Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related (Snow)
| Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73257] |
Mon, 08 February 2010 10:16  |
kingd
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Registered: June 2004
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Anyone heard from Rick ?? Did he get buried in the east Coast snow ??
Rick if you are out there, your version of what happened at your place during the recent snow storm would be great.
In Toront we have next to no snow coverage at this time but may get 1-2 inches Tuesday night, but it's COLD !!!
DAVE KING
DAVE KING
lurker, wannabe
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Re: Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73259 is a reply to message #73257] |
Mon, 08 February 2010 10:26  |
shawnee
Messages: 422
Registered: February 2004
Location: NC
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| kingd wrote on Mon, 08 February 2010 11:16 |
Anyone heard from Rick ?? Did he get buried in the east Coast snow ??
Rick if you are out there, your version of what happened at your place during the recent snow storm would be great.
In Toront we have next to no snow coverage at this time but may get 1-2 inches Tuesday night, but it's COLD !!!
DAVE KING
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Dave,
If you are homesick for snow come the Hickory, North Carolina area. We have had snow on the ground for the last month and temperatures at night in the low teens. Totally unusual. This global warming is getting serious and if gets worse we will freeze.
Gene Dotson
74 Canyonlands
www.bdub.net/Motorhome_Enhancements New Windows and Aluminum Radiators
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| Re: Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73301 is a reply to message #73257] |
Mon, 08 February 2010 20:14 |
kingd
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Registered: June 2004
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Gene, I don't mind not havig to shovel. I was just wonder how Rick was. His lack of reply so far may means he got snowed on.
I understand snow in N.C. I was at a meeting at IBM at RTP when we were told at 10:00AM the building was being closed due to an imminent snow storm(2 inches were expected to fall starting at 12 noon) Being from Toronto, I didn't understand why this was a concern.
DK
DAVE KING
lurker, wannabe
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73315 is a reply to message #73257] |
Mon, 08 February 2010 22:06 |
Rick Denney
Messages: 430
Registered: January 2004
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Dave King writes...
> Anyone heard from Rick ?? Did he get buried in the east Coast snow ??
> Rick if you are out there, your version of what happened at your
> place during the recent snow storm would be great.
> In Toront we have next to no snow coverage at this time but may get
> 1-2 inches Tuesday night, but it's COLD !!!
Dave, thanks for asking. This is the first time I've been able to read
email since Thursday night.
This week is a confluence of big events, both short-term and
long-term. For one, it is my last week at Iteris, where I have worked
for 14 years. I spent 13 years in the public sector, in state and
local governments, and now 17 years in the private sector as a
consultant. I finally have gotten tired of having to sell a project
before I can work on the things in our business that I think are
important, and have accepted a position with the Federal Highway
Administration, starting next Tuesday. But that means I've been
killing myself trying to get loose ends wrapped up before I leave,
which included a deposition concerning some factory testing I
observed, which consumed just about every minute of my time last week.
And then it snowed. And snowed, and snowed, and snowed.
Story time:
When we moved out here to the country, we thought the snow blade that
came on our Kubota garden tractor would be just the right thing to
clear our quarter-mile of driveway (most of which is an easement).
Then, the President's Day Blizzard of 2003 dumped about 28 inches of
dry powder on us. The only way I could make that 12" high 72" blade do
any good was by backing the tractor up about 10 feet, "flooring" it,
and ramming the snow at full speed. I could compress the powder about
10 feet of it into a pile, and then I would have to shovel it out and
start the process again. Needless to say, this was hard on the
tractor, but it's a Kubota diesel and they are real tractors and not
the sheet-metal things they sell at Home Depot. It wasn't too easy on
the tractor's driver, either.
But it took use three days to do 300 feet of driveway. On that
occasion, a warm-up dropped the 28 inches down to about a foot and the
local farmer network helped us the rest of the way. It snowed on a
Sunday and we emerged on a Wednesday.
The next spring, when the stores had restocked, we bought the Mother
of All Snow Blowers, $1500 of Troy-Bilt Storm Tracker, which runs on
tank tracks, cuts a 28" swathe through the snow and deposits it
comfortably about 25 feet away. It even has heated handles. I'm from
Houston originally--this was seriously impressive stuff. My
father-in-law, who thinks I'm a profligate spender (not least because
I bought the GMC from him), said that because I'd spent the money for
a Cadillac snow blower, it wouldn't snow again for 10 years. I told
him that if $1500 was all it took to make it not snow for 10 years, it
was the best money I'd ever spent.
This time, it started snowing in the middle of my deposition on
Friday, from which all the chicken-hearted attorneys had already
bailed and it was just me and the court reporter. By the time I got
home, utterly exhausted (I'd pulled a couple of all-nighters last week
reading through about 1500 pages of correspondence and test reports),
there was already several inches on the ground. This was on top of the
six inches or so remaining from the previous weekend.
I sat down on the couch and fell asleep. The next morning, I woke up,
in bed, and looked outside to a winder wonderland (yes, that's
sarcasm). The snow was already higher than the tops of the tires on
the cars, which were just rounded humps in a sea of white.
After layering up in ski garb which I only wear for blowing snow, I
opened the garage door and looked out. The snow was 8 inches higher
than the top of the snowblower. I tilted it back to line up the top
edge of the blower with the surface of the snow, and rammed it right
into the snow, pushing forward two feet, backing up, and then running
it along the ground. Once I'd made a slot about 10-15 feet into the
snow on the driveway, I could then shave off about four inches at a
time from the sides of the slot. The snow higher than the blower would
just fall down into the tracks, which caused them to derail many
times. I got good at field-stripping the track wheels and reinstalling
and tensioning the track. Once I'd worked my way across the driveway,
I made the next penetration and widened it out. I repeated this
process about 100 times. My average progress was a bit less than one
foot per minute.
Normally, it takes about a gallon or a bit more to clear the whole
driveway all the way to the road, which is about three refills of the
tank on the blower. This time, I went through five gallons, and ran
out. So, I pumped some out of the GMC (GMC content) by removing my
Russell/Earl's fuel hose from the carb, putting it into a 1-gallon
tank (that was all the hose could reach), turning on the fuel pump to
fill the tank, dumping the tank into the five-gallon tank, and
repeating until it was full. There was a lot of fuming going on inside
the motorhome, both from me and the gasoline. (Of course, I had to
hand-shovel my way to the motorhome door, and then clean the snow off
the side of the coach before I could even open the door. And, yes,
there were little tracks on the top of the snow leading to the
motorhome. GRRRRRR! But no little corpses in my traps, so they may
have gotten wise.
I blew snow from 9AM to dark, manhandling that 300-pound snow blower,
for three days. We emerged today just in time to dash to town for more
fuel and groceries. The forecast for tomorrow is 14-25 inches through
Wednesday evening. Oh, joy.
We had about 30 inches here, and I think it's safe to say that this
exceeds the design objective of Troy-Bilt. But except for the tracks
coming off from time to time, that engine ran wide open for 8 solid
hours a day for three days, being pushed (literally) into snow that
absolutely covered the entire from face of the blower. If the engine
on Ken Henderson's generator is as tough, he ought to come out okay
with it. I removed about 3200 cubic yards of snow.
The worst of it is that I had a string of client meetings this week to
pass off my projects, and nobody can go to meetings this week.
Thank goodness we did not lose our power, like many did.
Rick "who'd like to see a little global warming right about now"
Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73483 is a reply to message #73315] |
Wed, 10 February 2010 19:54 |
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mike miller
Messages: 3576
Registered: February 2004
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon
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| Rick Denney wrote on Mon, 08 February 2010 20:06 |
...we bought the Mother of All Snow Blowers, $1500 of Troy-Bilt Storm Tracker, which runs on tank tracks, cuts a 28" swathe through the snow and deposits it comfortably about 25 feet away. It even has heated handles. I'm from Houston originally--this was seriously impressive stuff. My father-in-law, who thinks I'm a profligate spender (not least because I bought the GMC from him), said that because I'd spent the money for a Cadillac snow blower, it wouldn't snow again for 10 years. I told him that if $1500 was all it took to make it not snow for 10 years, it was the best money I'd ever spent.
... snipped ...
We had about 30 inches here, and I think it's safe to say that this exceeds the design objective of Troy-Bilt. ...
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Maybe this one will keep the snow away:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRvbd7urf4k&feature=related>
... 
Mike Miller -- Hillsboro, OR -- on the Black list
(#2)`78 23' Birchaven Rear Bath -- (#3)`77 23' Birchaven Side Bath
More Sidekicks than GMC's and a late model Malibu called 'Boo'
http://m000035.blogspot.com
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73488 is a reply to message #73480] |
Wed, 10 February 2010 20:08 |
Rick Denney
Messages: 430
Registered: January 2004
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Mr.erf ERFisher writes...
> I have been waiting for those pictures from Duai from the highest bulding
> in the world , you playing tennis with RogerF., hanging out over the edge 40
> stories up....and holding a model GMC (FOR CONTENT)
For every high flier that goes to Dubai, there are dozens of grunts
like me who go and work 12-hour days. It was an interesting trip. I
took no camera, and had not time to use one in any case. I did look up
at that building, but it wasn't quite finished yet and I suspect even
when it is people like me will have to be lucky to get inside.
Tennis? You must have me confused with someone else. I'm a tuba
player, and I own a GMC motorhome, not to mention being an engineer.
If I also played tennis, my head would explode. Besides, the preferred
game during work hours for we lazy feds is golf.
> you mean we missed this ?
No, you guys heard about it within a week of my bosses hearing about
it. That's pretty good!
> I guess you now get the same lifetime benifits those Senators and Reps get?
You know how we lazy feds are.
> congrats
Thanks.
Rick "We are from the Government. We are here to help you." Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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| Re: Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73496 is a reply to message #73257] |
Wed, 10 February 2010 20:48 |
JohnL455
Messages: 4447
Registered: October 2006
Location: Woodstock, IL
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You're gunna need a bigger blower. The 2 stage unit I saw at O'hare today should do the job. The front auger rakes are about 5' tall. Get something you can sit inside at least and has a bathroom. Hey??????
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73541 is a reply to message #73496] |
Thu, 11 February 2010 09:40 |
Rick Denney
Messages: 430
Registered: January 2004
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John R. Lebetski writes...
> You're gunna need a bigger blower.
Yes, unfortunately I just proved that. I just exploded the left
differential on the drive portion of the blower, and locked it solid.
That means no drive on the left track. It would be fine if I had a
circular spot about 8 feet in diameter to clear. I took off the bottom
cover (laying on my back in the snow), and one of the spider gears
fell out in my face.
> The 2 stage unit I saw at
> O'hare today should do the job. The front auger rakes are about 5'
> tall. Get something you can sit inside at least and has a bathroom. Hey??????
I doubt there is anything on the market available to homeowners that
would be big enough for this mess.
Rick "whose next plan is to try to push it out with the truck" Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73542 is a reply to message #73541] |
Thu, 11 February 2010 10:02 |
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| Rick Denney wrote on Thu, 11 February 2010 09:40 |
I doubt there is anything on the market available to homeowners that
would be big enough for this mess.
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Sears outlet store here in Minneapolis has a unit with dualies on it, cuts a 45" path approx 30" deep. Don't recall how much it was, but I have seen it at one of the home stores too.
Little Yimmy - W9VUA
75 PB - F260206
Twin Cities, MN
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73547 is a reply to message #73542] |
Thu, 11 February 2010 10:35 |
Rick Denney
Messages: 430
Registered: January 2004
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Jim Melberg writes...
> Sears outlet store here in Minneapolis has a unit with dualies on
> it, cuts a 45" path approx 30" deep. Don't recall how much it was,
> but I have seen it at one of the home stores too.
MORE POWER!
As long as the drive gears can take it, of course. No hope for the
parts locally available to fix mine; we are now trying to see if
someone can come plow us out. We'll fix this one and then shop for a
new one--we can't be depending on a single piece of equipment in
situations like this, it seems.
Rick "back to the shovels" Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73553 is a reply to message #73542] |
Thu, 11 February 2010 12:00 |
mlincoln
Messages: 107
Registered: August 2006
Location: Salt Lake City
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I was just on a conf call to DC and someone mentioned a week's total
of ca. 65 inches in some areas nearby. Is that right Rick?
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 11, 2010, at 11:02 AM, Jim Melberg <pb75ft26@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Rick Denney wrote on Thu, 11 February 2010 09:40
>> I doubt there is anything on the market available to homeowners that
>> would be big enough for this mess.
>
> Sears outlet store here in Minneapolis has a unit with dualies on
> it, cuts a 45" path approx 30" deep. Don't recall how much it was,
> but I have seen it at one of the home stores too.
> --
> Little Yimmy - KCØSQS
> 75 PB - F260206
> Twin Cities, MN
> _______________________________________________
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> List Information and Subscription Options:
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Mike
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73557 is a reply to message #73553] |
Thu, 11 February 2010 14:15 |
Rick Denney
Messages: 430
Registered: January 2004
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Michael Lincoln writes...
> I was just on a conf call to DC and someone mentioned a week's total
> of ca. 65 inches in some areas nearby. Is that right Rick?
Perhaps in drifts but not officially. That's about the season total
officially, and that's probably what your colleague meant.
We had a couple of feet of snow in a storm before Christmas, and then
about 8 inches in late January. Then, last weekend we had 18" at
Reagan National (which must have a dome over it) and 35" at Dulles. I
haven't heard the official totals from yesterday but out here we had
12-15". I think Reagan National's season total is in the upper 50's,
but probably more like six feet out here.
But when you are shoveling the stuff, 30 inches seems like six feet.
We just had some neighbor help with the part of the driveway running
along his property line, and we dug out our part by hand after the
snowblower crapped out. I'm getting my typing done before my fingers
lock up.
Rick "what a day" Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73603 is a reply to message #73557] |
Fri, 12 February 2010 00:23 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
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| Rick Denney wrote on Thu, 11 February 2010 14:15 |
Michael Lincoln writes...
> I was just on a conf call to DC and someone mentioned a week's total
> of ca. 65 inches in some areas nearby. Is that right Rick?
Perhaps in drifts but not officially. That's about the season total
officially, and that's probably what your colleague meant.
We had a couple of feet of snow in a storm before Christmas, and then
about 8 inches in late January. Then, last weekend we had 18" at
Reagan National (which must have a dome over it) and 35" at Dulles. I
haven't heard the official totals from yesterday but out here we had
12-15". I think Reagan National's season total is in the upper 50's,
but probably more like six feet out here.
But when you are shoveling the stuff, 30 inches seems like six feet.
We just had some neighbor help with the part of the driveway running
along his property line, and we dug out our part by hand after the
snowblower crapped out. I'm getting my typing done before my fingers
lock up.
Rick "what a day" Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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We had 17" total at my hanger. I went out yesterday and found that my friend had not cleaned in front of my or his hanger with his zero turn powered blower.
We had bright sun all day and tonight the 17" is now only 12".
1/3 of it melted off in one day. Maybe you will be lucky and get the bright sun tomorrow as your weather is usually a day or so and slightly warmer than ours. All of the plowed roads are also melted clean and dry.
Oh, my hanger also did not get snow blown today. The bottom wear strip came off of the blower and got wrapped in the auger. It bent up the auger pretty bad. Our welder will be out tomorrow to see if he can salvage it.
Our blowers are too large and too slow to go the highway but we sent two plow trucks to PA to help clear the roads. I'm not sure where they are headed. I know that will not help you in Virginia.
Hoping you get some bright sun tomorrow.
Ken
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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| Re: Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73610 is a reply to message #73257] |
Fri, 12 February 2010 05:13 |
JohnL455
Messages: 4447
Registered: October 2006
Location: Woodstock, IL
Karma: 12
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Yes I'm big on spares. If one breaks, use the other right away and then do the fix when it's not an emergency. I have nowhere the area to clear that you do, so I have a old 70s Ariens 5hp 20" that is great as it really throws far is is small enough to not be a task. I also picked up a 70's Ariens 8/24 on Ebay a couple years ago for like $200 as a 'spare'. Big and heavy to manuver. but on the last outing I sucked in driveway marked that jamed between the impeller and the housing and I couldn't get it out of the 5Hp so I got out the big one to finish. I turns out I should have just got out the 8 in the first place as we had so much snow and at least to run it this year. Started on pull 1 so didn't bother with the estart. Then I brought the little one in and had to use the biggest screw driver I had and big mallet to get that plastic spiral stake out of there. Don't know what type of plastic that is but it's tough stuff.
You don't need the big one until you need it and they you need an even bigger one.
And I'm guessing the older ones, though heavy, were more indestructable.
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
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| Re: Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73611 is a reply to message #73257] |
Fri, 12 February 2010 05:51 |
g.winger
Messages: 792
Registered: February 2008
Location: Warrenton,Missouri
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After the kids got bigger and moved out9I've got 4) I went out and bought an 8hp blower. Man were they pissed, like really. The slaes man was showing me all the biffrent models, "and this one has elctric start and NO battery," I said SOLD. No corrision,no maintence, no charging ,no replacing after 4-5yrs.,,,,PL
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| Re: [GMCnet] Rick Denney/Sort of GMC MH related [message #73621 is a reply to message #73611] |
Fri, 12 February 2010 10:05 |
Rick Denney
Messages: 430
Registered: January 2004
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Paul Leavitt writes...
> After the kids got bigger and moved out9I've got 4) I went out and
> bought an 8hp blower. Man were they pissed, like really. The slaes
> man was showing me all the biffrent models, "and this one has
> elctric start and NO battery," I said SOLD. No corrision,no
> maintence, no charging ,no replacing after 4-5yrs.,,,,PL
John is absolutely right that you don't need a big one until you need
it, and then it isn't big enough.
Ours is 10HP, 28x24. When I called the equipment company to ask about
parts, they asked if it was the 10HP or the 11HP model, and I was
annoyed that there was an 11HP model and we didn't buy it. (Of course,
the parts have to be ordered in).
I'll winch it up onto the truck on Saturday and haul it over to them
to fix. They can figure out which little parts they need.
I think my next blower will be the large type that mounts on a 3-point
hitch and gets is power from the tractor PTO. Of course, I'll have to
buy the tractor to go with it. And then I'll need the garage that can
store the tractor. And, having that garage, we'll have about 300 feet
less of driveway that has to be cleared.
The most recent quote we got on the garage was $120,000.
Sigh. I keep buying those lottery tickets.
Rick "and I won't forget the front-end loader attachment, either"
Denney
'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
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