I hope everyone is having as easy a winter as we are. When it snowed an inch or so back in back in September, we really freaked, but it cleared and we had a gorgeous Indian summer. Then the end of October came and when we got another inch of snow, we were again concerned. The last time it snowed in October we ended up with 15 feet of snow winter and it didn't stop until April! However, this inch also proved fleeting and again the sun came out. It threatened again in November and we resigned ourselves to winter, but it really wasn't until December that we finally got a significant snow fall and then we got 12 inches in two days! The boys were ecstatic they finally had snow for Christmas, but low and behold we ended up with a brown Christmas. It finally snowed a couple days afterwards and we still have that, but it almost looks as if that might melt this week. Crazy weather this year.
During the two days and 12 inches of snow we all managed to come down with some form of the 24-hour pukies. The kids all had it earlier in the week and were starting to recover. By the time the snow started Kit and I were feeling under-the-weather.
By Sunday afternoon we were feeling better, but not well enough to shovel the 200-yard driveway so Kit could get to work Monday morning. So Kit went to work fabricating a snow removal system his wife and others suggested earlier.
While the boys were shoveling pathways, Kit went to the shop and spent an hour quickly fashioning a grass powered snowplowing machine from various scrap material. By this time it was starting to get dark so we had to hurry to take his new prototype for a test run. Just as the guys went on the test run I saw them leave and ran to get my camera!
Here's what I saw.
A six-and-a-half foot swath, plowed to the gravel. The, uhhh, serpentine pattern out through the field and zigzagging back down the driveway straightened out as they progressed through the learning curve.
Since it was evening the guys were only able to make a pass or two before it got dark, but it was enough that Kit was able get his truck through for work the next morning!
Our very own, free, snowplowing implement, made from leftovers that were previously form boards for our cellar, then shop foundation, barn foundation, and finally these particular ¾-inch plywood pieces were made into a rafter pattern for cutting out our barn rafters. It may be that their last job in life is being repurposed into a snowplow for plowing our driveway behind a team of oxen. Of course a seat was added to the back and five of the boys instinctively knew and quickly volunteered to act as a ballast for the new plow!
However, five boys, the weight of the plow and the 12 inches of snow was a bit much for the oxen, so four jumped off and ran behind while CW's 80 pounds held the plow down.
The next morning proved absolutely gorgeous; blue sky, sunshine, and snow-laden trees made for awesome photography opportunities. The kids and I hurried through schoolwork and housecleaning, and headed outside to enjoy the sun and see if we could learn how to use this snowplow.
By the time I remembered the camera we had managed to remove most of the serpentine look from our driveway which now had a nice straightly plowed look to it!
A few days later it snowed another four inches or so and CW and I again had the chance to tryout the snowplow, while daddy was at work.
By this time CW was beginning to get excited about the possibilities of the snowplow. He was certainly excited after the 4-inch snow fall when we made only two trips down the driveway to clear it and had made a 10-foot swath. He had daddy time us the other day when we used it and we made it down and back through four to five inches of the heaviest, wettest snow imaginable, in seven minutes! That means a 14-minute oxen powered driveway clearing versus two hours of hand shoveling. And it was FREE! The only cost was a few calories burned, but I can afford to lose a few of those!
We also tried it out on clearing pathways from the house to the barn and to the shop. In the past this was also done by shovel and resulted in a path just big enough for a sled or wagon to be pulled along it. But when meeting someone else on this path, one or the other had to step of the trail into the deep snow. I convinced CW to try doing a pass with the team. It was awesome! One pass and now I have a six and a half foot wide path to pull my wagon and sled to the house and barn on. Plenty of room for everyone!
The next weekend Kit added a piece of angle-iron to the bottom of the plow after a few rocks were run over and started chipping away at our plywood. A friend had a scrap piece lying around that fit perfectly. Kit cut it, bent it and then bolted it into place.
Overall, a couple hours of time and a little ingenuity produced a fantastic result!
P.S. Ironically, as Kit was eagerly preparing to try the new metal blade out on the snowplow for the first time, he slipped on a patch of ice and took a very hard fall on his left shoulder. It is likely he won't be able to shovel any significant amount of snow for a long time! How providential the timing of this event!