Didn't get ready for winter.

[Spike188]

4 days ago carpel tunnel surgery was completed on my left hand.

At least the was a bit of planning and I moved the 448 and cab into the shop.

Yes, the weather guessers predicated a foot of snow, but what do they know? They were right but it arrived about 8 hours late and I had false hopes. Have you ever felt like a one armed man at a paper hanging contest?
I can't find the tire chains, the top 3 point hitch link, but mind over mater attached the blower and made a new top link.

The the 646LBH is neglected once again. The snow blower was on the third shelf, back corner of the shop. I didn't take pictures of getting it down because they could be used against me. Between a come-along and pry bar the blower was worked onto the forklift and lowered to the floor. Several hour of prep time have gone past and I was ready to face the snow without the cab mounted on the tractors. 5 feet out the shop door and the spout plugged. Not just a little, it turned that plug into a ball of ice. 5 attempts to blow turned into, what the heck is wrong here, it worked well last year. The throttle linkage was not pulling open far enough? When did that get missed, why, and how long has it been that way? With more rpm the spout was still plugging but not as bad. A buddy suggested spraying the spout with a liberal coating of WD40. That seemed to make a huge difference. Snowplows plugged both us and our neighbors driveway. There was limited confidence in the system when venturing up the road to the neighbors. That was the first time of the day for things to go smoothly. It was short lived. The key on the blower input shaft went AWOL and so did the stash of key stock. That box of key stock had always been in the service trailer, 2nd shelf, at the end, until selling the trailer and moving into the shop. An hour was spent looking for key stock and a loan loose piece was located in a pile of unsorted stuff. At least by dark the yard was cleared and my hand is no worse for the wear.

And yes there is still hope

[JSinMO]

I know how that is. Been there! Very aggravating. I’m glad you were able to work through it, but please be careful of that hand till you get some healing time.

Had a situation down this way as well. All week the weather people were saying maybe, maybe not. Well here is the b.s. we ended up with!

Started snowing about midnight last night and hasn’t stopped yet. Maybe 8 to 10 inches on the ground. I would have been very happy not to see this till January instead of late November. Very wet snow, would have been a real pain to move with my walk behind snow blower. I figured it would continue to plug us like yours did. Thank goodness for the 446! Sure makes light work of.

It didn’t want to start. I need to go back and see where I left off with it. It has no spark while cranking. The ignition will spark right when you let off of the key.

Seems like I remember having this issue when I parked it, but with so much going on around here I can’t keep track of where I left off. I’ll add this on to the list of things to look at this winter. Once I got it started it was ready to work!

[Harry]

Sorry to hear about everyone’s snow misfortune. It reminds me of when my 446 dropped a couple if screws from the air cleaner down the carburetor. The worst was it happened on Christmas Eve in the middle of a blizzard. It left me with just the 644 lbh to dig out the 446 and clean the driveway before family arrived. Hopefully this year will be better with the 446, 644 lbh and the 646 with the big bucket on. Looks it won’t be long with snow on the way to find out how well my equipment holds up. Harry

[DavidBarkey]

sorry guys no pictures of my winter adventures today . I had a list of ten minute job that thanks to the snow load like yours each became hours not minutes . temps not warm enough to melt the snow , and not cold enough to harden up the snow to make traction .Just slop . ugg The starter on Frankie frozen , propane torch to free up . The only positive to the day was the modifications to the caster to bring up the auger rpm seem to be working . the only problem is with the increased rpm , the heavier snow has to be rammed in to get it to throw . the lighter snow goes a good 25 foots

[MattA]

So far it looks like were just past the rain/snow line for tomorrow and getting rain. This is good since my snowblower isn't on the tractor.

@Spike188 The only time my Berco has plugged up with snow I had the engine around 2000RPM's blowing deep powder. Never had a problem at 3600RPM's. Your Berco should throw a good 30 feet or more when the input RPM's are high enough.

[Spike188]

@MattA My Berco was a front mount belt driven unit that had been modified to fit Case. It is now a 3 point hitch mount and powered by a hydraulic motor off of a Case Rototiller. My hunch is that the sprockets used are tuning the fan a little to slow. There is room to add a larger sprocket to the input shaft of the blower. For the application here, working with the prevailing wind, and putting the snow over the steep bank along the drive, 10 to 12 foot of throw is adequate. Maybe after the is finished, the blower can become a project again. I do need to check the actual rpm on the 448 and make sure it is at 3600 rpm.

[ssmewing]

My caster is still out in the woods, and my loader is still torn all apart since last winter. I have had some challenges this last year. Compounded challenges would be a more proper name for it. I am not sure if the 4020 would make it out to where the caster is. I have never tried something like that.

I have just been flattening the snow so that I do not blow the stone out of my driveway like I did last year.