Ready for snow?

We are supposed to get close to 2 feet of snow tonight. I went out to put the bucket on the bobcat and it wouldn’t start. Put the charger on it and the charger didn’t behave right, so I checked the battery. Junk. Checked another battery I had on hand. Junk. So I had to run to the store a half hour away in the snow to get a new battery before they closed. I took our new dog and my wife and we found a battery and a big bone for the pooch. The trip home was slippery, but ok.

I took the battery to the shop and tried to drop it in but it was too big. They have increased the case size in group 24 batteries. I had to move a crossmember and my hydraulic lines to get it in. Got it all put back together with the tractor alternator (old one was burned out) and it fired right up. It also sounded like the alternator fan was eating metal. I tore it back apart and found the fan was touching the tensioning bracket. I ground the tensioner lug back a bit and put it back together. It fired up and no more noise, but also not charging.

I remembered that one wire alternators need more rpm, so I sped it up and it started charging. At least it works. Stuff always goes haywire before it snows.

Anyway, I got a tote filled and on the deck and got the bucket on the bobcat and backed it into the shop. So far we have 3-4” of snow on the ground. Hope everyone else is ready.

 

Not sure what’s going to happen the news doesn’t come on till 7 and we all know they are only right half the time.
Ether way I am as ready as I can be

 

We are on the edge between, less than an inch, and 2"-3" so time will tell. Small snowblower should be good to go, but need to get the lawn tractor with big blower out this spring as it hasn't been started in a few years. Always use good fuel and have never had a problem but need to get it and ran so it's ready to go.
Maybe one of these days I will learn to not procrastinate so bad.

 

Good luck with the snow. I dont want to see anymore this season. I don't think we will, but it is March in PA.

 

Even if they are 50% wrong, that is still a heck of a lot of snow across a big area.

Lots of schools already closed for Monday.

 

Glad you got things figured out and fixed. I bet the pup enjoyed the new bone.

 

Stephiedoll Didn't you hear the procrastinator club meeting was put off until next week?

 

Bad news….I got the parking area and in front of the shop cleared and my drive belt blew up. Chunks everywhere. No spare on hand. Guess I am taking the rest of the day off. My brother said his truck needs steer tires REAL bad so he can’t help get the bobcat back in the shop. It’s by the chicken coop. It’ll roll, but I can’t move it.

 

I wish we were getting snow like that. All we're getting from the system is rain and wind.

 

Drive belt? Do you mean the accessory drive belt or does it have a cvt like a snowmobile? If yes, I've never seen such a thing.

 

We're on the warm side of the storm.

Lots of rain and gusty winds. A 24hr event.



We are in the 3inch possible area

 

0600 and 7f out with plenty of wind. Looks like we got less than a half inch of snow but drizzled first so plenty of ice. Talking 70f by Thursday.

 

Getting a bit on the southeast side of Lake Michigan.

 

Bobcat has a drive belt?

 

Yep. It has a variable speed drive, like a snowmobile, but manually controlled. Infinitely variable. From a crawl to 5 or 6 mph. It works great when the belt isn’t broken. Really nice for slow movements or tight spaces.

 

Wow. Learned something new today.

 

We had a small (the smallest one...model?) Bobcat when I was a kid (so this was late 70's) and it had a drive belt, but it was not variable speed...had the old cone clutches...it was nice though, the belt drive had a spring loaded tensioner that could be disengaged to make it easier to start the engine when it was really cold out...old 14-16hp single cylinder Kohler powered, IIRC
Edit...I think I found a pic of the old one...was only 3' wide bucket! But that's why we had it, to get back in to clean out a narrow alley in the barn where some calve were kept. I just barely fit in the dang thing...the newer one is the same way...don't even wear the seatbelt, I'm already wedged into it!

 

It is amazing how well the old stuff worked/works.

I have a 610 from 1973. It is a nice machine. It’s light enough to tow on any tandem trailer, but heavy enough to do serious work. Easy to get in and out of too. It won’t lift a whole car or push over a 12” tree, but it does everything else. I have thought about converting it to hydro, but the clutches work so well…