Snowing!

[ranchsooner]

Hey, Kneebiter, I was typing while you were posting. Hundreds of snowblowers come through my shop every year, and noone here would own a track model.

dwainw

Is your shop here in the Twin Cities?

[dwainw]

No, my shop is in Winchester, VA. We sell the full line of Toro products, but repair all brands. Accuweather has moved our local forecast up to 24+". Needless to say, snowblower sales and repairs have been brisk this week. There is not a snowblower or shovel to be found in the area (our next shipment doesn't hit until next week). Word has it that there is no bread or milk in town either. The local paper did a story on the panic buying that has hit the grocery stores this week, and from the shopper interviews, the big difference this time is that this is Superbowl weekend! For those of us that aren't slowed too much by 2'+ of snow just have to laugh.

I have to admit that I haven't seen the impeller modification work in person. The idea is sound, as long as you mount the paddles evenly around your old impeller and all of the hardware stays tight. You probably won't find any repair shops installing them for liability reasons, but that isn't to say that they won't work or aren't safe. I would think that models that start with poor impeller performance will see the most benefit.

[drcollie]

Dwain,

Are the Toros as good as the Hondas? I'll see if my cheezy Troy-Bilt can take the torque this weekend and if not, you can tell me which model Toro to come buy from you. I just took my 11 HP Honda Generator outside and hooked up into my electrical panel in case we lose the power (likely). Don't have to drag it through the snow if its pre-positioned.

I fixed my Dad's old 2-stroke Snapper blower last night, just had to clean out the carb from his old gas and stick a new plug in it. It's a cute little thing but noisy and a real smoker....LOL.

30" predicted for where I live. We'll see....

[cuse69]

Dwainw... I might also be in the market. You know the typical snowfall here in Leesburg, Va. does not warrant a major machine, but this year brings me back to my roots in Syracuse, NY. Typical snowfall back there is 120-140 in. per year, with snow falling on about 1/3 of the days. I had a chance to buy a Toro 2 stroke single stage at Home Depot yesterday, but was concerned about being able to handle heavy snow with the small machine. I'm use to the bad boys we had when I lived in central NY. Never had a Toro, usually Ariens or Jacobson in the 8-11 hp range. What size/type of blower would you recommend? Will they still be available this winter or will I need to wait until next year? How can I reach you?

Larry

[drcollie]

Still coming down. I took these shots at 2 p.m. Saturday after the latest pass with the Snowblower...

http://picasaweb.google.com/slowinfastout/Snowzilla#

[artielange]

My husband had a little trouble getting to the lake house last night...had to come back and get the car this morning. Fortunately in our little hick town they call ahead and let him know that the plow was coming so he could walk back out and meet them. It was a cold walk last night - almost a mile in 36" of snow!

[Riddle]

Y'all look like you're getting in shape to come live here in Minnesota! ;-)

[drcollie]

No kidding! AND we have another major store supposed to be brewing up for a hit here in Wash DC again on Late Tuesday. Unbelievable!

[Briant73]

Wow it's amazing how much snow you guys got so far. Yesterday other than being cold up here along lake erie we got pratically no snowfall. I actually used the day to take a road trip and visited a furniture dealer a bit outside of Cleveland. Both the furniture dealer and then stopping at Panini's was worth it.

As to the snowblower questions -

Imepller kit - I have never seen the impeller kit in action having always owned single stage but have read from various users they do quite well with machines that for some reason or other are not getting the job done. From the pictures Duane posted that type of snow, it looks like a good two stage snowblower should be able to throw it 25' or more feet easily.

Toro versus Honda - Ariens, Toro, Honda are very good products. I'm a Toro person myself for both snow and lawn. I have only ran single stage snowblowers in the Toro line currently running a 20" 2450gts which does a heckuva job for it's small size and throws the snow well. I only think of upgrading to a two stage to have a larger machine that hopefully would take less passes but as for performance it has thrown snow that is higher than the front of the machine without much griping. I'm amazed everytime how the old modified Lawn Boy 2 stroke engine that Toro uses performs so well. I know the Toro two stage machines have a very neat joystick design for rotating the chute, other manufacturer's seem to be catching on but the Toro still seems to have it down pat.

[Riddle]

Sounds like Minneapolis/Saint Paul, MN will get another 10 inches over the course of tonight and tomorrow. That means an extra long commute to work in the morning. Staying home isn't an option. Sigh. My book club is in the midst of deciding whether to be Minnesota-tough or to wuss-out. Several members live more than 20 miles from the centrally located dinner spot, so a new date really would be safer for them.