Good News is that it stopped snowing sometime during the night. The "official" word is in . . . 18" for us.
I got our house cleaned out and my grandmother cleaned out this morning.
Bad news is that after a couple hours scooping and snow blowing, when I got to the shop about 11:00am, I found this much more waiting for me:
Worse News is that just as I was finishing up my grandmothers, I hit one of her stupid rocks that she has around the edges of her drive and broke something in the snow blower so the auger won't auger.
Good News is that a guy who goes to our church had his tractor in town and I asked if I could hire him to help me out which he did. All that snow is pushed out of the way now and I didn't have to scoop it.
I'm sure the snow blower is repairable, but I know the small engine shop is probably up to their ears in snow blowers now, and I really doubt they will have the parts on hand that I'll need anyway.
Web, that is the kind of snow a man wants when a man wants snow... We havent had that large a snowfall in SE Wisconsin in a long time....we generally get 3 to 6 inch snows now. But in the 70's and 80's we were in a heavier cycle. So the good news is be patient...You guys may be in a lighter cycle at some point.
Thanks Sparky, but I'm afraid its the gear box between the shaft and the front augers.
The manual says there are shear pins in the augers to prevent damage to the gear box, but the shear pins are in tact.
I'm hoping here is another shear pin back closer to the impeller that pushes the snow up the chute. The 2nd stage impeller is fine, so its somewhere between there and the gear box in the front. I called the small engine repair (Ace Hardware) and asked how busy they are. They said they're not as far behind as I thought but when I told him that the auger stopped and the shear pins are fine, he went "oooooooo, that's not good".
If it is just a shear pin, that won't cost me much labor, and if it is the gear box, I don't think I want to tear into that myself.
Might be time to get a newer bigger snow blower...or as my dad used to say...he didnt need a snow blower, thats why he had me and handed me a shovel. How old is the boy...6? HHmmmm!
I got the lawnmower when I was 8. And that was way back when before they were safe and all. I didn't get control of the tractor until I was 10 or maybe 12.
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