Thoughts on the last snowstorm

[Ed Pawlowski]

Just a few random thoughts after a 9" heavy snowfall yesterday. I was undecided at first, but went to work anyway.

Remote starters, heated steering wheel, a good snow brush are better than coffee to start the day. The one I have is like a blade on an extendable pole. Just push right across the roof or hood.

Going 25 mph on the highway is not so bad. I guess the guy that passed my but never went ahead thought the same.

All Wheel drive is great on hills. In the past a long hill I take has been a slippery challenge. With AWD I passed to cars having a difficult time and did not spin a wheel

Snowblowers are a great invention. If you live in snow country they are a must if you are over 60. Nah, over 50. Walking behind a machine is much easier than shoveling.

Hats that cover your ears are a good thing no matter what they look like. Well insulated gloves make it easier to walk behind a machine with metal handles.

The tree branches that came down will be good in my smoker come summer. Maybe it is time to take the tree down?

[notbob]

Tires are a bigger factor than most ppl realize. Buy the right brand/type for yer season.

Mittens are better than gloves for keeping yer phalanges warm. My hat covers my ears.

Watch that snow!! Last yr, we had a storm of 14 inches of powder snow. No problem. A week later, we got a mere 5" of the wettest snow I've ever seen. I call it the "pruning snow" cuz of all the tree branches that caved under the weight of that incredibly wet five inches! Caved my golf-cart roof, too!! No kidding. Five inches, max!, and there were broken tree branches throughout the valley. Now, I pay attention to jes what kinda snow is falling. 8|

nb

[clare]

3/4 inch of ice is even worse. Brings down whole trees - not just branches!!!

I have heated grips on my blower and "hot-paws" gloves and my hands still get cold.

[rbowman]

I'm glad you mentioned that. I pruned an ornamental crab last month and still have the branches. I'll have to see what it smells like in a smoker.

[Don Y]

When we prune the citrus (rarely), we save the branches -- complete with foliage -- for a friend's smoker. We don't have the patience to smoke our own meats, etc. (though he's generous with the pork shoulders!)

[SeaNymph]

I don't much consider 9" of snow a heavy snowfall. Where I live, I've seen much worse than that. Got out the snowblower after it stopped and had the driveway done in about 40 minutes. I have a very long driveway.

I always keep my ears covered because I'm prone to ear infections. I don't normally get cold out working in the snow, which is a good thing since sometimes I have to put on snow shoes to get to the wood pile.

I'm from the south, but I love the winter's up here.

All you need are the right kind of clothes and you're good to go!

[clare]

When you need to put drift cutters on a 34 inch double beater blower you KNOW you've had a heavy snow.

Or when you need to use the little blower to get to the 180HP tractor with the 3 auger 8 foot blower on it.

Back in the sixties and seventies I'd bust snowdrifts over the hood of the old T234 military power wagon we used as a tow truck. When I couldn't get through with "Kaw-Liga" we knew we'd had a bad storm. (Kaw-Liga - from Hank Williams' sang about a "wooden indian") was the nickname of the old red Texaco PowerWagon)

[DerbyDad03]

I bought one (actually 4) brushes like that this year. 1 for me and 1 for each of my ladies.

I'll use the blade for my windshield but not for any painted surface. I wouldn't want to take a chance on scratching the paint, no matter what the claims are. I'm anal. New car or old, I use the 2 bucket method for washing my cars. The microfiber mitt doesn't go back into the wash water until it's been wrung out, rinsed in the rinse bucket and wrung out again.

Slow but steady wins the race.

Full time AWD or Real Time AWD, like Honda uses? SWMBO's Element has the Real Time All Wheel Drive, which only kicks in when it senses one of the front wheel slipping. She just bought the E last July, so this is the first winter in long, long time that I could easily do donuts in a snow cover parking lot. Man, I missed that. :-)

Based on all the tracks in the mall lot that I went to, I wasn't the only one that wanted to play that night.

Real Time AWD explained:

I bought my first 2 stage snowblower when I turned 54. ;-) Before that I either shoveled or used whatever beat up single stage blower I found on the curb or at a garage sale and fixed up.

Size does matter! ;-)

A coworker bought me a Tenergy Bluetooth Beanie for Christmas.

It works great for walking the dog, shovel, etc. but the blower is too loud. I'd have to crank the beanie and my phone to full volume to barely hear it. Don't want to do that to my ears. (anymore)

Still, I love my tunes, so I really like the hat.

If it's the tree is weak/diseased, then yes. If it was just because of this storm, I wouldn't. I love trees enough to put up with occasional problems they cause. I've been through ice storms and wind storms, lost a car to a toppled tree and took my 2 year old out of toddler swing seat less than

10 minutes before a huge limb crushed the swing set on a beautiful sunny day. Still, love 'em.

[DerbyDad03]

Remember this? It has drift cutters. ;-)

[Frank]

My first thought on this thread brought me back to what a hunting buddy said about the start of each new season and that was it was like your cherry grew back after the last one and you had to break it again.

I hate driving the first day of a big snow as other drivers have to relearn their limitations. You will notice that most of the vehicles stuck on snow banks are four wheelers as drivers don't appreciate that four wheelers don't brake any better than two wheelers.

[Paintedcow]

You got that right. I have a 4WD truck, and while the 4WD helps me get thru the snow, it dont help steer any better on icy roads and dont brake any better. If the roads get too bad, I dont drive, or if I have to, I'll drive very slow and sometimes even drive on the gravel shoulder of the road. I still remember some years ago, when the rural paved road was so slippery that I slid right into someone yard as soon as I ieft a gravel road, and got on that paved road. I got out of that yard, with the help of the homeowner and his tractor. He pulled me across that paved road right back to the gravel road. (and even his tractor was sliding). I had to drive a lot further, but I took the gravel road home. At least that was drivable. I called the sheriffs as soon as I got back on the gravel road, and told them that paved road was very dangerous. They told me there were a lot of accidents on it, and they were working on getting the road crew out there ASAP. I was actually lucky that all I did was slide into that yard.

There was a rollover near here this week during the snowstorm. It was a

4WD. The woman driver was going too fast. She slid into a ditch, rolled the truck, but it ended back on its tires. Amazingly, she was not hurt, and after the truck was towed back onto the road, she drove it home. But the windshield was broke, all mirror off, and lots of dents. Yet the doors work fine. The tow driver said she is going to get the windshild replaced and new mirrors, and will just keep driving it. I wonder what it looks like??? I only heard about it from the tow driver, who is a friend of mine. I also wonder if any damage was done to the drive train. WHen the engine oil goes into the top of the engine, and the same for tranny fluid and so on. Not to mention the battery, cooling system and gas tank (when the fuel pump is running without any gas, for a few seconds).

[thekmanrocks]

5:20 PMSeaNymph wrote: "- show quoted text - I don't much consider 9" of snow a heavy snowfall. Where I live, I've seen much worse than that. Got out the snowblower after it stopped and had the driveway done in about 40 minutes. I have a very long driveway. "

It's not just the height of accumulations, it's the consistency. 4 inches of wet snow could prove a real back-breaker compared to 9 inches of pillow feathers.

[bob haller]

I have 2 vans, and use a big garage type push broom to clean off my vehicles.

[thekmanrocks]

- show quoted text - I have 2 vans, and use a big garage type push broom to clean off my vehicles. "

Here, here! :)

[Paintedcow]

I use a push broom too, but it did not work on the heavy wet crap we got earlier this week. I ended up using a plastic snow shovel upside down. Plastic cant really scratch the paint as long as I dont push hard. I just leave an inch of snow which eventually falls off, or I wipe it off with my gloves.

[Don Y]

Must raise hell with your paintjob!

[Ed Pawlowski]

The depth does not mean as much as the density. Last year we had a few storms that ledt 18" to 26" and they did little damage. This one was wet and heavy and took down a lot of branches and trees. Many people still without power.

[DerbyDad03]

Most? Not where I live.

[DerbyDad03]

How's your paint job doing?

[Vic Smith]

When I have to clear the car, I use a big straw broom. But since I have a garage, I don't do that anymore. I don't warm my car beforehand. Just start it and go. It warms up faster with a load on it. But my wife warms her car. Since she has only a mile to go to work, I don't nag her about it.