OT - Snowblower on a packed gravel drive

[Puckdropper]

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" wrote in news:Ru-dnfmBpon6kv_anZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I too traded my grass for dirt in one part of the yard. Grew tomatoes there.

Puckdropper

[J. Clarke]

I have 8 inches of fresh white topsoil with more due to arrive Saturday. Y'all suck.

[Skip Williams]

I have an uncle that lives near Boston. His favorite saying is that he is going to tie his snowblower to the front of his pickup truck and keep driving south until someone asked him "What the heck is that?". There he would retire.

Skip

[wiskersrph]

And all kind of Extreme hot, sticky and wet weather. I'll stick to a few snowstorms and a bit of cold weather, thank you. Used to shovel snow on a gravel driveway. Few years ago took the hit and paved. Best home improvement investment ever.

[Mark & Juanita]

Thought you had headed out to California?

Having to turn on the heater to take the chill out of the shop because of that low 40's temperature.

[Bonehenge (B A R R Y)]

Consider that borrowed!

[J T]

Fri, Dec 14, 2007, 3:31am (EST+5) [e-mail] (Puckdropper) doth sayeth: Another alternative is for powder type snows. You can just use a leaf blower to clear your driveway. I've done it a couple times with good success.

Sheesh. When I was a kid, IF we thought we had to clear a way thru powder snow, besides just walking or driving thru it, we'd go out with a broom and sweep it out of the way. A lot less bother than measing with a leaf blower, probably more efficient, probably as fast or faster, and one Hell of a lot quieter. And, you can do it at 0 dark 30 in the morning when you go out to drive to work, without waking up half the neighborhood.

JOAT I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do them.

- Picasso

[J T]

Thu, Dec 13, 2007, 6:16pm (EST-3) [e-mail] (Lew=A0Hodgett) doth sayeth: BTW, walked away from the snow blower almost 20 years ago.

I'm not sure snowblowers had even been invented when I was a kid, not ones for home use anyway. For sure I never saw one. We had a drive

100+' long. In winter the damn drive attracted drifts. Even tho the yard and field on the other side might only have 6" of snow, along with the drive near the house. The end 20-25' or so of the drive miight have a drive upto close to 4' deep. And guess who had to take a shovel out and clear the drive? One of various reasons I went in the Army, and now do not live there any more. That was 30+ years ago - heh heh, gotcha beat Lew.

JOAT I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do them.

- Picasso

[J T]

Thu, Dec 13, 2007, 7:41pm (EST-3) [e-mail] doth query: snow? what's that?

Stiff water.

JOAT I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do them.

- Picasso

[J T]

Fri, Dec 14, 2007, 12:06am mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com (Mortimer=A0Schnerd,=A0RN) doth sayeth: You have grass? I had grass. Now I have dirt.

I 'had' grass. Quit mowing it in '84. Now I have trees.

JOAT I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do them.

- Picasso

[J T]

Fri, Dec 14, 2007, 9:30am (EST+5) [e-mail] (Puckdropper) doth sayeth: I too traded my grass for dirt in one part of the yard. Grew tomatoes there.

Who taught you how to garden? Dan Quayle?

If you want to get a really great yield, try a raised bed. That's a garden bed.

JOAT I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do them.

- Picasso

[J T]

Fri, Dec 14, 2007, 5:19am (EST-3) [e-mail] doth sayeth: And all kind of Extreme hot, sticky and wet weather.

You're thinking of Florida.

JOAT I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do them.

- Picasso

[George]

Psst! That's how it's spelled.

[Puckdropper]

[e-mail] (J T) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Sure, for small jobs by all mean pick up the broom. For driveway sized jobs, though, I'd still reach for the leaf blower.

Puckdropper

[Puckdropper]

[e-mail] (J T) wrote in news:12249-47630A7A-21@storefull-

3333.bay.webtv.net:

Raised beds are more work than planting more plants. First I'd have to build a retaining wall of some kind, then fill the thing up with dirt, good quality top soil for my plants. After that, maybe you start getting some of the benefit of the raised bed, but now you're limited to that size. Want another row of beans? Build another bed.

I'm talking a real garden here, not a little window box for three plants.

Puckdropper

[Bonehenge (B A R R Y)]

We built 14 acres of raised beds on my brother-in-law's Organic CSA farm.

Even with a backhoe, it sucked...

[George]

You can crowd a raised bed pretty tight, raising an amazing amount of produce in a small space. But you're at the hand work level automatically. I like the tractor for my soil preparation, my wheeled cultivator for weed control, and the ability to walk around rather than lean to pick the peas. Even watering, if it has to be done, only takes a drip hose at the roots of a row crop.

Besides, what good's a garden if you don't grow enough zucchini to causse your neighbors to slink away when they see you coming?

[Mike Marlow]

I 'had' grass. Quit mowing it in '84. Now I have trees.

...and a '64 Chevy on concrete blocks in there somewhere.

[Twayne]

Hasn't hurt my '83 Ariens 10 HP 2 stage. Set the scraper a little higher to start so you don't actually scrape gravel into it. Once a crust forms, and it won't be slippery unless you get ice storms, you can set the feet back down. I've had more trouble with ice chunks & debris from the snow plows than the grave in the driveway. Had to replace a shear pin a few times, but nothing was damaged and all worked great afterwards. But I do keep shear pins handy. Ya just gotta keep up the PM on them. PM = Preventive Maintenance; sorry.

[Mike Marlow]

If you go to flush mounted markers for that grave in the driveway you won't have so many problems. Those marble headstones are a bitch for snowblowers.