Snowblowing in Northern Ontario

We set a record here yesterday for single day snowfall in March - 27cm and possibly more in outlying areas (I live in an outlying area). And since my driveway is long and exposed to a wide open area, it drifts over in no time. And since I had been using my blade, I already had snowbanks, so I was met with snowdrifts in
my driveway that were close to 1 metre deep in places. And it wasn't a nice, light, fluffy snow, either.

I started my Ferguson up and because it was plugged in, it stated right away, but something wasn't right. I was getting no response from the throttle. This has never happened before. Just to let you know, I usually keep it covered with a tarp (I currently have nowhere to store it indoors), but I had not covered it when I
used it last and it had been exposed to a day of
blowing snow. Anyways, it eventually responded, but there was always a delay between adjusting throttle up and the engine responding. Could this be a result of snow blowing in somewhere?

I decided I wouldn't try to adjust the spring(?), so I tilted the snowblower back so the attachments were the same height as my riased 3 point hitch and wouldn't you know it, it worked. I was hooked up in about 30
minutes and ready to go.

But, by this time it was dark and the wind had died to almost nothing - and what wind there was was blowing right up the driveway. So even if my rear light did work (it dies 2 days ago - I don't know if it's wiring or bulb), there was no wind to remove the snow fog I was creating so I was getting it right in the face. Needless to say, my first pass was a zig zag pattern
down the driveway as I bounced from snowbank to
snowbank. Then the non-live (or is it live?) PTO ghost appeared and I was contiually bogging down as I created mountains of snow behind my blower. I tried lifting the hitch - which worked to a point - and I tried going
forward and backing up into the mountain - which also worked for a while - until I broke a shear pin on the blower shaft. I didn't have a replacement, so I used a nail which lasted about 30 seconds. The 2nd nail lasted about 45 seconds. The next nail (bigger than
the 1st 2) lasted about 15 minutes until I overwhelmed the snowblower again and it failed. The pin would also break if the hitch raised the blower too high with the PTO turning (which is why I didn't want to use it without being able to turn the PTO on & off), and after
about 6 nails, I had a lane cleared down my driveway and a path cleared to the barn. My wife wasn't too happy when I told her that I had broken several nails where her horses will be walking, so we'll have to keep our eyes open for them come spring time.

By this time it was 9:30ish, I hadn't had dinner and I knew there was beer in the fridge, so I called it a night and claimed victory. (I also cut a nice extension cord that was buried under a drift near the house - I was pretty happy when that happened).

And I promise you that I did not have a beer until after I shut down my tractor and flopped into a chair, but it does indeed look like I was drunk when I cleared that path.

Any thoughts on what is the glitch with my throttle? Also, when I would overwhelm the snowblower, the tractor would begin to die and would have stalled if I let it, but I assume this is due to the weight of the snow and the strain on the PTO.

I bought proper shear bolts today and will try to
finish the job tonight.

Gary (North Bay, Canada)

I have tried that a couple of times as well. Usually I can get it out of gear and let the blower clear itself. However I won't disengage my PTO at this point in time because I have been having a lot of trouble recently re-engaging it. That's why I was hoping to make it through the rest of the winter without having to use my snowblower - but God has a sense of humour. And it's supposed to snow again for the next couple of days. and when we got home last night, even though it hadn't snowed, there were new drifts formed, and I still have to finish around the house where we park our vehicles, so there's plenty of tractor time in my near future.

I also try raising the 3 point hitch to take the top off of a mountain of snow - but that takes real skill and I either lift it too soon or too late. Anyways, considering that I'm a transplanted city-boy, I think I'm doing OK.

Where abouts in Sask. do you live? I walked to Saskatchewan once - just to say I did it. I worked in Flin Flon (home of Bobby Clarke for any of our American friends) once and went for a walk and ended up in Sakatchewan.

Gary
North Bay, Ontario

Yep, you got that right, especially on an N that has no position control! I also have a IH 666 with a loader, but I actually prefer the little N for snow clearing. I use a back blade quite a bit too.

Did you walk as far as Denare beach, or just to the border? I work in Grand Rapids, MB and live south of Moosomin, SK. Some commute, eh?

I have a 5 foot snow blower on the back of a 35 hp 4X4 Kioti, and I have to run in low range at full engine speed to deal with 1 meter drifts. I also have a Ferguson TO-20 which I am sure could not handle this....no low range means I would be moving too fast combined with insufficient hp.

I don't think the Fergusons are quite up to this job. By the way, I don't have chains on mine so traction is another real problem.

A lot of people were doubtful that the old TO35 would handle a 6' blower. But I've proved them all wrong!

Keep having fun!

I can relate to your conditions. I went to Michigan Tech for 2 years (85/86 & 86/87) in Houghton and the first year I was there, I think they set a record for the most consecutive days with measurable snowfall. I thought they were just trying to make me feel at home knowing I was from Northern Ontario - but man, they had a lot of snow that year.

Made for good skiing, though. I think the name of the hill we liked was Indian Head, and I can't remember if it was still in Michigan or just to the west (I can't remember which state is just west - is it Wisconsin? - I'm having a geography block). There was also an outing a friend of ours took us on called the Black River - a fast moving river that flowed into Lake Superior with lots of scenery.

I've only been back once since I graduated, but I'll never forget what a beautiful area that is (as long as you don't mind dealing with all that snow).