snow blower learning curve

[red oaks lumber]

my wife bought a snowblower so i can run it to clean the snow off the sidewalks at her business in town. since i never ran one before i wanted to get the feel at home.
she wanted me to clear the patio and a couple of paths around the house. well i start with the paths, seems sorta ok to operate. as i'm operating the blower my wife goes in the house because it looks like i have it all under control.
i pull the blower up on the patio,its only a foot off the ground.keep in mind we got 20" of snow.i start blowing along the side and all of a sudden the snow rustles and the blower  starts banging and jumping, out of the spout flies a part of extension cord.oops forgot there was a cord on the patio. shut it off pull the rest out. fire up and started going again .didnt go 5 feet same thing happened. oh boy my wife won't be happy :D
got going again had to move a wooden chair wouldn't you know it ,froze to the deck just hardly pulled on the arm, oh ya broke the arm off the chair ;) now i'm thinking just walk to your truck steve and start driving but i continue and wouldn't you know there was a couple of golf balls hidden in the snow,yup skipped one off the windshield of my truck. it now has a crack . :D
got all done and faced my punishment went in and said to my wife, lets sell the blower running a shovel is cheaper. the look on her face scared me when i told her all the things i just wrecked.
today when i got home she promtly told me i had also eaten a string of christmas lights, which for the life of me i cant find them anywhere. ;D

[Brucer]

Extension chord, yep :(.
Garden hose, yep :(.
Coil of rope, yep :(.
Golf ball, nope .
Golf ball sized rock, yep :( :(. That one bent the impeller so badly it tore into the housing, stopped the motor in its tracks, and sheared the drive shaft >:(.

One piece of advise. Do NOT ever, ever, ever reach into the chute or the front of the blower while the engine is running. Never. Even for a second. I know two people who lost fingers while pushing snow back down a plugged chute. One of them was an organist in his church -- he could no longer play and eventually became clinically depressed :(.

[customsawyer]

You have to laugh at life sometimes. :D

[Magicman]

Sorta sounds like the learning curve for electric powered hedge trimmers.  I kept warning Pat about not cutting the power cord.  She finally took enough of my mouth and handed it to me.......yup, I cut the cord.   >:(

[sawguy21]

 :D I worked in small engine shops and saw almost everything imaginable jammed in snow blowers, barbed wire was the worst to get out. One guy ran over the dog line... with the dog still attached. The animal wasn't hurt but scared to death of machines after that.

[Ed]

While clearing a friends driveway I sucked up big 'ol frozen newspaper into the 60" front blower on our 955 Deere.......took us quite a while to cut out.

Ed

[goose63]

 

  Cant get this one on the deck had lots of stuff in it lucky no cats yet

[beenthere]

Looks to be plenty of other things to run through it tho.  ;D

Remember Mark_M (may he RIP) thread on the first trip around with the snowblower.  :D

[Raider Bill]

Snow sucks ;)

[JJ]

3'x4' exterior carpet for wiping feet.  This took hours to cut out of 2 stage garden tractor snow blower.
Done the 30' cable dog lead (dog not attached) and couple of jump ropes.

     JJ

[Roxie]

You're right, Beenthere.  Red Oaks experience does sound similar to our Mark M.   :D

Here's a link: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,5427.msg74047.html#msg74047

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

What is a snow blower?  :D

[Magicman]

What is Snow??    :D

[red oaks lumber]

what are grits? 8)
i sure feel better knowing i'm in good company with snowblower mishaps :D

[sawguy21]

You southerners just don't know how good you have got it until you spend 4 months freezing your keester off while moving snow. ;D

[red oaks lumber]

4 months? you live in the banana belt :D

[Brucer]

What is Snow??    :D

Cold, white sawdust ;D.

[WH_Conley]

Red Oaks, Grits are what you carry in your car to spread under the wheels when you lose traction. Don't weigh as much as sand. ;)

[Reddog]

While clearing a friends driveway I sucked up big 'ol frozen newspaper into the 60" front blower on our 955 Deere.......took us quite a while to cut out.

Ed

Ya, Newspaper has been the worst for me also.

Used a torch finally to get a bunch of it out. Then could drive the rest out from under the impeller with a bar.

[Brucer]

... Grits are what you carry in your car to spread under the wheels when you lose traction. Don't weigh as much as sand. ;)

Sand??? I use sawdust. Same weight as grits and just as effective as sand. And it's free ;D.