Are You Snow Blower Ready? 5 Tips to Get Running This NY Winter

We are 5 weeks away from the first official day of Winter, December 21, 2022. New Yorkers know the date on the calendar makes little difference to what the weather wants to do. Last weekend it was over 70 degrees and now, 3 days later, snow and ice are in the forecast.

Are you ready for this? Sure, you have your winter jacket, hat, boots, gloves and even a new shovel but is your snow blower in good running condition? Here are 5 steps to make sure it is.

Get our free mobile app

YardCare.com shared some great advice on how to make sure you and your snow blower are ready to go.

5 - Tighten Bolts

• A whole lot of rattling goes on while operating your machine. t’s a good idea to check bolts and screws for proper tightness. Wouldn't be a bad idea to remove the spark plugs before doing this task.

4 - Check the Oil

• According to Consumer Reports, some older snow blowers use a mix of oil in the gas. On newer machines the oil and gas are separate. If your oil looks dark, you should give it a change.

3 - Inspect the Belts

• Are they dry and cracking? Replace them.

2 - Fill the Gas Tank with Fresh Fuel

• According to YardCare.com, you machine should use fuel that is no more than 30 days old. If this is the first use of the season your gas is probably much older than that.

1 - Spray the Chute

• It drives me nuts when the discharge chute gets clogged. An easy fix is to spray it with something like WD-40 prior to use.

Now start your machine! If it starts let it run for a few minutes. Now, let it snow!