A little chilly this morning!

[Digerati]

This is what I woke up to this morning!




And it's going to get all the way up to -7°F for a high today! And what is really scary is we got a robo-call from OPPD (Omaha Public Power District) saying we can expect "rolling power outages" over the next couple days. Oh joy.

I've been in -20°F with -70°F wind chills. And that was brutal. You really cannot hide from that. But -28°F (-33.3°C) is the coldest actual air temps I have ever experienced. Today is trash pickup day. I was outside maybe 2 minutes to roll my trash tub out to the curb and I thought my cheeks where going to crack and shatter. It felt like the tears in my eyes did freeze.

At least no new snow is predicted for awhile - but I note there's already 14 inches on the ground from last week that forced me to buy a new snow thrower after my 6 week old Toro died! I better have better luck with this new Craftsman. I got spoiled by my Honda, which finally gave out after 20 years.

 

[Wrench97]

Good luck with the Craftsman I haven't looked at the newer ones for a while but other then Toro and Ariens I think they are all made by the same OEM.

This year I still have a 25 year old snow thrower...................so until he moves out I haven't thought about upgrading the snow blower.

After ice storm warnings all yesterday for last night it never dropped below 36f and is now suppose to get into the low 50's today then rapidly drop for a snow/ice/rain storm tomorrow into Friday.

 

[plodr]

My friend in Iowa is suffering the same horrendous temps as you. Yesterday's wind chill was -40°, which is the same in F or C and is much too cold! After an ice storm last night, we are now at 43° F/6° C so a lot warmer than you.

We had a Craftsman but the rubber things (not sure what they are called) were soldered on! When my husband went to get them replaced because they had worn down, that's when he first he noticed it. The service guy who replaced them, screwed in the new rubber. When he wanted a better snow thrower, he bought a Toro. We've had it since Dec. 2003 but it wasn't used every year. Last winter, we had a grand total of 3.5" of snow, the smallest amount since records were kept for 150 years here.

Died after 6 weeks! I'll have to share that with my husband. Let's hope our Toro keeps on working.

 

[Digerati]

Yeah, I was really disappointed in that Toro. It was a Consumer's Report best buy. 821QZE was the model number. I got it from Ace for $750. It worked great at first, having no problem with the first 8 inches that got dumped on us. I really liked that you could change the chute direction with that lever up on the handle. No need to keep bending over for that.

But two days later, another 6 inches came and I noticed it kept sputtering. And while the fuel was only a few weeks old, I went and got some fresh stuff. I didn't have to wait long for another 4 inches to come. This time, it kept sputtering and dying until finally, it would not start at all and I still had 1/2 my driveway left I had to finish with a shovel. At least being so cold, it was pretty light and fluffy.

I was willing to exchange it for another of the same model, but of course, they sold out weeks ago. The manager even called all the other Ace stores in the area and none had any left.

My choices, if I wanted to stick with Toro were a huge 2-stage which would not fit in my garage next to my full size truck, or a tiny 18" with a little 99cc RC airplane engine in it that I feel could not handle the job.

My only other option was the Craftsman. It also has electric start (like the Toro). I didn't realize how much electric start is appreciated - but it sure is. But it has a smaller engine - 179cc compared to the Toro's 252cc. I hope that will not be an issue. My old Honda only had 160cc and it had no problem throwing the snow far enough.

The Craftsman has some nice features I like. One is a translucent window to see how much fuel remains in the tank without having to remove the cap. It came with two engine keys - in case you lose one. A nice touch. The plug for the electric start is easier to access (and see what you are doing) than with the Toro. But I have to bend over to change the chute direction.

The Craftsman was $200 cheaper too.

I've used Craftsman lawnmowers for as long as I can remember. I hope I have as good a service with this snow blower as I have with their mowers.

Now I just have to wait for the another snow storm to see how it works.

Oh, and for what its worth - the folks at our Westlake Ace Hardware were great. No hesitation or hassles about the return, helped me unload the Toro and load the Craftsman into my truck. They even had this little old lady who sounded like she smoked 3 packs a day for 40 years who knew knew all there is to know about the specs and features of each model snow blower they carry.

 

[xrobwx71]

40F/4C here, Panama City Beach, FL. I woke up to 31F/.5C. This is cold to us. We had a small tornado at the beach with minimal damage yesterday.

Snowblower? What's that? /joke I know what it is, we don't need em here.

 

[ssherjj]

I have an Arien Snow thrower that we have had for 8 years or maybe longer. But now that my husband isn't well I have to maneuver this tank around for a month or so. I do not mind the cold as I am always having to shovel because I just do not handle the snow thrower very well and miss a lot of spots. LOL I actually look forward to the snow because it gets me out of the house for awhile and so I am out there for a couple of hours or until I cannot pick the shovel up anymore. We have a long driveway too. The darn snow plow comes by and buries my driveway up again. Oh well... such is life

 

[A Guy]

Only 59°F here today, but expecting 63°F tomorrow

A Guy

 

[xrobwx71]

I have an Arien Snow thrower that we have had for 8 years or maybe longer. But now that my husband isn't well I have to maneuver this tank around for a month or so. I do not mind the cold as I am always having to shovel because I just do not handle the snow thrower very well and miss a lot of spots. LOL I actually look forward to the snow because it gets me out of the house for awhile and so I am out there for a couple of hours or until I cannot pick the shovel up anymore. We have a long driveway too. The darn snow plow comes by and buries my driveway up again. Oh well... such is life

Being in the Northwest part of Florida, we see snow about once every 80 years or so. 1989 was the last time, it actually covered the ground for about a day. Actually, that was mostly ice, not "snow".

 

[Corday]

Gas prices scheduled to rise again due to snow rarely seen in areas of Texas, shutting down refineries.

 

[Digerati]

The darn snow plow comes by and buries my driveway up again.

And my sidewalk too. I find this so irritating because what they push back onto my sidewalk and driveway is not just snow anymore. It is often solid chunks of ice, mixed with sand and salt which snow throwers don't always do well with. But what really gets me upset is on the other side of the street for the entire block, it is the back side of a church. There's no sidewalk, no driveways and no parking on that side of the street. But they always push it on to our side where there is parking, sidewalks and driveways. Not only that, we have 24 hours after the plows come through to clear the sidewalks again or else the city will do it and send us an outrageous bill, along with a citation.

My street is a common route for kids to walk to the primary and middle schools down the street. It is also the primary route the fire trucks use to get from the station to the high school a couple blocks up the street. So while the city is very aggressive at keeping my street plowed (for which I'm grateful), I sure wish they would push it over to the other side instead of my way.

I've never been cited but my neighbor has. That storm ended up costing him $250 for the bill to the city when they shoveled his sidewalk, for the $30 citation, but also, you can't leave your vehicle parked on the public street for more than 24 hours without moving it. So first they nearly buried his truck with the snow plow. Then its battery died so after 24 hours, they towed it too.

They threatened us with rolling blackouts. Apparently, Nebraska is a member of the Southwest Power Pool and as such, we share the same section of the national power grid. So if Texas, for example, needs extra power because their part of the grid cannot handle the demands, they will kill our power so our pipes can freeze instead of theirs.

So far, knock on wood/forehead, they haven't cut mine yet. But they have in other neighborhoods in the Omaha metro area where I live. Fingers crossed they don't here. Its all the way up to 11°F now with a high of 14° later today. That's clearly much better than the -28°F we did have. But 70% chance of more snow this afternoon. Oh joy. Well, maybe I will get to try out my new snow blower.

 

[plodr]

Electric start for us too. The primer button broke so it's good we have electric start.
I see that model of Toro recommends

For best starting results use Non-ethanol fuel with an octane rating of 87 or higher.

I'm not sure where we have to go to get non-ethanol fuel.

 

[Corday]

Pure-Gas.org : Map of Ethanol-Free Gas Stations in Pennsylvania

 

[Digerati]

I'm not sure where we have to go to get non-ethanol fuel.

Is that an older model?

Older small engines like those found in mowers, snow throwers, generators and the like could not use "blended" or "oxygenated" fuels (those with 10% ethanol or 15% MTBE) for a couple reasons. First, it combusts at a hotter temperatures than those engines were designed to handle. But more significantly, the ethanol would eventually eat away at some of the plastics and rubber seals and gaskets used in those older engines and their carburetors.

But most newer engines don't have those engines and typically are able use such fuels.

Just looking at the Toro manual for the 821 QZE I had, it says "Oxygenated fuel with up to 10% ethanol or 15% MTBE by volume is acceptable." There's no mention about using non-ethanol for running or easier starting. The only thing it does say is don't use fuel with higher than 10% ethanal like E15 and E85 blends. And also, use fresh fuel.

Just looking at the new Craftsman blower, it says the same thing - 10% ethanol or 15% MTBE is fine. E15 or E85 is not.

I use only ethanol-free anyway since my mower only takes that and I'm not going to have cans of both types.

@Corday - thanks for that link but - it is not accurate. We have a Sinclair station just down the street that sells ethanol-free gas. The home page has a link to add stations, but it refuses to accept what I tried to enter.

Oh well. This is a small town and all the locals know about it anyway.

 

[xrobwx71]

@Digerati
I watch this guy all the time.

 

[Wrench97]

Gas without ethanol does have a longer shelf life, the newer engines/fuel systems will tolerate the E10 but I believe non-ethanol fuel is better for the fuel systems in the long run.

 

[Digerati]

but I believe non-ethanol fuel is better for the fuel systems in the long run.

If for no other reason than ethanol attracts water. Never good in fuel systems, or for combustion.

Fuel getting old is something that has always bugged me about hybrid cars. If you only drive 30 or so miles per day, and just around town rarely ever at highway/motorway speeds, you are going to stay in battery mode most of the time. So what's going to keep the fuel from going old and/or contaminated with water? I have heard the on-board computers monitor that and will use the gas engine in order to burn up that fuel before it goes old. But that sure seems to defeat the purpose for going hybrid in the first place.

I've heard that AAA is just starting to roll out mobile charging stations but they are only in a small sampling of big cities. It will take a long time before any come to the Omaha metro area with its total population still under 1/2 million.

So in my mind that leaves gas only or all electric. I personally don't trust all-electric yet. Not enough charging stations everywhere. Not to mention the fastest charging cars still take nearly 2 hours to fully charge. Most take significantly longer.

I think I'll stick with my gas guzzling V8 full size pickup truck for now. Even with its 35 gallon tank, it gulps the fuel too fast for it to get old.

 

[Corday]

IMO Fuel Cells have a brighter future than Electric. Don't forget Dry Gas to extend life. On a recent trip, the area reserved for Electric recharging at a Rest Stop was taken up by people who liked the convenient parking places.

 

[plodr]

We have apartment buildings with lots of units. How do 500 cars manage to take turns charging vehicles? I'm using a 250 unit apartment where each unit owner has 2 cars, They are building a 500 unit apartment building starting in April so there will probably be at minimum 500 cars; though it could be over 1,000 cars. (In my city, they'd end up shooting or stabbing each other since they do that now over a "saved" shoveled out parking spot.)
I wonder how all the Texans with electric cars are faring now that there hasn't been power for 5 days? At least in Texas, some have horses to get around if the car isn't usable. No, I'm not being funny. If you have no electric, there is a lot that can't be done.

 

[Digerati]

I wonder how all the Texans with electric cars are faring now that there hasn't been power for 5 days?

This is true but the news is also showing Texas gas stations unable to pump gas because there's no electricity to run the pumps. So even those folks with generators to run their space heaters are out of luck (and gas).