Question about snowblowers
 

Clearance.

My new one basically has the scraper blade at ground level. That can't be right.

How much to raise it? An eighth? A quarter? The manual doesn't say but I can obviously bugger around with it. It'll be on asphalt. No gravel.

I'd like to get this right before I mutilate a nipple or two.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

There are two wear shoes either side. They should be adjusted so that the base is a few mm off the ground.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

If your drive way Is relatively level, quarter of an inch would be a good starter for ten. After your first experience with using at this hight will give you a base line as to whether you need to raise it more, or can reduce the hight re ground clearance. As low as you can go relative to the surface of your driveway is best. This way you blow most of the snow without damaging your asphalt surface. Thin layer remaining often melts in the sun or you can deal with this small volume with a snow shovel. Danger is that this thin layer thaws then freezes creating a surface of ice...Play it by ear.🤔

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

god, it's even more complicated than I thought.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

I must confess I've been googling for the news headline "Gatineau, homme, blessures, mamelons, freak, souffleuse, accident"

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

I'm retired, I have time.....🤓😎

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

Got it.

I'll stick the thing on some 1/8 plywood and loosen various bolts before re-tighting them.

Having the scraper scrape that close didn't make sense.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

Me too, but I'm not in the least mechanically minded.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

My request this year on Christmas Day was that "next Christmas We have a snowblower that I can understand and handle". A number of you have held back whilst I decided that I needed to change the NB winter, and faced it with tools that were not up to the job!

Many thanks, I applaud and appreciate your patience!

Now we have a huge thing that I can't move or start. I want one of those that has tracks on either side like a tank, but I need it small enough that I can move...I am short and light...learning to get to grips with this stuff is the secret to overcoming the bloody thing:thumbup:

Snowblowers 101 would be a great thread for the future! the snow falls just as heavily in my garden (regrettably) as it does in the man next door's ...but I am not as equipped as I'd like to be to deal with it.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

Perhaps you could look at one of the blowers that mounts to the front of a lawn tractor, that seems like a low hassle approach if you don't have a lot of driveway.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

We are thinking about one of these. We are entering our third winter in this house, struggling by with just shovels but my back is getting a bit old for that, and the kids are starting to move out/get better paying jobs. So far this winter my shovelled snow bank (iceberg) is in front of the tent the lawnmower is in. Our drive is about 30m, with a slope upwards towards the road, so my minivan struggles very quickly once it snows.

(I am in the north of York region, ON so asi understand it, not as much snow as Millie)

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

:(Not wishing to sound dense...what's a lawn tractor? We are central, but we aren't big --- a reasonable, but not big, garden and a garage and drive for four cars on a hell of an inclination...very steep:( We have various mowers, including a drive on one that Forest Gump had? It's red and iconic, apparently...lucky me:thumbup:

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

A grand name for a ride on mower. Something of this sort:

Sears.com

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

There are pros and cons to a lawn tractor mounted attachment. Check out this thread on the subject....

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1618341/buying-lawn-tractor-snow-blower

I have a lot of grass to take care of in the summer months and my tractor gets worked pretty hard, its more expensive than a blower so I like to winterize it and store it for the winter, fully maintained. One thing I would add is the need to use stabilised gas in your stored lawn tractor/blower due to so much ethanol in gas these days. Failure to do so is likely to cause carburetor/fuel line problems down the road due the gas having 'gone off' so to speak over the storage period. Only a week ago I had to fix a neighbours snow blower due to this problem. Carb strip down and clean solved the problem, an expensive and inconvenient scenario if you have to put your blower/lawn tractor into a small engine repair shop to be fixed.

Re: Question about snowblowers
 

You want one of the smaller Honda tracked models such as this one: http://powerequipment.honda.ca/snowblowers/dual-stage/hss622ctd

Not cheap but easier to manoeuvre I think.