Mack Truck Yellow Breakdown

Last week, we got another fifteen inches of snow over the course of two days. I thought the snow was winding down. I was deceived by the warm weather days ahead of the storm by temperatures in the fifties. The snow had receded enough to see the ground  in some places but it did not last. The snow reminds me that spring will be coming someday.

Monday morning found me clearing the driveway with our snowblower.  The drifts in our driveway were well over the top of the mouth of the mouth of the blower which stands at about sixteen inches tall. Afterwards I needed to make a path in our backyard to a secondary wood pile. Upon the return path I was making towards the house, the snowblower quit throwing snow. As I looked down the chain that drives the inner auger paddle was still attached meaning that the belt that drives the auger directly from the engine had broken. I got the blower into the garage and removed the access panel to find the belt shredded.

Lower gear box of the snowblower. Mack Truck Yellow.

 

I bought this snowblower used when we moved here. I found out this week that that the blower was made in the early 80s and belt that drives the auger is a specific size and obviously was going to be hard to locate. I did find the replacement belt online and was ready to order it when I heard of the forecast of more snow coming next week. If I ordered it online it would have taken several days to receive the belt. I called every small engine repair service to locate the belt locally. Luckily, I found one at a farm implement dealer just down the road. What Luck.   Today, I replaced the belt and will continue to use the snowblower until it decides that I need to tinker with it some more. I must say that the blower is a very handy machine that beats shoveling a lot of snow and makes quick work of our driveway.

Boo, our cat,

Burr Oak

There are a lot of Burr Oak trees around here. I had not given them much thought about photographing them until this winter. They have really grown on me in the last couple of months. In December, I had seen a row that included a Burr Oak during a heavy snow and remarked how beautiful it was. With still a lot of snow on the ground and the temperature in the forties, causing a dense fog, I drove to their location. I found a safe place to park and walked along a snowmobile trail that paralleled the tree line and here it is.

Ground Hog Day

It sure has been cold lately.The same snow that fell in December remains. Some days are colder than others but spring must surely be around the corner. Davenport's engine would just grunt when I tried to start it. So,I had to charge its battery. Having a dead battery in the winter, is not a good situation to be in.

This time of year the sun seems to hang low in the southern horizon. A major winter storm passed to the south of us in the last 24 hrs.The storm was big enough to make national news with blizzard warnings in many states. We got very little snow as The system brushed by. I have taken many pictures within a couple miles of where I made this image today in western portage county. I just find it interesting place.

 Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow today. I can see why.