Episode 37: Digging out

[@davidnelson6008]

I highly recommend a walk behind snowblower on tracks if you can swing it.

[@lifetolive_one]

I have a small Toro push snowblower. Definitely tougher to get around, but I like that it's so light and maneuverable.

[@Neilywop]

Hang in there. Ya need a big 2-stage walk behind snowblower. Thanks for the videos

[@terencecampbell8363]

Proper tools will help a ton. A good snow blower for starters. Maybe go as far as a 4wheeler with a plow.

[@lifetolive_one]

The mini excavator is a game changer. I do have a small Toro snowblower that's also helpful.

[@BS.-.-]

It's easier dealing with snow if you dont let it sit for a month then try to remove it. Also a tracked snow blower chews through packed snow prety good.

[@lifetolive_one]

100% agree on not waiting, but I made the mistake of traveling for the entire month of January -- a mistake I will not be making again! I do have a small Toro snowblower, just a push one. Although it's harder to push around, it's light and maneuverable, which works well in my situation to get around my home, etc.

[@lorencolt]

At least you got a real shovel not that cityfide yellow one. In the 50s-60s we had to drive cross country about 10 miles to get to the country school house. My father and sister 12Yr. would hit the drifts at 60 MPH get stuck and dig themselves out then do it all over again. My father would come at night by himself to pick her up. We had a windmill to produce Elec. and Hydrogen that was stored in a tractor inner-tube anchored in a water tank to pressurize the gas for cooking. In 1964 I have a picture of my father and his Cat D4 dozer parked on a drift behind our house. All of the house was buried except for the doorway path and the chimney sticking out of the snow. The roof of the outhouse was blown away in that blizzard, we did not find it until springtime. My mother would hang cloth diapers to dry in the living room but they would freeze before the dried out. I think I was the toughest of us all! Frozen diapers build character.

[@petechabot8948]

Dude get a snowblower Sheet metal lower 4 feet Cool building, great job!!

[@lifetolive_one]

Oh I have a snowblower, it couldn't even begin to handle that thick, frozen snow. That's what I get for traveling for an entire month in the winter ;)

[@luvnotvideos]

For the winter season you should just keep the center brace in place in the yurt. The snow will fall regardless of whether you're there or not. I totally understand the desire for space, but if a blizzard hits and you can't safely leave the yurt (people get lost in their own yard in blizzard conditions), the last thing you need is for the roof to give in while you sleep.

[@lifetolive_one]

That's not a bad idea. It would complicate the insulation situation a bit, but that could probably be worked around. However, even with the center support, I don't think that guarantees the building won't collapse, as there will still be a good amount of pressure on the sides from the snow load. It certainly helps, but it doesn't give me 100% confidence. Thus far I've just kept a close watch on the weather, and thankfully I have friends who could, in a pinch, pull the snow off the roof if I'm not around.

[@greggmcclelland8430]

I have an ego snowblower. The battery does not last as long as a tank of gas in a gas powered snow blower, but It is a lot quieter and you can use the batteries for other things throughout the year. If you were to get a solar panel setup. I also have standardized on Dewalt 20V tools. I would get a Dewalt 12 inch chainsaw for quick limbing, but then anything bigger, I would get a stihl MS 261 cm or larger for cutting firewood. That is the best chainsaw I have ever used. I apologize in advance if you already documented something like this.

[@lifetolive_one]

I have gas-powered Toro snowblower. It does not have powered drive, but it is very small, light, and maneuverable, which is very helpful around my buildings. I think the solar setup required to recharge those kinds of batteries would be pretty ambitious in my situation. I'm still struggling to get one decent panel up! I have all Dewalt 20V/60V tools. The 60V miter saw has been a real godsend. I also have a 60V chainsaw, 16" I think, and that has been more than enough to handle all my cutting needs, especially with the 9amp battery. If that thing died, I would immediately buy another one, I love it!

[@peterbeyer5755]

Build a rocket stove mass heater! It they break, which is rare, you can fix them yourself.

[@bjrnericwang2093]

I concur, living like this its the way to go.

[@artyrtrapeznikov8742]

Зимой снег с теплицы сам сползает или приходится стряхивать?

[@lifetolive_one]

Translation: In winter, does the snow slide off the greenhouse on its own or does it have to be brushed off? Great question! Sometimes it sticks at the very top, and a simple bump on the inside of the plastic shakes it off. That might not even be necessary, but I've been pretty conservative about snow pileup on my buildings, because the last thing I want is for them to collapse!

[@spiralforces]

for that tuff thick snow you really need a #2 steel coal shovel :)

[@lifetolive_one]

Thanks for the tip! I started with one of those wide plastic snow shovels, which totally sucked, and ended up moving to a grain shovel, which actually worked fairly well. How does a #2 steel shovel compare to the grain shovel?

[@spiralforces]

the grain shovel works great for light fluffy powder and can move more volume, but when you find yourself dealing with tougher snow that is well set up or been through a freeze thaw cycle or two the #2 steel coal shovel shines. The stronger (but heavier) steel allows you to be more aggressive without worry of bending or kinking, you can punch a ~16" square vertically in the crud snow and scoop it out in one or two shovel fulls horizontally. Truper makes a good one that has a 36" long handle with a "D" shaped grip at the end. Once you get use to driving one you'll love it in the tuff stuff.

[@lifetolive_one]

Sweet, nice recommendation. I've made a note to pick one up!

[@flairmaister]

what is is like regarding building permits out there?

[@lifetolive_one]

I believe everything I've built would be classified as 'temporary' or 'seasonal dwelling' -- if I put up something more permanent I'd have to get into building permits.

[@Grunttamer]

There were plenty of points where you had shoveled all that was necessary and you could have stopped. Like why dig out the shed? The snow along the sides wasn’t going to hurt anything if it had already been there a month

[@lifetolive_one]

Well, that seems like a matter of opinion. It might have been OK to leave it, but as I showed earlier in the video, there were places where it was pressing up against the frame that seemed concerning to me. I suppose there's also the simple desire to be able to walk around my damn building ;)

[@Grunttamer]

@@lifetolive_one I get that but in the video you could tell you got fixated to the point you were talking about quitting over it. We all have our pet peeves though lol

[@lifetolive_one]

We probably just see things differently. I don't see it as 'fixated', because my relationship with snow management goes well beyond this one frustrating episode. I wasn't ready to quit because this one thing was hard -- instead, I recognize that, although I've gotten used to a lot of hard things out there, this one *might* be something I"m not willing to deal with in my life, unless I can figure out some other way to relate to it.