Thank you all so much for your advice - we were thinking craftsman, with my employee discount as well it is looking more tempting.........Just got to talk hubby into it a bit more

AND you think that would be the other way around - it has an engine of sorts and takes gas AND its a TOY! (Hang on a minute .....NOW I know what to get him for crimbo......Sorted!

Thats about what I had heard. Chap who works for me has an MTD brand snowblower that has broken twice in 2 years and will break again according to the service bloke. He's just bought a 9hp Ariens for $1250 I think which incl. 3 years servicing and 12 mth interest free. Sounds like a deal.

Not quite so. I researched Lawntractors quite a lot although didn't buy one cos the missus says I need the exercise more than a tractor! The John Deere models L125-L300 start at around $2300 and look a helluva lot better made than the Toro LX (made by MTD now), MTD brands & Craftsman. In fact the Deere's were cheaper than the MTD mowers at our local crappy tire! I am interested to see practically how my neighbour gets on with his tractor mounted snowblower. I've offered my drive for evaluation purposes!!


Agree with the need for exercise (hence the walk behind mower) but I have a bad back and after a month of shovelling I'm crippled so mechanical help is a neccessity. Last winter I paid $400 for snowclearing with a JCB on the occasions we needed it. And boy did we need it!

AX

Mea culpa dear Hangperson. We do get more snow here on average than in Red Deer. Consider hat well and truly scoffed.

Pax Albertica

You make it sound like we have a non-stop blizzard from November to April. We don't get that much snow here. The average is about 235cm. Last Winter we had little more than 200cm, close to half of it in January (which was a good thing).

Maybe it was a particularly bad winter, we had more snow in December that year than Edmonton gets all winter.

I have some old photo's I'll post them later.

It does appear that the winter of 1972-73 was not a good one for Ottawa.

The total snowfall for November through January that winter was 171cm with the vast majority of that falling in December 109cm. Total snowfall for that year was 345cm about 110cm more than average.

For the same three month period Edmonton received 56.7cm of snow. Total snowfall for Edmonton that year 169cm.

The attached pictures were taken in December of 1972, we lived on Sunnyside Ave by Roslyn Ave.

Cheers
Steve

I've requested a digital camera for Christmas (oooh, I said the "C" word).

If I get one, I'll post some pics of the joys of a Gatineau Winter.

That would be nice. I think I would like that.

I can't say that the time I spent in Ottawa was a nice time at all, bad weather wise with all that snow then we had a lot of freezing rain that winter too. I was on course for Air Traffic Control and my wife who was with me was pregnant with our first child and it was a high risk pregnancy. :scared:

I would love to go back and see it under different circumstances.

Cheers
Steve

Freezing rain is the worst of all. You know where you are with snow.

I made a trip to the corner store last Winter, after freezing rain. It's only about 200 yards each way. The round trip took me over 30 minutes. Every surface was almost completely frictionless. If I'd been wearing older clothes, and not carrying a 6-pack, I think I'd have just laid down and dragged my way home.

We live in Peterborough Ontario, we only had 1 big huge snowstorm since 2001 (see picture), otherwise we only gets 5 - 10cm snow at a time, so we have decided we don't need a snow blower.

Great.