This is real simple, but it works. Because my neighbors are doing it and we’re always discussing how to save money. 3 neighbors that get along simply bought a nice snowblower together. They all have each others’ garage codes and whenever it snows, they rotate and take the thing around and hit all three driveways. In essence, if they bought a $900 beast, they only paid $300 for it.
There’s really no reason why every household in the snowy regions needs their own snowblower. I happened to have one already so I don’t participate, but seriously, if you have a group of people you get along with, go buy a nice one jointly, set up a rotation and get it done.
Bonus!
But wait! There’s more! The economy of scale of getting dressed up, gassing the thing up and doing the driveway is only about twice the time/work to do 3 driveways I’ll bet. Then, you get 2 out of 3 snowstorms off. So, over time, you’re now spending 1/3 the cost and only doing 2/3 the work as opposed to going it alone.
Make Sense?
Anyone Else Do This or Share Other Tools?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great idea…..i’ve been toying with buying one for the past 3 record winters here in the Northeast….I think i may try to split one with my next door neighbor.
This sounds really nice. Being able to stay warm and toasty inside and have your driveway get plowed 2/3rds of the time would be excellent. Plus once I get into the groove of shoveling (never had a blower) it’s not so bad so doing the other driveways wouldn’t be a big deal. I imagine the same thing would work for leaf blowers or sprinklers, but they are cheaper so the incentive to group together is less.
True, leaf blower’s another thing you only use a couple times a year but a good one costs several hundred bucks. Seems wasteful for dozens of houses on a street to all have one sitting in the garage when 10 could do the trick!
That idea sounds so good I think I am going to ask my neighbors if they want to do the same thing — and I live in Southern California! 😉
All the best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
Let us know how that works out!
Great idea. Could apply to lawnmowers, too. LOL! Here in the Valley of the We-Do-Mean Sun, mowing three lawns would give you a heat stroke. But the idea of shared ownership is great. You could do that with a lot of expensive household gear…say, a really good electric screwdriver, sander, or pressure sprayer, for example.
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