GROAN......
And it only took 4 battery charges!
Seriously, if this thing:
Was powered by dead dinosaurs, I could have finished last night. The batteries are good for about 30~40 minutes of use, depending on snow type and depth. Then, depending on how depleted they are, you stick them in the charger for two to four hours. Since I was moving snow about twice as deep as the maw is tall, I had to lift the front, drive into the snow, pull it back, drop it down, and take another run at the two feet of path I just plowed. And the tires don't have much traction, even with the air pressure set per the manual for increased traction.
Kinda slows you down a bit, 'ya know?
Anyway.....The drive is cleared "good enough", and snow melt has been liberally sprinkled on it. Probably going to have snow blowing off the top of the Jeep all the way to the in-laws tomorrow!
And I took another charge down the 24" path I made yesterday on the sidewalks to open it up all the way.
When you have the right type of snow, this thing clears the sidewalks OK, but even with the skid shoes and scraper plate set "best effort" on my part, it still trips over cracks and height changes quite easily. The left-to-right white stripes on the sidewalk are where it hit something, and I had to push the handles down to get it over the something, leaving a band of unremoved snow.
I know, I know, "They All Do That", but this one seems much more sensitive than the snow blowers the neighbors have. Maybe I still have it set too low. I'll check it again after it dries out. It also started making a thumping noise when you power up the auger, like an old, worn out washing machine, so I have to look into that, too.
I definitely see one of these in the future:
If scenes like these occur regularly, it will be a Good Thing to have.....
Hope you all have a joyous and Happy Thanksgiving! We're headed up North to one of the in-laws ranches for an old-time Western Thanksgiving.
I have no idea what that might be, but I'm sure it'll be wonderful.
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Spare battery(s)?
ReplyDeleteDead Dinosaurs! Don't fall for that global warming BS.
DeleteOne-Hundred Twenty dollars EACH!
DeleteNO WAY!
And I'm thinking the right-angle gearbox that drives the auger has failed.....
Yeah, it takes quite a while to fill the batteries up with electrons, compared to filling the tank with some dino juice!
DeleteFt Collins Craigslist has 109 for sale. You have mechanic skills.
DeleteI'll check, but I hope "craigslist people" in Colorado are different than back in SoCal!
DeleteMy Sweet Little Wife has had very good success finding things on nextdoor.com
(Don McCollor)...I did have one (real good) electric snow blower. More of a light motorized shovel, and the extension cord was a pain. But it didn't run out of juice.
ReplyDeleteIf this one was designed a bit differently it could be much better, but it's not.
DeleteI could have cleared just our property to be "legal" on one charge, even with that much snow, BUT I always do some of the neighbor's stuff, so a gas powered one suits me better.
More Power!!!
ReplyDeleteThat electric looks more like it's designed for Condo life, than Homestead life.
So, yeah, big muscular gas guzzling noise making internal combustion jobber.
And you can always put a shed in the back to store the beast during the summer, and put it in the garage for winter, while moving summer stuff that's in the garage into the shed.
Looking forward to the continuing adventures of Snowblower Man.
Yeah, baby!
DeleteMaybe put a 2lB mini-bottle of Nitrous on it for those really deep drifts!
I can put it in the back on the gravel, and tarp it good for the summer. I can live with it in the garage over the winter because......access! And garage activity is minimized during the winter, so I could reposition the Supra a bit and have plenty of room.
Happy Thanksgiving to you also.
ReplyDeleteHave you considered a flamethrower? :)
Yews, I did, but worried I'd destroy the grass I spent all summer regrowing.....
DeleteAnd a Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, Ed!
If you get the Ariens, you won't be sorry.
ReplyDeleteThe FoCo craigslist has a one-year old Honda for $900. It's the $2200 model I was drooling over for the last year.
DeleteMight have to give the guy a call. It's $200 less than the Ariens I'm considering.
Ha, some years ago, my dad fought thru one storm's worth of snow with the little "electric broom/beater bar" style blower. After that experience, he got the biggest, baddest, foot and leg chomping-est blower he could find. NEVER used it. We didn't get another snow like that for more than a decade. He finally sold it---shortly before the next storm big enough to have made it worthwhile....
ReplyDeleteYou can't win!
Happy Thanksgiving Day to you and yours, stay safe on the roads, but pack a bag just in case.....
nick
This electric one kinda-sorta works OK for most snow, but it think it might be damaged now. Makes a sound like a coffee can full of gravel when you engage the auger.
DeleteAnd both our cars have some survival supplies in them; space blankets, food, H2O, hand warmers, etc.
Yeah for dinosaurs... LOL And that Ariens makes sense. Neighbor (ex-Denverite) bought a battery lawn mower with 2 'powerful' batteries... Third use, they gave it to the next door neighbor, whose lawn is half the size of theirs and bought a Husqvarna. LOL
ReplyDeleteHAH! We have a yard service for the rest of the year, but snow removal is on me.
DeleteI asked around at our Thanksgiving gathering about snow blowers, and Ariens, Honda, Toro and Craftsman came up.
The family members have heavy equipment they use to clear the snow on their homesteads and ranches, so nobody had much experience with "small" snow blowers like I'm looking for.
And I called the guy with the Honda for sale, but he hasn't returned my call yet.
I have an MTD 4.5/21 which splits the difference between the electric units and the industrial Honda you're looking at. Bought it used for $170 several years ago and it's great. MTD is an intermediate brand name, the company having changed hands several times over the years, I think the current incarnation is Craftsman. Ace hardware has parts for it usually. As I said, it's not new. It has electric start using 120VAC to make that happen. Once warm, it starts easily with the rope.
ReplyDeleteAnon is right though, most snowstorms around here can be handled with a push broom and only about once every 10 years do you wish you had bought the Boss blade for your F350. Two of my neighbors have the 8hp track driven blowers. They work a treat but take up a lot of space and look a bit silly blowing 1-2 inches off the sidewalks. If I sleep in though, they will frequently do the sidewalks on both sides of the block, probably out of boredom.
MTD also makes Cub Cadet, Troy-Built, and another one or two. I didn't know that until somebody here mentioned it, but looking at them at Home Depot shows that other than the paint job, they're almost identical.....
DeleteBought a Cub Cadet 26 inch with a 9hp engine (I think) last year, sure has come in handy so far this year. We got hit with that storm before it made it to you, and the city plow guy that did my neighborhood is a freaking moron. Seriously, why would you plow all the snow INTO a cul-de-sac?
ReplyDeleteJ.D. Brown
I looked at the Cubs the other day at Home Depot. They had a nice one "On Sale!" for $899.
DeleteSince the Honda fell through, I'll most likely go with the 24" Ariens I've had my eye on for two years!
Unless another screaming deal shows up somewhere.....and I get on it promptly.....