Minor rust question

Just about any kind of paste wax. Same thing I use on my table saw, drill press, band saw tables to prevent surface rust forming on them.

Heh heh. On my table saw I use Johnson’s paste wax that does a good job. On my snow blower, I spray the housing and impeller with lemon pledge. Of course on my mower, blower, washer and dryer, vacume, etc. I use meguires car wax after the season is over.

In answer to the question about which wax I use on the shovels, I’ve always just used paste wax. But I can also use some McGuires car wax I have on hand.

Keeping shovels clean and waxed not only keeps them from rusting it makes snow, ice, dirt when digging, etc. slide off easily, making shoveling chores easier. :grin:

Hey Marnet,
You should not be shoveling. Find some kid nearby and give him a few bucks to shovel for you. :smiley:

Sure, IF you can find one! In my neighborhood, no kids have come around for that purpose for quite a few years.

I hired the neighbor kid who is now an adult to do grass cutting and snow removal when we would be gone for extended periods. His dad lives next door. Now he has moved in to the house next to his dad’s. Since he’s an adult I hate to ask him but he has five little ankle biters so hoping the mature fast.

I use Turtle wax spray wax. Then I ran out of it and haven’t bothered to get more. I don’t shovel these days. Our neighbor has a lawn tractor with blower. Sunshine does the rest and April does the back of the house three months from now.

Normally I can simply push snow with the snow shovel and it usually is only an inch or two accumulation. This storm was the worst in ten or fifteen years and with the darned sleet ice layer. Fortunately, my neighbor, a young man in his twenties, shoveled most of clearing enough I can get my car in and out of the garage.

But you are right, I need to stop shoveling and cutting grass. Another pair of kind neighbors cut my grass for the last of the summer when I was so desperately sick.

Time to start hiring it done. Sadly, price gougers are charging $100 to plow one side of a short driveway with a truck. No one is hand shoveling for money. sigh

1 Like

If you can afford it, buy an electric snow blower. Maybe you can still push it. If not, make a trade with a younger neighbor. They do your driveway and sidewalks and you let them use the snow blower for their home.

When I was very sick and unable to mow the lawn several years ago we paid to have the lawn mowed. It was only $25 per mow for 12,500 sf of grass and they also edged the lawn including driveway and sidewalks. The price was and is low enough and their work is good so we continued to use them even though I probably could mow the lawn now.

+1
This is the same one that I bought 2 years ago, and it works really well on snow that is 7 inches or less in depth: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Kobalt-40V-Snow-Blower-Kit/5013052105

While it’s not self-propelled, the machine is very light, so pushing it shouldn’t be problematic.

On the now-rare occasions when the snow is deeper than 7 inches, I use my old Toro gas-powered snow blower. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, when I finished clearing light snow from my 80 ft driveway a couple of days ago, the batteries still had 75% of their charge.

1 Like

Our Toro single stage gas snow blower isn’t selling propelled, but rotation of the impeller has the effect of making it self propelled.

No doubt that both could be harmful and dangerous, but both activities are probably pretty good exercise, something which conveys significant positive health benefits. Including mental health. If you appreciate this aspect of those activities, and your physician concurs, perhaps there’s a way you could continue to do at least some of that stuff.

It’s been my experience that shoveling, sweeping, mopping, etc. are EXTREMELY taxing on my back

5 Likes

Snow shoveling is a known heart attack risk. I’d avoid it if that’s a remote possibility.
Heart Attack Risks While Shoveling Show

2 Likes

Hold onto those neighbors. Maybe get yourself a light plastic shovel

At the beginning of every snow season the news stations will always post a reminder about this. And almost every year someone dies from shoveling in the cold. A combination of too much strain from exercise and the cold temps. Most are elderly or younger who are extremely out of shape.

One of my friends unfortunately belongs in the latter category

He has no will power, eats all the wrong stuff and lots of it, does absolutely no exercise, etc.

he’s in his early 40s, but is about 100lbs overweight

Thankfully, he’s not in an area where shoveling snow in the cold is required

Unfortunately, it’s an epidemic. I have a good friend who’s a cardiologist. When he started his practice some 30+ years ago he had maybe 1-2 percent of his patients were obese. Most were over 50 and smokers. Now the majority of his patients are obese and don’t smoke. The ones who are really worse off are his obese clients who also smoke.

I.have avoided snow removal so far this winter. I had an eye doctor appointment when the first snowstorm hit. I was able to get to my appointment in our 4Runner with no problem. When I came back home, my wonderful neighbor had cleared my driveway with his snowblower. When the next snow hit, I got out my snowblower. Unfortunately it wouldn’t fire up. My neighbor was clesring his driveway and saw me trying to start my snowblower. He came over with his snowblower, did my driveway and then took my snowblower to his place to see if jhe could fix it. He likes to work on engines.
My guess is that the ignition module has failed in my snowblower. If that’s the case. I will junk the snowblower because the module is about $100 and I can buy a battery powered snowblower for.$199.

Almost every time a small gasoline engine (for yard work equipment) won’t start for me, it has been a carburetor problem. One time, however, the problem was indeed a failed ignition module.