Snowblowers never seem to break down in warm weather.

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egnald

egnald

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Columbus, Nebraska, USA
Well, at least my snowblower didn't break down until I had a walking path from our house to the end of the driveway. At least I have the part I need to fix it (a shear bolt for the auger), but it is -6 degrees F here right now (today's high temperature) so I really don't feel like laying on the garage floor to replace it right now. Tomorrow's (Monday's) forecast is a little bit better, but not much - the low is -19 F and the high is -1 F, so my repairs are going to have to wait.

Maybe I will try to point a space heater towards it for an hour or two tomorrow before I work on it. I really need to get my pickup out sometime tomorrow. I need to do a grocery run for my oldest son who is snowbound about an hour away. He only has a car and its likely going to be a week or more before he will be able to get it to the end of his driveway. Lesson learned I hope, when there is a snowstorm coming, park at the end of the driveway. - That and stock up on a few things beforehand - like some staple and non-perishable foods, and dish soap, TP, and other stuff.

Dave

PS This morning my wife showed me the temperature in Antarctica. It was -20 degrees F - the same as it was here this morning. Pretty Cool huh.
 
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egnald said:
Well, at least my snowblower didn't break down until I had a walking path from our house to the end of the driveway. At least I have the part I need to fix it (a shear bolt for the auger), but it is -6 degrees F here right now (today's high temperature) so I really don't feel like laying on the garage floor to replace it right now. Tomorrow's (Monday's) forecast is a little bit better, but not much - the low is -19 F and the high is -1 F, so my repairs are going to have to wait.

Maybe I will try to point a space heater towards it for an hour or two tomorrow before I work on it. I really need to get my pickup out sometime tomorrow. I need to do a grocery run for my oldest son who is snowbound about an hour away. He only has a car and its likely going to be a week or more before he will be able to get it to the end of his driveway. Lesson learned I hope, when there is a snowstorm coming, park at the end of the driveway. - That and stock up on a few things beforehand - like some staple and non-perishable foods, and dish soap, TP, and other stuff.

Dave

PS This morning my wife showed me the temperature in Antarctica. It was -20 degrees F - the same as it was here this morning. Pretty Cool huh.
Click to expand...
🥶

We've been chilly here too, but our cold doesn't even compare to yours so I won't go there.

Stay safe and warm.
 
Murphy's Law for sure. I lived in Omaha for 5 years at the beginning of my career and I gotta be honest, I don't miss the Winters, not even a little bit. :cool:

Been in Utah for 31 years now and like the Winters here much better. The difference is the humidity or lack thereof, being a desert, we have no wind chill to speak of. My favorite ski spot (Alta) had a record 903 inches of snow last year, absolutely insane. We get the lake effect snow off the Great Salt Lake (think like Buffalo, NY), but even where I am in the East bench foothills, I probably only used my snow blower a dozen times last year. Best of both worlds, more snow that you can imagine where I want it up in the mountains, and usually not too bad here in the valley.
 
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Sorry to hear about your snow blower, Dave. I used to buy Auger bolts by the gross when I lived in the Rockies. This morning it was -37 when I got up and the high for today was -18. No snow to blow or plow so I was pretty happy with that. I hope you get your blower back up but thought I'd share this picture for you to enjoy. Stay warm and safe!

1705275044286.png
 
Sorry to hear about your issues. It's been pretty nippy hear. Highs in the mid 20s and lows in the low teens. Granted it's nowhere near what you're experiencing but this is Texas. When I get rich I'll by a place in Montana and keep this one. Then I'll follow the geese. That way I can avoid the summer heat and cold winters. Although chilly I think we missed the snow and ice they were predicting. I don't put a lot of faith in the weather people but that's all we've got. Ha Ha.
 
I just found these pictures from 2018, the year we got 13' of snow. I remember we went through 86 gallons of gas during the winter months just to clear a sled path basically to our driveway out to our road which was 2 miles long. That year was a lot of work for sure.

1705275810701.png This was our path to the wood shed.

1705275884051.png This is what 13' of snow looks like after plowing a very short distance.

1705276092388.png Our road before I plowed.

1705276208911.png But the after storm views were always beautiful.

I loved our mountain home but it's nice to be a bit lower.
 

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My 3x cub cadet eats shear pins so I buy them by the 3 dozen at a time. I can throw a couple & let the wind carry them to you.

We warmed to -13 today
 
I've used a regular bolt when I was stuck - and just gambled that it wouldn't wreck anything!
At least you have a garage...my snowblower tends to throw chains or break things frequently, and I tend to have to fix it outside...I'm getting pretty adept at doing it with mitts on! :)
 
Born and raised in Ohio. Snow never bothered me and still doesn't here in the Southeast.
Story: My wife and I lived in central North Carolina. My parents lived in central Pennsylvania. Our custom was to call Saturday evening and chat. One winter day, my father remarked they would like to be in NC. However, our local temperature was 22 whereas it was 32 in Pennsylvania!
 
Oh do I remember using our early 1960's, 5 HP, Snowbird. What a little workhorse. That old Briggs engine just loved to start in cold weather, never seen any small engine like it. Extremely reliable and dependable. Shear bolt, belt and spark plug was all we ever replaced on it. Think it had an oil bath air filter.
 
Having lived near and among farmers my whole life I can tell you if things are going to break or water's freeze up it's going to be on the coldest day of year. My pick up is now stuck in park blocking access to my tractor. We've had 15 inches of snow and it's -13. About the only warmth in Wisconsin is the Packers win over the Cowboys.
 
stay safe and stay warm. I've been looking at the weather and road reports, there are a lot of folks who are going to be a long time before they get plowed out. Good luck with the snowblower.
 
Lots of snow this weekend here in the Ottawa Valley. I have u shaped driveway and I'm on the Trans Canada Hwy, snow plows do a wonderful job filling in the ends. You need 2 snow blowers in case one breaks down, my big cub cadet 30 x3 on tracks decided to come apart on its own. been using the good old honda, 15 years old 24" battery start on tracks, this thing is amazing, the hydrostatic drive works great. It takes 3 hours non stop to clear the paths, and driveway.
 
Up here in N. Wisconsin, we received 6-8" this past week.

I'd never owned a snowblower until we moved here 4 years ago. I always shoveled when living in KC. I bought an EGO battery operated blower and really like it. I dread having to replace parts in the middle of winter. So far, so good.

I wish you luck with yours, Dave. The space heater idea is a good one. I had our garage insulated and had an electric heater hard wired into the subpanel to warm the place for woodworking. It gets warm pretty quickly. Hopefully, your space heater will do a similar job so you can do the repair.
 
Dave, just another thought. When you do decide to work on that snow blower, try putting a piece of cardboard (or two) down to lay/kneel on. You will be surprised how much of the cold concrete floor edge it will take off.
 
Goes to prove Murphy's Law, doesn't it?
Kneeling to fix anything: Get a piece of sample carpet from the store; usually have discontinued styles or colors.
 
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