Thistleblooms Rambles

Bruce

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I decided the snow should come off the garden shed.
I take it you don't have a roof rake, given your snow it would be a good investment. Safer, easier and more effective than your (quite innovative) shovel on a pole. They aren't very expensive.

Love the animals in the snow pictures. My chickens don't go out in the snow. We got 6" last night, the alpacas only went out their door far enough to be out of my way while I scooped poop. I don't know what our cat's would do if they were allowed outside though the cat across the road comes to check the property and upper barn area pretty much every day. No evidence of him today though.
 

thistlebloom

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Miss @thistlebloom,

You certainly have a beautiful place! I imagine you feel quite lucky!

Senile Texas Aggie

Thank you @STA. Yes, we do love it here and feel so blessed to have all that we do. I confess there are days when I get winter weary, but when the sun shines on all that glory I can forgive the aching back and know that it is brief enough. If 5 months is brief enough, lol.


I take it you don't have a roof rake, given your snow it would be a good investment. Safer, easier and more effective than your (quite innovative) shovel on a pole. They aren't very expensive.

I know. We are usually behind the curve of progress here. Like that innovative shovel? Haha. Dh uses it when he's up on the roof to push blocks of snow off. I use the garden rake upside down to pull snow off when I'm on the ground, or in this case on the ladder (in snowshoes, please don't tell OSHA) The poleshovel added a little umph to get under the snow and break it up.

However, given the slow wheel of progress around here, we are the new proud owners of an Avalanche snow removal slip-n-slide dealie. It still doesn't reach the peak of the roof, but if we can get most of it without my husband getting up there I'm happy. Probably should have ordered the combo with the rake included.
 

Bruce

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I saw those when I looked at roof rakes thinking I might post a picture in case you didn't know what they were. I guess as it rolls up the roof it is supposed to cut into the snow and the snow then slides down the plastic (onto your head ;) )??
What happens if the snow is heavy? I would think the wheels would ride up on the snow rather than staying on the roof.

Snowshoes on a ladder? I'd likely kill myself as the triangular gripping part got caught on the rungs.
 

thistlebloom

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The Avalanche works really well as a matter of fact. It's best to do it before the snow is higher than the cutter opening, the wheels help protect your roof and don't ride up on the snow, and sometimes you may get avalanched, lol.
I think the steeper your roof is the more likely that may be.

We borrowed the neighbors to make sure we liked how it worked, but dh still got on the roof because the 17' handle doesn't quite make it to the peak. It will give your shoulders a good workout, especially if it's wet snow.
 

thistlebloom

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I just ordered the Avalanche rake. I'm able to pull better than push overhead, so on days when dh is working I can get ahead of the snow accumulation with the rake. Also it will be easier to use from the ground on the animal shelters.
I don't mind getting up there, but walking around on them doesn't seem like the best plan for roof longevity.
They are metal roofs, so if it's wet snow they get a little slick which makes it more thrilling than I like.
 

Bruce

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The Avalanche works really well as a matter of fact. It's best to do it before the snow is higher than the cutter opening, the wheels help protect your roof and don't ride up on the snow, and sometimes you may get avalanched, lol.
I think the steeper your roof is the more likely that may be.

We borrowed the neighbors to make sure we liked how it worked, but dh still got on the roof because the 17' handle doesn't quite make it to the peak. It will give your shoulders a good workout, especially if it's wet snow.
You could lash it to a long pole, similar to the fance shovel extension :D I would guess that if you got even 80% of the snow up toward the peak off it would be good enough with respect to snow load. Plus the sun (if you ever get any) would heat the metal and maybe help the upper part decide it should slide down on its own.

One of the things I like about my rake is that it has a bend in the handle up rear the rake. Seems like without that you would need to be on a ladder anyway or the handle would just ride up on the roof edge and not touch the roof at all. The wheels do seem like a good idea if you have a metal roof improperly installed with the screws in the ridges instead of down on the deck.
 

thistlebloom

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The horse sheds have metal roofs. The house has asphalt shingles, so no sliding snow going on there.
I saw rakes with an angled head, they were described as for motorhomes and big rig roofs.

You could lash it to a long pole, similar to the fance shovel extension

We like that fancy stuff! :D Our neighbors came over Saturday and borrowed two extension poles from our brand new unit to make their pole longer. One of our poles developed a little crack (they are replacing it for us). Probably because the weight of the extra 10ish feet was a little much.

Looks like we'll be getting more snow, and hopefully not rain, so I can play with it a little.
I agree with what you said about getting 80% off being sufficient, but my OCD better half is a hard one to convince of that.
 

thistlebloom

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My rake came today, but the tv weather says if we're hoping for snow we're going to be disappointed. Looks like the warm temps and rain are sticking around into February. So I may not get to play with the rake much this winter.
I said once that the 200" of snow would probably happen all at once and I'm still betting on that.
I bet 5 bucks it comes on my birthday in March when we think we're out of the woods.. Yay. Happy Birthday me. 😬
 
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