NWS is forecasting up to an inch. Nothing sticking on the streets, but the yard is starting to get patches of white.
No, Beans (and Rev Paul), I haven't got a new snowblower yet. SLW was asking if we actually need to buy another one. Well, if we could get somebody here to shovel what comes down, and do it RIGHT NOW, it would depend on how much they charged. The snowblower will cost about $1200 out-the-door. It should last at least ten years with the maintenance level I use on power equipment.
Can we find somebody to do the snow removal for $120 per year? Possibly, but she wants the snow removed RIGHT NOW, as she's paranoid about getting a ticket from the city for failing to clear the sidewalks within 24 hours.
Besides, I kinda like big noisy machines.....
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Adopt/foster a teenager?
ReplyDeleteI don't think SLW would go for that.
DeleteBig, noisy machines are fun. :)
ReplyDeleteThey sure can be!
DeleteOne of the first things I did when we moved to South Dakota was to go to the John Deere dealer and get the baddest, optioned snow blower they made with an electric operated chute, heated grips, two lights, electric start, 6 forward, 3 reverse gears and engage-able posi-differential, green with yellow rims of course.... I was bad!
ReplyDeleteOh, and cost be damned! I had a John Deere account...
DeleteI did the annual pre-winter checkout of our snowthrower just in time to have our Philly temperatures go into upper seventies.
ReplyDeleteIf it sits in the shed for another season of little or no use, well that is OK.
But that just isn't going to happen in your neck of the woods.
Part of the owning thing is having control, and not being dependent on someone else's schedule.
Yep. The snow gets blown when *we* want it done.
DeleteLOL, SWMBO for the win! Go spend the money!
ReplyDeleteHAH!
DeleteYou sure you haven't met my wife?
What about a small riding mower with a push blade about the width of your sidewalk? Dad had one for his home/shop. Not a lot of snow in So NJ, but it did the job when needed. Enough grunt to push or tow everything he had except maybe the big Ford Front End Loader. Could move 30+ ft motorhomes. Gearing for the win! It could spread gravel and clamshells for the yard/driveway.
ReplyDeleteMy issue with a multipurpose yard machine is that I have no storage space. My garage is about as efficiently arranged as I can make it. I have enough room for a 24" wide, standard length, two-stage snowblower machine. Just can't squeeze a riding mower in there anywhere. We could put up a shed, but a decent shed is is about $1,000, and it needs a foundation. And probably a building permit, although things seem a lot more reasonable than back in SoCal.
DeleteFrom the three years of snow on my records here, the Ariens 24" DeLuxe model should handle the 26" snows we get here about once a winter. The electric one I had could only accept snow that was 6"~8" deep, and the Ariens can handle up to 21". I have the "Drift Cutter" bars which help with deeper snow. The snow here is generally light, dry, and powdery. The electric machine could blow it across the street. It just couldn't handle deep snow, forcing you to make two passes. Doing it that way, I could clear one path down the driveway, and one path down the sidewalk. Then the batteries got low enough to really start slowing down, and had to be recharged. That took 8 hours, which meant I couldn't finish the job in one day.
Going with gas this time, like I should have at the beginning.....
You said last time I busted your chops that you were about a week to 2 weeks out from getting it. So I'll quietly wait to bust your chops in about 2 weeks when you get the annual Thanksgiving blizzard and you still haven't gotten it.
ReplyDeleteSomeone here has to keep you honest! :)
I only have one question. What does 'SLW' stand for? Super Lovely Wife? Que? Quoi?
Inquiring minds want to know, as it might keep their minds occupied from bugging you about some dumb machine that we fortunate people in stupid-fing-commie-Florida-that-just-voted-in-$15/hrminwage don't have to deal with. Now, make a sand blower...
I had them check stock immediately after this last snow, and the three they had in stock had been sold. I received an email from them yesterday saying they now have three more in stock. We're tied up Wednesday watch The Little Guy (aka "TLG"), and my Sweet Little Wife (aka "SLW") has given budgetary approval. At this point in time, I'm planning on driving down to the Lowe's and get one on Thursday. We'll have some nice 50*~60* weather for me to get it ready and run it a bit so I can get a feel for it, and make the fine adjustments to the scraper blade and skid shoes before the next snowfall hits.
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