The joys of a snow blower

I have shared my views on our snow blower before. Not a fan. It is big, clunky, and limited as far as type of snow it can throw well. I love my tractor and it does the job. The problem is that it creates large banks as shown here.

The sandwich boards stand about 5 feet high so you can see they are covered. This becomes an issue when you have additional snow fall.(Of course I do push back the snow but still) So I thought maybe I should consider the snow blower. Last week we got snow so I headed out and proceeded down the driveway with the machine in question. All the way to the mailbox and I thought, this isn't so bad I guess. Nice even lines, snowed tossed gently, okay. Then, as Karma would have it, the machine just stopped working. The auger portion quit. After spouting a few choice words I headed back to the barn. And got out the tractor to finish the job. We had the blower fixed, something about a fan belt. Fine. Lynn used it in yet another light snowfall. On Monday we got a bunch of snow and the temperature was cold. 5 degrees with a windchill of -20. The wind created drifts that were three feet deep in spots and yet a decent portion of the driveway had just a light covering. I thought, this is a job for the snow blower. Out to the barn I go. I plug it in, prime it, choke, etc and it wont turn over. How can this be? It must be the temp. Frigid. Whatevs. I get on the tractor to create a path for Lynn for her return from work that evening. I figured I would get the rest the next day when it warmed up.
Next day I cleared it all with the tractor. Beautiful, but with large banks.

Tuesday night into yesterday we got more snow. Not bad to warrant removal before Lynn headed to work so cool. Later in the a.m. I headed out to the barn again to start what was fast becoming my nemesis. No turn over again. DAMMIT!!! Actually my choice of words may have been a bit stronger than that but you get the point. After trying to start it a few times, I gave up. I swore, I kicked it and marched into the house. On to the internet I went to research possible causes. i watched a few videos on carburetor cleaning, fuel-line clogs, etc. Screw that. I did some research, called our local retailer, and bought a new one over the phone for delivery. Here is what I purchased Simplicity Snow blower. Not only would they deliver it but would also take away the old one. Easy peasy. Problem solved.
It was going on 3:00 and still no call for delivery. I thought I would head out to the sheep early to take care of them in case delivery was around the normal feeding time. Good idea. I hike out there, give hay, come out to fill water and what do I see? The delivery guy rolling the new machine up to the barn and walks away. Keep in mind the sheep barn is like 550 feet from him and lots of snow in between. I close up the sheep area shouting a number of expletives. !#$% this place, !#$% the sheep, !#$% snow, you get the gist. I am completely enraged as I walk. No lesson, no taking away the old machine. !#$%,!#$%,!#$%!!!!!! I round the corner of the house and he was just connecting his ramp. Thank god. I got the lesson and he took the old one away.

It has some really cool features on it that I won't go into but I admit, it works really well and is easy to use. Here is Lynn enjoying her new machine this morning.