Late winter 2020: This may soon be my new best friend

[Update: Rather than befriending this expensive snowblower, I adopted a blade for my Cib Cadet, at one third the cost and no need to winterize the summer mower. Added chains for the rear tires. By 2022, I found that removing the cutting deck from the mower helped even more.]

Snow in Wisconsin?! Who would have imagined? Realize that we had our first snow before Halloween and two good hits of snow on Thanksgiving Sunday and on Martin Luther King weekend. In addition, we've had probably six or eight minor snow events, one to three inches. Snow removal, for the most part, has not been a problem, other than for the two larger events. And more major events are likely to hit us in the next 6-8 weeks.

The problem is exacerbated by the large portion of gravel at the foot of our three-car concrete pad. It's difficult to shovel, and after clearing the concrete pad and sidewalks, it's not something I even want to try to do. So I started a hard target search for a snow blower.

Before the snow I tried three different snow removal operators, to no avail. I also have a recommendation via Brad Lamers for another service, but I think I'd be better off doing this myself. I did a preliminary search at Home Depot, but was more confused than impressed. So I did a bit more research. Then yesterday I stopped by Joe's Power Supply just about two miles north of us and found a full line of the oft-recommended Ariens blowers (plus my Toro recycler lawn mower!). The pictured model came recommended by Diar Qastin and I happened to be honing in on this model just before I read his text recommendation.

This $850 base price does not include taxes, set up or delivery. Nor does it include the three-year maintenance plan I'll probably want to purchase. The last thing I want is to repair the blower or, worse, have a blower that fails to start because of a bad spark plug, bad gas, or some other rookie mistake. The model has a two-stage system for gathering then disbursing the snow, and it has an electric start. I have room in our third garage bay. So, this is as close to a done deal decision as I can imagine.

The add-on costs to moving into a new house continue. We had a scare then a repair of our heating system. I need to buy a maintenance contract for the system. We just finished the garage -- tapped, mudded, sanded and primed. Shades and blinds, last installation today. Soon a snowblower, then a full lawn in the spring, and a new mower. Sidewalks and curbs are a big expense coming up in 2021. The joy of home ownership has its limits.