19 inches of snow to plow

[Waldon52]

Its crazy to think people get heavy snow and there neighbors get a inch or two or none at all. Then down the road there other neighbors get heavy snow and then absolutely no snow at all anywhere else. We usually get a few pileups on I-75 in those open spots that turn icy quick. Two below zero this morning and just a couple more inches this morning. I'm excited to go plow the driveway , even without a cab. I just enjoy the open clear view of no cab. I priced them and will probably buy one in the future but not yet. The dealer said they vibrate like crazy !!! so be prepared !! The salt doesn't work on the roads at 2 below zero and some people wont slow down . So someone will die today , sad to think every major snowstorm someone has to die because of driving too fast. All wheel drive doesn't mean drive normal speeds in a snowstorm??? Mostly they are speeding in a snowstorm and hit some slush and cross into the oncoming lane and kill the other people. Very sad but that goes along with living in a snowy area.

 

[patrick_g]

Here in south central Oklahoma we can't count on snow averages. One year maybe no snow and another we get a blizzard and bales are air dropped to herds. I don't mind snow but I'm OK without it too. In the USAF I spent the worst winter in 75 years in Illinois where drifts were so high we tunneled through to access our barracks rather than clearing all the snow to make a path. We marched on snow and ice 3 miles to school and 3 miles back in the dark both ways. After graduation I was posted to Minot, North Dakota for 3 winters where the coldest weather I was actually out in was -47F (thermometer not wind chill.) With the winds and low temps exposed flesh was subject to frost bite in less than 10 seconds (so we tried to not expose flesh.)

After my discharge I went as far south as I could and not leave the country (San Diego, California) and used the Viet Nam GI bill to attend San Diego State University where during a calculus class someone noticed it was snowing. The entire class including the instructor (but not me) ran to the venetian blinds, opened them up and stared at the few dandruff sized flakes melting on contact with the sidewalk (no accumulation.)
After 3 winters in Minot, North Dakota I wasn't too excited by such a microscopic snow fall.

So, for all you snow lovers... I hope you get what you want so long as I don't have to participate. We are armed with several bags of snow melt granules and I know where our snow shovels are should we get significant snow. I'll just be messin' around barefoot inside. Barefoot? Yeah, we heat our great room (and selected other rooms and shower) with geothermal heat pump and in-floor hydronics.

A few years back I had to use the tractor to clear the driveway a few hundred feet. Heated cab, was sort of fun but if repeated too frequently would be a chore. All things in moderation?

Patrick

 

[Reb954]

I ran across these pictures, thought they might be of interest to others. They were taken at my place I just sold earlier this year. Our new place gets about half the snow so life is much easier in the winter. Plus I have a new tractor with a cab so life is grand now.

This is what would happen when I was out of town for a week in the winter. Sometimes it would back up on the roof if I was gone too long.

My old Ford 4400 working hard.

Trying to find my trailers.

Found em.

 

[shaeff]

I ran across these pictures, thought they might be of interest to others. They were taken at my place I just sold earlier this year. Our new place gets about half the snow so life is much easier in the winter. Plus I have a new tractor with a cab so life is grand now.

This is what would happen when I was out of town for a week in the winter. Sometimes it would back up on the roof if I was gone too long.

My old Ford 4400 working hard.

Trying to find my trailers.

Found em.

Yikes!

I'll pass, looks like a handful! Was that a McKee Snolander blower?

 

[Reb954]

Yikes!

I'll pass, looks like a handful! Was that a McKee Snolander blower?

Yes it is. That is a great snowblower also. A bit big for that tractor but it worked and was free so I can't complain.

A little story behind the blower,
When I got it, it was about 35 to 40 years old. The original owner bought it new then sold the property, blower included, to another guy who used it for 10 to 15 years to clean the mile long gravel driveway. The second owner eventually bought a small Cat articulating loader with snowblower so he had no need for the McKee blower and gave it to me. It was in pretty rough shape so I put all new bearings on the augers, swapped the bottom auger and top auger due to the sprocket on the bottom auger being worn out. The main gear box was in good shape but the second stage housing was worn paper thin and had a lot of holes in it from all the gravel going thru it for years so I found some thin wall large diameter pipe and relined it.

While I was doing all this I remembered both prior owners complained about it throwing snow all over rather than shooting it straight out so I found some thin wall pipe, 8" diameter as I remember, split it and welded it to the flat plate on top of the chute so the snow was being contained rather then dispersed by hitting the flat plate. I suspect that increased the throwing distance by 50% over what they were getting and made my life easier by not getting so much snow blowing back on me.

After the neighbor saw how good the blower worked he started, jokingly, complaining that I should have put the chute pipe on when he had it. I just laughed, told him for all I knew he liked snow being blown all over him so I figured I should just mind my own business. Then I added, plus if it was working good you wouldn't have given it to me.

 

[shaeff]

Yes it is.

[snip!]

Very cool, and great story! I've got a 6' single auger Snolander, but my first experience using it was terrible. It just plugged up. Wet, heavy snow. I should probably wire wheel the whole thing and hit it with a slick coat of paint/epoxy. Paid $500 for it.

It was useless, but I'm sure it would have been a different story if the snow was powdery.

I should think about changing the flat top deflector on mine to a rounded half pipe, that's a good idea!

 

[grsthegreat]

i ran across a few pics from a few years ago. i was out clearing up 6" of fresh light snow this evening (seasons total is 32" so far), and was just looking at what previous years had to give us. these were from 2009. in 2009 we had 120" of snow for winter season.

after looking at these, the current season is a dusting

 

[Threepoint]

Thanks for the kind words, I just love puttering in the workshop on all kinds of projects. And I look at winter very positive with 160" of snow a year and it does not melt until April it could be depressing , ha,ha. So I just enjoy it with my little tractors. :thumbsup:

Don - Reading this thread, I've been impressed by your skills building snow blades for your little tractors. That is, until I clicked on the link to your YouTube videos on your steel model building! Wow! Now I'm bowled over! It is just amazing what you have produced in your home shop over the years!

For other TBN'rs who, like me, weren't already aware of your talents, I'm posting these links to a couple of videos, one showing you building a scaled-down CAT D-11, and the second showing it finished and being loaded for delivery:

Cat D-11 Handbuilt Don Campbell Models 138 Cat D-11 Assembly - YouTube

RARE Cat D-11R Don Campbell Models 128 D-11 dozer - YouTube

:applause:

 

[Garandman]

very nice! i'm thinking we can get by with 11k, propane, it's just 2 of us, house is only 1800 sq ft, with the whole upper level empty now.
we heat with a coal stoker stove, highest draw i have would be the dryer and well pump, and the dryer we can do without in an outage

We put in a 14KW Kohler. We were going to go smaller But as grsthegreat mentioned, the dealers tend to stock the most popular sizes and around here that was 14, 20, etc. And the price difference and fuel usage was minimal.

We really needed it for the well pump but it痴 great to never have to worry about power.

 

[grsthegreat]

We put in a 14KW Kohler. We were going to go smaller But as grsthegreat mentioned, the dealers tend to stock the most popular sizes and around here that was 14, 20, etc. And the price difference and fuel usage was minimal.

We really needed it for the well pump but it痴 great to never have to worry about power.

Also....have you ever heard someone complain about going too large