Where am I? GPS-ready!

 I took this summer off from excavating, but checking out sites is still on my to-do list. I am now part of a group of volunteers that monitor archaeological sites to make sure they are protected With this new task before me, I am now tooling up for more fieldwork. That means more work on the blog, too!

In the new year, using GPS units will become the norm. To help, I purchased a Garmin Etrx to aid with mapping (mapping being one pof my specialties in the field). The Etrex 10 is the unit I purchased. It is easy to use; I will do more testing in the new year as the weather improves - we've gotten a ton of snow in Buffalo so venturing into the woods has been a challenge. In the new year, expect more tool histories and product experiments, which includes a new Ariens snow blower I purchased as Buffalo snowstorms are quite a thing to manage.

Happy New Year to everyone!

And then... Misadventures with Snow Blowers

So, my Troy-Bilt 28" had some issues. Thankfully, the auger cable arrived quickly and was relatively easy to install. Then, as the next storm hit... the auger belt broke. The woodland creatures nearby learned some new swear words that day. Thankfully, I had two backup auger belts for just such an emergency. That is not an easy replacement to make; it takes a bit of time. During the course of the install of the new belt, I got a chance to inspect the machine's inside. The lid over the bottom is rusting a bit. Be mindful of this One screw hole is already useless so I will need to deal with that soon. In any event, I thought readers would get a kick out of my continued snow blower mishaps. For the record, this is the first time this snow blower needed an auger belt replaced as far as I can remember... and it's getting close to 7-8 years old. Not bad.

Prep for Winter: What I should have done

Welp, I thought I had everything worked out and planned. I had put stabilizer in my snow blower in addition to occasionally running the beast during the Spring, Summer and Fall months. I even had the oil changed and stocked up on gas in preparation for the first lake effect storm of the season here in Buffalo, New York. As part of my prep, I have backup belts for my main snow blower, a Troy-Bilt 2840, and I likewise have extra belts for my battery (Greenworks 14V) and electric/corded (Snow Joe) snow blower. Then, the storms hit... and the snow blower failed midway through the work. The years-old auger cable snapped, and I did not have a backup.

KHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so I turned to my backup snow blowers, which helped me get the job done on my 80 foot driveway. Even more helpful was that my amazing neighbor helped with his snow blower. I did a lot of shoveling, too.

As an archaeologist, I am awesome with a shovel. Of course, I have a heart condition and am now in my 50s so I can't shovel like I used to. The battery and corded electric snow blowers struggle with lake effect snow, so it took a while to get done. From that standpoint, I offer a recommendation. Have backup parts for your snow blowers BEFORE the snow hits, especially if you live in an area that gets heavy amounts of wet snow. Here's a list of things to have:

1) An extra Auger Belt

2) An extra Drive Belt

3) An extra Auger Cable

4) An extra Drive/Transmission Cable

5) A replacement spark plug

6) Extra sheer pins

7) A container of oil rated for your snow blower's needs (and check your oil level routinely throughout the winter)

Look, if a cable or belt breaks during a storm, you need to have those replacements. I spent time
installing a new auger cable after work today. I also purchased another auger cable for backup as well as a drive/transmission cable as a backup... just in case. Better to have and not need than to need and not have. For the record, these parts are usually low-cost (I spent $5 per cable). As for the installing process, I turned to YouTube for guidance, and the repair took about 15 minutes to make. For anyone uncomfortable making such a repair, make sure you have a mechanic on-call. I also recommend everyone who can afford to buy a second snow blower (battery-powered or corded-electric). The great thing about those types of snow blowers is I find they do a great job of snow blowing decks. You can often get refurbished snow blowers on Ebay from factory outlets from major snow blower brands.

From the Past...

I just wanted to share an older electric-corded snow blower by Sunbeam (1958)