We have been snowed in here before. Last night when we went to bed we felt we were as ready as we would ever be and slept soundly in our warm cozy home. We awoke to the sight of white snow everywhere The kitchen door would open only a few inches and then it was stuck. The snow was a lot like a layer cake. Fluffy white snow was the bottom layer. Next came a hard crusty layer formed during the night when the snow changed to rain and sleet. More light fluffy snow topped things off. This was my place to start.
After breakfast Ed suited up and began to shovel his way out of the basement. I took this picture with just my arm and the camera outside the kitchen door since that is all I could fit through the small opening. I would be the first to admit that all that snow was a little daunting, but Ed was determined to get to his snow equipment from the shed, and I was determined to get the kitchen door open. At first I worked from inside digging at the base of the door with Mithren's kitty litter scoop. Then I could squeeze outside with a shovel. I found I had to break the crusty layer into pieces with the shovel. I could lift the light snow, but the pieces of ice were heavy and I soon discovered it was easier and more fun to wing them over the railing like a Frisbee.
By the time Ed decided it was time to come inside to warm up I had barely cleared enough space to open the kitchen door and stand outside. It was a start!
Our snow removal machines were never intended to be used on our terrain. A level asphalt driveway would be perfect for our machines housed just inside of a garage door if the accumulated snowfall was limited. The plow can push little more than one inch deep snow to the side. More than that stays in front of the lawn tractor forming a growing ripple that extends for an amazing distance. The blower always sends its rear wheels downhill into deep snow. It becomes hopelessly stuck in the blink of a eye.
For this storm the first passes with the blower were made straight uphill moving out of the shed. A careful move back into the shed was followed by another run up the hill. In time enough snow had been cleared to begin moving across the slope towards the driveway. Each short pass had to end with the rear wheels still on cleared ground.
Cleared ground is not an accurate description of what the blower leaves behind. To avoid spending much of my time replacing broken shear pins because of my gravel road, high heeled skids were made to raise the scraper bar about one inch above the road surface. The weight of the machine packs this snow left behind into a firm mass. Spinning wheels quickly grind this snow into a wheel blocking raised mass.
The plow was needed to scrape the ground clean after the blower had done its work. A good deal of shoveling was needed to free the plow for its short run onto the semi-cleared ground.
Ed had determined prior to the storm that his machines would be strictly limited to working the nearly level ground at the top of the hill. Late in the afternoon the plow truck appeared and quickly finished the job that kept Ed busy for hours.
By this time I had finally cleared the deck. Now the job of clearing the car and the truck needed attention. I shoveled far enough to get the driver's side door on the Subaru open. Ed backed the car out with his visibility limited to the driver's side window. It had been steadily getting colder and so were we. To be continued...
2 comments:
How many inches did you get? We only had about 5-6 inches here in S. Wis., but now it's supposed to snow all day tomorrow, bringing another 3-8 more inches. The toughest part is the subzero temps and windchills--not unusual for us for January, but it's been such a mild winter until now. I hope this doesn't last very long. ;-) Stay safe!
It is hard to say how much we got. The rain and sleet during the night compacted the snow during the night. It might have been as much as 10 inches before that. Maybe tomorrow's pictures will give you some idea.
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