Wednesday, October 10, 2018

First Snowfall

And I didn't take any pix because it didn't stick around very long.

Got about 2" of big, fluffy flakes that melted almost as soon as they hit, only piling up on the grass and trees.

Going down to 27* tonight, and predicted 20* on Sunday night. Then it goes back into the 60's so I can finish up all the winterizing here.

Ordered one of these from Home Depot:

Which was pretty much my last Big Item to buy for here. It's a 24", dual-stage, self-propelled model, that comes with two 40V, 5.0AHr batteries and charger.

Yup, it's electric, and it's battery powered. The "Self Propelled" feature was a must-have for the wife to use it. She's never muscled one of these around, so I want it to be at least "usable" for her. No, I'm not going to stand inside with a hot cuppa and watch my poor little wife do the driveway and sidewalks! But knowing her, there's times she's gonna get all wound up tighter than an 8-day clock if I haven't cleared the sidewalk and driveway in a "timely manner". Hey...the city gives you 24 hours to shovel! I know, I know......be a good neighbor and all, and do it reasonably fast, but I think noon is "reasonably fast" most days.

And I do very good work.....

Anyway.....the thing got good ratings, and I don't want to take on another Infernal Combustion Device that I'M the one who has to maintain and make run. Small engines can be a major pain to get running at 10*, BTDT, don't need it any longer.

I don't know how much snow throwing and self-propelling time 200 WattHours is good for, but we're gonna find out.....

10 comments:

  1. That would certainly work for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Depends on how long it runs on the two batteries.

      Delete
  2. It looks like a good one, and I hope it's big enough for the snows you get this winter. We've not had any at our elevation yet, but it's halfway down the mountains around us, so not too far away. We'll have permanent ground cover before Halloween.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have a two-car, 26' x 30' driveway, and about 95' of sidewalk. My Grand Cherokee lives on one side of the driveway, so that never gets plowed, so we don't have that much to do.

      And the snow here, until the last few of the season, tends to be the nice, DRY, fluffy stuff, so this should work OK.

      I hope.....

      Delete
  3. Make sure there are no dogs or cats around while you are using it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, and I'll wear my PPE!

      Seriously, though...I wear eye protection when I mow and edge. Probably make sense to wear it when I run the snow blower.

      Delete
  4. The snow on the driveways is not a problem to blow away, it is the snowbanks that the plows leave where you need the horsepower to chew the bank and blow it out of the way.
    My old 828ST Ariens is more than enough for the walkways and driveway, but it is marginal on the banks. That's 8hp and 28" wide cut.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I gave up on the blower and put a plow on the front of my four wheeler...lol

    J.D. Brown

    ReplyDelete
  6. What's the battery chemistry? Lead acid? Nicad?

    Rough guess is the 200 Watt Hour battery is going to be 100 Watt Hours in that temperature.

    ReplyDelete

Keep it civil, please....

Gloomy, Gritty, Grey Day

 At 1700 local it's as described in the headline; 30*F, 88% RH, completely overcast, snowing like crazy (small flakes, but lots of them)...