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Comments
We're supposed to have a bad winter but we've only really had one snow.
Hope you guys are safe!
tom
Schools were closed again yesterday. I fought my way in to work, but temps near freezing coupled with tons of sand & salt broke thru the glaze of ice making the trip home decent. At least until I got to my own driveway.... So, I got to spend another 2 hours outside in the dark blowing thru about 3" of refreezing slush.
When I finally came in, Beth told me that she'll never go that far South again in January. The reentry is just too brutal.
Another system will hit us Saturday morning, let's see...
-Brian
Were it heavy, wet snow... I would definitely use the machine!
Basically, even if you only use it rarely Brenda, it is probably a good investment!
Neither of us is that "young" anymore ...
I think it's a big "power tool" .. it's a pretty big 2-stage heavy-duty blower ...
And warranty will not cover it.
Be equally careful of rocks and stones naturally. I'd also get a cheap pair of 30db hearing protectors, and it will make your snowblowing more peaceful and safer on your ears.
It's a good idea to first inspect it to ensure it was put together right. Especially if you bought it at Walmart or similar. I've seen all kinds of mistakes on handlebar assembly for example. Using the wrong fasteners in the wrong places. Wires for the headlight routed alongside the exhaust...you name it.
Then after a couple uses I would check for loose fasteners.
The neighbors all have newer larger snow throwers and were able to be done with their driveways in 1/3 of the time it took me to do ours
-Brian
With any luck, all you'll do is break a shear pin which all new snowblowers have.
I picked up a Craftsman 7 HP, 26" 2 stage in December. Best $800 I spent in the past year.
I beat it up pretty good over 10 years and had to do a major rebuild on it 2 years back (belts, several bearings, the rubber drive wheel, scraper bar, etc.). So far this winter I have worn thru the skid plates & another scraper bar!
I also have a Toro Power Shovel for doing the deck (14x20). Great little tool for small areas. And of course there is the roof rake! Seen a lot of use this year for the front porch.
Okay, I've got to ask; what is a power shovel?
I'm thinking that for us down under, a very big pump would be a good idea. Australia is currently being buffeted by major storms, the most recent being a Category 5 Cyclone (hurricane) of Cyclone Katrina scale. Happily, it hit a fairly thinly populated area which had survived a category 4 cyclone some years ago. That meant that all of the poor buildings had already been demolished and only very strong structures remained. The storm surge was significant and a lot of infrastructure (roads etc) has disappeared
Bizarrely, there was sufficient notice to clear all population centres, evacuate hospitals, removing hundreds of patients south to the State Capital, etc so that impact was minimized. Compulsory evacuation orders were served over a wide area. As this has followed hot on the heels of sveral other catastrophic weather events, most people believed the politicians. The warnings were heeded well enough that loss of life was minimal (currently thought to be one guy died from running a generator inside his house).
Unfortunately, the tail end of that cyclone, and another which had come through two days earlier, are now lodged in central Australia and are feeding huge storms down a trough to my home state in the South. Large swathes of the state are under water and further storms are now occurring. However, the temperature has remained high as has humidity. The oddity of walking outside any air conditioned building only for glasses to fog up, is a novelty for all of us. We are just not used to it!
Cheers
Graham
Power shovel is Toro's brand name for a little electric snow blower. Light weight yet impressively powerful. Pressed against the floor, the intake is good for about 6" of snow. But the handles and good balance allow you to 'sweep' the head into the snow, so any depth can be blown over the railing of the deck in a few passes. My unit is around 10 years old and shaped a bit different, but this gives you the idea:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000VU222S/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=2861- 68&s=garden
As you probably know, deck collapse is a real concern during a winter like this. A cubic foot of dense wet snow can weigh 25 lbs or so. With a depth of saturated & frozen snow over 3 ft in my yard right now, my 14' x 20' deck could be carrying an unevenly distributed load of some 20,000 lbs. While I know that it was well built, parking a few loaded pickup trucks on your deck and leaving them there for a few weeks is just crazy!
Steve: Deck collapse? Shoot, roof collapse is a real concern during a winter like this!!!
I had my plow truck out last night to scrape away from the neighbor hood road the whopping 4-5" of snow we had yesterday. Embarrassingly, I managed to get it stuck (atop the road surface, no less) shortly after getting started! Thankfully, I have helpful neighbors who just happened to be getting home about the time I went looking for a truck to nudge me out.
I still haven't managed to get the blade control to work properly, so I can't raise the blade. It hit a solid chunk and jumped over a snow berm, which created enough drag that I couldn't get the traction to pull it free. :sick:
Roof collapses are happening around here - about 80 in the greater Boston area this week including homes, factories, barns, a parking structure , et al. On the news last night they showed video of a crew on top of a two story school with snowblowers trying to clear some of it.
Thanks for the detail. I fully appreciate the snow loading. For odd reasons, snow loading is not usually covered under Insurance Policies issued in the United Kingdom, where I did my Insurance studies. The argument goes that a responsible home owner would notice that there was a heavy snow load after a storm and clear the roof, deck etc. That means that collapse from snow loading (if left lieing around after a blizzard) is not an accidental event. Accordingly the mini snow blower looks like a good idea.
We have had spectacular rain storms over the past day so I have been dealing with muddy properties all day (when I am supposedly on annual leave). There is not much to shift lakes when you get seven inches of rain in an hour or two.
I have just been draining water off the pool for the third time in last day
Cheers
Graham
It's probably just my OCD
I may just have to get a power shovel, may make it easier to clear the roof when I need to and the deck.
The area is still dealing with huge snow piles from the blizzard. My workplace hauled 28 truckloads of snow out of the parking lot, and there is still a mountain of snow where they piled some of it. Corners at intersections are hard to navigate, as you can't see traffic due to the high snow mounds. Many sidewalks are still buried in town. The city seems set to just let Mother Nature deal with the piles of snow and not spend the $ to remove it. Parking is not fun either.
-Brian
My town is pretty anal about getting the sidewalks on the main streets cleared -they have a couple of skid steers with snowblowers on them. This past week the DPW announced they had spent $550K on snow removal this season - the budget was $350K.
Here's a unique machine used by the MBTA to clear off one line of the subway system here in Boston:
http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2011/01/26/1296093541_8586- /539w.jpg
That line uses restored 1940's street cars that are too delicate to go through more than 6" of snow. It's based on a Korean war vintage jet engine that uses 900 gallons of fuel to clear 2.6 miles of track.
I'd actually rather have them spend the $ on clearing the views at intersections....
-Brian
Actually, it's just a big jet engine and it blows the snow off the tracks so no damage to the pavement.
Now that would make one hell of a leaf blower; you could revenge yourself upon even the most difficult of neighbours.
Cheers
Graham
Just curious ...
Me: Public elementary, private middle & high school.
My Bride: Catholic Elementary, public middle & HS
Kids: Catholic Elementary, oldest did Catholic middle/Public HS, the other two doing public middle & HS.
My transition from public to private was seamless. But, that was 1968.
Back now to the 21st century...
I think my kids benefited from the smaller classes in elementary school - curriculum-wise, they seemed to be a bit ahead of the game when they transferred. I'm satisfied with their current curriculum & degree of difficulty. High school for my oldest was a mixed bag - too much social, not enough academic, but that was his fault.
From the parental perspective, I think kids get out what they put in to their high school years. My niece did Running Start through her last 2 years of HS, and ended up 1 class short of an Associate's Degree at her HS graduation. The teachers we've had have all, without exception, been able & willing to extend themselves to our kid's benefit. The opportunities are there for the taking - the students just have to want to put in the effort.
The teaching profession is getting abused by those that have no idea of the total hours involved, or their narrow focus is on nothing but the dollars involved. They see the 6-hour classroom days and summers off and think it's a gravy train.
My 2 youngest will both start high school within the next 2 years. We're all looking forward to the opportunities that await.
We've got your back, Brenda.
My son Mikey attended the same town school system from PreK-8, and was very well served, especially given his ADD and being under an IEP. For High School, he had the chance to apply to a Regional Vocational Technical High School in the next town over, and in his first year, is having a total blast. Exploratory shops, hands on technical classes, mixed with a College-Level academic track. Totally different attitude.
The thing that just blows me away - every single teacher in his new school absolutely loves what they are doing, and are there because they want to be there. Their goal is to serve the students that also want to be there. The no-BS policies are incredible - toe the line, or back to public school!
These days, public schools are ok, but you could feel the undeniable underlying stress - especially in Massachusetts with the MCAS testing, school benchmarking and teacher's careers depending on the students performance on a seemingly silly series of tests. Superintendants and Principals changing on a yearly basis, curiculum scripted down to the Kindergarten level, all focused strictly on the MCAS test - one can only feel sorry for the teachers who have devoted thier lives to education of the children they adore.
Bob
Mom was on a committee with my 10th grade English teacher who wanted me to have her again in 11th grade. Unknown to me until after I had signed for all my 11th grade classes, they devised a plan to "convince" me to take the course. So on the first day of 11th grade, the teacher had everyone introduce themselves and say something about why they chose the course. When it came to my turn, I pointed at the teacher and said "that woman railroaded me into taking this class." Naturally, the other students looked at me in shock - how could I make such an accusation - then they all turned to the teacher at her desk... and she sat there with a big Cheshire Cat smile and nodded.
A few of my aunts also taught in public schools - among many, Mom's middle sister taught 3rd grade for over 30 years, and Dad's sister-in-law is still teaching high school science at age 72... in the Newark NJ public school system. I also have a number of friends from my hometown who are public school teachers (2 are teaching at our alma mater high school).
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
My own garrison with a 45 degree roof pitch and 30 degree hip roof has never been a problem. My parent's house, a colonial saltbox with almost flat dormers in the back is a whole different story.
This morning, I discovered that my dad (78) was going out the upstairs bathroom window to shovel snow off the back roof while my mom (76) was handing him tools and supervising out the window. There were a collection of devices in the bathtub - scrapers, shovels, and an expandible snow rake.
I went home, changed into snow gear, went back, climbed a ladder from the deck on the side to the back roof and started shovelling. In some places, the snow was 2-3 feet deep, and hidden under most of the length of the roof was a 1 foot thick ice berm, which would have backed up melting water against the second floor siding. I was carrying 50-60 pound chunks of ice and dropping them off to the side yard after pushing most of the snow across the roof while dad pushed it over the edge. Then we pulled as much as we could off the top roof to the lower roof and kept shoveling.
And If that wasn't enough, around to the front of the house, hip deep in snow to pull as much down as I could off the front with a snow rake. Three hours later ... a good portion of the snow was off the roof, the rest happily melting away in the 40+ degree weather.
Ever since the house was built in 1963, that was probably the most snow we had ever seen in such a short period of time - and never in my life had I ever been on the roof (at least in the winter) to shovel snow. Hopefully, my 50+ year old body can stay awake for the commercials and halftime show - er, Big Game!
What I won't do is put my life at stake by going up on the 2nd story roof. I cannot handle tall ladders and steep roof walking when it is dry, let alone covered in ice! Here I put my trust in the builder, and will take an insurance check in the event all fails.
Public schools (K-12) for me, my wife, and our kids.
It's in everyone's best interest to have quality public schools, whether they use them or not..
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Bob
A very interesting topic and one that produces close variations on the same result around the world. Here in Australia, I attended state kindergarten, primary and first two years of secondary school (to age 14) at the government funded schools in my home town. This was an industrial area and I think that of 72 student entering aged 12, six students left aged 18, the balance having left school to take apprenticeships, become mothers or similar.
I then won the major scholarship to the most academically prestigious and influential private school in the country. That school has a long tradition of heavy social commitment from its alumni and has, at any time, more than four times the entrants in Who's Who, compared to any other school in Australia. It was something of a contrast!
For me, that was exactly the right choice, although I hated the competitive sport and boarding with 70 other kids, without my loved family. The options were not available for the excellent education that I needed in my rural home town and I am eternally grateful for the intellectual opportunity this gave me.
Both my sisters also won scholarships to an elite school and made the same choice. In turn, they have both become teachers in public schools in the area where we all grew up. In turn, they sent their children to public schools until late primary or early secondary, shifting them to private schools when the children showed academic promise which could not be supported within the public system in the country area.
My wife had a very mixed education around the world but her brief experience of the private school system, in a less rigorous environment than I had enjoyed, was unsatisfactory. She completed her schooling as Dux of a country high school, albeit in a rather more salubrious town than my birth place.
When the time came for our children, we were living in cities with excellent public schooling. Both have had the option for private schooling; our daughter rejected it because she could not get both the music education and co-education that she wanted (she has always been insistent on having male company as well as female).
For our son, who has a mild disability (Asperger's Syndrome) the support available in the public system is much greater than would ever be available in the private sector. In addition, an oddity of the local secondary school's curriculum, permitting a smorgasbord of subjects across year levels, is exactly to his taste.
In this area, it makes little difference to academic outcomes where a child attends school. The proportion of students achieving outstanding academic results is fractionally higher in the private system but this self corrects by end of first year university.
The choice is essentially one for each individual family. It is a matter of choosing the right school for the child. We are remarkably pleased with our choices. One of our daughter's friends had a private education at a school which was inadequate for his intellect. That was a waste of the parents' money and has done little for him. I do get the impression that it is worth spending the money on a really superior education, but maybe only 5% of private schools do it better than the state system.
I have been the president of the primary school council for many years and am now treasurer of the secondary school. There is no doubting the commitment of the highly professional staff at both. Both our children have been immensely enriched by the experience.
Cheers
Graham
I wanted to just post the photo here. If you can see it, that's my Outback sitting in the street on the other side of the "snow berm" ... looks like a "snow car" doesn't it?
My wife and I were both public school educated here in MA and both my kids have been thus far. My son was considering private high school. But we decided in the end that we live in a top 20 state district and didn't really have a concern about the town highschool.
BTW, I went to NYC public schools.
Instead of "What can you Hemi?", we'll call it "What can you Jet?". :surprise:
I did both, public and private, and this area (Montgomery County, MD) has excellent public schools. Some of the best in the country, actually.
My property taxes are high, but you get what you pay for. I won't move until my kids finish school, no matter what pretty much.
I'm not exactly convinced of the value in the various 'no child left behind' standardization which I personally do not attribute to either Democrats or Republicans. I think that both have endorsed it, nay, *coerced participation* from the states and the whole idea is just wrong-headed. (While I'm on my soapbox, I'm not a fan of zero tolerance programs either
For Brenda and overall discussion:
I attended public school in a suburb and my graduating class was 425 students.. My fiance attended a small private school in the same main city (Wichita) and her graduating class was less than 10.
I am not interested in sending my son (4 at the end of this month) to a tiny private school, but we haven't made final decisions yet. The public school system has some 'magnet' programs that focus on specific agenda such as science, the arts, and so on. They are officially public, but you have to apply to enroll and there is high-performance emphasis.
My wife and I both attended public school. She was tossed around often due to unstable parenting, but she had a couple of great high school teachers that fostered her desire to learn, so she pulled out of it okay. I lived in a tiny town in eastern Oregon, graduating in a class of seven. While public, it had limited opportunities given its size. That said, I have never felt like I was behind the curve academically. Sure, I did not have the access to heavy specialization (I took every class my school offered at least once...), but I was still competitive on the national level when needed. I even gained acceptance to USMA and came from the smallest school by a very wide margin (next closest was a graduating class size of 47).
For our children, it is a mixed bag. I am certain our daughter, who is three now, would do very well at our local public elementary. Our son, who, like Graham's, has some special needs as a result of Asperger's Syndrome. While brilliant, he is socially inept at times and therefore struggles in the school setting. His school staff are, for the most part, fantastic in their attempts to work with him, but they just do not have the time or expertise to give him what he needs. As a result, they all-too-often resort to appeasement techniques, which often cause annoying setbacks because, as a I said, he is brilliant.
In addition to that, he has begun to dislike school because of the stress it causes him. So, my wife has decided to begin homeschooling him in the hope that we can reduce the school-related stress and shift the focus toward learning. My hope (not sure if it is her hope as well) is that by doing so, we can dissociate learning from school such that he will continue to love to learn even if he is in the school setting that he does not prefer. I think the homeshooling begins in a week or two, so we shall see how he takes to it.
For our daughter, my concern right now is that I am going to have trouble with the public school system due to her birth date of October 5. If they refuse to let her start kindergarten for the 2012-13 year, she'll not be attending public school either.