DIYbanter - View Single Post - So Where Are All These Unemployed People?

Pete C.

Jim Elbrecht wrote:

wrote:

On Feb 8, 5:17 pm, "benick" wrote:
My dad is 70 and he runs a snowblower just fine..

Mine's 84 & on a windy hill with a 200' long steep drive. He broke
his hip a couple winters ago & when the PT asked if he had any hobbies
he answered 'Gardening'. Then she asked what he did in the winter.
'Blow snow' was his answer. When he can't do his driveway any more
he'll be a very sad man. Some folks might not enjoy it so much.

It is self propelled and
electric start with a cab over it...He opens the garage dooor and goes at
it.No straining at all..You just walk behind it..LOL...

There is a bit of work & science to it. Dad can't use a cab because
there is always too much wind-- so he goes with proper headgear and
goggles. He's also got a newer blower [8-10HP] that freewheels one
side when you turn. That makes a huge difference. My 8hp, 1980's
Bolens is a bear to turn. [but sure beats shoveling.] OTOH- my
little Toro electric is lighter than a shovel full of wet snow-- and
it will empty a mud puddle full of water in a couple seconds.

Have you ever run a snowblower? It certainly is NOT a matter of "just
walk behind it."

We used to go the dog park every day in the winter. It used to be 4
tennis courts. If we got a big snowfall I'd go over with the blower
& clear some paths. It was fun to just walk around without having
to turn around at all. Except for it being a *slow* walk-- it was
indeed, just 'walking behind it'.

Yeah, your method works great for the first pass, but what about when
you reach the end of the driveway?

To turn one around, you need to be able to man-handle 250lbs of dead
weight. Your typical consumer-grade snowblower like any of the MTD and
Airens products have live axles. Both wheels drive equally. They don't
turn for beans.

Dad's 4-5? year old blower isn't anything fancy- but it has the
freewheeling so turning is easy. If you didn't have to keep the
lever depressed it would be a 1 finger operation.

If you have an older snowblower, or modify the stupid controls on a new
one, it goes to hands off operation which is great for the first few
passes where you can let the snowblower do it's thing in low gear while
you walk around and collect fallen branches. Just have to walk over to
it occasionally and adjust the direction to keep it on track.

I do the same with my riding mower w/ vac bagger in the fall, letting it
continue sucking up leaves while I walk ahead and get fallen branches
out of the way.