The Minnesota November snowstorm of 2010: We were right in the thick of it. Only got about a foot but the stuff was heavy as cement, not our usual powder. Heaviest November snow since the Hallowe'en blizzard of '91.
I managed to get it removed from the driveway, but I was exhausted when I finished. The chains on the snowblower wheels fell off and are history and the tires wouldn't grip slush that's slicker than molebdynum loonshit, so I had to push the damned thing back up the hill after every pass. Fell down twice. I'm too old for that kind of foolishness! When I was within 10 feet of the back door to put it away, I noticed that the sheetmetal shroud enclosing the carburetor was falling clear off. Ye gods! I pushed it in the shop and went in the house to rest while the snow melted off it. Later I found that some bolts had vibrated out and there were fatigue cracks around the holes. Then on further examination, I noted that a major piece of metal on the bottom was flapping loose. More missing bolts and fatigue failures. Geez, the thing is self-destructing after only 25 years!
But it's repairable if one has the time, skills and inclination. I have all three. Not headed for the dump quite yet.
So my activities today included making a sheetmetal patch with nice new holes to weld onto the shroud, repairing the bottom pan with a bit of welding (butt welding 18 gage steel), a couple of new bolts, and repairing a bracket by welding it. The skills I developed and tools I accquired when I was keeping our fleet going came in handy. The little Lincoln SP125+ is a magic box with sheetmetal. I zinc-plated the bracket because it mounts to the muffler (!) so I didn't think paint would last long there. It was probably zinc-plated when new. There was a little rust, but not bad at all. The failure was from vibration fatigue right at the bend. I got good penetration and a nice convex fillet on the back side, so that bracket will probably now outlast me and/or the machine.
Now the paint is drying, I'll reassemble tomorrow. Oh, and I found new chains on the internet. The dork at the dealer said they're no longer available and for some reason I believed him. I mentioned it to my bud Fitch in PA and he said hogwash, somebody must offer them
-- and he was right. He found me one source. They didn't have exactly what I need, but another did. They're on order.
I was worried about how I was going to deal with a big berm at the end of the driveway after the plow went thru. Mr. Toro has always been able to cope with those, but I've never seen snow this heavy and wet. Snowballs made with this snow would be deadly weapons!
Turned out I didn't need to worry. The street was clear this morning, and no berm. When I went out to buy paint 'n bolts this afternoon, I noticed some piles of snow beside the driveway with what I'll call "blade prints" in them: perfect negative molded replicas of a blade. This is snow sculpture snow for sure! Ooooohhhhhh! Neighbor Con must have come over with his 4-wheeler with a blade on it and dispatched that berm, and we didn't even know it. What a guy!
Mary sold him that 4-wheeler (and blade) for a song a few years ago. It had belonged to her deceased brother. Con wanted it, I didn't want to store it and Mary likes Con so he got a very good deal. And now he's giving back a little! He wouldn't have to do that, but he's the sort of fellow and neighbor that does anyway. Like that about him. Tellya whut, he loves riding/driving that machine. I foresee a big batch of peanut butter cookies coming from Mary's oven in the near future.