My snow blower learned a hard lesson, this afternoon

[Siwsan]

Its reluctance to start (for the first time, this Winter) is no match for my Welsh temper. That I wrenched my shoulder, in the process, is beside the point. I won. The driveway and sidewalk are clear. And if it snows again, today, I have no problem with glaring it into submission, yet again.

[dawg day]

1. Your lawnmower is commiserating...

[634-5789]

2. After 22 years I was forced to buy a new one. Electric start!

[Arne]

3. Why, why does that cord always snap on me.

[cayugafalls]

4. Do you remove the gas and lube the cylinders when you put it away for the summer?

If not, bad gas, over time, will make it difficult to start and ultimately lead to an untimely death.

[Siwsan]

5. I do remove the gas.

It was brand new, last year, and only used once so I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal. My fault, though. I should have had the guys give it a start when they were here, last week.

I should have paid more for an electric start. The cord is almost too long for my arm to pull effectively. But, dammit, I was determined!!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. I empty the tank, run it dry, lube the cylinder, and store it at top-dead-center.

Probably a bit OCD, but it starts up easy in the fall.

[matt819]

6. I've lived in the northeast for 20 years

Still haven't bought a snow blower.

I have a guy that plows the driveway (I'm quite a ways from the road), but I deal with the walkway to the house, to the woodshed, to the barn. So. . . after the first snowfall this year I thought, fuck it, I'm going to buy a snow blower. I'm getting old, and I'm fucking fed up with snow. But I didn't have a snow blower, and the whining about it wouldn't get the paths shoveled. So. . . an hour later, three paths were plowed. The need for a snow blower lessened, so I figured, what the hell, if the worst of it is an hour for every snowfall, I can deal with that. That was a month or so ago. One month down, probably two months to go. So I'm going to skip the snow blower. Until the first snowfall of next winter, when I will think, fuck it, I'm going to buy a snow blower. Detect a pattern?

[Siwsan]

9. I have a neighbor who often clears my drive, for me. Especially when the snow is heavy

He's got one of those huge, handles almost any depth of snow type snow blowers. Mine - not so much. He also clears driveways for some elderly neighbors so I like to try and get mine done, if I can, to take it off of his list.

And, if the snow isn't deep or heavy, I still opt for using a snow shovel. A little fresh air and exercise is always welcome, in the Winter.

[CentralMass]

12. I lived it in New England for 5 decades. Buy the biggest bad ass snowblower that you can afford

Last edited Tue Jan 26, 2021, 05:05 PM - Edit history (1)

off season in the summer.

[njhoneybadger]

7. Sometimes cussing and swearing at it like a drunken sailor helps.

[Siwsan]

8. Which, fortunately, is one of my finer skills!

[CentralMass]

10. I would suggest putting a new sparkplug in it. Also at the end of the season either run it until

it runs out of gas or put Stabil in the gas tank to prevent the gasoline from gumming up prior to the next season.

A new sparkplug makes a huge difference on small engines.

[Siwsan]

11. I just bought it, last year, and only used it once.

My upper body strength isn't the best, and I think they pull cord is just slightly longer than I can effectively handle. BUT I did finally get it started. Hopefully I won't have to use it too many more times, this season.