Hunker down for 'snowmaggedon 2015' fellow New Englanders

[DMKNLD]

Here's our back deck snow drift at the end of the storm - about 4 1/2' tall . My daughters are out there in the their snowshoes digging it out as we speak, before the next of two more storms come in, that are predicted to dump another foot or more for Friday, and then again on Monday. Enough already !

Tough to guess what we ended up with for snow total from this storm with all the drifting - our nearby towns got 25 and 27 inches, and typically we get 3 or 4 more inches here given the local topographic ridge feature that rings out a little more uplift moisture.

Luckily we didn't need our emergency water rations from the water jug in the pic - amazing that there were very few power outages considering the sustained veracity of the wind gusts we had, and the cold temps for the foreseeable future.

I'm envious of you NY'ers and CT folks, where the snowfall predictions were a bust. Hope all you fellow New Englanders who got hammered like us in Maine are fairing OK.

 

[woodmakesheat]

Im about 15 miles SE of Worcester

That's pretty close to where my woman lives (Milford).

(broken link removed to http://www.whdh.com/story/27945111/milford-expected-to-get-highest-volume-of-snow).

and...

(broken link removed to http://www.whdh.com/story/27957246/blizzard-2015-sets-new-record-for-worcester-snowfall)

Yep, this was one for the record books. Or a "bust" depending where you were at.

 

[TimfromMA]

That's pretty close to where my woman lives (Milford).

That's where I am.

 

[alternativeheat]

Here's our back deck snow drift at the end of the storm - about 4 1/2' tall . My daughters are out there in the their snowshoes digging it out as we speak, before the next of two more storms come in, that are predicted to dump another foot or more for Friday, and then again on Monday. Enough already !

Tough to guess what we ended up with for snow total from this storm with all the drifting - our nearby towns got 25 and 27 inches, and typically we get 3 or 4 more inches here given the local topographic ridge feature that rings out a little more uplift moisture.

Luckily we didn't need our emergency water rations from the water jug in the pic - amazing that there were very few power outages considering the sustained veracity of the wind gusts we had, and the cold temps for the foreseeable future.

I'm envious of you NY'ers and CT folks, where the snowfall predictions were a bust. Hope all you fellow New Englanders who got hammered like us in Maine are fairing OK.


View attachment 151946

Yep, it's coming. I just went out and blew back the driveway, made a wider swath than yesterday. My deck has about 4' on it as well. Not sure what I'm doing with that yet but it's not happening today what ever it is. I've had it for now. Not getting any younger !! The deck is ground level pavers, so guess I'll run the blower out there tomorrow.

 

[alternativeheat]

It sure will. Stupidity is covered by insurance.

Insurance companies should come up with the ultimate "Stupid Policy". You want to be stupid buy this policy and leave the rest of us alone.

 

[DMKNLD]

Yep, it's coming. I just went out and blew back the driveway, made a wider swath than yesterday. My deck has about 4' on it as well. Not sure what I'm doing with that yet but it's not happening today what ever it is. I've had it for now. Not getting any younger !! The deck is ground level pavers, so guess I'll run the blower out there tomorrow.

I hear ya, brother ! Blowing 3'+ of windblown snow with my Simplicity garden tractor and the 42" blower was the hardest I've ever pushed it to get the driveway open for the wife to get to work this morning. I really needed some snow drift cutter bars on the edges of the snow blower to be able to cut the banks back.

So I'm flying the white flag and paying my next door neighbor to come finish my driveway and front yard. His 4WD Kubota with a front end loader and his rear PTO snow blower will make a lot quicker and easier work of it than I could !

Stay safe out there on the Cape - 'after storm' cleanup hazards can be dangerous and deadly. There will be some heart attacks no doubt trying to move this stuff, or people falling off their roofs trying to shovel them before the next storm(s) come in.

 

[Lake Girl]

NYC and CT should be glad the predictions were wrong - stayed off shore. If NYC had gotten the predicted snow, removal would have been a nightmare...

 

[alternativeheat]

I hear ya, brother ! Blowing 3'+ of windblown snow with my Simplicity garden tractor and the 42" blower was the hardest I've ever pushed it to get the driveway open for the wife to get to work this morning. I really needed some snow drift cutter bars on the edges of the snow blower to be able to cut the banks back.

So I'm flying the white flag and paying my next door neighbor to come finish my driveway and front yard. His 4WD Kubota with a front end loader and his rear PTO snow blower will make a lot quicker and easier work of it than I could !

Stay safe out there on the Cape - 'after storm' cleanup hazards can be dangerous and deadly. There will be some heart attacks no doubt trying to move this stuff, or people falling off their roofs trying to shovel them before the next storm(s) come in.

My Ariens has drift cutters, in some places the snow was over them. And this morning the banking the state left was frozen so in widening that out I had to take 1/4 and 1/2 swipes from where I left off yesterday. The good news is we only had an additional 3" of fluff over night. I'm done for now I need to rest.
Edit:: I've said it before, this is too much driveway for a walk behind. I have a Garden tractor now with locking diff. I think that's getting a blower in the not so distant future. Maybe a Berco ?

 

[Lake Girl]

The only complaint I have using the Kubota with the blower is that hands and feet get cold before I get all the cleaning up done. I always forget to put the warm packs in my boots. We usually have a lot colder temps here though ...

We have a long enough driveway and shared laneway that it takes awhile. Then I do a quick pass on the neighbours drive to make sure they can get out in case of emergency (2 little ones in the house). Leave the rest of his snow removal to his snowblower. The other neighbour`s drive I would have a hard time doing as it is all up-hill and steep. He prefers to snowblow his anyway.

 

[alternativeheat]

The only complaint I have using the Kubota with the blower is that hands and feet get cold before I get all the cleaning up done. I always forget to put the warm packs in my boots. We usually have a lot colder temps here though ...

We have a long enough driveway and shared laneway that it takes awhile. Then I do a quick pass on the neighbours drive to make sure they can get out in case of emergency (2 little ones in the house). Leave the rest of his snow removal to his snowblower. The other neighbour`s drive I would have a hard time doing as it is all up-hill and steep. He prefers to snowblow his anyway.

Yes that is a concern. One thing you don't do with a walk behind is get particularly cold, I usually come in soaked, especially if the sun pops out like today.

 

[cybex]

My neighbor opened up my driveway. I walked up to the cab to thank him, he swings open the door and I get hit by a blast of heat and classical music. Lol
I'd say he's enjoying using his machine.

 

[DMKNLD]

My neighbor opened up my driveway. I walked up to the cab to thank him, he swings open the door and I get hit by a blast of heat and classical music. Lol
I'd say he's enjoying using his machine.

Now that's a sweet rig worth some serious 'seat time' in !

 

[Lake Girl]

My neighbor opened up my driveway. I walked up to the cab to thank him, he swings open the door and I get hit by a blast of heat and classical music. Lol
I'd say he's enjoying using his machine.

We've got his little baby brother Soft cab, no heater and no radio but my back sure appreciates it!!

 

[cybex]

We've got his little baby brother Soft cab, no heater and no radio but my back sure appreciates it!!

Sheltered from wind and blowback is key. And you could use your ipod for tunes.

 

[DMKNLD]

Sheltered from wind and blowback is key. And you could use your ipod for tunes.

My best tool toy purchase, hands down, was a Craig's List cab for the garden tractor - no more abominable snowman ! Even without a heater, the shell keeps in enough engine and tranny heat to keep it comfortable enough in single digit temps for the 3 hours I was in it last night trying to bust 3' snow drifts ! I'm buying some drift cutter bars to put on the blower tomorrow.

My vintage K-series Kohler engine is so loud and rattly that whenever I run it on WOT (wide open throttle) it sounds like it could 'grenade' at any minute ! So even with ear buds inside my ear protector muffs it's not a particularly good music experience.

Certainly not appropriate decor for a 'man cave', please excuse what my teen daughters razz me for - my 'girly man' pink roll cart tool box in the right background - it was formerly a pediatric 'crash cart' that was a freebie from our local hospital, just never got around to re-painting it.

 

[alternativeheat]

My best tool toy purchase, hands down, was a Craig's List cab for the garden tractor - no more abominable snowman ! Even without a heater, the shell keeps in enough engine and tranny heat to keep it comfortable enough in single digit temps for the 3 hours I was in it last night trying to bust 3' snow drifts ! I'm buying some drift cutter bars to put on the blower tomorrow.

My vintage K-series Kohler engine is so loud and rattly that whenever I run it on WOT (wide open throttle) it sounds like it could 'grenade' at any minute ! So even with ear buds inside my ear protector muffs it's not a particularly good music experience.

Certainly not appropriate decor for a 'man cave', please excuse what my teen daughters razz me for - my 'girly man' pink roll cart tool box in the right background - it was formerly a pediatric 'crash cart' that was a freebie from our local hospital, just never got around to re-painting it.


View attachment 152012

Wow that's an oldie but goodie if I ever saw one. Well I have the GT but no blower or cab for it. Is that the old single cylinder Kohler ? I don't remember them rattling so bad as you describe.

 

[DMKNLD]

Wow that's an oldie but goodie if I ever saw one. Well I have the GT but no blower or cab for it. Is that the old single cylinder Kohler ? I don't remember them rattling so bad as you describe.

Yes, it's a 1984 Sovereign 7114H, with the single cylinder 14 hp Kohler. They have great torque, so even with a single stage snow blower it will throw the snow 35 - 40'.

After we bought our 1870's farmhouse 7 years ago, I found it on Craig's List for $600, which included the belly mower and snow blower, so I've gotten more than my money's worth out if blowing our 7000 sq ft driveway and mowing our 3 acre yard over the years.

It's mostly the muffler that makes it so loud, which is original, exacerbated by a couple of rust holes in it. But even after an engine rebuild it is still a noisy beast. Kohler quit making the K-series engines I believe because they couldn't meet EPA exhaust specs.There's allot of them still out there, so it is easy to get parts for, but pricey. My local Simplicity dealer 5 miles down the road has had most every part I've needed for it in stock.

 

[alternativeheat]

Yes, it's a 1984 Sovereign 7114H, with the single cylinder 14 hp Kohler. They have great torque, so even with a single stage snow blower it will throw the snow 35 - 40'.

After we bought our 1870's farmhouse 7 years age, I found it on Craig's List for $600, which included the belly mower and snow blower, so I've gotten more than my money's worth out if blowing our 7000 sq ft driveway and mowing our 3 acre yard over the years.

It's mostly the muffler that makes it so loud, which is original, exacerbated by a couple of rust holes in it. But even after an engine rebuild it is still a noisy beast. Kohler quit making the K-series engines I believe because they couldn't meet EPA exhaust specs.There's allot of them still out there, so it is easy to get parts for, but pricey. My local Simplicity dealer 5 miles down the road has had most every part I've needed for it in stock.

I came close to buying a Wheel Horse with that engine once, I remember the muffler being loud and it was not rotted, this was a new machine. I have a MIghty Mac chipper I think has the same muffler on it ! Anyway in looking at that Wheel Horse I was devising ways in my mind to quiet the thing down. Something came up and I ended up not buying that machine and today I believe they no longer make that model ( probably 12 or 15 years ago now).

 

[cybex]

My best tool toy purchase, hands down, was a Craig's List cab for the garden tractor - no more abominable snowman ! Even without a heater, the shell keeps in enough engine and tranny heat to keep it comfortable enough in single digit temps for the 3 hours I was in it last night trying to bust 3' snow drifts ! I'm buying some drift cutter bars to put on the blower tomorrow.

My vintage K-series Kohler engine is so loud and rattly that whenever I run it on WOT (wide open throttle) it sounds like it could 'grenade' at any minute ! So even with ear buds inside my ear protector muffs it's not a particularly good music experience.

Certainly not appropriate decor for a 'man cave', please excuse what my teen daughters razz me for - my 'girly man' pink roll cart tool box in the right background - it was formerly a pediatric 'crash cart' that was a freebie from our local hospital, just never got around to re-painting it.


View attachment 152012

Lol. I'm color blind so it looks gray too me.

When I put the door on my skid steer, it seems so much louder. Resonates(?). Hmmm, I have a sound meter. I'll check to see.

 

[cybex]

Nothing like roof raking early in the morning when its -4. Be back at tonight when I get home. Just trying to stay ahead. Yesterday was snow blowing all around the house to get to the house.

 

[Doug MacIVER]

a lot of talk on twitter bout sun. nit-mon . interstate 90 storm. most models kickin up to another foot Chicago to Boston. then just a tad chilly after. time will tell.

 

[alternativeheat]

a lot of talk on twitter bout sun. nit-mon . interstate 90 storm. most models kickin up to another foot Chicago to Boston. then just a tad chilly after. time will tell.

We got rain today, they are saying 2-4" of snow overnight into mid morning tomorrow. Sunday-Mon is not really being discussed on the local weather yet. Between the sun yesterday and the rain today we need another foot to get our snow piles back up to snuff. NOT!

 

[Doug MacIVER]

We got rain today, they are saying 2-4" of snow overnight into mid morning tomorrow. Sunday-Mon is not really being discussed on the local weather yet. Between the sun yesterday and the rain today we need another foot to get our snow piles back up to snuff. NOT!

your rte 6 not interstate 90? who knows? enjoy the weekend.

 

[cybex]

Weather just aired, 6 to 12" for the Cape. Mass Pike on south receives the most, as for now. I catch a break.

 

[scajjr2]

Weather just aired, 6 to 12" for the Cape. Mass Pike on south receives the most, as for now. I catch a break.

Manchester NH Ch 9 now saying 10-18" for southern NH during the day Mon.

I grew up in Leominster BTW. Family moved to NH in summer of 67 when I was 13.

Sam