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Of all the people I've helped with or hooked up a Wheel Horse with this lady makes me the happiest. Linda my wife's cousin... out there showing them whose boss. A text from her this morning --> "Started first crank and kicked ass! I am practically giddy here. Thank you so much!" Avon Mountain / Collinsville CT Blizzard Calvin 02/23/2026

The guy who did this video was in my High School graduating class...Elgin High 1967. Bob is the author and musician that put this video together. Sadly, he just passed a few weeks ago. The pictures are of most of us that went through the Service in the late 60's. These are friends that I still get together with, golf with and sometimes party with. We have lost a few of these guys, but the memories are still strong. I am in the last picture, back row, middle. Steve H. Thanks for watching.

Ariens blower first and a clean up after with the 520-8…no problems. Maybe 12” and it wasn’t wet/heavy like I was expecting.

Since I'm on a small block kick this one in for somewhat of appears to be some leakage. Bit of oil wash but not quite due for serious motor work. Doesn' smoke terrible. Some others to get at first. Orginal gasket on left. Stens generic "graphite" one on right. Note the fire ring on orginal. Have not found a source for these yet. Anyone else? Didn't see any signs of of a blown gasket but bolts kinda loose. Probably could have just retorqued. Tempted to use orginal gasket over i know some have done it. While the head is off. I've got a few glassing pics and will do a mini instructional on it. I know there are tons on YT but... Back together ... nothin like a fresh head. New fuel filter & lines too. This was supposed to be in engines my bad... Mods please move.

About 10"s of wet stuff. Perfect for the 520H and 48" blade. About 2 hours an 2 gallon of fuel to clean up the neighborhood.

February 23, 1954 First mass inoculation against polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine takes place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Buck just missed this fate in Jack London's The Call of the Wild. Back in for elevenses (i.e. coffee break) after Round One. 16” drift in front of the garage door just a bit too much for the 854 & blade--not enough traction to move it more that a few feet. About 12+" on the rest of the driveway plus the “wall” from the street plow at the end, of course. With the tractor shifted out of the way, though, I could get to the blower. (I’d “retired” the ’73 Ariens blower two winters ago when the 854+blade was working so well. When I tried to start the blower during last month's 13-inch storm it wouldn’t. A snit at being ignored--which I deserved. Gave it some TLC and a carb rebuild and it’s back online.)

Right now it’s almost like a white out, the snow picked up in intensity. Westchester county has a travel ban in effect until noon, which makes my kids happy since they work in Westchester! I haven’t started to clean up anything yet, except for a path for my dogs who are absolutely loving this!

Last night I took the 417-A with two stage blower out around 10:00 I got up at 6:00 and it looks like we have over a foot in the area that I cleared. I have my generator ready and plenty of wood staged for the wood stove. Now they are saying up to 30” possible! Although the two- stage is bad ass, I might have to bust out my Ford 545-C loader. However it doesn’t have a cab so that’s going to wait until it’s done snowing. Right now it’s a full on blizzard outside! After almost 40 years in the snow plowing business and now retired from it, it is really weird being home during this. There’s pros and cons to this. The pro is I’m home with my wife and granddaughter. Granddaughter is here because my daughter is a police/fire/EMS dispatcher and my son in law works for the town so he is out plowing. I don’t miss the anxiety of worrying about trucks breaking down or getting stuck or anything else that can go wrong. The cons are that I will miss a windfall of money I would have made and I’m in a very small way missing being out in a big truck with an 11’ plow opening up unplowed roads. There is a bit of a thrill doing that, but it wears off after hours and hours. Heading out to clear the driveway now, pics to follow….

Same viewpoint, with 12+ on the ground already. Still snowing very hard, hope you coastal guys are okay

Progression of the storm up till now. It is still snowing heavily, so not even going to attempt cleaning anything up yet. Note in the last picture, the blower is covered now.

I broomed 1/8" off the back porch this morning...

About the same here in depth and snow rate. This week I got out the plow and pushed the rain-softened banks along the drive and walks back several feet to make room for all this new stuff. Enjoying a quiet breakfast before starting to do battle.

We stand ready for snow year-round. Generator full. Extra fuel. Extra food. Good to go.

Yesterday evening my daughter wanted to drive the fastest tractor I've got. I told her to take the Bronco for a spin. I think she's hooked!

Took the 417 out but didn’t get far, something happened with the PTO. I’m not sure what but I didn’t feel like messing with it and this is a lot of heavy wet so I parked it. It was time for the Ford 545-C. Thank goodness I had it because it really made short work of it. After I cleaned off most of the driveway I moved the vehicles into the cleared area to clean them off. After that I wanted to clean that area again and the area where they were parked but the 545 wouldn’t start, so out came the 418-C for the clean up! Thank goodness I had a backup, and a backup for my backup 😂😂 All said and done we got about two feet of snow. Just came in to put a log on the fire and take a nap!

You know it's cold when you have to warm up the little propane tank with a heat gun in order to get a flame out of it! Used the torch to heat and re-shape that broken idler spring. Drive belt and tractor is back in business for now, although it will need some permanent attention when it warms up.

My back deck

Hear we go again another big storm. ARE YOU READY. I am using two snow blowers.The 1056 RAT with a plow. And the generator is standing by. Should be a good one.

Riding the storm out............

Settled on a Gloss Smoke Gray for the lower/wider stripe. If you’re wondering how I came up with this color decision…well it was in stock in my paint cabinet! Looks very different depending on the lighting. Last picture is what I started with.

Don: I always have had enormous respect and fondness for "road warriors" and "first responders" like you, your daughter and son in law --- these are some of the true hidden heroes of our nations core - - together with the utility workers and others they make our communities work ( add in the over night nurses and doctors ) -- often faceless at an overnight shift dispatching 911 calls -- or driving a plow at 3 a.m. --- or climbing an electric pole in the middle of the night in driving rain to restore power to your home. I had the blessing in my career to over see thousands of those folks ---- so I witnessed up front their value and contributions to keeping our communities safe and thriving -- i stood in the highway garage watching as many dozens of those crews came and left all nite long with another load of salt after perhaps a one hour nap and another coffee to keep our county roads safe -- stood along side a room full of 911 dispatchers over nite in the middle of a hurricaine as they dispatched another ambulance or rescue team - or a police officer racing to a scene. ----------------- As you stated you miss the job and your contribution to your community but impressive to know your family follows in your footsteps -- sooooooo enjoy doing your driveway running those "Red Horses" - but know we all appreciate the sacrifices you and they make for our families.

I can honestly say this is the 2nd biggest snow we've had this year.. As much as I like to push snow I do not envy u guys that are getting hammered. Staybwarm and safe out there!

Yes there is. It's priceless and something that can't be bought or even given to you. "Honor is a man’s gift to himself" suggests that honor is an intrinsic quality, shaped by personal values and integrity. It emphasizes that true honor cannot be bestowed by others; rather, it is cultivated through self-respect and moral choices. This concept implies that a person's sense of honor is a reflection of their character and beliefs, guiding their actions and decisions in life." ( Search "John Artis" A man that did 15 years in prison because he would not falsely testify against his friend. Unlikely that many will recognize that name but will probably recognize his friend"s name ) And just to be clear, I wasn't always Peter Pan and certainly don't claim to be one now! But maybe it's a matter of making amends for being my angry younger self and for some of the things I've done. It was an act of kindness that effected me and it's doubtful that person even realizes they made a difference. I'm a slow learner when it comes to things like this. And I'd bet Don feels pretty good about helping and it cost him $0 to do it.

Here today, the 48" plow was not the first choice. The 854 with the 32" snowblower and the 24" Ariens walk behind got worked hard. Tomorrow - final clean up with the plow. The roads are not even plowed yet!!

I would have replaced the head bolts. My Mennonite hardware store just re-did the nut and bolt bins. Grade 8 Flange head bolts. Big drawer full of them. Just bought 7 of them for my Power King K321 and it was $3 and change.

Only way to tell is order one and see what shows up. I pulled the trigger on one that had that had that pic and got a Rotary aftermarket. I think they just use any old pic. Methinks your right but I have trouble finding bonafide OEMs. Search on the P/N and all the aftermarkets crop up. You mean the graphites? Book says 15-20 ft lbs I went to 17.5 got her hot and retorqued to 17.5 and surprised got a 1/4 - 1/2 turn or better after hot. Sure is nice with some motors to have those holes in the head tin over the bolts.

Well spring supposedly just around the corner but watching you guys get hammered makes me want to load up some equipment and join the fun. Ah the sound of that Onan and a deuce. Belts squealing better back off... naw got a new spare tucked under the seat. and can change it as fast the best pit crews. Bob's cheapy fuel pump moving lots of gas. Stay safe fellas ...

Here in S. Cow Hampshire we've got about 4" more on the ground, but still coming down, mostly sideways. Gonna go all day. Both tractors full, genny full and all gas cans full as well as the fridge and bar I'm glad I'm retired. My old boss was so cheap, the company would be open today!

USA beats Canada in OT to win first hockey gold since 1980 'Miracle on Ice' - Yahoo Sports

Man, I hope so cuzz I sure ain't!

That’s great that you guys stay in touch and get together! Thanks for sharing this Steve

This is about as clean as it’s going to get today, it finally stopped snowing at 3:00pm

@WHX?? Definitely advisable to recheck at LEAST 3 times. We've had both small and big block engines need to be retorqued twice.

I've mentioned this source several times and again I remind you folks. Billsplaceshop.com OE Kohler 41 041 10-S. Less than $13. Shipped to your door.

I got a new digital air gauge and filler upper combo deal. Putting the accessories away, I found what looks like a fluid putter inner!

I'm not even attempting anything until tomorrow. WAY too windy for the blower. I'd look like a snowman!

Well I awoke to about 4-5" of wet snow in the driveway. The 416-H with 48" blade made short work of it. That machine is a beast. I used to use the B-100-8 speed which did a fine job, but as age has crept up on me, the hydro transmission and hydro lift of the 416 makes it much easier on this old guy.

Just finished snow blowing, this stuff stuck to the blower like the last time despite the cooking spray.

Praying for safety for all affected! We here in western highlands of Pa are doing well about 2" or 3" so far, they were calling for 5" to 8" so we may have dodged this one, got 17" in the last one, stay safe, and don't overdo the snow removal, some of us aren't as young as we once were.

I buy solid core Belden High Temp wire in bulk along with high temp silicone rubber plug boots. Belden terminals and coil nipples

We have 18+” now and it’s snowing very hard 2’ expected. Snowing at 2”-3” an hour

The basic rules for hockey and soccer are very similar. Hockey is a lot faster pace though. I like to go to the Green Bay Gamblers games when I can. They are in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League. They used to be the fighting-est team around. Always used to joke that we went to a hockey fight and a game broke out. Things have really cleaned up in the last 6 to 8 years though. Not too many fist fights happen any more. The games are still great though.

The BBT has been ridiculous busy as usual. She started doing a second position for the hospital. Accounts Payable. This afternoon we moved the main backyard gate from "open out" to "open in". This makes it easier for us to move snow and also keeps the dog from the possibilities of pushing through the gate. Trina's also been busy for several days replacing the floor in her momma's kitchen. They didn't like the way the other (plastic fiber fake wood) things were laying down. She and her momma put down a 1 x 10 pine floor. Leftovers from the barn build. Polyurethane will be applied soon.

And it would have been but for the heroic defense of goalie Hellebuyck. He should never have to pay for a beer.