Plowing Along
I like snowplowing. I don't know if it's a guy thing - the equipment part, or the almost meditative quality of the task. It's more productive than meditating via T.V. My skidsteer is still undergoing some maintenance so I've been using Brother Tom's modern cat. All in all by the time I get the machine back to Tom's it's a four hour job. I probably have to do it at least ten or twelve times a winter.
Tom's machine has more power than my old girl and I can actually plow our driveway, a kilometer of it, while going uphill. Plowing the place makes it easier to get around. Getting the paths clear to the various outbuildings makes getting to the animals and plants a whole lot easier. And of course without plowing it is pretty hard to get to town. I can sometimes get out without plowing when the snow is over two feet high, but unable to get back up. I don't have chains for the truck I am using now, and while studded winter tires will get me pretty far, without the off road chains I have for the Toyota, I wouldn't make it up the driveway.
We've thought about the alternatives. Not plowing. Just let the snow build up. Leave a vehicle down by the road in an as yet unbuilt garage, and use that to get to town and back. But snow shoeing up hill for a kilometer with grocery laden packs seems like a lot of work. Another idea was to use a skidoo and trailer. But we'd have to buy one and maintain it. It's all possible. Just sometimes hard to wrap my head around. It would be great exercise. It would save about 200 bucks in fuel costs. The real problem happens when the snow melts. The mud would be awful and the run off from the melt water would probably destroy the road. In the spring when the sun is bright we've seen it wash out the bend in the road in a couple of hours.
The thing with plowing is I have to do it regularly. My skidsteer just wouldn't be able to push four foot drifts out of the way.
Still maybe I could do a few practice weeks. Without plowing. Just to see. Ah the thought of it just exhausts me.
Hope your having a relaxing time...
Tom's machine has more power than my old girl and I can actually plow our driveway, a kilometer of it, while going uphill. Plowing the place makes it easier to get around. Getting the paths clear to the various outbuildings makes getting to the animals and plants a whole lot easier. And of course without plowing it is pretty hard to get to town. I can sometimes get out without plowing when the snow is over two feet high, but unable to get back up. I don't have chains for the truck I am using now, and while studded winter tires will get me pretty far, without the off road chains I have for the Toyota, I wouldn't make it up the driveway.
We've thought about the alternatives. Not plowing. Just let the snow build up. Leave a vehicle down by the road in an as yet unbuilt garage, and use that to get to town and back. But snow shoeing up hill for a kilometer with grocery laden packs seems like a lot of work. Another idea was to use a skidoo and trailer. But we'd have to buy one and maintain it. It's all possible. Just sometimes hard to wrap my head around. It would be great exercise. It would save about 200 bucks in fuel costs. The real problem happens when the snow melts. The mud would be awful and the run off from the melt water would probably destroy the road. In the spring when the sun is bright we've seen it wash out the bend in the road in a couple of hours.
The thing with plowing is I have to do it regularly. My skidsteer just wouldn't be able to push four foot drifts out of the way.
Still maybe I could do a few practice weeks. Without plowing. Just to see. Ah the thought of it just exhausts me.
Comments
HE almost didn't "make it" that night.