What A Bust ...

I woke up (too early) to the sound of snow plows driving by, which could only mean one thing: Snow plow drivers get up earlier than I. Granted, it also meant that it had snowed overnight.

Well, it was time to take out the big guns. You remember that I had wanted to prep the lawn tractor for snow throwing three days ago, which I had to abort because of a missing part. I picked up the part, but never assembled the snow thrower.

So this morning I headed out to throw some snow. The first thing to do was to make sure the tractor actually starts, which it didn't. But I knew, that a safety contact occasionally gets loose, and just needs some wiggling. I wiggled, but it didn't help, short circuiting, however, did help, and that's when I realized that the tractor didn't start, because it wasn't shifted in neutral.

After getting the tractor started, I dragged the (really heavy) snow thrower from the shed. I tried to drive the tractor to the shed through the snow, but it kept on getting stuck on an ever so slightly incline. I should have known right there and then.

Attach the snow thrower to the hitch, and drive out the barn. Ten feet out the door nothing happened. Back up, and try again. Fifteen feet. Twenty feet. I kept on getting stuck, and the snow thrower just didn't throw.

The snow thrower is belt driven, and the belt kept on slipping, because it got wet, and therefore it didn't throw snow. What a downer.

Granted, it didn't really matter, because we have beyond-awesome neighbors, who plow the front of our house. I can not express how grateful we are for the community we live in, and I can only hope that some day we can give back, if only a little.

Dirk