Do you recall the commercial, shot at ground level, of a VW bug rolling slowly through the snow, stopping, and these feet enclosed with boots step out? The camera follows the boots to a big garage where you hear the sound of something like a goddamn locomotive start up, and the world's largest snow blower comes rumbling out of the garage, ready to move mountains of snow off the Donner Pass.
Then a voice comes on and says: "Did you ever wonder how the guy who drives the snow plow GETS to the snow plow?"
Just about the same here in SE WA. Can figure on several snow days eveery year that will usually be gone in a week. Rare to get more than 4-6" and really doesn't need clearing except to keep the drive clear of ruts. I will be out there anytime 3" or more falls though as I live in the county and the state is so kind they donate all the snow off of 20' of state highway to my drive. It is keep up with it or wind up with an impassable berm.
This year is an anomaly. Don't know about over there but here we have the 4th snowiest year on record so far and looks to be closing in fast on #3
When shopping for a 'blower and looking at significant falls you need a two-stage one. Don't go for a tracked model unless you can control each track individually - they can be a real beast to move around and even steer if there is no control. Also go for a 6 or 7 hp model minimum. Unfortunately, I would prefer the higher HP models to restrict the width a bit. My new one is 10hp but 30" wide. It would be much better at around 24-26".
As I already indicated, look at most anything Subaru if you don't want a truck or SUV. My mother has a Subaru Impreza and it handles the "just drive over the snow" in a 100'+ gravel driveway just fine. Indeed it handles the on-road snow just as well as my 4WD 1T truck, it just can't handle the off road driving I do.
Again, you're not reading what I said. There are plenty of cars capable of handling on-road snow just fine.
I don't use "snow tires" either, and I think they are mostly going the way of the dodo. I use an all terrain, all season tire and they handle whatever I throw at them just fine.
Go buy a couple decent Subarus and be done with it. If you don't like Subaru for some reason, I believe there are a few other more expensive AWD options out there in other brands, but be sure to check that they have ground clearance comparable to the Subarus.
I have been using a 'blower on a big gravel drive for 30 years. Only problem I have is when it picks up a piece that gets caught between the auger and housing and jams the machine. Skids set at about 1" work just fine as long as the gravel drive is reasonably flat withouth hilles, hummocks, ruts.
When I first moved in here I put in 30 yards of 'topping gravel' (1/2" minus plus lots of fines). Bladed the drive a few years later and added another 20. It is now as flat as a paved drive, packed hard and very ittle difference between a paved one. I do pick up a bit of gravel from the state highway plowing me in. Other than the 'jamming' problem (rare) the only bad thing is the noise going through the chute :).
Not the single stage blowers. The up side is that they clean right to the pavement. On your gravel drive you'll get the hang of tilting it a bit on the first snowfall until all the gravel is frozen in.
The rotor and scraper on the 1800 is plastic. If memory serves the rotor is about $25 & the scraper about $10. You'll need a big allen wrench, a Philips head screwdriver, and 20 minutes to change them. Buy a spare when you buy the machine - or at least be sure the locals carry them. nobody in NY does.
When half my driveway [probably 75' x 20 and a 20x20 turnaround] was gravel I used to change mine nearly every year- but I get 100 inches of snow a year.
From what you say about your snowfall I think you'll be real happy with the electric.
no way-- 100 inches is just a heavy frost for Tug hill. They're over 112 so far this year. Just southwest of them, near Oswego they got 60" in one 2 day storm this year.
I'm near Schenectady, NY- the 100" number is Albany, our nearest weather station. We're usually within a few inches of them. This year we've only gotten about 30 inches so far- I'm not complaining.
A friend was out near Oswego last year, and took pictures of roads with 10 foot high walls of snow on either side after plowing. Amazing.
I'm in Rochester. So far, the two worst things have been the drunken plow driver taking out 4 feet of my lawn, and over the weekend, I ended up with a
4" thick glacier on my driveway. Pure ice, no snow. Pulling into the driveway was really interesting, even with 4WD. I finally destroyed it today, using a pitch fork to open channels for the melted water to drain away. Tomorrow, it starts all over again.
Yep, our driveway is right on the outside curve of the county road, so when they plow the road it all ends up in our drive. It's usually a wall of packed snow and ice over two feet high, and takes a metal shovel to break through it.
Many years ago we had a big snow storm and I walked up to get the mail, only to discover a wall of snow taller than me! :) It took a while to dig our way out that year.
Thankfully, the plow guy this year actually took the time to push the snow out of our driveway up at the road. Very nice gesture and saved me a huge amount of work, but I won't count on it next time.
I don't know how this year compares to past records, but it is definitely more than we've had in the last 10 years or so, both in quantity and the length of time it's been falling.
When we bought the property 18 years ago, we used to have lots of snow up here. Then it seemed like the climate just warmed up and we hadn't had any significant snow in years. We complained about it every winter. This year, we got more than we asked for... :)
As you mentioned, this year has been unusual. While it's tempting to go out and buy the biggest snowblower I can find, I also have to remember what conditions are normally like. I just don't think I can justify the expense, maintenance, and storage space for a gas powered snowblower.
I'm still considering a small electric blower, like the Toro 1800, just to simplify the cleanup of our smaller storms. I just wonder how it would hold up in deeper snow? I don't mind going slow if it will eventually clear the way without breaking or burning up. Can't be any slower than hand shoveling. :)
I'm reading you fine, but I have no interest in buying a new vehicle right now. We're quite happy with our cars. 350+ days a year the roads are clear and completely passable. The remaining two weeks aren't enough to make AWD a significant factor for choosing a car. And even during a snow storm, it's not an issue once we get down off our hill.
We're VW folks. I've been driving a 1976 Rabbit for the last 18 years, and had a few Rabbits before that. My wife drives a 1986 Jetta, and has had a few VW's in the past too. With a good set of all-season tires, we generally have no problem coming or going. There's just a couple of steep spots in our driveway that are problematic, and when the snow gets deeper than the underside of the car it's not so easy going. :)
We can go anywhere we want to if we chain up, but I'd rather not chain up just to drive 150 feet out to the road. :)
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in news:1b6qj.3499$ snipped-for-privacy@news01.roc.ny:
hey, this weekend when it's 15 degrees, you can join people in Charlotte jumping in the lake. It's something to do with donating to the Special Olympics.
I developed a trick to prevent that with a snow blower. What you do is snow blow down the side of the road leading up to your driveway for about 50', cutting back to the curb and tossing the snow further back. Then when the plow comes by, whatever it is pushing is dumped in that leading area and there is nothing left to push into your driveway.
The small 'paddle' blowers are fine in light snow falls, useless in deep snow or in packed snow from what I have seen. Never used one myselft. As for the plow berm. If you can't get right at it, even a big gas blower is almost helpless faced with a huge berm of plowed snow that has been allowed to settle. They tend to pack down to a dense, if not frozen, mass.
Others have made the one suggestion other than a blower - hire it done when needed. Buying a vehicle so you can get out of a drive is not a very economic idea.
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