My son and I spent the morning putting the plows and chains on the 4-wheelers, which is what I planned on doing this weekend anyway.
And the new motherboard showed up today. Woohoo. Guess what I'll be doing.
Wrong.
I'm going out to the shop to turn a bowl for my wife. She's giving away some of my work as a prize for a charity deal at her work. Got to have it done by Tuesday, so I'm off to the shop. Have fun with your day, I know I will.
I always wondered about snow plows on 4 wheelers. I see the guys in my little subdivision (don't get me started about how much I hate my subdivision) get out their 4 wheelers in the winter to "plow."
ReplyDeleteI usually watch them start, then have some coffee. Then I make some toast, and start to get dressed. I get bundled up and go outside to start my walk-behind snow blower. Then, I snow blow the drive.
Afterwards, I put the snow blower away, go inside and undress, jump in the shower (I sweat like crazy, it's rather gross), and then go back to the coffee pot. I sip a cup of coffee and watch the neighbor continue to "plow" his driveway with the tiny little blade on his 4 wheeler.
I think the plow is just the way my neighbor convinced his wife that the 4 wheeler was a good investment. I got my snow blower for free.
Shawn, I couldn't live without the 4-wheeler plows - but it definitely depends on the 4-wheeler (not all are actually 4x4 drive, both of mine are) and the type of plow, those little shitty cheap ones don't do squat. You really need chains. Also, it helps if you know what you're doing.
ReplyDeleteMy driveway is roughly a 100+ yards long, two lanes in front of the attached garage and about the size of a basketball court in front of the shop (which is where I'm sitting in the picture). That's a lot of snow to move. I don't want to put a plow on my truck for a number of reasons. Also my drive is gravel, which tends to destroy a snow thrower impeller pretty quick.
The 4-wheelers do a great job, even in 3 feet of snow. The smaller Arctic Cat 400 (on the right in the picture) is very maneuverable, and the much bigger Polaris 700 with the bigger plow can push nearly as much as a truck. Even on a heavy snow fall day, it only takes me maybe a half hour to plow out the driveway, and the big machine has a cup holder for my coffee. I also have a very large snow thrower with caterpillar tracks on it, when the berms get too deep from plowing I run it down the driveway and throw the snow fifty feet back into the yard (it's also great for throwing frozen moose shit like a machine gun :O ) I have a smaller electric snow blower for the walks, front porch, and the rear deck.
I also plow the neighbor's drive and the community mailbox area which is a 1/2 mile down the road.
Moving snow is something Alaskans take seriously. During heavy snowfall I might have to plow 2 or 3 times a day.
Like most Alaskans, I use my 4-wheelers more for work than for recreation. I skid logs, move crap in the yard, plow snow, and get to fishing holes people on foot can't. But we also have fun with them too, we've taken both these machines 30 miles up to the Eklutna Glacier. I couldn't live without them (well, I could, but it would suck). They've paid for themselves ten times over.
Yeah, my neighbor has a little tiny blade and a 2X4 machine. No chains.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly (probably only to me), Alaska is actually one of the places I've considered retiring to. Your "horror" stories of the early snow only increase that desire.
(Flying moose crap... Well, as long as I'm the tosser and not the target)
Interestingly enough, we're supposed to have snow tomorrow here in CO. I doubt very much that it will stick around as long as it does in Alaska, but that's ok by me. Last winter, when we had a blizzard every weekend for a month, Coloradoans were driven crazy. The snow stuck around so long it was getting dirty! The horror!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine who has a mountain cabin has an ATV and a plow. Works well for him. I've driven it (not in the snow) and yes, it does have 4x4 capabilities. Where I grew up, we had a lane that was 1/3 mile long. We had a Kudoba tractor with a blade and had to go out multiple times a storm to clear it gradually.
Anne's right about last winter here in Colorado - the snow in my front yard didn't melt for 7 weeks. That's unheard of here, where it's usually, snow and melt, snow and melt. The grass was all moldy under the drifts by the time spring came.
ReplyDeleteI will not consider moving to Alaska, because I hate the snow and the cold. Last winter sucked.
Okay, I'll stop bitching now.
I, too, have a snow removal mechanism. He's 16, and it's one of the ways in which he earns his keep. (Hey, don't laugh - have you ever had to feed a teen-age boy?)