Snowblower (2013, loan, neighborhood)

[Mamabadger]

My family will be moving from Wisconsin to the KC area in the coming months... Thank you in advance for helping answer some questions we will have along the way

Do most people own a snowblower in KC? We are determining if we should bring our massive dual stage snowblower, or downgrade to a smaller one (or none at all?)

Thank you!!

[ProspectiveTransplant]

The vast majority of people in KC do not own one and usually make do without one. We do get snowed in once every one or two years, so you'd probably be fine downgrading yours.

[Weaubleau]

Not to completely contradict PropspectiveTransplant, and if this was 2008 or before I would give the same advice, but something happened in 2009 where we in KC now generally have gotten one if not more, large snows every winter since then. We had a break in 2012, but 2011 and 2013 were brutal by KC standards, where I think in each of those two winters there were at least 3 snowfalls over 6 inches and one snowfall over 12 inches. I considered buying a snowblower last fall and even though we only had one large snow, it was a big one, over 9 inches. In short, if I had a snowblower in my possession, and I had a driveway that will need shoveling, there is no way I would get rid of it given the weather patterns of the last 5 years.

[TinaMcG]

If you already have it, bring it. We moved here from Chicago seven years ago and brought our big Honda snowblower. My husband hit a chunk of concrete and shattered the auger on day, and it not repairable. So we decided not to replace it.

Wrong decision! That very next winter, we were slammed with the second highest snow totals in KC history. Those Christmas snows just buried us and we had to get a farmer with a ginormous tractor to come and plow us out.

So we bought a new snowblower before the next winter, and you guessed it, we got about a half inch of snow all season. It was one of the mildest season on record. It went unused until the following year, when we used it two or three times. This year, we used it twice. That's why I think you should just stick with your machine that's paid for. There is no sense in spending money on a newer smaller one because you snowblowers just don't get used all that much here. In fact, ours is used so little that we always loan it to our next door neighbors on snow days.

[Versatile]

Bring it

[Okey Dokie]

Originally Posted by ProspectiveTransplant

The vast majority of people in KC do not own one and usually make do without one. We do get snowed in once every one or two years, so you'd probably be fine downgrading yours.

Maybe not in your neighborhood, but 10 out of 11 people on our cul de sac have them.

Bring your big ol' honking one. Your new neighbors will be jealous.