Anti-Cruising

[chuckr]

Ken - it has been a cold winter over here this winter. Much colder than last year and it just does not seem to want to end. Every time it begins to warm up it gets cold again with big north winds.
and the boat is colder than normal and boy are we going through some electricity trying to stay warm -- but then again we are not moving the white stuff around

[Pelagic]

Lovely home Ken.....
Seeing you having fun with the bobcat, there are times when I miss the seasons of the higher latitudes.

As they say... . Variety is the spice of life.

[Prairie Chicken]

Looks like you've got about the same amount of snow we have Ken. We only got dumped on Monday. Up 'til then it has been a pretty easy winter.

Yup, the familiar sound of snowblowers in the neighborhood ....

[Cotemar]

We should have stayed in the British Virgin Islands.

Came home to 2+ feet of snow.

Winter is not a Cruisers friend......
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[Kenomac]

We're taking a short seven day vacation in March to do a four day cruise ship trip down to Mexico from So Cal. I'll be nice to leave the cold and visit family, but overall, we've had a very mild New England winter. This is the most snow we've had at one time over the past two winters.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by chuckr

Ken - it has been a cold winter over here this winter. Much colder than last year and it just does not seem to want to end. Every time it begins to warm up it gets cold again with big north winds.
and the boat is colder than normal and boy are we going through some electricity trying to stay warm -- but then again we are not moving the white stuff around

I've been following the northern Italy temps, yes very cold. People ask me all the time why we don't stay in Italy over the winter; most Americans don't realize that the Med experiences a cold, windy, rainy winter.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

I would have given anything for a bobcat today! It's on my short list to get one before next winter.

Two feet of snow isn't bad. Four feet of slush from the road, frozen at the foot of the driveway, is.

The plow crews have a new strategy in our town. They don't plow the road when the snow is dry. They salt it and wait for several inches of slush to develop, then hit that with the plow.

They've discovered that they can get much more range with this method, filling in driveways up to 15-20 feet from the road, rather than just at the end. And when it freezes it's like concrete.

Then they use the wing plows to grab the snow/slush pile from yesterday off the lawn, and slam it back into the driveway.

It's always great to see someone get so much enjoyment from their job!

I'd recommend purchasing through a Bobcat dealer. I was all set to buy a Bobcat which would have ended up being too large for the job. Going through the dealer, the sales rep came out to my place and made an appropriate recommendation based on the walkways and parking lot. The smaller machine gets into the tight spots where the larger wouldn't have been able to fit and actually ends up moving the snow quicker because it's more agile. Slightly smaller bucket, but it works faster. If I was primarily moving dirt, my 553 would be too small with it's short wheelbase.

[Prairie Chicken]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I've been following the northern Italy temps, yes very cold. People ask me all the time why we don't stay in Italy over the winter; most Americans don't realize that the Med experiences a cold, windy, rainy winter.

We get the same comments about Mallorca. I suspect a lot of North Americans assume the Med has similar wx to the Carib. I spent one winter in Mallorca. It's damn cold without central heat! They've had a very bad winter in Mallorca this year too. Lot's of snow, plus flooding & wind.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I'd recommend purchasing through a Bobcat dealer.

We had the Bobcat 743 diesel.

Great machine.

Used it for our construction company and around the house for small projects.

Kids loved it to.

Fun machine to have.
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[chris mac]

We have the t300 model. But we live on an acreage so the bigger the better. They really are great machines. Very multi functional.
Ken, take a look at the snow blades. They cut the time in at least half.

[a64pilot]

I had a JD-410 Backhoe forever, when you get used to having one, your spoiled, you can do almost anything with a Backhoe and I assume a Bobcat, use it as a crane too, trim limbs high up in trees by sitting in the bucket. Learned that after the limb knocked the ladder out from under my Father many, many years ago.

I sold it to go cruising, it was like selling a family member

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I had a JD-410 Backhoe forever, when you get used to having one, your spoiled, you can do almost anything with a Backhoe and I assume a Bobcat, use it as a crane too, trim limbs high up in trees by sitting in the bucket. Learned that after the limb knocked the ladder out from under my Father many, many years ago.

I sold it to go cruising, it was like selling a family member

I Agree.

Its a sad day when you sell a MAN's TOY like these machines.

They saved a lot of back pain over the years.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by chris mac

We have the t300 model. But we live on an acreage so the bigger the better. They really are great machines. Very multi functional.
Ken, take a look at the snow blades. They cut the time in at least half.

We purchased a snow blade with the 553 against the recommendations of the Bobcat rep, and quickly learned the machine was too lightweight with too short a wheelbase to handle it. So it got sold ten years ago. We actually need to relocate the snow rather than push it.

My old John Deere 36 inch snowblower used to tear up my elbows and knees; the Bobcat is much easier on my joints, but in reality it's more work than the fun it appears to be, especially then I hit something like a granite curb sticking up and come to an immediate stop from 10mph. Ouch!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5QTycy6esXM

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

We purchased a snow blade with the 553 against the recommendations of the Bobcat rep, and quickly learned the machine was too lightweight with too short a wheelbase to handle it. So it got sold ten years ago. We actually need to relocate the snow rather than push it.

I just looked up the specs on it, i can see how it would have problems with a blade.
But at less than 4 foot wide, you can go anywhere. That's a nice feature for in town.
Hopefully this is the last snow removal for the year. I know I need to scrape down our driveway this weekend. Then in the spring, lots of landscaping.;-) (mostly just playing)

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by chris mac

I just looked up the specs on it, i can see how it would have problems with a blade.
But at less than 4 foot wide, you can go anywhere. That's a nice feature for in town.
Hopefully this is the last snow removal for the year. I know I need to scrape down our driveway this weekend. Then in the spring, lots of landscaping.;-) (mostly just playing)

The blade/grader put too much weight hanging out on the front of the 553, so when I tried to plow snow, the machine just steered sideways to the path of least resistance. Since the 553 is only four feet wide, the bucket works great as a plow just so long as the snow is no deeper than 18 inches, otherwise I need to turn and dump a bucket load every twenty feet or so.