Cub Cadet Collectors dot com

Last plowing of the year, maybe.

https://youtu.be/YfuSJ4yvS68

you can embed youtube.... by simply using the youtube button and inserting the video code "YfuSJ4yvS68"

Dave thanks!

Nice!
Call Mr.Plow! That's his name! That name again is Mr. Plow!
I love snow removal!
Here's some from me. Have blizzard. Will travel. Slowly.

SWilliams wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 02, 2022 2:41 am

Ken, that view looks familiar, back when we had our Corgi I would blow off a large section of the lawn so he didn't have to drag his ***** in the snow. Used to find leaves, grass, and the occasional hunk of dirt in there. Found a rock in the neighbors driveway one time. It came out like a cannonball and took the chute with it. Wasn't happy.

I did the same thing in NY. I would occasionally spread manure one tootsie roll at a time!

A few years ago, I got a Cub Cadet 3x from Home Depot. As I have come to learn, the Home Depot portion of the program is part of the problem. The Home Depot versions of stuff are apparently incredibly cheaply made. So, the first few years of the snowblower it worked pretty darn well. Handled most snow without too much drama.

The last year, though, has been rough. Last March I blew the Auger belt with one of those ever-popular winter mixes. Since then, the only snow I haven’t had the repair guy out to change the belt is the one 6" powder snow. From reading reviews, this seems to be because the 3rd stage hurts more than it helps, plus the chute is small so it’s easy to clog up. I could repair the auger belt, but it’s a challenge. I do have 2 that I keep in reserve if I suddenly need one, though.

Last night we got one of those 12-14" of heavy wet snow. Fortunately, I was able to pay a neighbor’s plow guy to plow me out. When I went out later to do some clean-up, the auger is making an incredibly loud clanging noise. Hopefully, the plow guy kicked something loose in the driveway that I then sucked up, since my driveway is in rough shape.

So, I have yet another repair scheduled. I am leaning towards Craiglist this puppy and getting a different model. Does anyone have any recommendations for snowblowers among these, that are good for New England winters?

fredeharle59 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 01, 2022 11:42 pm

A few years ago, I got a Cub Cadet 3x from Home Depot. As I have come to learn, the Home Depot portion of the program is part of the problem. The Home Depot versions of stuff are apparently incredibly cheaply made. So, the first few years of the snowblower it worked pretty darn well. Handled most snow without too much drama.

The last year, though, has been rough. Last March I blew the Auger belt with one of those ever-popular winter mixes. Since then, the only snow I haven’t had the repair guy out to change the belt is the one 6" powder snow. From reading reviews, this seems to be because the 3rd stage hurts more than it helps, plus the chute is small so it’s easy to clog up. I could repair the auger belt, but it’s a challenge. I do have 2 that I keep in reserve if I suddenly need one, though.

Last night we got one of those 12-14" of heavy wet snow. Fortunately, I was able to pay a neighbor’s plow guy to plow me out. When I went out later to do some clean-up, the auger is making an incredibly loud clanging noise. Hopefully, the plow guy kicked something loose in the driveway that I then sucked up, since my driveway is in rough shape.

So, I have yet another repair scheduled. I am leaning towards Craiglist this puppy and getting a different model. Does anyone have any recommendations for snowblowers among these, that are good for New England winters?

I don't know anything about the cordless models, but my wife uses her cub cadet 2 stage, 28" walk behind that we've had for about 4 trouble free years. They really haven't changed that model in quite some time, and seems to be well built. I have the 3 stage 42" attached to my xt2 cub cadet garden tractor, and have used it for 3 seasons now, and still running the factory sheer pins and belts.

fredeharle59 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 01, 2022 11:42 pm

A few years ago, I got a Cub Cadet 3x from Home Depot. As I have come to learn, the Home Depot portion of the program is part of the problem. The Home Depot versions of stuff are apparently incredibly cheaply made. So, the first few years of the snowblower it worked pretty darn well. Handled most snow without too much drama.

The last year, though, has been rough. Last March I blew the Auger belt with one of those ever-popular winter mixes. Since then, the only snow I haven’t had the repair guy out to change the belt is the one 6" powder snow. From reading reviews, this seems to be because the 3rd stage hurts more than it helps, plus the chute is small so it’s easy to clog up. I could repair the auger belt, but it’s a challenge. I do have 2 that I keep in reserve if I suddenly need one, though.

Last night we got one of those 12-14" of heavy wet snow. Fortunately, I was able to pay a neighbor’s plow guy to plow me out. When I went out later to do some clean-up, the auger is making an incredibly loud clanging noise. Hopefully, the plow guy kicked something loose in the driveway that I then sucked up, since my driveway is in rough shape.

So, I have yet another repair scheduled. I am leaning towards Craiglist this puppy and getting a different model. Does anyone have any recommendations for snowblowers among these, that are good for New England winters?

You will clog less if you spray the chute, auger, impeller ,and all snow contact surfaces with silicone lubricant. And go slower in the heavy wet stuff!
Our winters in Upstate NY were 125" of snow or more...

All set, looks like first plowable next week 12/14.
.

Try tonight ! 3-5 here, coming down at a good clip right now.
Good news is the plow is on the truck and a trusty 123 plus the wood is dry and burning good!
Bad news is the heater core went on the truck and I’ve yet to replace it.
Look term forecast looks like I will be taking Friday off to play in the snow.

Snow

Our first real snowfall of the year. Less than 2 inches.There have been a couple of others but those did not stick around on the ground for long, this one will. I made my mind up several months ago that I'm all done commuting in the middle of the night in the Winter. Too many close calls and my luck was running out. I retired on the first. I handed my Kennedy roll around and riser chock full of machinist stuff off to my Son but I'm keeping the Gerstner for now. And that's that

Congratulations! In May I will be retired 10 years. I look back at some of the snow storms in which I ventured to work at 5 am or 5 pm depending on which shift I was, and realized how nuts I was. Also, the legs were not as agile to be climbing around on greasy, oily equipment. Enjoy! Keep busy doing something enjoybable!

Ken - Congratulations! Just make sure you have "a reason to be" everyday. So many retire and end up falling apart because they don't have purpose anymore. Somehow I don't think you'll have that problem1

First snow photo. Took the 1811/450 out for a 20 foot test and worked well in 2 inches of snow. Looks like some good fun this coming Thursday and Friday.
.

Here we go now. I learned a long time ago to get those machines away from the house, when all the snow lets go on a steel roof your gonna be digging for a long time. Really thick heavy stuff. I'll use the thrower later

Next Thursday 12/22 looking at a possible big one with 8 - 12".
.

Our first real snow storm was dense and heavy with moisture.
We lost electric for about 18 hours.
The QA 42 as having issues throwing this stuff and it jammed up several times. This was a difficult snow to push as well.

I tried something with my QA42 on my 147. I block off the grill so none of the hot air from the motor comes out and blows on the discharge chute. It seems to help as I don't have near as many clogs with wet snow.

chzuck wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 17, 2022 10:15 pm

I tried something with my QA42 on my 147. I block off the grill so none of the hot air from the motor comes out and blows on the discharge chute. It seems to help as I don't have near as many clogs with wet snow.

I always sprayed my chute with silicone spray in wet heavy snow conditions. It helped a lot.

PAM works well for lubing the chute.
.

This is definitely some real high moisture content stuff coming down. When it finally does quit I'm not even bothering with the QA42, it's too pasty.
The trees are very much into the power lines and one branch snapping will shut the service down, Temp holding at 30 degrees but if the wind starts blowing power will be lost for sure.

Ken
Hope things warm up before the wind!

Nothing but rain and 35 ish here.

Ken, I hope you got the melting before the wind!

Mild winter, so we have even less posts on the forum than usual. Ken's driveway battles are like our protracted "Super Bowl" here on the forum, but we haven't even had much of that yet! I suspect Ken is ok with that...

I hope all are well.

Tom, that snow never fell out of the trees, it looks exactly the same as two days ago, maybe it's even icier. No power interruptions so far but honestly I can't recall anything like this before. The temp got up to 32 yesterday and then dropped without any wind whatsoever so that snow is stuck on good. That was enough temp to have all the snow slide off my roof so that's a huge plus, that stuff was dense. The electric company has been making constant improvements for decades. When I moved here 25 years ago several of the service poles were still of the old railroad cross bar style telegraph construction with every phone line running it's own wire.The snow cover is a pretty sight to look at but the trees are sagging and weighed down. Predictions are for another seven to nine of heavy and wet to start later this evening.
Tomorrow I'm going grab my boots and walking poles and are going to take a trek about 1/2 mile due North up to the Gulag and snap some pics. It's surreal to look at just as it is now. If I don't post some shots later Monday it means I'm off the grid.
I did a sorta crappy job cleaning the drive since It's only gonna be more push for me to do on Tuesday. We can get up and down fine as it is.There's no need for me to hustle off for work anymore so I'm fine with hunkering down and letting that mess pass. I have two batteries inside the in kitchen fully charged so their nice and warm ready to go. My machines sit outside with covers on and I learned years ago it's best to take the four minutes and pull them out if your not in the mood to be with farting around with anything less than a battery that's 100%.

What we have here is a real New England snow storm. I have plenty of shots with the driveway but very few of the road. Time to put the Johnson wool coat and mittens on, grab the walking poles and go. North I shall head.
This one is another thick snow and there were branches coming down all around me. The trees are creaking and keep looking up and ears open is the word of caution for the day. Actually this is a bit dangerous and I was not planning on staying out there for more than an hour or so. Looking due North a couple hundred yards past my property line. Off to the left is a farmland preservation tract. I did not go as far as I had expected, I'd had seen enough and reversed direction. Closer to home and the trees and power lines are really pulling down from all that weight. So nice of the road crew to come along one minute after I make it up into my drive While this one a pretty heavy snow I think that it should throw well and I'll give that a try later once the accumulation starts to fall off.

And the power just went out, I'm on the batteries. That's all for now-

Ken - Pretty scenery, but I hope your power's back up. Let us know how you did, we all live winter vicariously through you!

That was a good one. Ten more heading our way Wednesday. Power was out about 23 hours, that pole snapped in half from the strain.
I took this shot right after the power went out. Look at the trees. The deck looks clean but it had been shoveled off 3 times by then.

Have the QA42 dug out now, that was a bit of a chore. Running out of room. Make room. Ready for Wednesday. Yep, it's snowin