Pellet heads!! What's up today?

Yeah.... AFTER the tumble...

Dan

 

Just got done shoveling out the small berm left by the last pass of the grader. Not large enough to bother with the blower, but got plenty of exercise. Cleaned up the front steps too. I don't use the front door, so leave that until last - and usually after the roof dumps too. wild critters fed, sweet potatoes and white potatoes on the stove getting soft for maching. First time I've used the cook stove in a couple of months.

Planning on a dump run today, have to go in to my night job that I didn't do last night (they are closed on Friday so Thursdays can be flexible if need be), run to HD and Wally World to make a couple of exchanges, maybe work on more window trim today.

Oh, and the P61a needs cleaned sometime before Monday. Ran the last 5 bags of TG's in there (found under some stuff), so it is nasty. May do it today, maybe a weekend thing.

 

The berm this morning was a killer. 2 feet tall and 2-3 feet deep. That alone took me 20-30 minutes with the snow blower since I share a driveway entrance and that makes it 2.5 times longer than if it was just my driveway.

Thankfully I have a track driven model-I likely would never go back to wheel driven snowblowers.

 

Sn*wblower works good! Driver needs training though, needed to re-learn operating after a 2 year hiatus.
Motor is quiet, and powerful. Augers ride loose on the shaft, about 1/8" play, and they rattle at idle.. it's a Toro.

Chute and controls are plastic, and will let you know when you are crunching ice, or anything other than pristine snow.

Tires are excellent! Knobby, directional, and deep tread, they grip ice well, no need for chains.

The plastic 'pistol grip' chute control - jury is still out, needs more snow time to break in..
Was easier to maneuver after 30 mins. operating time.. Could also be 'operator training required'.

Was concerned about needing to adjust the skids on our dirt / gravel driveway, no need: they were setup perfectly at the start.

Drive train is typical Toro - Forward 1 is almost too fast, but can be 'tweaked' with engine throttle. Forward 2 will plow snow, 3 - 6 are for moving fast from one location to another. Reverse 1 is slow, good control, Reverse 2 makes you step lively. Machine will ride up on packed ice (which I prefer) but will cut into 'crunchy' snow with minimal effort. Balance is excellent, and behaves like the old Toro 724 we had years ago.

Plow driver showed up right when I was getting the first cup of coffee, there was about 6 inches of wet packed snow on the ground.. 10 minutes later, the bulk of the driveway was done.

* We didn't purchase the snowblower to replace plowing, but to have something that will handle getting out of the driveway in the early am hours / to get to work.. Shoveling 4 inches of wet 'concrete' snow the other week at 5am, before driving, was enough for me this season.

Some pics:

Blowing snow onto the front porch. Toro 'advertises' 40 feet throwing distance - it's pretty darn close.



Basking in the sun drying off,



Nice 'n Frosty, no Beer pics this am, sorry.



Plow bank at the edge of the road, no problem. (What was blown onto the front porch in first pic.)



Looks like the folks @ HD did an excellent job on the re-con with the machine, props to them - Rob's a happy guy today.. Beer later.

 

Who makes the engine on that new blower?

 

A company in China, Loncin, I think - from what I can find on the interwebs..

2012-2013 Snow Blowers - Who Makes What? Craftsman, Ariens, Cub Cadet, Toro, Troy-Bilt, Snapper, Yardman, MTD Pro, Honda, Yard-Machines and MTD? - MovingSnow.com

* Really quite impressed w/ the motor on it so far, at half throttle it was plowing through snow without issue, kicked it up to full throttle for the plow banks, and was still pushing snow 20-30+ feet under load.. motor has lots of power/torque to it.

 

They are supposed to be a really good Chinese motor manufacturer. You should have good luck with that one.

 

Thinking with your stomach Jay

 

How things change as we get older.

 

Dont come home with more souls than you arrived with. Then again, why not, go ahead and add one or two

 

Thinking process moves slightly North

 

Thanks IHP - I'll take all the good luck I can get, these days.

 

HD loaded with Chow's down here.

Lowe's has Power Pellets. AWF, PTL, Cheat's, GT (you know, the good ones )

 

cleanfire and his neighbor! this could take all winter!

 

Dealing with the fallout from the 27" of white we got overnight. Plow guy got stuck in the driveway. Driveway is partially cleared can get out if really needed. Got my Fed Ex delivery but it was rigged off site. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon.

 

Holy Chit you got dumped on David

 

seasoned rolled up chikken breast wrapped in bacon