The snow/geezer interaction (hah)

[VThillman]

The storm that just ended dumped 30-32 inches of snow in my driveway. Not drifted snow, there wasn't any wind to speak of. My snow blower was willing, but the auger housing is 18 inches high, not 32. I have created a (one-pass wide) path out to the road. There is plenty of gas left for the snow blower, but I ran low on geezer-fuel. Tomorrow is expected to be another day, so I'll get after it again then. 30-32 inches. Phahh!

 

[Amish Heart]

That's alot of snow!

 

[Cabin Fever]

That first path is the tough one. Once that is done, you can shave snow off the edge of the path maybe only 4" at a time. Using drift cutters (photo below) really helps with the process. You could probably make a pair of drift cutters with some left over metal you have in the shed.

 

[VThillman]

That's alot of snow!

Yep. A lot of it came this morning, so some folks decided to drive to work. Some of them got stuck, blocking the roads so that the plow trucks couldn't get by, so more drivers got stuck. This is in Vermont. Used to be, Vermonters had more sense. Meer is wrong, I think. The world isn't going to pot because of evil - it's because of damfoolishness.

 

[VThillman]

That first path is the tough one. Once that is done, you can shave snow off the edge of the path maybe only 4" at a time. Using drift cutters (photo below) really helps with the process. You could probably make a pair of drift cutters with some left over metal you have in the shed.

View attachment 55228

Ah, I see how that works. Thanks. Need to work out a shield for the spark plug too, I think. They don't like snow getting dumped on them.

(edit) Hey, it's snowing again! Argh!

 

[Cabin Fever]

Ah, I see how that works. Thanks. Need to work out a shield for the spark plug too, I think. They don't like snow getting dumped on them.

(edit) Hey, it's snowing again! Argh!

When we get a deep snow, sometimes some of the flakes will land on the gas cap and plug the vent in the cap. When that happens, my blower will start running rough. I just blow some of my hot breath on the cap to open the vent and I'm back in business. Might be something to check out, too.

 

[Peanut]

One year in Buffalo NY... a guy gave me a snow blower he couldn't get running. Snow season had already started but I tried to fix it, new sparkplug etc. I soon discovered the problem. The gaskets on the carburetor had dried out and partially disintegrated. I couldn't get gaskets, all the small engine shops had a month waiting list for new customers. I didn't have time to make new ones but...

It ran fine as long as I was going into the wind (carb protected by a shield) which was down my driveway. If I turned it around so the wind could then get to the carb it would kill the engine. So, for the rest of the season I'd go down my drive, then walk backwards and pull the blower back up to start another cut at from the top.

Funny, come spring I put the blower at the end of my drive with a sign that said "Free". I intended to tell whoever wanted it that it needed new gaskets. I happened to go to the store and when I got back it was gone... Couldn't help but smile... and wonder if the new owner figured it out what was wrong with it before there was 2ft of snow on the ground.

 

[Neb]

The storm that just ended dumped 30-32 inches of snow in my driveway. Not drifted snow, there wasn't any wind to speak of. My snow blower was willing, but the auger housing is 18 inches high, not 32. I have created a (one-pass wide) path out to the road. There is plenty of gas left for the snow blower, but I ran low on geezer-fuel. Tomorrow is expected to be another day, so I'll get after it again then. 30-32 inches. Phahh!

The last time we had that much in one go was Feb of 2010. The snow started just as we were finishing up my father's wake. It was the first time the funeral director had ever had to postpone a funeral.

We had extended family in town for the event. The township took 4 days to get up on our hill. The entire neighborhood was out shoveling out the streets. Everyone except me because I was the old man that stayed inside to watch the baby.

We also lost power for that event. Got by with kerosene heaters. That was also the event that made us decide I was going to trade in a Cavalier for a Jeep Liberty. Now snow drifts are no longer a threat but rather a temptation.



Ben

 

[Spikedriver]

32 inches...Damn. In Iowa if we got 32 inches we'd have drifts 10 feet high, because it's always windy in the winter.

As far as geezer fuel goes, I have it on good authority that 6 cups of coffee will make any geezer work like a 25 year old for about 4 hours. But you have to subtract two hours worth of work from that, for bathroom breaks...