and cleaned off dustings from the car. What a gal. I then went about the task of finishing off my driveway and my paths around the yard. Although the next door neighbor has a blower, he wasn't out. I went over and checked with him and he felt there wasn't enough snow to blow, since they have 4 wheel drives. They forget that when this stuff melts then freezes the driveway turns to a sheet of ice. This guy lets me use his wood splitter so I told him I'd do it anyway. After I finished his, I went to the next house down and did an older couples driveway. They have a nice Simplicity blower, but the husband just got double knee replacement, so I didn't think he'd be up to the task.  LOL. Finally I went and did the driveway for the older woman that lives on the other side of me. She's in Florida until April, but it helps to give the house that lived in look, for security reasons. The old JD never flinched or clogged today.  I didn't get any pictures today, because no one was home to take one, so I'll post this one from the last storm, because I had this happen a few times today. I don't know, I think a good ole gust of snowblow in the face is refreshing. Yeah, right I was soaked when I finished, but overall, a good morning.
                                                                                                                                                                            Kevin

Vangellis wrote:

Awesome picture , man  what is snowblower heaven

By the way guys  we got  about 10 cm in Montreal on Monday, took the BEAST out again for a walk , only one driveway though

Cheers

I am hoping that we get the 5 inches expected tomorrow afternoon.  Then maybe something Monday into Tuesday.  I have only used the beast once, and am already starting to make the preparations. 
Vangelis, you ought to put that winter picture in your profile as your avatar.  Abbysguide has this nice feature where you can just copy and paste, then resize with arrows.