Snowblowing with snowmobile helmet

[The Deerslayer]

When I had a snow blower and it was windy, I'd use a full face ski knit mask (bank robber style) and ski goggles. Worked great. I used to wear that same combination when ice fishing in windy weather, too. :thumbsup:

Ditto here. Works very well. I would think you'll lose a fair amount of peripheral vision with a helmet, but gain some protection in the event of a collision :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

As I recall from my motorcycle days, I had about the same peripheral vision with either helmet or ski goggles. Motorcycle helmet fogged up in cold weather when not moving. Ski goggles didn't. Probably due to breath inside the helmet VS not in the goggles. I like a knit ski mask that has no mouth opening, so my breath goes through the cloth. Warms it up a bit before sucking it in.

 

[MossRoad]

I was out for 20 hrs, so give or take 2 min a drive average over the whole storm including travel. The main area I was working was 10 km or so from the shop and I had to go back twice for fuel.

When using my regular tractor (Case 120 Maximum with a 92" inverted Normand) in any given route I average 40-45 drives per hr including the drive between them. This time I was using a Case 85C with the same blower and undersized turf tires so travel speed was (just guessing here) 20% low and it was REALLY hurting for power plus I was bouncing all over the place helping others catch up and hitting missed drives/complainers rather than sticking to one specific area. That 6-700 also includes repeat visits to the same place throughout the duration of the storm. Drives are either 1 or 2 cars wide which means 2 or 3 passes wide. Single or double length adds negligible time difference as it's a difference literally of a few seconds to pull an extra car length once you are lined up and going. The company I drive for has about 5000 customers. Most of our drivers are in the 25-30 drives per hr. There's only a couple of us over the 40/hr

I'm kinda surprised that there aren't hour restrictions for operating equipment on public roads like there are on commercial truck drivers.

 

[ruffdog]

Many years ago, we were selling cheap snowmobile helmets that had a double pane shield. They kept the fogging down to a bare minimum.

 

[DK35vince]

Many years ago, we were selling cheap snowmobile helmets that had a double pane shield. They kept the fogging down to a bare minimum.

Most snowmobile helmets come with the double pane anti fog shields and breath deflectors.
My snow helmet double pane heated shield and breath deflectors.

 

[doxford jim]

Thanks for the replies thus far. I think I will try out a snowmobile helmet as they are not too expensive for what I want (I can't afford a cab tractor unless I win the lottery ). I also think they would help block out the noise of the tractor exhaust a bit.
Will report back on what I find when using it.
Thanks again for comments.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I'm kinda surprised that there aren't hour restrictions for operating equipment on public roads like there are on commercial truck drivers.

There is a specific exclusion in our noise by-law for snow removal and since you don't need anything other than a basic drivers' licence to legally drive a farm tractor here on the road, no hr restrictions. I'm sure the guys running tandem/tri-axle plows will fall under our regular hrs of operation rules for commercial drivers.

 

[MossRoad]

There is a specific exclusion in our noise by-law for snow removal and since you don't need anything other than a basic drivers' licence to legally drive a farm tractor here on the road, no hr restrictions. I'm sure the guys running tandem/tri-axle plows will fall under our regular hrs of operation rules for commercial drivers.

I'm not surprised there's an exemption for farm tractor for the farmer, but I am surprised there's an exemption for farm tractor for hire, making it a non-farm use. Anyhow, not complaining, just curious.