(ET) First Snow Job

["Darryl McMahon" <darryl econogics com>]

Well, we finally got enough snow to make it worth pulling out the 
Elec-Trak.  (I knew this because my wife asked if I wanted to try it 
out as we had started shoveling the driveway.)

Batteries are old and cold, and shortly after I got started, the 
chains came off the rear tires.  Got them placed again, and used a 
couple of old bungee cords to gather up the slack at the outside of 
the wheels, and seems to have resolved that problem.  Between 
the chains and my weight over the rear wheels, the E12 did not 
have any slipping problems, and we have a pretty good slope on 
our driveway.  I do have to do something about the steering, it slips 
when the tractor is stationary and the blower is lifted.

The 36" blower seems a bit fussy.  No worries about blowing snow 
into the next county - 20 feet seems an optimistic limit, and then 
only with optimum feed and a following breeze.  I learned to match 
the speed and load.  Too little snow in the auger, no throw reach.  
Too much snow in the auger, it binds and stalls.  

Our city driveway is really too small for this machine, spend too 
much time maneuvering.  After the city plow went by, I took it out 
on the street and it did very nicely on the longer runs.  I think I will 
look into converting a conventional snowblower to electric in the 
future for handling the sidewalks and our driveway.  Today we 
shoveled the walks to the driveway, and used the tractor from there.

Still, there was a real sense of satisfaction as I backed the tractor 
up the driveway into the garage, and past the electric Fiero.  I think 
it is time to put the gasoline snowblower up for sale - our last 
gasoline powered appliance.

My wife's overall reaction:  "It's pretty cool."  High praise indeed 
from someone who has lived with so many of my projects 
(successful and otherwise).


Darryl McMahon             http://www.econogics.com
1973 Elec-Trak E12 electric tractor
1974 Auranthetic Charger electric motorcycle
1975 EVA Metro (Renault 12 conversion) electric car
1986 Pontiac Fiero (conversion) electric car
1997 SpinCraft Explorer electric boat
current project - B&D Model 8080 electric reel mower
next project - 1973 Porsche 914 conversion