Buy a snowblower or hire a snow plowing service?

[vi edit]

Wow, a lot of weak backs in this thread with apparently zero desire to get stronger. Unless you've got a diagnosed back condition, shovel that shit! Your body will thank you.

It's a function of time rather than effort. 20 minutes or two hours? When I need to leave for work at 6:30am I'll take the quick way thank you.

 

[irishScott]

It's a function of time rather than effort. 20 minutes or two hours? When I need to leave for work at 6:30am I'll take the quick way thank you.

Your work is open if there's enough snow to warrant 2 hours of straight shoveling?

 

[TheSlamma]

What-a-puss my driveway is 80 ft long and I shovel it every snow storm or I get an ice rink that never melts. I also HAVE to push it all the way out to the street, no dumping it to the side since it's in between my house and my neighbor.

Remember the Y chromosome? Anyone needs a sample for their Anthropology lab let me know I still have them.

 

[Thump553]

So far this year the only time I fired up my snowblower was this fall to make sure everything was fine. For New England it least this winter has been a no-show.

 

[vi edit]

Your work is open if there's enough snow to warrant 2 hours of straight shoveling?

It was over 3000 sq/ft of driveway. That's a decent sized driveway. And yes, my work only cancelled itself once in 5 years...and it took over 22" of snow o do it.

Snow was almost as high as the intake on the blower. Plus that much snow with a shovel. You may have time and ambition. More power to you.

https://whmcqq-dm2306.files.1drv.co...kz_BADRpUVfat6y4L7TBOWmMw/IMG_5269.JPG?psid=1

 

[irishScott]

It was over 3000 sq/ft of driveway. That's a decent sized driveway. And yes, my work only cancelled itself once in 5 years...and it took over 22" of snow o do it.

Snow was almost as high as the intake on the blower. Plus that much snow with a shovel. You may have time and ambition. More power to you.

https://whmcqq-dm2306.files.1drv.co...kz_BADRpUVfat6y4L7TBOWmMw/IMG_5269.JPG?psid=1

Lol, if we ever got 22 inches of snow businesses would be closed for days. Guess it depends on your latitude.

 

[rsbennett00]

Geez, sorry to have stepped on so many toes. I call winter over when the furnace turns off and the AC comes on.

 

[notposting]

Get a Yooper Scooper

http://www.silverbear.biz/

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's a function of time rather than effort. 20 minutes or two hours? When I need to leave for work at 6:30am I'll take the quick way thank you.

This. I don't have to worry so much anymore about having to get up super early in case the plow passes by. With some big enough storms I've seen instances where the plow left a 3 foot wide snow bank about 2-3 feet high. Have to get rid of that AND the 1-2 feet of snow that fell over night.

Snow blower is a life saver in this case.

That and with shovelling you need to plan the winter as to where you put your snow as you can't really lift snow that's in the scoop, you have to "drive" it up ramps that you create in the yard so you can dump it. With snow blower it does not really matter you just shoot it in the yard.

So glad I bought mine this year.

 

[NetWareHead]

Your work is open if there's enough snow to warrant 2 hours of straight shoveling?

I work in a datacenter, a 24/7/365 operation. If the weather stops me from coming to work, that shift can't leave until they are relieved by the next shift. There was one baaaddd storm where it snowed for an entire weekend straight. We had this poor girl work a double shift (16 hours) and then her car was stuck in the parking lot. She slept at work, behind one of the data racks where its nice and warm. She was at the office for 30+ hours. We stock water, food and have some cots, comforters and pillows ready for weather disasters like this (plus full bathrooms with showers).

My fiance is self employed; they dont get vacation/snow days.

In bad storms I'll snowblow every few hours to keep up with the snow. Plus we have tenants who live upstairs so we try to keep the driveway as clear as possible.

 

[nageov3t]

I work in a datacenter, a 24/7/365 operation. If the weather stops me from coming to work, that shift can't leave until they are relieved by the next shift. There was one baaaddd storm where it snowed for an entire weekend straight. We had this poor girl work a double shift (16 hours) and then her car was stuck in the parking lot. She slept at work, behind one of the data racks where its nice and warm. She was at the office for 30+ hours. We stock water, food and have some cots, comforters and pillows ready for weather disasters like this (plus full bathrooms with showers).

that happened to me once when I worked at a data center... except without the food, cots, pillows, and blankets. I cat-napped on the floor of the office with a phone next to my ear. I raided the fridge, though, and left an apology note for whoever's frozen dinners I ate.

the most fucked up thing about it was that there were 2 of us on-shift, but the other guy straight up left me there. he was like "since you can't get home and are going to stay here anyways, I'm just gonna leave since my house is only a mile away."

iirc, my shift started at 4 pm on a Friday afternoon, scheduled to leave at midnight, but ended up working until 10 am Sunday morning... after that my company at least got a little better and stocked an entire cabinet in the kitchen with designated as emergency food (canned soup, powdered milk, oatmeal, bottled water, etc)

 

[vi edit]

Yeah, my wife used to work in the ICU of a major hospital. If a bad storm was coming in her employer would book hotel rooms across the street and make employees stay in town for the night. That way there were no excuses about not being able to make it in the next day.

That happened twice when she was there.

 

[NetWareHead]

the most fucked up thing about it was that there were 2 of us on-shift, but the other guy straight up left me there. he was like "since you can't get home and are going to stay here anyways, I'm just gonna leave since my house is only a mile away."

What was he supposed to do? Stay in the "trenches" when he had a way to get home? His shift was over correct?

At least at my NOC we have a 2 man rule. Each shift has to have a minimum of 2 people per shift. if myself and another guy are ending our shifts and the next shift shows up with one guy short, me and my shift partner are drawing straws to see who is going to stay for a double.

 

[nageov3t]

What was he supposed to do? Stay in the "trenches" when he had a way to get home? His shift was over correct?

At least at my NOC we have a 2 man rule. Each shift has to have a minimum of 2 people per shift. if myself and another guy are ending our shifts and the next shift shows up with one guy short, me and my shift partner are drawing straws to see who is going to stay for a double.

we had the same rule... if he'd actually asked our bosses before leaving (when the manager called us to tell us that a state of emergency was declared and they weren't allowing cars on the road), I'm sure the manager would have told him no. it's hard enough working that long of a shift without being able to leave the office, much less having to do it alone.

instead, he just kinda got up and said "ok, I'm leaving" and rushed out the door before I could even say anything.

 

[NetWareHead]

we had the same rule... if he'd actually asked our bosses before leaving (when the manager called us to tell us that a state of emergency was declared and they weren't allowing cars on the road), I'm sure the manager would have told him no. it's hard enough working that long of a shift without being able to leave the office, much less having to do it alone.

instead, he just kinda got up and said "ok, I'm leaving" and rushed out the door before I could even say anything.

Ok then that is fucked up and I'd have fired his ass on the spot. We have the 2 man rule so one guy is not overwhelmed by all of the alarms/events etc. And so one go can go and take a piss without leaving the console unmonitored. Everyone who gets hired understands the 2 man rule as one of the unbreakable tenets of this NOC.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

You must live somewhere near me. If I had a very short driveway I'd still have to get up very early to clear it and that's time I could use in catching up with rest or other things. As it is I'd have to spend a long time indeed because my driveway is longer than one in a city. Then there's the cost of service vs ownership. When I calculate how long a blower would last and total cost of ownership I'm saving very little, but I'd be working my ass off, losing sleep, and not doing things more profitable from a personal or monetary perspective.

That's how I'd approach this if I were you.

 

[Squeetard]

The snowbanks in my driveway, 2 lanes wide, are so tall I can just touch the top with the shovel extended in my hand. All done by me. It is good exercise.

 

[WilliamM2]

You must live somewhere near me. If I had a very short driveway I'd still have to get up very early to clear it and that's time I could use in catching up with rest or other things. As it is I'd have to spend a long time indeed because my driveway is longer than one in a city. Then there's the cost of service vs ownership. When I calculate how long a blower would last and total cost of ownership I'm saving very little, but I'd be working my ass off, losing sleep, and not doing things more profitable from a personal or monetary perspective.

That's how I'd approach this if I were you.

Cost of ownership on a snowblower? My last one was a cheap $500 MTD, and lasted 17 years. Total repairs? 1 cable, and one belt, less than $25. $525/17 is $31 a year. I need to clear my driveway 3 to 5 times a week on average. The snowplows around here would charge $35 for my 150' driveway each time, and I'd still need to clear my sidewalks and porch myself. It's less than $1 doing it yourself, that includes gas and "cost of ownership". Takes about 20 minutes.

My current snowblower was $700, but being an Ariens with a Subaru engine, I'm expecting a longer life than the old one. My neighbors Ariens is from 1971, and shows no signs of stopping yet.

 

[mmntech]

A snowblower is a godsend when you get that awful, heavy wet snow. OP lives in Rochester, so it will be a big help. Probably work out to be a lot cheaper than getting the drive cleared for him. They make sense in areas that get a lot of snow on a regular basis.

This winter's been pretty dry. Don't think I've had ours out once.

 

[notposting]

Cost of ownership on a snowblower? My last one was a cheap $500 MTD, and lasted 17 years. Total repairs? 1 cable, and one belt, less than $25. $525/17 is $31 a year. I need to clear my driveway 3 to 5 times a week on average. The snowplows around here would charge $35 for my 150' driveway each time, and I'd still need to clear my sidewalks and porch myself. It's less than $1 doing it yourself, that includes gas and "cost of ownership". Takes about 20 minutes.

My current snowblower was $700, but being an Ariens with a Subaru engine, I'm expecting a longer life than the old one. My neighbors Ariens is from 1971, and shows no signs of stopping yet.

Neighbor yesterday was working on getting his snowblower started. It was being a stinker (first time of the season, outside of the tune up). 40+ years old, Toro.

 

[notposting]

Cost of ownership on a snowblower? My last one was a cheap $500 MTD, and lasted 17 years. Total repairs? 1 cable, and one belt, less than $25. $525/17 is $31 a year. I need to clear my driveway 3 to 5 times a week on average. The snowplows around here would charge $35 for my 150' driveway each time, and I'd still need to clear my sidewalks and porch myself. It's less than $1 doing it yourself, that includes gas and "cost of ownership". Takes about 20 minutes.

My current snowblower was $700, but being an Ariens with a Subaru engine, I'm expecting a longer life than the old one. My neighbors Ariens is from 1971, and shows no signs of stopping yet.

Neighbor yesterday was working on getting his snowblower started. It was being a stinker (first time of the season, outside of the tune up). 40+ years old, Toro.

Edit: he said it's usually a bear the first time every year, then it's like butter the rest of the season until the next winter.

 

[bruceb]

If anyone is interested, I have a Snapper I422 Snow Thrower up for sale at $200.00
Local pickup in Wayne, New Jersey, just off RT23 about 4 miles north of RT80 .. it should fit in most SUV's or into any pickup truck. Unit has been fully tested, traction drive adjusted, oil checked, tires aired up and full of gasoline. Link to item below:

FYI: This unit has since been sold.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2415105&highlight=

 

[Murdoc]

You're probably glad you got the snowblower, a lot of people have been screwed over by shady plow guys in the area recently...

I'm staying at my parent's house and will shovel the driveway, even if we only get a dusting. My dad will blow a path to his barn and woodpile, but that is the only action the snowblower has seen this year.

I think we've gotten off light so far with the snowfall totals. Season's not over yet, but nothing major in the near future.

Yeah, I heard about that in the news. I think one guy is in jail now for screwing people out of their money. Another guy was hit by a car and killed when he went out to help one of the people that got screwed over :'(

I haven't used the blower that much this season, but if it lasts 15 - 20 years like other people have gotten, it should be worth it.