So......Who has Snow?
Forums Archive Index > Outdoor Power Equipment > So......Who has Snow?
Author: SnowPro
Date: 3 Dec 2006 11:19 am
Well, we "blew" the dust off of the blowers Saturday morning. Friday morning was really nice, but, by lunch time the snow started. :eek: Total accumulation across the city was about 4-6". Nice fluffy stuff that blew great, no fuss. All the blowers we used, 3, ran great with no problems at all. We did 42 driveways ranging from 2 car to 15 cars in size.
I replaced a great running older B&S engine with a brand new B&S engine and it fired up on the second pull. :vg: I used that machine all day and have racked up the first 5 hours already. Now it is back into the shop for its first oil change. BTW, my machines all run nothing but synthetic oil, right from the first pull.
On two of the machines used, I changed the tires from chained ones to X-Tracs. :dance: What a difference!! I have run chains forever and was a tiny bit worried about giving them up, even though the market has changed a while ago. I figured, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Wow was I wrong. These things bite in a roll oh so smooth compared to the chains. Thanks to everyone that responded when I was looking for opinions a while ago! :thanks:
I was going to post yesterday, but I was wiped as I didn't sleep much the night before as I may have been a little excited about getting behind the blowers again......even though I do this commercially. :whistling:
Ken
:)
Author: Majorxlr8n
Date: 3 Dec 2006 11:31 am
Ken - FIVE HOURS?!? WOW, you are lucky to be having so MUCH fun! Glad to hear the "fleet" served you well over the snowy weekend!
Great review on the X-Trac's - maybe post a review in the REVIEW section as many have been inquiring about tires lately. I have never used them but will recommend them in place of chains per your recommendation. MUCH thanks!
Marty
Author: Bill_D
Date: 3 Dec 2006 1:33 pm
Yeah, chains are dead. If your holding stock in tire chain manufacturing Companys, SELL!! :P
Got about a foot of the wettest, heaviest, snow I've ever delt with here. Toro 826 XL did fine, my only complaint was the EOD was so thick(like cement) That I kept clogging. I decided to just shovel that portion after about 6 clog removals.
Author: ramit
Date: 3 Dec 2006 3:12 pm
I had chains on turf tires on the old 5hp craftsman for 16 years.
I'm just a home owner, not using it for a living as you are.
I asked about getting chains when I bought the Toro, dealer said you probably wont need it and will like it without chains.
He was right, no issue. It'll pull me for a ride on the ice.
Author: EGreen
Date: 3 Dec 2006 7:57 pm
All I got is a dusty but the said possibly of some lake effect into Monday-Wednesday.
SnoPro, are you a landscaping company that puts the mowers away for blowers in the winter?
Most of the guys who do driveway work here use pickups with plows.
Author: newjerseybt
Date: 3 Dec 2006 9:11 pm
Bill_D wrote:
Got about a foot of the wettest, heaviest, snow I've ever delt with here. Toro 826 XL did fine, my only complaint was the EOD was so thick(like cement) That I kept clogging. I decided to just shovel that portion after about 6 clog removals.
Sounds like a candidate for the "Clarence" impeller kit.
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My Sister's neighbor will plow my 140' x 15' drive with his Chevy truck but his blade always rips up my fine crabgrass lawn which holds the mud down in the Spring.
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Another gripe about plows is that those city plows always bend my maibox over. I used to have a mailbox with a 250 pound cement weight on a 40" pole but the city plow still kept pushing it over.
I might have outsmarted myself as I dug a 30" hole with a power auger and put a 4"x 4" deck post in the ground with a 1/4" thick cast aluminum mailbox. Unfortunately the new mailbox is powder coated white. :roll:
Author: SnowPro
Date: 3 Dec 2006 9:13 pm
EGreen wrote:
SnoPro, are you a landscaping company that puts the mowers away for blowers in the winter?
Most of the guys who do driveway work here use pickups with plows.
Yes. We do landscape maintenance. I do not do landscape installations. That is like work......backbreaking that is. :P
All aspects of lawn maintenance, beds, hedges, shrubs, etc.--that kind of stuff.
In the winter, we switch to snow removal. We only use blowers, as we primarily do residential drives. There are a lot of guys around here that use trucks, but they tend to dig up the lawns and such, so blowers are prefered for a lot of people. Actually, I usually have to turn away work as there is only so much time in the day, and I don't want to be at it ALL day. BTW, the day starts at 4:00 AM. 95% of my winter clientele are year round clients.
Bottom line........I get to play with a lot of OPE and enjoy every minute of it.......and..........get paid for it! :D
Ken
:)
Author: SnowPro
Date: 3 Dec 2006 9:16 pm
Majorxlr8n wrote:
Ken - FIVE HOURS?!? WOW, you are lucky to be having so MUCH fun! Glad to hear the "fleet" served you well over the snowy weekend
Marty
So...........would it be teasing if I said that we were actually out for 7 hours! :whistling:
Ken
:stirpot:
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 3 Dec 2006 9:56 pm
Just a dusting here outside of Buffalo.......for now......we've been known to get an inch or two every once in awhile..... :D
Frank D
Author: Marshall
Date: 3 Dec 2006 10:33 pm
Heck, we still have snow on the ground.
Ken, glad to hear the tires are working, it's cool when you see someone's plan come together.
Author: SnowPro
Date: 4 Dec 2006 11:22 am
Marshall wrote:
Heck, we still have snow on the ground.
Ken, glad to hear the tires are working, it's cool when you see someone's plan come together.
You have snow!? Wow!
And "yup".......let her snow!! :D
Gotta pay for that new boat and plasma tv! :D
Ken
:lol:
Author: ramit
Date: 4 Dec 2006 11:59 am
We got a little rain here this morning as the storm blew past north of us.
Author: Marshall
Date: 4 Dec 2006 12:12 pm
SnowPro wrote:
Marshall wrote:
Heck, we still have snow on the ground.
Ken, glad to hear the tires are working, it's cool when you see someone's plan come together.
You have snow!? Wow!
And "yup".......let her snow!! :D
Gotta pay for that new boat and plasma tv! :D
Ken
:lol:
Ken, we got blasted last Thursday night, we ended up with about 10-12 inches. Some places received 18-20 inches. We actually had a real live Blizzard Warning. :shock:
OK, now tell me about your boat and plasma, you know, what kind, how big, how much horsepower, on the boat and the TV. :wink:
Author: MissSnowshoveler
Date: 4 Dec 2006 1:57 pm
Yippie!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sherri
Author: SnowPro
Date: 4 Dec 2006 2:05 pm
Marshall wrote:
SnowPro wrote:
Marshall wrote:
Heck, we still have snow on the ground.
Ken, glad to hear the tires are working, it's cool when you see someone's plan come together.
You have snow!? Wow!
And "yup".......let her snow!! :D
Gotta pay for that new boat and plasma tv! :D
Ken
:lol:
Ken, we got blasted last Thursday night, we ended up with about 10-12 inches. Some places received 18-20 inches. We actually had a real live Blizzard Warning. :shock:
OK, now tell me about your boat and plasma, you know, what kind, how big, how much horsepower, on the boat and the TV. :wink:
The weather patterns shure are changing....who says global warming is a myth.
Anyhow...............this is a new love in my life: http://crestliner.com/boats/boat_model.asp?TID=304&BID=6
We have a house on the St. Mary's River and have the boat at our dock. All things concidered the pontoon seemed to be the best option by far. Very muched relaxed cruising. I call it my floating patio. With it "in our back yard" we can get out on it in a moments notice. We just got it in August, and got out on it daily until September, then we got out every weekend, just cruising the river. We have two kids 11 & 9 and we all just love it. Should have bought one a couple of years ago. Oh yeah, 50 horse Mercury 2 stroke. Runs the same mix as the hand held stuff--Opti2......so business pays for it. :whistling:
My plasma is a Panasonic 50" with a Yamaha 6.1 with Polk Audio Sats and a Velodyne 12" sub. My family room is 16'x30' and I like this setup better than going to the theatre. Get to drink beer at home! :P
Overall, very happy with my purchases......nice to have something tangible for working hard, not just paying bills!
Ken
:)
thanks for asking.......
Author: ramit
Date: 4 Dec 2006 2:32 pm
MissSnowshoveler wrote:
Yippie!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sherri
We had the southern end, got just a little rain. You got the part of it with the snow. Lucky you..
The weather did just drop us from 50 to the high 30's.. starting to feel like winter, like Decemeber not October.
Author: MissSnowshoveler
Date: 4 Dec 2006 3:19 pm
ramit wrote:
We had the southern end, got just a little rain. You got the part of it with the snow. Lucky you..
The weather did just drop us from 50 to the high 30's.. starting to feel like winter, like Decemeber not October.
We were only supposed to get rain too. :roll: But it changed over and now there is a "heavy snowfall" warning out. The local radio station says there are accidents everywhere. I love it, I love it, I love it!!!! Bring it on - plenty of work is sure to be headed our way!!!!!!!!
Sherri
Author: Marshall
Date: 4 Dec 2006 3:33 pm
SnowPro wrote:
Marshall wrote:
SnowPro wrote:
Marshall wrote:
Heck, we still have snow on the ground.
Ken, glad to hear the tires are working, it's cool when you see someone's plan come together.
You have snow!? Wow!
And "yup".......let her snow!! :D
Gotta pay for that new boat and plasma tv! :D
Ken
:lol:
Ken, we got blasted last Thursday night, we ended up with about 10-12 inches. Some places received 18-20 inches. We actually had a real live Blizzard Warning. :shock:
OK, now tell me about your boat and plasma, you know, what kind, how big, how much horsepower, on the boat and the TV. :wink:
The weather patterns shure are changing....who says global warming is a myth.
Anyhow...............this is a new love in my life: http://crestliner.com/boats/boat_model.asp?TID=304&BID=6
We have a house on the St. Mary's River and have the boat at our dock. All things concidered the pontoon seemed to be the best option by far. Very muched relaxed cruising. I call it my floating patio. With it "in our back yard" we can get out on it in a moments notice. We just got it in August, and got out on it daily until September, then we got out every weekend, just cruising the river. We have two kids 11 & 9 and we all just love it. Should have bought one a couple of years ago. Oh yeah, 50 horse Mercury 2 stroke. Runs the same mix as the hand held stuff--Opti2......so business pays for it. :whistling:
My plasma is a Panasonic 50" with a Yamaha 6.1 with Polk Audio Sats and a Velodyne 12" sub. My family room is 16'x30' and I like this setup better than going to the theatre. Get to drink beer at home! :P
Overall, very happy with my purchases......nice to have something tangible for working hard, not just paying bills!
Ken
:)
thanks for asking.......
Ken, nice Pontoon boat, Crestliner makes a good one. Can't beat a Merc! :wink:
Panasonic has nice set Ken, you done good. Velodyne sub, nice choice! :)
Merry Christmas!
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 4 Dec 2006 4:04 pm
We can get up to 12 inches of snow tonight.......we'll see.
Frank D.
Author: mrmom
Date: 4 Dec 2006 6:21 pm
Still twiddling my thumbs here waiting for snow. We were supposed to get a little bit last night but the system stayed off shore and south of us. Oh well.... all in good time.
All those pics being posted here are making me drool. :cry:
Author: EGreen
Date: 4 Dec 2006 8:25 pm
faithfulFrank wrote:
We can get up to 12 inches of snow tonight.......we'll see.
Frank D.
yeah really, they weather man put a graphic up that simply said "4-12+ inches" over the are that is Western New York.
Author: ramit
Date: 4 Dec 2006 8:50 pm
We're looking at clear weather getting back up into the 40's by end of the week. :|
Author: EGreen
Date: 4 Dec 2006 11:38 pm
its coming down!
Had to run to the gas station to get gas for the blower (shuck my gas can and not much in it and blower isn't topped off).
Upon Returning (still snowing but not as hard...until I got back in the house:
And these guys are getting antsy:
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Author: launboy
Subject: kenosha snow
Date: 5 Dec 2006 8:22 pm
We got Snow :D Started coming down Friday morning around 1:30 am here in Kenosha. We were directly in the middle of the 17 Zone, at our house we got around 14-16 inches total. It was wet heavy snow... Had to use the little 3HP Toro CCR 1000E, Ran great started up on the 2nd pull. Way underpowered and Overworked, but made it through all three houses. The first pass took forever, but after that 1/4 passes and it worked great. :wink: :roll: , I was hoping to try out the snapper on this storm, but the OPE shop didnt have the carb rebuild kit last week, like they said :evil: :? :shock: hopefully they'll have it tomorow!! I started to blow around 7:00 am, and by the time I did all of the stuff on my neighbors to both sides I had to redo my drive as there was already 3 inches on it. Went through 2 tanks of gas on the snowblower.Good thing i made a 2gallon tank of mix the day before! :wink:
Author: mellon1
Date: 6 Dec 2006 12:56 pm
We got our first snow storm of the winter yesterday, Tuesday. About 25 cm (1 ft).
Author: jubol
Date: 6 Dec 2006 12:59 pm
Melon 1,
How did your blower work with the mod???
Fred :lol:
Author: mellon1
Date: 10 Dec 2006 11:45 am
Oh, it worked great. Throwing distance has increased dramitically. About 50% more than what it had been. Not bad for a 14 yr old machine :D
Author: AZinOH
Date: 10 Dec 2006 12:00 pm
So far all we've had here is one good occurrence of **black ice** which was enough to send a bunch speeders into the ditch, if they were lucky enough not to hit someone or something else. Would've been easy to handle if folks would just slow down and not follow so closely...but they just won't learn.
AZ
Author: ramit
Date: 10 Dec 2006 12:11 pm
mellon1 wrote:
Oh, it worked great. Throwing distance has increased dramitically. About 50% more than what it had been. Not bad for a 14 yr old machine :D
Great to hear it was worth your efforts.
We haven't heard one person yet that has installed it and said it was a waste of time and money.
Enjoy!
Author: SnowPro
Date: 10 Dec 2006 3:35 pm
mellon1 wrote:
Oh, it worked great. Throwing distance has increased dramitically. About 50% more than what it had been. Not bad for a 14 yr old machine :D
Glad to hear that it was a success for you. I'll be sure to tell Clarence the next time I see him that he is making more and more people happy.
Ken
:vg:
Author: jubol
Date: 10 Dec 2006 4:01 pm
Mellon 1,
Glad to hear of the improved performance.
I think now that the 8 hours you spent installing the kit was well worth it !!
It turned an Old Nag into a Throughbred!!
Fred :lol:
Author: Bill_D
Date: 10 Dec 2006 5:34 pm
[quote="newjerseybt"]Bill_D wrote:
Got about a foot of the wettest, heaviest, snow I've ever delt with here. Toro 826 XL did fine, my only complaint was the EOD was so thick(like cement) That I kept clogging. I decided to just shovel that portion after about 6 clog removals.
Sounds like a candidate for the "Clarence" impeller kit.
OK, I'm gonna take the plunge and order the impeller kit this week. Will post back w./ results. Thanks!!