plow or snowblower (Riverside: sale, how much, buying) - Northeastern Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania (PA) -Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area - City-Data Forum

sheila48 · 03-07-2010, 07:01 PM

Ok, we are new here and we got a lovely welcome with the 3 ft. of snow that we just had. My question is..If you have a drive way with stones on it, would a snowblower work or would the stones hurt the machine? Do you recommend a small plow for the front of our jeep? Any ideas? Thank you.

Riverside4ever · 03-07-2010, 07:14 PM

Not if the stones are packed down,, The machine will spit them out ,, They have broken windows before

A plow will ruin a truck pretty quick..

We have a plow guy who does our driveways for us ,, $15 each ( we have 2 )

DavidWebb · 03-07-2010, 08:12 PM

I agree with Riverside...a snow-blower will work just fine...just remember to point the chute away from the home/car windows and you should have no problem...any loose gravel/rocks the machine will just spit out...be careful with large chunks of ice though as they can get stuck in the blades and cause it to shut down...whatever you do don't stick your hand in the blades or the chute with the machine running...I know it sounds obvious but you'd be amazed how many people do this...depending on the length of your driveway dictates the size blower you'll need...I have a 28" Craftsman with electric start that I got on sale for $793 and it hasn't let me down yet

mathjak107 · 03-08-2010, 02:20 AM

i just give marilyn the shovel...lol

DavidWebb · 03-08-2010, 02:27 AM

and she gives you the finger, right Mat!!

fisheye · 03-08-2010, 05:25 AM

sheila48,
I agree with Riverside4ever. Of course it depends on your driveway and whether or not you can get a dependable snow plow man/woman. Plows are hard on your vehicle and can cost thousands. Snow throwers with rubber blades will be destroyed by your stone driveway. The larger steel auger, dual stage snow throwers can throw rock. If you sit down and figure out how much it will cost for the equipment and how much it will cost for maintenance - you might want to reconsider buying your own equipment. There is also the added benefit of being able to staying inside and keeping warm while the work is done for you.
Snow throwers are nice if you have long walkways that you have to personally maintain. Don’t forget, with seasonal equipment, that you have to drain the gas and then run the carburetor out of gas before you store it for next season. Then you also have the storage problems of where to put it.

LNTT_Vacationer · 03-08-2010, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheila48

Ok, we are new here and we got a lovely welcome with the 3 ft. of snow that we just had. My question is..If you have a drive way with stones on it, would a snowblower work or would the stones hurt the machine? Do you recommend a small plow for the front of our jeep? Any ideas? Thank you.

3 ft of snow is tough with a jeep plow unless you stay on top of it as it's coming down. I've played around with both ways - dedicated atv and plow vs. mid size blower.

Plow - more fun; more costly. there is a limit (12 - 18") where once on ground, you've lost and won't be able to plow without big equipment.

Blower - better control of snow - you can put it where you want it. much, much better around sidewalks and steps.

If you're using your jeep you'll be faced with the hassle of installing/removing the plow every time you want to use it. Bottom line, unless a very long driveway, I'd go with the blower. Two stage 8 hp min; 10hp is about perfect. I've heard the track models are better suited for stone drives as you can keep the auger off the drive but the stones really aren't an issue once the base of snow and ice gets down for the winter.

Have fun.

DavidWebb · 03-08-2010, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fisheye

sheila48,
Don’t forget, with seasonal equipment, that you have to drain the gas and then run the carburetor out of gas before you store it for next season. Then you also have the storage problems of where to put it.

I've never drained mine of fuel (9HP, 28" Craftsman)...what I do is add a bottle of Stabil to the gas that's left in it and let it run for a few minutes before I use it...I have a pretty big shed so that's where I store it...

sheila48 · 03-08-2010, 10:27 AM

Thank you all so much. Were still mashing all of this info around in our head. We have a long driveway. Stones. It took us the entire week to shovel the path down to the house. We park at the top of the drive. So what I'm understanding. It sounds like the blower would be good for the path down to the house. Maybe we will just do that. Don't want to ruin our jeep. Maybe I'll ask around to see if somene can plow the drive way once in a while and just stick with the path. Hmmmm. I appreciate all of the info.

fisheye · 03-08-2010, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidWebb

I've never drained mine of fuel (9HP, 28" Craftsman)...what I do is add a bottle of Stabil to the gas that's left in it and let it run for a few minutes before I use it...I have a pretty big shed so that's where I store it...

DavidWebb,
Stabil was designed (originally) to stabilize your fuel when you store your equipment for the next season. Yes; they have changed their formulation to assist with corrosion prevention due to our use of ethanol fuel blends.
Anybody that has a snow thrower might want to also spray their blower with silicon spray - before they tackle the snow. The silicon prevents wet snow from sticking in the discharge shoots. Perhaps today’s snow throwers have Teflon coatings? I used to be a dealer back in the early 1970’s.