New Blog - New Snow Blower post

Happy Thanksgiving! As the Turkey Day holiday arriving next week, it seems fitting that Buffalo's potential first blast of lake effect snow is set to arrive the night before the holiday. Great time! For those who've followed my adventures, testing snow blowers is one of my favorite hobbies. As you prepare for the coming winter storms, here's my 2 cents on things to consider when looking to purchase a new snow blower:

1) Length of driveway and type of snow is key consideration in determining right snow blower to purchase! If you only get light fluffy snow and have smaller sized driveway, a corded electric or battery-powered snow blower will often do the trick. I have an 80 foot driveway. For light snow, my electric corded snow blower did the trick with even somewhat wet snow when my gas-powered snow blower had a mechanical issue. That said, I'd leave the heavy, wet snow for the gas-powered snow blowers. As for those snow blowers, I recommend a snow blower with a minimum or 200 cc engine. Those in areas that get lake-effect snow, go for the snow blowers with over 220 cc engines.

2) As for brands, go with names you trust. I have loved my Troy-Bilt snow blowers for gas-powered. Ariens, Toro and Cub Cadet seem to get the job done well, too. I have owned Toro, Ariens and Troy-Bilt and the Troy-Bilt has been the most dependable. For electric and battery-powered, I like Greenworks and SnowJoe: I own both. My battery-powered is Greenworks while my corded electric is SnowJoe. Both have worked admirably though I have only had the Greenworks for one season so far.

3) Buy used or refurbished. Inflation has certainly complicated things with costs. Given that, used snow blowers could do the trick. I purchased my SnowJoe in refurbished condition direct from SnowJoe. It has held up for a couple winters now. It gets the job done. I use it to clear my decks and as a back-up for if I have an issue with my gas-powered machines. Check out local hardware stores (non-chain stores), which often sell old snow blowers.

4) Get the right extension cord for the job! If you have a corded snow blower, get a higher grade extension cord that can handle outdoor power equipment. Check your user manual for recommended cord gauge.

Happy Holidays!!!!!

Welcome to September - It's Watch Time

 

Time is crucial to archaeologists. It means the world to us as we excavate and try to reveal the past. We are not mind readers by any stretch of the imagination, but with careful digging, most often with trowels, we can piece together what occurred at archaeological sites down to specific dates in time. As a prehistoric archaeologist, I can't get that specific. Yet, time still is crucial to my studies and excavations (dating a prehistoric site within 50 to a couple hundred years is still helpful in understanding a community that no longer exists). Give all this, I think you see why watch making and repairs are something I picked up as a new career path (part-time anyway).

I always wanted to learn a trade, and after spending almost $50 at a jeweler to have a battery replaced in
a watch, I decided to look into repairing watches on my own. Let me tell you, it's been an exciting journey!!! For less than the cost of getting ONE watch fitted with a new battery, I purchased tools with which to repair a few old watches I had lying around. Then, with the help of a master watch maker as a mentor and guide (along with videos from the University of YouTube (many from Esslinger Watch Supplies company), I've repaired over a hundred watches for friends, family, and students. As for my students, I purchase old, broken watches on Ebay, repair them, and then give the watches away to students who have no money to purchase books for classes, let alone watches. Thing is, people laughed at me saying that students wouldn't want watches because they use their cell phones to check the time. Sure enough, there was resistance from students at first. Now, I am going through watches left and right. As for my watch repair skills, replacing batters, watch crystals, seals, and crowns are things I can do. Many thanks to the watch company that donated 4 watch bands to my efforts and thank you to the Ebay sellers who have given me discounts on old watches. all the watches are given away. Cheers to everyone!!!!

P.S. An unexpected bonus with watch making/repairs - I have battled extreme OCD my entire life. Between medicine and therapy, my OCD is somewhat manageable. Now though, I find that working on a watch helps me calm down relatively quickly when my OCD/anxiety are through the roof. The last 6-8 months have been amazing.

Fiskars - When you need to do some pruning

 

The Fiskars PowerGear pruner. Yeah... this is the 2nd once that's fallen apart. Yet... I still HIGHLY recommend it! I purchased my newest one for $22.99 in 2021 (they currently are priced around $27). My wife and I do a lot of pruning! For her, she works on a lot of hedges. As for me... well, I got a lot of trees on my property. A LOT of trees (no pun intended)! My first Fiskars pruner broke along the plastic edge that comes in contact with the blade. My newer one recently came undone as the nut holding together the two halves of the pruner became stripped. I imagine that it might be fixable with some glue. Fortunately, Fiskars has a great warranty so I am hoping to get this one replaced like the first one.

Again... I still highly recommend the Fiskars pruner as I imagine mine gets used a lot more than an average homeowner. Each one I've owned went through 2 years of intense usage! I mean INTENSE! These things cut through branches easily. Just be mindful of reality! There are limits to the branch size this tool will handle. For larger branch needs, go with a larger pruner. That said, for most household needs, Fiskars' PowerGear pruner will give you years of service. It's discounted on Amazon right now. Oh... the vegetation photo posted here. That's the area where I am placing my next archaeological test unit. Near a mid-20th century structure that was part of an orchard.

The site is in an area with over 10,000 years of human history. Here's hoping for artifacts and features connected to the protohistoric and prehistoric periods. This pruner would have been of great help when doing fieldwork and encountering roots in test units. It's very lightweight and compact with a mechanism that helps cutting through stubborn roots without straining. Cheers.

Rating:    5 out of 5 Trowels

Manual Log Splitters

For those who live on a wooded lot and have a fireplace and/or firepit, here’s a tool to consider. As for me, I have both a wood-burning fireplace and a firepit. The big deal there is I use seasoned hardwoods in the fireplace and seasoned softwoods (pine and spruce) in my outdoor firepit. Now, for added fun, I live on about two acres with about 25% of my land wooded. In other words… I got a lot of trees. Amongst my trees are huge maples, towering spruce, massive pine trees, and from there a mix of hardwood species that are severely dwarfed by my Silver and Norway maples. Years ago, after an incredible wind storm, one of my Norway maples developed spiral fractures around much of its heaviest/thickest limbs. Needless to say, the tree had to come down. I hired a company to cut down the tree. From there, my amazing neighbors helped me discard of the tree bits. With one neighbor’s gas-powered log splitter, we sliced and dices until that neighbor and others had a huge supply of wood for their fireplaces. For me, I took a good amount as well before dragging the rest to the curb for the town to collect for recycling. I stockpiled my wood in my garage and let it sit for years. And years. I would say it was most definitely ‘seasoned’ by the time I went to split the tree parts. Like most, I can’t afford a gas or electric powered log splitter. 

That said, I wanted something to split the wood left over from the Norway maple while also having a tool for handling future tree falls. Loving hand tools, I purchased the Timber Tuff TMW-11 manual log splitter. I paid $44 for it through Amazon. It’s been a few years now so the price has increased to $54. Check out YouTube for videos of people using manual log splitters. I got to say… it’s a workout and a half. It took me days to split the wood. I ended up with nearly 2 cords of wood from the tree stockpile.

 

The Timber Tuff manual log splitter is a HEAVY tool, which is a good thing. It is solid and works as intended. There were a few times the log splitter got stuck about a third of the way into splitting a larger log. To avoid this, I adjusted to splitting larger logs off-center. That greatly reduced those instances. The device requires good upper body strength. No, you don’t need to be a body-builder. I’m in reasonable good health and can lift a decent amount for my size/age. This tool is tiring to use though. If you use a manual log splitter, split logs over the course of several days. That way, your muscle will not be so sore when you are finished. At a $44 price point, I give Timber Tuff’s manual log splitter 5 out of 5 trowels. At a $54 price point - the current price? I understand the increased costs globally after the pandemic, but at $54, I start looking at Harbor Freight’s hydraulic log splitter priced at just over $100 and consider giving that a shot. For the $54 price (about a 20% price increase in 2 years), I gotta subtract a trowel and give the device a 4 out of 5 trowels.

 

Rating:

How's your snow blower?

Hello winter warriors!!!!! How's your snow blower? I'm asking to kinda remind others of maintenance steps needed.... steps I often neglected. If you didn't put in fuel stabilizer OR if you didn't drain the gas at the end of the season, go out and fire up your snow blower and let it run a bit. This should help keep the carburetor from gumming up. If it doesn't start... have a mechanic check it out. Better to work on a snow blower now rather then days before a snowstorm hits.

For those looking into getting a new snow blower, now is generally a good time to look as many businesses are holding sales to get rid of snow blowers from last year's models/inventory. See if you can trade in your snow blower to get an additional discount on a new or used snow blower. For those who can't find someone to buy their old snow blower, keep it as a backup or donate it to a non-profit organization. As for brands I recommend, I like Troy-Bilt as well as Toro and Ariens. For corded electric, Snow Joe is good. As for battery-powered, my Greenworks 40V is amazing. Cheers to all. Remember... "Winter is coming!"

*** Fyi - In a Buffalo blizzard in 2022, my gas-powered snow blower malfunctioned due to the drive belt going, so consider having extra belts (I recommend brand name belts - my luck with generics has been worse than bad). Thankfully, my Snow Joe electric/corded snow blower stepped in and got my 80 foot driveway cleared! 

https://www.greenworkstools.com/

https://www.troybilt.com/

https://snowjoe.com/

https://www.ariens.com/en-us/power-equipment/snow-products

Happy Father's Day! Let's Till some soil!!!!

Happy Father's Day to all fathers and those who step up and take on a fatherly role in someone's life! So, I am prepping for field season with my test units set. I will be mapping them in tomorrow. As an archaeologist, I use a shovel and trowel to move dirt and search for material culture. My wife, the historian? She uses other tools for moving dirt. Specifically, she gardens, and for the last 15+ years, she has tilled the soil in her garden with a Mantis tiller. That things a pain in the ass! For the record, the Mantis get's the job done, tilling up the soil while periodically chocking on the weeds and grass it encounters. For a 15'x15' garden, it gets the job done. Starting the dam thing is an entirely different issue.

The Mantis tiller is one of those tools that use the gas/oil mix to run. So, as you can imaging, it's not so easy getting started, especially if you let the thing sit for any period of time like say... a few days or a week. That's a very common complaint I hear from DIYers and contractors. SO what choices do we have, really? Me, I convince my wife to let me order and try out a battery-powered tiller. She said Okay. Already having Greenworks 40v batteries... I purchased the Greenworks 40v tiller. My wife seemed a bit skeptical. Me? I've been to the Greenworks rodeo before and had no doubts. Yet, even I was surprised by the results.

I thought the tiller would be close to the power level and productivity level of the Mantis. I was wrong. Thus far... my wife and I found the Greenworks tiller to be neck and neck with Mantis... but without the mixing of gas and oil and struggling to get it started. What's more, my wife found the Greenworks tiller easier to manage, especially in tight spaces in some of her flower bed. The Greenworks tiller gets clogged with grass and weeds just like the Mantis. However, it is real easy to remove the tines to periodically clean out the debris. It was on the level if not easier to clean compared to the Mantis.

For the record, we live in Western New York (the Niagara Frontier specifically). As an archaeologist who's dug a lot of test units, the Niagara Frontier is mostly a heavy clay loam for the soil (Munsell 10YR Dark Gray Brown). So, in heavy clay areas, the Greenworks tiller holds up. God, we got a heavy amount of clay. Anyways, the Greenworks tiller has good power and is easy to start, maneuver, and clean. Plus... no gas/oil mixing and messing with the Mantis carburetor (which I already had to replace). Great job, Greenworks.

Greenworks Tiller Rating: 5 out of 5 Trowels

Charge 'em up!!!!! Westinghouse vs. ZeroKor

As archaeologists (or any anthropologists for that matter), we conduct fieldwork in some pretty remote areas. Some times we need to sleep in hotels and motels out of town, far from home. Other times, we pitch tents and make due with no access to municipal water sources or electricity. Burdens of working in the field. Nowadays, we certainly have more options to bring the comforts of home to remote areas!

As an aside... I get it. I do. With the Star Trek Prime Directive ever in my thoughts, I like every other fieldworker bring considerations to our work and the dangers of exposing others to our beliefs, traditions, and technologies. Yeah... this blog is not for such debates. There's a lot of great debaters out there who've never set foot in the field, and when they do enter the field... well, they often don't do so well. Read the books, have the debates with others, and then get your ass to work! Jumping forward now, how do you bring comforts to the out doors? Power Packs!

*** FYI - those pissing and moaning about my scifi and fantasy references need to chil the FRAK out! Moving on.

I have owned a Westinghouse power pack/station for years now that still functions phenomenally. The model I purchased for around $130 is the iGENS160s (155Wh). It is the size of a tissue box and weighs about as much as a quart of milk. In other words... it's really small. It's looks are deceiving! That Westinghouse power station holds a change for a long time and is easy to re-charge using a solar panel. As for a solar panel, that you buy extra. A 60W solar panel works, but I recommend a 100W one to charge faster. Between lights, laptops, Led TVs, electric blankets, small fans, and other devices, Westinghouse's power station can power things for hours. Think of that! In a remote area with the ability to run a laptop, a fan, and/or an electric blanket?

Today, I have an off-grid system... of sorts. No, I'm not preparing for Doom's Day. I wanted to lessen my reliance on fossil fuels to help the planet AND save money! There... I said it. Moving on. I have a bunch of battery-powered devices I use daily for household/property chores and work-related activities, and I charge these tools with solar power. Here's how it works. I use the Westinghouse battery to recharge batteries and then I use a solar panel to recharge my Westinghouse power pack. End result?!! My use of gas over the last 2 years has plummeted, and the Westinghouse power station is working almost as good as new (I haven't noticed any loss of functionality in the 2 years since I bought it). YEA for lower electric and gas bills and SUPER YEA for lessening my carbon footprint (I really love that part). The power station was about $125 while the 100W solar panel was about $130. So, for under $300, I now cut my lawn, cut down trees, and employ a number of other power tools without impacting my electric bill or gasoline costs. HOORAY!

Now... I like backups for my backups. For most of the 3 people who read this... that will come as no surprise. What if my Westinghouse power station gives out? At some point, all tech ceases to function. So, I wanted a backup power station. Enter my 2023 power station purchase... the 146Wh battery pack by ZeroKor. After a $10 coupon I found online, I purchased this power station... and learned that such power stations may be able to operate a SMALL fridge for a decent amount of time. Check your power station and fridge specifics BEFORE attempting. Next time my power goes out, my mini fridge will be powering up! As for this new power pack/station/generator... it's not half bad. It doesn't seem to hold a charge as well as the Westinghouse power station. That said, it has been functioning decently, although it's controls are a bit finicky. I went with this as it already had hundreds of positive reviews. At this time, I would cautiously give it 4 out of 5 stars (trowels). I was about to give it a 3 or 3 and a half star rating, but my familiarity with its finicky-ness boosted my score to 4. For those doing fieldwork, there are a lot of these things out there now, and most are not made by a major brand like Westinghouse. When searching for and purchasing one of these contraptions, check out reviews. Look for power stations/generators with a lot of reviews (and certainly with way more good than bad feedback. Also review issues about what happens when you let a power station sit idle for a long time. That will potentially impact performance. Having said that, for fieldworkers, campers, and other explorers... these power stations are incredible! Cheers!

ZeroKor Power Generator 

/5 Trowels