Need snow removal advice

[volleyball]

Definitely 2 stage, and pretty big. Just not too wide.
Have you thought about paying a neighbor pretty well for doing the job? You pay better, you get better service. If the going rate is $50, pay $75, and have a decent but not overly expensive machine. You really need to buy new, take care of it and you won't have to buy another

 

[lakota]

"The worst part of a Snow blower is being downwind. The snow will soak and freeze you quick! I would highly recommend a hood. That is what mom needs, but the unit isn't large enough. "



Got a "Hood Shield for my single stage" small machine

link and my review: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008URATDI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jimindm]

The first thing I would ask is about your health. Are you winded after using a lawn mower for 15 minutes? Can you handle a snow blower? How much longer do you want to do the work?

What part of Minnesota are you in? The southern edge is much different than up north.

Much like many other professions you need to find one that does snow removal for a living, and not beer money. Speak to them about your expectations of the work they need to do. If you are in an urban area of Minnesota, I would think that you would have many to choose from.

I plow snow in central Iowa. I can tell you it competitive business. I think what you will pay will be based on your situation. I have had many over the years tell me put me on your list. Only to do it one time all winter.

I also do a business that opens at 7am, mon-sat. They want it plowed by the time they open. I do a church, that is normally a Sunday service. The church lot is 2-3 times larger than the business. Yet they pay less than half of what the business pays.

Find someone that already has accounts near you. Ask for reference addresses, that are close by. Go check them now and see if the grass is tore up or what the property looks like after a plow season.

Many companies now offer a year round service of snow removal and yard mowing. You pay year round and usually charged by averages of how many times plowed or mowed in the last few years. They have a few lax months during the year that they do nothing. Think of it as an escrow of work that will come.

When looking for a plow guy be honest with yourself. If you do not work or have a job that requires you to be there. Let them know. It makes a difference what you pay if you want to be the first plowed or the last plowed.

Other things I would ask you. Where does the mail come? Can you get it from a vehicle, or is it delivered to a mailbox on the house? Do you need it plowed at a certain times because of a work schedule? Is your need just plowing and no salting or sidewalks? How much longer do you think you will be able to do it.

As many have recommended about snow blowers, you need will need one that is fairly manageable for you. That does not sound like a craigslist transaction. You will be shopping at a dealer, where the prices can get right up there.

For the cost of a larger snow blower you could likely have it plowed for a few years. You may be able to just say screw the plowing and buy another vehicle that could handle the unplowed snow.

 

[green.willow]

I am overwhelmed with all the kind advice. I'm going to print this all out and do a little analysis. I like the idea of trying machines out to see how they handle for me, buying local, heated handles (!) and some sort of cab/protection from the wind. I am much more of a whimp about the cold than handling a machine. The rest will need some thought and research-- but as several of you have pointed out, I should have some time.

 

[owenst7]

If you do go the route of buying a new piece of equipment, do some leg work and research your local dealers. Talk to people that have purchased equipment from them. Go in and talk to the manager. Find out how long he/she has been running the place.

As much as I love Honda small engines, our business stopped buying their products for some time when the local dealer went under new management and the service became atrocious. Luckily, the next town over took notice and was more than happy to expand exponentially by taking all that business. We almost exclusively deal with Hondas again, we just have to take a drive. What I'm getting at is that the human interaction with a dealer is the most important consideration if you're going to buy new equipment and have it serviced by them. And that local dealer is only as good as the management.

 

[ffemtdisp]

My late Grandmother owned a 8HP Ahrens snowblower with electric start in the late 70s. She also purchased a "snowmobile suit" and a ski face mask.

But if you lived in MN for any length of time, I imagine you know how to dress for cold.

I wish you well.

 

[nicksnothereman]

Dangerous to do at 61 years old?

61 year old woman. People live forever don't have heart attacks or bad joints or osteoperosis or cancer or nothing just throw on a coat and break out the snowblower and you won't fall or nothing.

Cool story bro.

 

[DekeT]

61 year old woman. People live forever don't have heart attacks or bad joints or osteoperosis or cancer or nothing just throw on a coat and break out the snowblower and you won't fall or nothing.

Cool story bro.

Obviously this, OMG, 61 years old, woman has no problems with the idea of handling a snowblower in the winter. What makes you think better of it? I guess those things don't happen to 40 years olds either. What's with the "cool story bro" nonsense, anyway? Is that supposed to be some code for what you really mean?

 

[Higgins]

Just a thought! - One think to look at is where it will be kept in the garage, how much room it will take up in the garage. And can you get it out of the garage while the car is in the garage.

AL

 

[volleyball]

Yeah, lots of advice. Different advice. Because nobody knows what will work best for you because we don't know your situation well enough. So you, Green, will have to determine what works best. And remember if it wasn't the best, just choose another.
One thing not mentioned is that this is the season to redo your property so that you have a place to put the snow as it accumulates so you have enough room to move in winter. Maybe it is getting all of the junk out of the garage and putting elsewhere or get rid of. I have a wide driveway and cannot pile the snow up very high along the road, so I moved a fence back to give it a place to go. Moved all the plants that would have gotten damaged by the snow and salt.

 

[Ray916MN]

Looks like a neighborhood of small lakeside homes around Lake Minnetonka. Where exactly in MN are you located? Given the way the neighborhood looks, I'm very surprised you can't get someone to do a good job of snow removal.

We just went through one of the heaviest snowfall winters with the coldest temps which meant the snow really piled up this past winter. An anomaly to some degree. The best plow operators not only plowed but also came out with bobcats to knock the piles down and back to regain driveway space.

Personally given how the driveway looks and your age, I'd try to find a better plow service. Operating, maintaining and storing a good blower is going to get harder over time and not allot of fun, no matter what you buy.

The company I use for excavation plows during the winter and of course has no problems coming out with a bobcat and the local fire department is thick with guys who plow in the winter and know how to keep access open since they always thinking about how they would get their trucks in. In my area, I've found the key to finding good service providers is to find out who the people who grew up in the area use. Find them through church or the fire department or some similar situation where the people have a vested long term interest in the community and have earned a good reputation and have a reputation to protect.

 

[green.willow]

Just a thought! - One think to look at is where it will be kept in the garage, how much room it will take up in the garage. And can you get it out of the garage while the car is in the garage.

AL

I can easily get it out of the garage. Just will have to move the mower to the back and the blower to the front in the autumn. Thanks for thinking of these things. This kind of mistake could be critical.

 

[green.willow]

Looks like a neighborhood of small lakeside homes around Lake Minnetonka. Where exactly in MN are you located? Given the way the neighborhood looks, I'm very surprised you can't get someone to do a good job of snow removal.

We just went through one of the heaviest snowfall winters with the coldest temps which meant the snow really piled up this past winter. An anomaly to some degree. The best plow operators not only plowed but also came out with bobcats to knock the piles down and back to regain driveway space.

Personally given how the driveway looks and your age, I'd try to find a better plow service. Operating, maintaining and storing a good blower is going to get harder over time and not allot of fun, no matter what you buy.

The company I use for excavation plows during the winter and of course has no problems coming out with a bobcat and the local fire department is thick with guys who plow in the winter and know how to keep access open since they always thinking about how they would get their trucks in. In my area, I've found the key to finding good service providers is to find out who the people who grew up in the area use. Find them through church or the fire department or some similar situation where the people have a vested long term interest in the community and have earned a good reputation and have a reputation to protect.

Hey Ray, I am on the far other side of The Cities. I really don't want to have to do this work myself, but it's been awful trying to find reliable help. The guy I found last winter did a decent job of clearing the snow- he had a skid loader (? something like that), but I was lucky he didn't take the second story deck down as he hit two separate poles. I didn't dare even confront him about it because I knew he'd walk and mid-winter I'd never find another outfit to take over. Now I have to replace both of the support beams myself- which I've done before but it's will take me most of a precious weekend.

Got stuck on that little hill in the driveway twice last winter in deep snow, too, because neither the City nor my plow guy had shown up yet that day. Nothing like having to dig yourself out after a long day at work and 2.5 hours in treacherous traffic. After that second time, I traded my sedan in for a small SUV.

As you can see, I live in a beautiful area and I love this house, but if we could get our money out of it, I'd give it up for a vanilla townhouse since my husband's health declined and all this work has landed on my shoulders.

 

[volleyball]

You may be money foolish by staying. If you are working and have to do all the work, have trouble getting reliable help at the money you are willing to pay.
Spring is the time to sell. If you cannot let go emotionally, then pay the price it costs.
If your house is less, so will the replacement house so your loss is covered by your savings.
If the deck piers are in the way and likely to get damaged, you can spend the money and get stronger posts, maybe steel or concrete as with piles of snow, you don't have precise control over the removal equipment.

 

[Ray916MN]

...

Got stuck on that little hill in the driveway twice last winter in deep snow, too, because neither the City nor my plow guy had shown up yet that day. Nothing like having to dig yourself out after a long day at work and 2.5 hours in treacherous traffic. After that second time, I traded my sedan in for a small SUV.

....

Unfortunately, I don't think you can avoid having to on occasion dig yourself out even with the best plow service and if you get a snow blower and decide to do it yourself you will relegate yourself to always digging yourself out.

Snow removal services generally wait until a snow is "over" to plow and any good service will have enough customers that it will take some time to get all their contracts done. For example:

• You leave in the morning with a clean driveway and it snows all day with snow scheduled to continue through the evening. Most services will plow overnight. Your driveway will be tough to navigate when you get home from work.
  
• You go to bed with a clean driveway and it begins snowing in the evening and snows through the next morning. Most services will plow during the day after the snow ends. Your driveway will be tough to navigate when you get up to go to work.

Last year there were a number of times when this was the situation. In the first situation, even with a good snow blower, you're going to come home to a driveway that needs to be plowed. In the second situation, you're going to need to wake up early and clear the driveway. Getting a good snow blower isn't going to fix your problem of having to dig yourself out after a long day of work and sitting in traffic, it is going to make you completely responsible for the problem.

Aside from or in addition to getting 4 wheel drive vehicles, some people create parking areas so they can park at the bottom of their driveways when their driveways are impassable or likely to become impassable. No matter how you choose to go forward you may want to consider doing this. You're going to need this parking for when you come home to a snow covered driveway and you have to get your blower and clear the driveway, just as you would need it if you had to wait for the plow service to take care of your driveway.

 

[Farmall450]

Tractor mounted snowblower or possibly a kubota

That's what I was thinking, no drift could stop you then.

 

[p_mori7]

Again...go with your gut feeling...you've stated you really don't want to have to do it yourself...you need a better service provider.

A Skid Steer loader can be a ***** in tight quarters because visibility to the rear *****...hence probably why he hit the deck posts.

Your lot is WAY too tight for plow truck to do a good job, and would just exacerbate the problem of a snow pile at the end of the lane...because that is the only place he has to push it off to.

Again, a service provider with a smaller AG tractor (not a lawn tractor !) and a blower would make keeping that driveway clear EASY.

I am sure there are guys in the area with such equipment, and that you've seen them running around. Start calling around now and asking them what equipment they have, then have the guys with the right equipment come out and give you quotes based on your service expectations.

I have no clue what service providers charge in your area...but in my neck of the woods...that size driveway would be about $300 for the winter. The guy comes early in the morning so you can get out, and/or right after the plow has passed during the day so you can get in. typically, if there's not enough snow for the plow (less than 1 inch or so), the guy doesn't come, so you scrape the driveway off by hand.

With a tractor mounted snow blower, there is no pile to worry about, and he can throw the snow wherever there is room.

Imagine something like this clearing your driveway:

 

[lakota]

I should have mentioned about the universal hood I got for my large Craftsman machine. It does block some of the controls slightly which can be a pain, esp at the beginning of the season when I'm not familiar with them.



That's why I mentioned the Ariens. Years and years ago called the Ariens dealer about a hood. He asked what machine I had and it wasn't an Ariens. He replied he wouldn't sell me a hood because it was made specifically for the Ariens machine. He had trouble with people buying the hood and finding it wouldn't fit there machine and wanting to return it.

Also I feel the hood help in preventing theft, since it adds size to the machine.

 

[ears]

61 year old woman. People live forever don't have heart attacks or bad joints or osteoperosis or cancer or nothing just throw on a coat and break out the snowblower and you won't fall or nothing.

Cool story bro.

Typing this from mom's couch. I came down to help her for the weekend. She promised my sister a few years ago she wouldn't use the chainsaw alone. She won't let me touch it. I pull poison ivy she does the fun stuff. She's 73 and would get a good laugh from your idea that 61 is too old for anything but knitting.

 

[jimindm]

Again...go with your gut feeling...you've stated you really don't want to have to do it yourself...you need a better service provider.

A Skid Steer loader can be a ***** in tight quarters because visibility to the rear *****...hence probably why he hit the deck posts.

Your lot is WAY too tight for plow truck to do a good job, and would just exacerbate the problem of a snow pile at the end of the lane...because that is the only place he has to push it off to.

Again, a service provider with a smaller AG tractor (not a lawn tractor !) and a blower would make keeping that driveway clear EASY.

I am sure there are guys in the area with such equipment, and that you've seen them running around. Start calling around now and asking them what equipment they have, then have the guys with the right equipment come out and give you quotes based on your service expectations.

I have no clue what service providers charge in your area...but in my neck of the woods...that size driveway would be about $300 for the winter. The guy comes early in the morning so you can get out, and/or right after the plow has passed during the day so you can get in. typically, if there's not enough snow for the plow (less than 1 inch or so), the guy doesn't come, so you scrape the driveway off by hand.

With a tractor mounted snow blower, there is no pile to worry about, and he can throw the snow wherever there is room.

Imagine something like this clearing your driveway:

I plow snow in the winter. There is trucks that can and do smaller drives than that. A CJ jeep with a six foot plow is all that is needed. She is in Minnesota, I am sure that somebody has equipment that could do her snow.

Ray16 kind of gave her the same advise as I did earlier. I am not doubting that many 61 YO can operate a snow blower. She already stated that a single stage was not good enough, and that it takes 15 minutes to mow her yard. I can not believe some people are suggesting equipment that cost several thousand dollars to her, to plow her drive way.

Now is the time she needs to find a plow guy. Find a professional that does it and not somebody that does it for beer money. Find somebody that already has jobs in your area.

To think that a truck plow could not do that drive way is just plain bad advice. I have a lady that I plow for that has a four foot retaining wall on one side the length of her driveway. Her house sets on the other side about two thirds of the length of her driveway. With a garage at the back corner. I have a v-plow that will not fit between the two in a straight position. I have done it ten years and have never had a problem. It just all goes to the street and down the side of the curb.

In Minnesota, she should be able to pick from several that could do it.

 

[r22yu]

If you're willing to spend even $10,000, would you consider covering part of your driveway with a roof and creating a carport in front of your garage? It will have to be designed for snow loads, but that would reduce the amount of snow you would need to clear and leave you able to get out of your garage and give you some clear space to work with

 

[jakemac]

In Minnesota she'd have to pay someone to shovel the roof off if she built a carport. That would just be transferring the problem 12' up.

She might be able to get referrals for a competent plow guy at the local church, or Counsel of Aging if there is one in her area or County.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Up where we live we get that wet heavy snow (OK, usually - last year everyone else got our snowpack!) that stacks up and is a PITA to deal with. About 3-4 feet at a serving. We used to have our neighbor come by in his 4x4 quad with a blade, and at best it was a 50% job - like I said, this stuff is wet, solid, and heavy. We finally broke down and bought a 28" Ariens track-drive walk behind, and it absolutely changed the way we deal with snow. It may not be the fastest machine (the track drives, I understand, are slower than wheels) and it wasn't cheap, but it has never bogged, never given us a lick of trouble, and is a lot more maneuverable than a tractor based unit.

 

[APEowner]

I grew up in upstate NY and I've used everything from a model A doodlebug to a Michigan bucket loader and everything in between to move snow. If you really can't find someone to do the snow removal for you then a brand name electric start two-stage snowblow with some kind of power steering and a cab is probably the best way to go but even high end high horsepower snow blowers will struggle with moving the pile that the town leaves in the way with their plow.

Personally I'd start looking now for a professional snow removal contractor with insurance and let them figure out what the best equipment is for the job. When I did jobs like that I used full size truck with a plow combined with young guy with a shovel. See who your neighbors use for lawn care/yard maintenance during the summer. There's a good chance that those companies do snow removal in the winter months. Let prospective companies know what your schedule is and the problems that you've had in the past.

 

[vagabondmidget]

Mrs. green.willow - I'm not sure if you are still monitoring this thread or not. I did want to suggest something that may not have been mentioned. One great thing about MN is most communities have programs specifically in place for assisting seniors. This is just an example http://www.ceap.com/senior.html (this is for Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Champlin, Osseo, or the Camden area of Minneapolis)

Contacting one of them should be able to put you in touch with finding someone reliable and importantly that wants to assist. They provide a whole range of help too - mowing/snow removal/house repairs/maintenance/etc. Meaning you may not have to worry about the lawn or fixing the posts to the deck!

Most of my family and friends are in the twin cities area, wife was born and raised there and hoping to move back soon.