New neighbors insisted on using my snowblower

[Anonymous]

Why the hate for boomers? They are the most generous people on our street and in our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure why you leapt from an N of 1 to a whole generation, but you do you.

+1 I love these posts on DCUM where people take an anecdote and attribute it to the whole population they’re discussing.

It’s like those posters never took a math class, let alone a statistics class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You're selfish for not having shared your equipment and taught them how to use it. My snowblowing neighbor does both sides of the whole street.

You're also nasty and stupid for generalizing one incident to an entire generation.

np.. but imagine if the whole neighborhood asked OP to use their snowblower.

My neighbor has a super-duper snowblower, doesn't want anyone to touch it, so he happily does all our sidewalks

He's really nice and his kid is lovely too.

Maybe you should learn a lesson from this, OP.

+1. My elderly parents had a neighbor who snowblowed their driveway and sidewalks without them even asking at their home. Every year my parents would give him a savings bonds as a birthday gift for their kid (pretty large gift to repay them for their kindness) .

Sounds like OP is narrowminded and can’t see the bigger picture of what it’s like to be neighborly.

[Anonymous]

The neighbors were presumptuous to ask to borrow this equipment. This was not a shovel, it's a mechanical piece of equipment. Not only because it requires a certain amount of skill, but also because there is liability involved.

It's not like the surly neighbors had no other option. Like most homeowners, they could use their shovel.

I had a neighbor ask me if she could borrow my living room for a meeting. I couldn't believe that.

[Anonymous]

I would have done it for them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a snowblower (8hp 27", so a modest beast) I blow out around 8 of our neighbors; driveways. I wouldn't lend it out. For many reasons. They are finicky and can get bogged down with too wet of snow and you can scorch the drive belts easily if you overload it. If you walk too fast you can overload the auger. Rocks can get wedged in the auger and you have to get them out carefully. Managing the discharge chute is a continuous process so you don't throw snow onto cars, windows, kids, etc.I've got 50 years of experience doing that. Most important, the snow at 9am Sunday was something the snowblower could handle. The snow with 4" of sleet mixed in was not blowable. So they missed the window of using the snowblower anyway.

This. There is no way I would lend a snowblower to someone who doesn't have a lot of experience using one. Also, they are expensive. A good snowblower can cost several thousand dollars. Do people really loan these kinds of things to people they don't know?

Also, the people who are saying that OP should have said, "no, but I'll use it myself to clear you out," clearly didn't use a snowblower today. My neighbor has one and I (60-year-old woman) was actually faster with my shovel on the front walk (that we had shoveled a few times already) than he was clearing a path down his driveway. The snow was like a brick and the blower was not happy. (I used the heel of my boot to break it up the snow on my walk before shoveling). (He was forced to use it because he's not in shoveling shape, and at 60 years old, I'm sorry to say that I'm not offering to do more shoveling than I have to. But we are friendly and we commiserated with one another.)

We don't have a snowblower, but I grew up in New England and my father ha one. Even with loose, light snow, operating a snowblower properly takes time. It's quite rude to expect someone to do it for you IMO. I imagine OP's DH, who blew out the snow on his own driveway so he could go to work, doesn't really want to come home from work and snowplow the neighbors (who were home all day) in the dark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least now they know not to knock on your door and ask to use your lawn mower.

I would loan a lawn mower personally, they are easy to use and they don't cost $2k. I would not loan a snowblower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:YTA we have a snowblower. My husband snow blows the sidewalk up and down the street and neighbors borrowed the snowblower to do their driveway and walkway. Today two neighbors borrowed our snowblower and one of them used it to dig out a third neighbor who is a single elderly woman.
We were happy to lend them our snowblower.

This sort of behavior just incentivizes others to be lazy and overly dependent. Not good for your neighborhood or for our society. Why don’t your neighbors have their own snowblowers? Do they mow your lawn in the summer because you don’t have a lawnmower? Doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a snowblower (8hp 27", so a modest beast) I blow out around 8 of our neighbors; driveways. I wouldn't lend it out. For many reasons. They are finicky and can get bogged down with too wet of snow and you can scorch the drive belts easily if you overload it. If you walk too fast you can overload the auger. Rocks can get wedged in the auger and you have to get them out carefully. Managing the discharge chute is a continuous process so you don't throw snow onto cars, windows, kids, etc.I've got 50 years of experience doing that. Most important, the snow at 9am Sunday was something the snowblower could handle. The snow with 4" of sleet mixed in was not blowable. So they missed the window of using the snowblower anyway.

This. There is no way I would lend a snowblower to someone who doesn't have a lot of experience using one. Also, they are expensive. A good snowblower can cost several thousand dollars. Do people really loan these kinds of things to people they don't know?

Also, the people who are saying that OP should have said, "no, but I'll use it myself to clear you out," clearly didn't use a snowblower today. My neighbor has one and I (60-year-old woman) was actually faster with my shovel on the front walk (that we had shoveled a few times already) than he was clearing a path down his driveway. The snow was like a brick and the blower was not happy. (I used the heel of my boot to break it up the snow on my walk before shoveling). (He was forced to use it because he's not in shoveling shape, and at 60 years old, I'm sorry to say that I'm not offering to do more shoveling than I have to. But we are friendly and we commiserated with one another.)

We don't have a snowblower, but I grew up in New England and my father ha one. Even with loose, light snow, operating a snowblower properly takes time. It's quite rude to expect someone to do it for you IMO. I imagine OP's DH, who blew out the snow on his own driveway so he could go to work, doesn't really want to come home from work and snowplow the neighbors (who were home all day) in the dark.

+1. Especially with the conditions we had over the weekend with so much sleet and ice. It would be really easy to damage a snowblower on sleet or ice. They typically have shear bolts that are designed to purposefully break when the blades get stuck or jammed on heavy ice to protect the engine from permanent damage. Problem is, once the bolt breaks the blades stop spinning and the snowblower stops working until a new shear bolt is installed. Would OP’s neighbor happen to have the correct shear bolt or be able to get one in the middle of a snow storm? Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YTA we have a snowblower. My husband snow blows the sidewalk up and down the street and neighbors borrowed the snowblower to do their driveway and walkway. Today two neighbors borrowed our snowblower and one of them used it to dig out a third neighbor who is a single elderly woman.
We were happy to lend them our snowblower.

When it breaks who is paying for the repairs?

We will. It's our snowblower. But why would I think my neighbors would break my snowblower? I have good neighbors.

Sure. And if you owned your own helicopter you would loan that to your neighbor as well so they could fly over to the next county to pick up some groceries during the storm? Why would they break your helicopter, after all, they’re good neighbors!! Proper training on and demonstrated experience with machines and equipment is overrated….

[Anonymous]

I would lend them a shovel, but not my snowblower. Geez, did these people just sit inside looking out the window watching the snow pileup?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get it. That's pretty heavy duty equipment. We're a lawyer family and would never be able to open ourselves up to liability, or put them in possible danger not knowing what they're working with, just to be nice.

We'd probably say "Hey, I get it, but the thing is it's really heavy machinery and it's a huge liability and I'm a lawyer and I just can't. But I can come take a pass this afternoon at 2pm. Would that work for you?"

Sometimes people get mad. I'm not gonna change my principles though. I'm that way to protect everyone.

I'm a lawyer, and I think you are ridiculous. Though I'm not an ambulance chaser, so maybe you have a better handle on things like this.

Not ambulance chasers here either. Surprised you don't have a healthier respect for the financial and personal risks here. Are you familiar with snowblowers?

[Anonymous]

We have never just used our snowblower on our own property. We prioritize helping elderly neighbors but would certainly help a new neighbor.

[Anonymous]

It’s ok to say no.

[Anonymous]

Damn, American suburbia is a hellscape.