@jmoor783 That would’ve been my selection, except that we bought a snow plow for our pickup truck about 20-ish years ago, and have only had to shovel the steps and a short walk ever since…
It’s nothing like as heavy or complicated as the professional plows like Fisher or Western, because it was meant to be for homeowner use.
SnowBear: https://www.snowbear.com/Personal-Plow.htm
We bought ours on clearance for less than $500 in the late '90’s from BJ’s Wholesale Cub.
/giphy BJ’s Wholesale
@jmoor783@PhysAssist - Years back I bought something called a “Snow Fox”, which is a little electric snow-thrower that is the ONLY electric I’ve ever had which could actually deal with wet snow. Every other electric just chokes and dies on the heavy wet stuff we usually get around the end of February every year, but the Snow Fox, which can be picked up and carried to do stairs, will actually throw the stuff several feet forward and about a foot to the side.
Otherwise you want to be good friends with the neighbor who has the gas snowblower.
@aetris@jmoor783 Yes, the electric snow shovels can be handy, but I don’t think a gas snowblower can do steps/stairs…
I’m waiting for a lithium-ion cordless version, hopefully from Hitachi/Metabo [in order to be compatible with my drills/driver…]
Scooping dog poop minefields after the snow is gone.
Btw, Meh describes a back injury perfectly! Just want to add that once insulted, your back will never forgive. Ruptured L5/S1 here. Let me be your cautionary tale : protect your back at all costs.
@Clumber See my reply to @HChavers above.
You’re too right re: the back being unforgiving.
I had a C6-7 herniation and subsequent discectomy and the recovery from that wasn’t as prolonged or difficult as recovering from herniated L4-5 and L5-S1 discs without surgery when I was 15 years younger.
/giphy disc herniation
@hchavers We had 2 Newfs, and Irish Wolfhound, and a St. Bernard, so we fenced in about 0.75 acres for their “business” yard- but then- see Clumber’s post below.
I live in the South, so there are only a few times ever in my life that I needed to shovel snow.
Instead, the worst is mowing the lawn, since due to the high humidity you can’t mow early in the morning when it’s still sort of cool (there’s too much dew on the grass) and it’s boiling hot and disgusting the rest of the day. You could try mowing at dusk, but unless you have floodlights all around your house and yard, it might get too dark by the time it stops being hot.
@lljk A manual reel mower does pretty well in wet grass, provided the wheels can keep traction. It does no good if the whole thing is sliding along.
Also, I’ve had pretty good experience mowing with a headlamp. I sometimes miss a spot or two, or I end up going over some parts twice, but it’s pretty good.
it might get too dark by the time it stops being hot.
If you waited for this around here the neighbors might get a bit pissed at you. The tend to frown on people mowing their lawns at 3AM.
/giphy mowing at night
Cleaning the gutters. If I wait until most of the leaves have dropped (i.e., avoid doing it multiple times per season), that usually means it is wet and cold. And don’t get me started about ladders.
Both houses I’ve owned were new construction without mature trees, so I’ve never had to rake leaves, sweep the deck, or clean the gutters. Shoveling snow isn’t great, but it gave me an excuse to skip the gym that day. Mowing was time-consuming, but was satisfying in an OCD-ish way.
All that said: I’m super happy I now live in a downtown apartment and never have to worry about any of that. You don’t appreciate how much time you spend on it until you don’t have to.
I don’t mind weeding as long as the weather is nice and I can put on some music but I like gardening. I hate raking leaves, the wind blows them and you have to rake them again and then you get your neighbors blown into your yard. It just seems like it never ends.
Burying (deceased) pets. It’s sad and when you have large dogs, it’s a major chore. I finally told the kids no more pets I couldn’t bury with a posthole digger.
Cleaning out the chicken coop/roosts.
/giphy dirty chickens
@Mehrocco_Mole Bingo!
@Mehrocco_Mole @tweezak yep, it’s a PITA, but the black gold that comes out of there pays off in spades in the garden!
@chienfou Yup! Spends a year in the compost pile first though. Chicken manure to strong to put directly into a garden. It would burn anything planted.
@chienfou @Mehrocco_Mole also, the heat of composting is supposed to kill off any bad bacteria (ie: salmonella) that could end up in your food.
Everyone not selecting shoveling snow has never had to shovel a foot of wet snow off of a gravel driveway
@jmoor783 ugh gravel driveways just make it that much worse. I do hate weeding though
@jmoor783 That would’ve been my selection, except that we bought a snow plow for our pickup truck about 20-ish years ago, and have only had to shovel the steps and a short walk ever since…
It’s nothing like as heavy or complicated as the professional plows like Fisher or Western, because it was meant to be for homeowner use.
SnowBear: https://www.snowbear.com/Personal-Plow.htm
We bought ours on clearance for less than $500 in the late '90’s from BJ’s Wholesale Cub.
/giphy BJ’s Wholesale
@jmoor783 @PhysAssist - Years back I bought something called a “Snow Fox”, which is a little electric snow-thrower that is the ONLY electric I’ve ever had which could actually deal with wet snow. Every other electric just chokes and dies on the heavy wet stuff we usually get around the end of February every year, but the Snow Fox, which can be picked up and carried to do stairs, will actually throw the stuff several feet forward and about a foot to the side.
Otherwise you want to be good friends with the neighbor who has the gas snowblower.
@aetris @jmoor783 Yes, the electric snow shovels can be handy, but I don’t think a gas snowblower can do steps/stairs…
I’m waiting for a lithium-ion cordless version, hopefully from Hitachi/Metabo [in order to be compatible with my drills/driver…]
Scooping dog poop minefields after the snow is gone.
Btw, Meh describes a back injury perfectly! Just want to add that once insulted, your back will never forgive. Ruptured L5/S1 here. Let me be your cautionary tale : protect your back at all costs.
@Clumber I’m sorry to hear that. How did that happen?
@Clumber See my reply to @HChavers above.
You’re too right re: the back being unforgiving.
I had a C6-7 herniation and subsequent discectomy and the recovery from that wasn’t as prolonged or difficult as recovering from herniated L4-5 and L5-S1 discs without surgery when I was 15 years younger.
/giphy disc herniation
Walking my Great Dane and Saint Barnard after Thanks Giving Dinner leftovers. Two bags. No, make that four.
@hchavers We had 2 Newfs, and Irish Wolfhound, and a St. Bernard, so we fenced in about 0.75 acres for their “business” yard- but then- see Clumber’s post below.
cleaning up the dog deposits.
I live in the South, so there are only a few times ever in my life that I needed to shovel snow.
Instead, the worst is mowing the lawn, since due to the high humidity you can’t mow early in the morning when it’s still sort of cool (there’s too much dew on the grass) and it’s boiling hot and disgusting the rest of the day. You could try mowing at dusk, but unless you have floodlights all around your house and yard, it might get too dark by the time it stops being hot.
@lljk A manual reel mower does pretty well in wet grass, provided the wheels can keep traction. It does no good if the whole thing is sliding along.
Also, I’ve had pretty good experience mowing with a headlamp. I sometimes miss a spot or two, or I end up going over some parts twice, but it’s pretty good.
@lljk
If you waited for this around here the neighbors might get a bit pissed at you. The tend to frown on people mowing their lawns at 3AM.
/giphy mowing at night
Cleaning the gutters. If I wait until most of the leaves have dropped (i.e., avoid doing it multiple times per season), that usually means it is wet and cold. And don’t get me started about ladders.
I really have absolutely no use for any outdoor chore that doesn’t involve beer and barbeque.
Both houses I’ve owned were new construction without mature trees, so I’ve never had to rake leaves, sweep the deck, or clean the gutters. Shoveling snow isn’t great, but it gave me an excuse to skip the gym that day. Mowing was time-consuming, but was satisfying in an OCD-ish way.
All that said: I’m super happy I now live in a downtown apartment and never have to worry about any of that. You don’t appreciate how much time you spend on it until you don’t have to.
@Kabn Isn’t doing the yardwork what your children are for?
/giphy child labor
No dog, no real trees (just bushes), no deck, the wife does the weeding, so shoveling snow. Wait, we haven’t had snow this year, great!
I didn’t vote because there’s not really an outdoor chore I don’t care for.
I don’t mind weeding as long as the weather is nice and I can put on some music but I like gardening. I hate raking leaves, the wind blows them and you have to rake them again and then you get your neighbors blown into your yard. It just seems like it never ends.
Edging.
@PocketBrain edging or EDGING lol
Burying (deceased) pets. It’s sad and when you have large dogs, it’s a major chore. I finally told the kids no more pets I couldn’t bury with a posthole digger.
Replacing brake pads.
Breaking ice.