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***Official 2021 Weather Thread***

cycloner29 said:
How much does one account for the pain and anguish of having to shovel compared to using snow blower? That price has to be pretty high considering a lot of folks will suffer from the aches and pains that come with shoveling for days.
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This and, as someone else mentioned, having a snowblower allows you more time to help others, so there's an added benefit there over the shovel as well. Of course, you can clear your neighbors driveway with a shovel, too, but you only have so much time.
 
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throwittoblythe said:
This and, as someone else mentioned, having a snowblower allows you more time to help others, so there's an added benefit there over the shovel as well. Of course, you can clear your neighbors driveway with a shovel, too, but you only have so much time.
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I had a neighbor get mad at me when I blew out his driveway. He was making his kids do it. Never helped him again.
 
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cycloner29 said:
How much does one account for the pain and anguish of having to shovel compared to using snow blower? That price has to be pretty high considering a lot of folks will suffer from the aches and pains that come with shoveling for days.
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that and how much do you value your time? If it takes you an hour to shovel vs 20 minutes to snowblow, is that 40 minutes worth the additional cost of the snowblower? IMO, yes
 
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clone4life82 said:
that and how much do you value your time? If it takes you an hour to shovel vs 20 minutes to snowblow, is that 40 minutes worth the additional cost of the snowblower? IMO, yes
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Plus it's really not that expensive over time. I probably paid $500 15 years ago for my 2 stage Craftsman. It's probably worth at least $250 today. So besides oil changes and a little maintenance, it's cost me like $16/year to own. Hell that's cheaper than a shovel.
 
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dmclone said:
Plus it's really not that expensive over time. I probably paid $500 15 years ago for my 2 stage Craftsman. It's probably worth at least $250 today. So besides oil changes and a little maintenance, it's cost me like $16/year to own. Hell that's cheaper than a shovel.
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Same here. I paid around 600 for my Craftsman 12 years ago and while I’ve debated getting rid of it because I hate storing it, it’s awfully nice to have. I’ve done 0 maintenance to it in that time span (I’ll get to it one of these years). Some years you’ll use it a couple times and ask yourself why you have it and then the next year you’ll tell yourself “oh, that’s why”.

My neighbors are older and I do theirs as well when we get a snowfall bigger than their little single stage can easily handle.
 
Trice said:
Snowblowers aren't going to pass many ROI tests but shoveling kills people and you won't be 25 years old forever. I shoveled my way out of a big blizzard once and vowed never to do it again.
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+1

The first year my wife and I lived in our new house, I scoffed at the idea of a snowblower mainly because of age and Iowa’s comparably small snow storms compared to what you’d see up in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

That same winter, I eventually gave up on trying to shovel the entire snow/ice dam that the snowplows would leave behind at the foot of our driveway and carved out enough of a gap for our cars to get out.

I feel silly using my two-stager for 3-4 inches of powder but once I get to the foot of my driveway I’m always reminded of why I got it to begin with.
 
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dmclone said:
Plus it's really not that expensive over time. I probably paid $500 15 years ago for my 2 stage Craftsman. It's probably worth at least $250 today. So besides oil changes and a little maintenance, it's cost me like $16/year to own. Hell that's cheaper than a shovel.
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I even had to buy a new shovel this year. But on the bright said... two snowblowers that cost me nothing, yeah the snowblowing thing wins in my books without even having to figure it out.
 
BCClone said:
I had a neighbor get mad at me when I blew out his driveway. He was making his kids do it. Never helped him again.
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I bought a snowblower last year and got to use it twice. After the first storm this year, I was very excited to get home and use it. Got home and the neighbor already did everything. I was appreciative, but about as disappointed as I have ever been in awhile...
 
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Three4Cy said:
I have two neighbors who have the plug-in electric snowblowers and I had to laugh watching them clean their driveways last night and this morning, it was painful watching them try to clean out where the snowplow driver had plowed in their driveways.
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Good lord, I didn't know that was even a thing. Just use a leaf blower then.

My son is a EE and has been noodling if he can create a laser strong enough to melt snow off his driveway. I think he's absolutely lost his mind.
 
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Trice said:
Part of this answer depends on your personal situation. How big is your driveway? Where does snow tend to cause big drifts at your house?

Snowblowers aren't going to pass many ROI tests but shoveling kills people and you won't be 25 years old forever. I shoveled my way out of a big blizzard once and vowed never to do it again.
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Size matters!

If you can shovel your whole driveway in 10 minutes, then a snowblower probably doesn't make sense. If you have 2,000 sqft of driveway, then $13 is cheaper than your funeral.
 
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I have cordless electric EGO snowblower I bought. My wife had the cordless EGO electric lawnmower when I met her. I was so impressed with the mower I got the snowblower. Pretty cheap since I could just use the battery that came with the mower. I'm pretty happy with it. Of course it doesn't handle a snow like yesterday's as well as a big 2 stage would, but it wasn't worthless. I did most of my driveway with it yesterday. Hell of a lot better than shoveling at a quarter the price of a 2 stage. I'm happy with it.
 
NorthCyd said:
I have cordless electric EGO snowblower I bought. My wife had the cordless EGO electric lawnmower when I met her. I was so impressed with the mower I got the snowblower. Pretty cheap since I could just use the battery that came with the mower. I'm pretty happy with it. Of course it doesn't handle a snow like yesterday's as well as a big 2 stage would, but it wasn't worthless. I did most of my driveway with it yesterday. Hell of a lot better than shoveling at a quarter the price of a 2 stage. I'm happy with it.
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Cordless
Pretty Cheap
Wasn't worthless

.....but didn't do all your driveway.

Am I missing something here? Your reasoning seems a little off. I thought the purpose of having a snowblower was to clean your driveway and sidewalks.....not just part of them? I mean when I go out and shovel or snowblower I do everything not just part of it. I suppose a battery is probably more than what the blower costs. I have no idea how long a charge will last on a mower or snowblower. Probably depends on how tall the grass is or how much snow you got and whether it is a powdery snow like this was or a wet heavy snow like we had last time. As long as you are happy, just seems odd to me. JMO.
 
cycloner29 said:
Cordless
Pretty Cheap
Wasn't worthless

.....but didn't do all your driveway.

Am I missing something here? Your reasoning seems a little off. I thought the purpose of having a snowblower was to clean your driveway and sidewalks.....not just part of them? I mean when I go out and shovel or snowblower I do everything not just part of it. I suppose a battery is probably more than what the blower costs. I have no idea how long a charge will last on a mower or snowblower. Probably depends on how tall the grass is or how much snow you got and whether it is a powdery snow like this was or a wet heavy snow like we had last time. As long as you are happy, just seems odd to me. JMO.
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The very bottom of the driveway where the snowplow went by was taller than the deck. Yhere probably isn't a single stage out there that could have gotten it. I took the top off with a shovel and snowblower it after that. I would prefer using a smaller snowblower that costs much less and also needs little maintenance over a much more expensive larger snowblower thats necessary for MAYBE one snowfall a year. Hell this was a record snowfall, once in a decade or more, and my little single stage electric still did most of the job just fine. I have had 2 neighbors who had big 2 stage snowblowers. One ended up trading it in for a smaller single stage because the 2 stage was overkill for almost everything we get and it was a pain in the ass to maneuver. The other one ended up keeping his 2 stage but bought a single stage and pretty much just uses that. He is on deployment so I did use the 2 stage on the end of his driveway since I promised I would help keep his drive clear while he's gone.

I don't know whats so hard to understand about my position, but hey, you do you.
 
I have an Arians Compact 24 and am in love with it. I actually get excited about snow now. I have a long driveway though so I wouldn't survive without a snowblower, shoveling would take hours.
 
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