HOT PURSUIT
It’s no secret that my relationship with the Toro snowblower I’ve had for the past 20 seasons or so can be a bit rocky at times.
We have that love-hate relationship. It’s wonderful when it works. And beyond frustrating, though I could use some other choice words which I won’t, when it doesn’t. And, of course, when it doesn’t, it’s usually just following a huge snowstorm.
In January after the largest snowfall of the season, I fired up the snowblower to clear out my driveway. It was the first time of the season. I was humming along with about half my driveway done when the thrower stopped pitching the snow into the yard. I was basically pushing snow around and looking like I was creating a path without any snow being cleared away.
It was the first time I’ve ever had problems with the thrower, though I’ve had many issues with other parts of the snowblower over the years. I finished the snow removal by getting out the trusty old shovel. No issues with it other than creating a heavy toll on my back and causing back strain.
I contacted a local hardware store to repair my snowblower. I don’t have any transportation to haul my snowblower around so it’s a big ordeal to get it to the repair shop before any repairs can even begin.
It took a couple of weeks to get my snowblower back. Luckily, I escaped without any additional snow during that time.
About two weeks ago we ended up with another dumping of about four inches of snow. Definitely enough to kick the snowblower into action. Or so I thought.
It fired up immediately after I plugged into the electric starter, but within a minute it shut off. And there was no way of getting it going again. It was later in the evening so I couldn’t call the repair shop.
I waited until the next day thinking maybe it just needed another few hours to rest for whatever reason. Still no luck. It wouldn’t start. By now, I’m fuming and cussing every word imaginable, all directed at the repair shop.
I got on the phone with the repair shop demanding to know why my snowblower wasn’t working after I spent $200 to get it repaired. The poor guy on the other end probably wondered what on earth my problem was.
It didn’t take long for me to realize the joke’s on me.
Keeping his composure, which was something I wasn’t doing, the guy calmly asked me if I had turned the starter on. I’m like, “what are you talking about?” I had no clue what he was referring to. But I quickly learned there is a starter switch that kills the gas to the motor. It had been switched off by the repair technician when they fixed it. I messed around with the button, and lo and behold, the snowblower fired right up.
I pretty much felt like an idiot, which is sometimes fairly easy for me to accomplish. However, to my defense, I had never messed around with the starter switch in the 20 years I’ve owned the machine. It always started when I needed it to. I always noticed the pretty red switch but had no clue what it was for.
The snowblower has fallen back into my good graces and we’re in hot pursuit of enjoying a love relationship again. Until the next battle comes around.