also

[rmd]

assuming i get a job soon enough to profit from my severance payout, i am totally buying a snowblower of some kind before next season. (thus making sure that we have no appreciable snow that year, presumably, because weather likes to be funny like that)

Comments

[adb-jaeger.livejournal.com]

You could drive to Chicago and pick up mine. It's just sitting in a storage locker.

[cz_unit]

I'm on the way out now with the tractor: Woot!
C

[diagonti.livejournal.com]

I have been having very similar thoughts.

[lil-brown-bat.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a worthwhile investment for a landlord. Conventional wisdom says to wait to buy to get an end of seasons ale, but this year, I dunno -- if you wait, you may find that the one you want is no longer in stock. Right about now I imagine that snowblowers are pearls beyond price. Were you on the east coast for the year that Boston ran out of shovels and you couldn't buy one for love or money?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, but I was around during the ice storm where there was no heavy duty salt to be had anywhere.

I figure this season is toast since the money won't show up until the season's nearly over and there are very few left in stock anyways, but I'll keep an eye out for the early season sales in september or october or so.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

We actually had three households go in on one snowblower, since it makes very little sense for every house on the block to have one. I can't remember what sort of terms you're on with your neighbors, but maybe see if you guys can split the cost?

[cz_unit]

Just a thought: Buy a strong one. Just as a data point, we have 10 inches of wet, heavy snow on the driveway. With the Elec-trak+snowblower I'm pulling close to 400 amps at 36 volts when chewing through it at a good speed, which equates to a raw horsepower of about 15 at stall speeds.

Given that a gas engine rates HP at high RPMs and given the losses in belts and transmissions this would equal 25-30 gas HP. So get the biggest one you can man-handle around.

C

[rmd.livejournal.com]

actually, the constraint isn't my ability to manhandle the snow blower, but the width of driveway + truck so I can get the snowblower from behind the truck or car to the front of it. I haven't measured the exact space available, but it's on the order of 24" with the truck parked tight against one side of the driveway.

[cz_unit]

*nod* That makes sense. The Elec-Trak has a 42 inch auger, so it's pretty big but my theory is to move the cars to the top of the driveway, blow out the driveway, then roll the cars downhill and go between them to get to the top.

Updating my numbers, I was pulling 575 amps at 30 volts at just below stalling the auger speed. So about 23hp while chewing through the 2 foot packed street-plowed snow at the top. That's a lot, but derate if you are only doing 24 inch swaths.

Wow.

C

[mamishka.livejournal.com]

It is cruel that way! In Seattle, after a big snow storm, I bought myself a cool plastic sled.

We didn't have a snow storm again until the year I sold it in a yard sale, and then we had that blizzard that shut Seattle down for over a week. Doh!

[milktree.livejournal.com]

Where exactly are you going to blow the snow *to*?

Get a gas powered one, power is *way* more important than width.

8HP seems to be the "you better have at least" measure, 24" wide is plenty. It's easy to make multiple passes if the machine is strong enough, nearly impossible if it's not.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

For city living, I'm a big fan of single stage snowblowers where the blade scapes the ground and pulls the snowblower along. It gets sidewalks and driveways much cleaner.

http://www.toro.com/home/snowthrowers/gassinglestage/index.html

I have a CR2450E (CR2450 with Electric Start) which apparently isn't made any more.

One caution. Apparently the Ethanol is current gas is bad for cheap engines. So you probably want to use Premium and a Fuel Stabilizer.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I'll go out and buy a new motorcycle next fall, ensuring we get dumped on.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Good luck with that!

We love snowblowers. *laughs* It's just so useful with the dry Colorado snow.

[kjc.livejournal.com]

Pat likes our snow blower & it's thin enough to fit between our two cars (which is a pretty tight space; maybe 24"?). I've used it now, and while it's easier than shoveling, it's still tough work. But if you angle it right, the rotating blade will actually move it forward.

Also, the blower is really adjustable, in terms of range (almost 180 degrees) and height (almost straight down to a big mo-fo arc) allowing us to put the snow exactly where we want it, rather than on our neighbor's cars or what-have-you.

It's gas-powered & we have a small gas can that he replenishes from the station around the corner.

Do you want details on what type ours is?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

not yet, but i may hit you up about it later.