Winter Snow Blower Prep
Getting your snow blower ready for winter is a big deal here in Minnesota (unless you have a service do this for you). While there’s the standard list of diagnostics and maintenance every year such as:
Checking and changing the oil, checking the fuel system, replacing the spark plug, inspecting belts and pull cable…
There’s a few more items that are often disregarded that could make or break your first snow excursion.
Inspect the auger and chute — make sure that the augur and chute are working and working smoothly. Not being able to direct the snow you’re throwing can make it useless. Give the augur a test to ensure it’s spinning and spin or rotate the handle to make sure the chute is connected properly and turning
Check tire pressure — oftentimes our diagnostics and maintenance is all in one spot off to the side of the garage where your snow blower has sat all summer. When the first snow arrives, you may find yourself knee deep in snow and not moving because you have a flat tire not catching any grip. Take your tire gauge and give it a quick check so you’re good to go while it’s still in your garage.
Test run — after performing all your checks, you may think to yourself that you’re all set. Even though the yearly snow blower to-dos are done, your snow blower may still not be ready. You won’t know until you test run it. Don’t forget this last step! It’s frustrating to be “ready” only to find out you’re not actually ready and your machine won’t turn on.
Stock up — we all know what happens when you hit a rock or the curb wrong… you break a sheer pin. If you’re not prepared, this will be followed by a very colorful trip to the closest store in bad weather or a potentially damaging DIY attempt at inserting some other piece of metal rod into the pin hole so you can finish. Just do things right and get a couple packs of sheer pins now. As long as you’re not planning on moving south, it’s not like you won’t be able to use an extra $3 pack of sheer pins next winter if you don’t need them this year. Just grab them and be done.
Make sure your snow blower is in complete working condition to get you through this winter! No one wants to start on that first snow only to have to make that unwanted trip to the store or to call in a service last minute when you’re trying to get somewhere. Peace of mind with knowing your snow blower is ready will help you enjoy those first few snows much more than you would otherwise!
