Chicken Thistle Farm » snow

Snow reblow

Andy — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:15:14 +0000

For the record I’m not a tractor waxer. I put it away wet and dirty all the time. It’s a tool. I respect it, treat it well, but come from farmer blood and am comfortable with it being a tractor… so… this is gonna sound cheezy as H3LL coming from my lips but I got really tired of, after snowblowing the driveway, using a broom to get the snow off the instruments and levers on the tractor only to have missed some and a few days later find ice impeding my need to use THAT lever or switch on the tractor (or the impeller on the blower)!

Sooo… the other day after the umpteenth blowing expedition (Upstate NY here we have had snow non-stop every day since Christmas it seems) as I walked in to the barn to get the broom… out of the corner of my eye – I spied my plug in leaf blower I rarely use…

Let me tell you – that’s just the ticket for getting that fine blown snow off the instrument cluster and the levers and out of the chute and impeller on the blower… no more ice issues!

Just a nutbag with a powertool in the middle of winter… friggin me, covered in snow, sub 0 wind chill, leaf blowing away… ugh!

Snow blow / throw – whatever!

Andy — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:10:11 +0000

Not much of a doubt that the new new snow blower on the new tractor is MUCH better suited for clearing the driveway out here. I could talk a lot in this post – but the fact is – it just works.

With all the snow we have been receiving as of late and the winds we get out here we have had a few times where the drifts in certain areas (even with all the snow fence) have reached between 4 and 5 feet deep.

Used to be drifts that size stopped the little Kubota and took a long time to nibble away at in the whipping wind… now, it’s more like start the tractor, engage the PTO to make the blower go, drive… watch great white waves of snow go away.

Basically – if it’s white, powdery and in the driveway – it looses. Ok – quick post this morning… now, off to clear the driveway from last nights snow!

Snow Blower

Andy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:45:16 +0000

Sorry – no photos… but I can tell you the new snow blower I mentioned here works great. We got about 4″ of the stuff (barely enough to blow) BUT since we could get another 2-4 today I figured I’d head out this morning and see what the new blower tractor combo could do.

It’s a LOT faster (as you would expect). It throws the snow a long ways (again, as you would expect). And riding on the new tractor is a lot more comfortable.

If we can get a snow when it’s light out I’ll see what can be done about offering a video of the experience!

Winter blows…

Andy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:06:22 +0000

Simple little graph really, that clearly demonstrates a proof of the title… the pink line is the low pressure from this massive storm that’s wailing away on most of the country this week… the red line is the wind speed gusts… (37 is tops so far)

So – as the winter storm approaches and the pressure drops like a rock… the wind blows.

The worst of the snow and rain is here – only a few inches of the white stuff… not enough to get out on the tractor and do anything of note with the new blower.

But up next – starting later today and going through the night is a high wind warning – up to 60MPH predictions… which means, up here in the open on the hill top – we tend to add about 10-15 to those numbers… so we could be looking at hurricane winds if the pattern holds true.

Well – hold onto your hats… because it really is true – winter blows!

Snow can now blow Part 2

Andy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:08:52 +0000

Yup… that will work.

Direct from Canada, one of the few places on the planet that knows snow better than Upstate NY, an M K Martin Meteor snow blower.

A whopping 75 inches of snow clearing fury… when attached and cranked up it sounds like a small jet engine… chute rotates – top angles… it’s all good. (maybe next year I’ll spring for a rear remote and make the chute rotation fully automatic – no crank)

What used to be a bit of a choreographed dance up and down, up and down, up and down the driveway can now sorta melt down into 2 passes and a trip around to loop (sorta).

I have a feeling that when there is more than 6″ of snow I won’t have to go “extra slow”. I’m guessing getting stuck in drifts is not overly likely. I imagine that I’ll be hard pressed to clog it up with too much snow.

Yeah – this will definitely make the upkeep of the driveway a far less time consuming task this winter… ohh yeah.

Snow can now blow Part 1

Andy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:25:49 +0000

Last weekend we performed the annual chore (’07 and ’08) of getting the snow fence up. That’s a run of snow fence, let me tell you. And it’s not like we can just skip it this year (or any year). The good news is – a lot of growth in trees and shrubs this year will provide the area to the left of this picture with what we are counting on being a natural snow barrier… if not – we are gonna have one drifty driveway.

What that growth gave us was the opportunity to move the existing fence farther up towards the house this year – across an area where the wind in the middle of winter had left us a drifting problem before. So – stay tuned and see if it works out for us this year.

One cool thing about putting in the fence this year that made it faster and easier was the use of Big Blue. If you have been lurking around the site, you may have already seen the YouTube video on our channel showing the post installation… if not, you should check it out – it’s really the only way to drive posts!

(Why didn’t we do that with the smaller Kubota you may ask – she simply didn’t weigh enough to push the posts in)

With all those posts in and the fence up – now we need to talk about how we get the snow out of the driveway this year… because THIS will no longer cut it!

The Christmas Tree Monster

Chicken Thistle Farm — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:16:00 +0000

Yup – we are the real – fresh Christmas tree types… every year we head off into the planted rows of trees to find that perfect reflection of the holiday and bring it into our home to be adorned with decorations spanning our lives. It’s usually a momentous occasion… this year was really no different except for the weather.
See – we picked the weekend in December where the winds were gusting and the temperature was dropping… fast… both.
As in – the wind chill was 4F…
SO – one of us here – had a face mask on to keep warm… kinda a “Nightmare Before Christmas” sort of thing if you ask me.
At any rate – we have the tree – the frost bite has thawed out – and we are busy planning the menu and decorations for another full house this Christmas at Chicken Thistle Farm!

Snow – ick!

Chicken Thistle Farm — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:20:00 +0000

It’s here – has been for a couple of days now… that white, less than liquid, form of precipitation that requires fences to keep it at bay and plans for removal because it piles up. Not that we have had a LOT mind you – but enough to cover the vetch and winter rye that’s covering the garden plots now. We have had some very persistent lake effect snow bands to the west and to the east – but we have been lucky so far. And that’s enough for me…
Last night as the flakes continued to fly and we were working on maybe our 3rd inch of accumulation I decided that the time to procrastinate was past and I should REALLY get out to the barn, store the backhoe for the winter and get the snow thrower installed, tested, and ready for service. So that’s what I did – I donned my brown insulated coveralls and spent several hours out in the cold night moving seasonal implements to the back of the line as I pulled the snow thrower out.
Due to the new easy disconnect lift arms I bought this summer I needed to reverse the lift pins on the snow thrower, then the PTO shaft didn’t want to extend correctly, then – of course – the top link gave me fits. It’s not really me or the tractor at fault here – the 3pt configuration on the snow thrower was fabricated by the prior owner and is a bit of a challenge. And then – of course – the U joint I welded together last year had rusted through and needed to be re-welded. Regardless of the hurdles in the path to completion – the snow thrower is on and ready for another blustery winter of service…
One thing life clearly teaches is that the simple jobs never are – and take any time estimate and at a minimum… double it.

Another snow storm?!

Chicken Thistle Farm — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Got up this morning – had a cup of coffee – showered – and spent 45 minutes out on the tractor snow blowing the driveway!
Yup another snow storm this weekend… More coating ice… More nasty north winds that froze the wind speed on the weather station… The dog smells spring and is getting restless…

Icy March Lion

Chicken Thistle Farm — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:44:00 +0000

They say it will be a good year when March is “in like a lion and out like a lamb”… I have no clue who “they” are – and frankly – I’m not sold on this.
The 3rd and 4th brought a near miss of a big ice storm out here – we didn’t lose power at all – but you can rest assured I was in the barn the night before the ice started coating everything testing the generators and getting out the Coleman lanterns – just in case!