Snowblower Technique Question

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DwightFrye

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Jul 14, 2020
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I just received a Toro 824 snowblower and have it assembled and ready for the first snowfall. I have never owned one before.

Here is my question: I have a concrete driveway that is about 40 feet long. I live in the mountains and am surrounded by old growth pine trees. Pine needles are everywhere. Would it be a good idea if a snowstorm is anticipated to take a leaf blower to the driveway and clear most of the needles from it, or do you guys that have a similar situation just run the snowblower and let it blow the needles and debris out with the snow ?
 
I would think it depends on how deep are the needles. If your talking one to 2 inches, I would blow them off on gp's. More importantly if they tend to clog up the shute, get rid of them to help speed up the job.,,,
 
I'm surrounded by woods as well and get leaves, pine needles and little sticks/twigs all winter long. I blow right through the little bits that may be there.

Obviously you'll want to get anything out of the way that looks like it will get stuck in or damage the impeller and auger.

In terms of figuring out a pattern you'll want to use to clear snow, only you will be able to come up with that. That will depend on wind patterns and where you want to throw the snow.
 
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I blow on a gravel driveway I blow stones all the time it happens needles will not be a issue wouldn't lose sleep over it.
 
Dwight, with concrete it's usually not an issue, but make sure there's some clearance between the shave plate along the bottom of the snowblower and the surface of the driveway. Adjust the skid shoes on both sides so there's some clearance.

You'll wear the plate out and beat up the machine a bit if the shave plate stays in contact with the ground.
 
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Driveway is clean as a whistle before a storm. But I have a lot of oak and poplar leaves.
Ice over leaves provide no traction. But I am on a steep incline.
 
If it isn't big enough to break a shear bolt, it goes through the machine without issue. Never pre-cleaned a driveway surface of leaves or needles and no issues in more than a few years...
 
I have the same model, bought it a year ago. Not super thrilled on how well it cleans, my 90's Craftsman 826 did a better job.
Have to take half passes with the Toro, where the Craftsman would just breeze through it.
Anyhow, as mentioned, if the needles aren't too deep, as we say in Canada "just giver".
 
If you have only a thin layer of needles it isn't going to make much difference, but they will absorb moisture and be significantly heavier than freshly fallen snow, taking longer to do the job and throwing debris a shorter distance. Any left behind can also hold more water on the driveway to refreeze the next night, depending on ambient conditions of course.

Plus if you have wind, that GOOP can blow back all over you, and even without wind, be all over the snowblower instead of just snow which takes a lot more effort to clean off. You really don't want anything that can hold moisture, stuck to the blower long term. However some people use cooking spray to coat contact areas to reduce clogs, for easier cleaning, and to deter rust a bit.

I would always blow off the driveway as much as reasonably possible ahead of time, but not worry terribly about it if I didn't have a chance to. It's less work, not only not having to clean off the snowblower as much (snow/ice melts away all by itself, whatever you can't get out with a hand broom which I recommend using to get the bulk off) but not have your coat, gloves, boots, balaclava or ski mask, goggles, etc all gooped up and needing washing. Some people/situations will be able to just blow the same direction as the wind, but that's not always possible, especially near vehicles and buildings opposed to open areas.
 
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^ Over several years of use, I've never broken a shear pin. Granted I've never gotten the blade hung up on anything it couldn't chop through (obviously). That doesn't mean it's a bad idea to have spare shear pins, but some people never need them.
 
Just giver. I have been using a snowblower on my acreage for 9 years, since we have been here. I run her over gravel and grass. Raise the skids a bit to minimize gravel intake. Never have the shute pointing to windows, vehicles or errant kids. The only things I've had issues moving was slush (impeller mod one day) piles of leaves hiding under snow and hard drifts that require a shovel to break up first.
 
JTK said:
Dwight, with concrete it's usually not an issue, but make sure there's some clearance between the shave plate along the bottom of the snowblower and the surface of the driveway. Adjust the skid shoes on both sides so there's some clearance.

You'll wear the plate out and beat up the machine a bit if the shave plate stays in contact with the ground.
Click to expand...
I've always used paint sticks to adjust my shoes, seems to be about right distance. I also have Armorskids since I have some surface break up.

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Pine needles are a non issue. On one occasion my first snow blower ingested and tossed a full brick. That was an MTD machine purchased in 1996. I ran that one for twenty years before gifting it to a neighbor. I've never broken a sheer pin in 25 years, but your mileage may vary.
 
The pine needles aren't too thick, the breeze blows them off the driveway somewhat and they don't accumulate like they do in the yard. I'll just drive over them and see what happens.

I have adjusted the skids so that the bottom of the shave plate will be 1/8" off of the surface. The Toro doesn't use shear pins.I'm not worried about hitting any foreign objects except the occasional pine cone so I think I'll be good. The weather conditions here are such that the sun usually comes out the day after a storm and I found when shoveling by hand, that the remaining snow on the driveway was melting down to bare concrete pretty rapidly so I don't need the blower too close to the surface.
 
2x on extra shear bolts for the auger. That snow covered branch that came down in the storm will get you every time and break one. You may not even hear it but when it stops blowing right you'll see one half the auger is free wheeling.
Leaves and needles are not a problem at all, your blowing chunks of plow mound ice that are way harder.
 
I used paint sticks and other thin items to set my snow blower shoes for years. Last year I had a piece of 3/4" PVC in the garage so I decided to cut it to length and put a split in it with a hacksaw. I slid it over the scrapper plate (with a rubber mallet) and it makes a nice difference and cleans the surface of the driveway off without damage to the scraper plate. I set my shoes to the height of the PVC riding on the concrete. The other nice thing is having a concrete driveway the PVC pipe helps to glide over the cracks and heaves.

I have the 2 extra sheer pins that came with my blower ~17 years ago, still haven't changed one...

just my $0.02
 
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I always walk the property that's going to be hit with the snowblower. Any branches, twigs,door matt's, are removed.I work at a school so being out there for 8 hours working the snowblower the biggest nightmare is shearing a pin. But I do like the double time 😉
 
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