# Night snow blowing



## rnaude241 (Nov 24, 2013)

What is everyone's thought on acceptable times to snow blow at night? I am thinking of going out around 10:30pm so that I don't have an insane amount to clear in the morning.


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

rnaude241 said:


> What is everyone's thought on acceptable times to snow blow at night? I am thinking of going out around 10:30pm so that I don't have an insane amount to clear in the morning.



How many neighbors do you have close by?
How much snow do you have right now?

I am still waiting in NJ have around 3"right now and the flakes stopped.

The forecasters suck!!!
They said by now we would have been getting hammered.
now it will be midnight, then they will probably move that to 4 am, then 8am.
They suck!!!


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## InfernoST (Feb 12, 2014)

Big Ed said:


> How many neighbors do you have close by?
> How much snow do you have right now?
> 
> I am still waiting in NJ have around 3"right now and the flakes stopped.
> ...


++1


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## rnaude241 (Nov 24, 2013)

We have about 4 inches so far. Neighbors are on both sides of me. Both older women who live by themselves. On going out either way.


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

rnaude241 said:


> We have about 4 inches so far. Neighbors are on both sides of me. Both older women who live by themselves. On going out either way.


Well all they can do is cuss you out as they watch.

I have went out at 3 in the morning to blow the big stuff by the road so I could get out of the drive to go to work.
No one said anything, at least not to my face.


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

rnaude241 said:


> We have about 4 inches so far. Neighbors are on both sides of me. Both older women who live by themselves. On going out either way.


So they are retired and probably have nothing from stopping them taking an afternoon nap right ?  I'd say up to 11pm and after around 7:00 am would be plenty fair.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Pathfinder13 said:


> So they are retired and probably have nothing from stopping them taking an afternoon nap right ?  I'd say up to 11pm and after around 7:00 am would be plenty fair.


It can be a dilemma. I was very fortunate that when it snowed I never had to go to work (school teacher) but I could see where it could be a huge problem for some. But even if I did have to blow snow I think the above posted hours would be the limit. Just the right thing to do. IMHO. Just consider how you would want others to treat you. Always a good yardstick.


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

Your snowblowers must be loud to worry about that. Me pissing in the wind is probably louder than my snowblower running. At least I can't hear it when my neighbours Honda is running. I have no problem hearing text on my cell coming in when my snowblower is running and I can't hear them half the time while mowing the lawn. If you are worried about your elderly neighbours that much just open their driveways too and they'll have no choice but to hush.


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## Ryan (Dec 13, 2013)

Yup I take care of my elderly neighbors. They take care of me when they can and are great neighbors. The ones that were not great neighbors became great neighbors when they would come out to find their walks and driveway already taken care of. They didn't think there were nice people left in the world anymore.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

At whatever hour you must run it to meet your needs. As loud as it may seem to you it's mainly white noise inside a neighbors home in the winter. Besides, the world needs to keep going and there will only be a few events like that per year.

Pete


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

Pete,
Great reply. 
I go out and clear when needed, no matter what time of day it is. It needs to get done whe it needs to get done. It all depends how much you are getting and how much your machine can handle. There are a lot of factors to include. 



Spectrum said:


> At whatever hour you must run it to meet your needs. As loud as it may seem to you it's mainly white noise inside a neighbors home in the winter. Besides, the world needs to keep going and there will only be a few events like that per year.
> 
> Pete


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

I think that impending amounts, also matters. With what you folks are facing, I'd say that anytime is acceptable. If it's a one time pass through 4"-5" inch storm, then it can wait.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

Coby7 said:


> Your snowblowers must be loud to worry about that. Me pissing in the wind is probably louder than my snowblower running. At least I can't hear it when my neighbours Honda is running. I have no problem hearing text on my cell coming in when my snowblower is running and I can't hear them half the time while mowing the lawn. If you are worried about your elderly neighbours that much just open their driveways too and they'll have no choice but to hush.



Old antiquated flat head engines are much louder than Honda engines. I used to have a 5hp Tecumseh and it' s bark was definitely bigger than it's bite. The Predator 212cc is so quiet that I can barely hear it inside my house when it is running. Get a Honda or a Honda clone if you want to blow your driveway late at night or extra early in the morning. My neighbor used to use his dad's old 8hp snow blower and it must of had a rusted out muffler because I could hear that thing as plain as can be from inside my house.


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## tinter (Apr 20, 2014)

I usually don't run my machine after 10pm but I'm usually the first in the neighborhood in the morning. 5-5:30 my Honda is super quiet, I also do the neighbors driveway.


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## joee5 (Nov 30, 2014)

Just got done at 0445. Started around 0405. Did my walk and drive as well as both elderly neighbors walks on either side of me. If they were to say something, then next storm they are on their own.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

the winter after I first moved into this house we had what turned out to be a blizzard. I blew snow for me and a couple neighbors around 11a before heading to mom's and a hand full of customers I still had. it was going on 6pm when I got home and blew snow again, dark out but still early. I ended up blowing snow again at 11:30pm, 4am and 7am. I had a few neighbors complain about the noise, I which I pointed out the amount of snow at two vacant houses that are next to each other and explained why I was out blowing snow so late / early. a few said that they should have gotten off their butts and blew snow when I did mine


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## Koenig041 (Dec 18, 2013)

Safety first. If you think it will be a problem waiting until acceptable hours, go ahead and handle your business. They will get over it. I would feel bad about waking up small children. But older folks will get over it. 

I'm a retired detective and would get called out in the middle of the night when on call. It was not uncommon for me to make passes at 3 or 4 in the morning. I would rather make two passes of 6 to 8 inches of show then one pass of 12 to 16 inches.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

On old Briggs they make l o - tone muffler s which can quiet down the old Briggs flat head a a bit. Still not as quiet as a Honda but better. As to Tecumseh I am not sure if the have better mufflers.


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## djturnz (Feb 2, 2011)

I know a few times when it snowed over night I'd get up at 3:30, which is only an hour earlier that usual, to go clear my driveway. I never used the blower, thinking i'd **** off my neighbors. If it's a lot though, I think I will. My wife won't run the blower and I don't want her to try to shovel, which she will, even when I tell her not to.


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## Blizzard (Jan 14, 2015)

I will run mine when ever it is needed. Houses are closed up in winter and it is not that loud inside. Sometimes I get home late, or need to leave early and the driveway needs to be cleared, I don't think twice about the time, it just needs to be done. I also would not complain if someone else was blowing snow in the middle of the night.


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## Pathfinder13 (Feb 28, 2014)

db9938 said:


> I think that impending amounts, also matters. With what you folks are facing, I'd say that anytime is acceptable. If it's a one time pass through 4"-5" inch storm, then it can wait.



I can agree with that, and also as early as you need if you have to get out.


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## rnaude241 (Nov 24, 2013)

Thanks guys your thoughts echo mine. I went out last night, and got down to pavement but it didn't matter. at 7am there as about 14 inches on the ground. I live in the country, but we have a sidewalk we should clear, but with plows it's over 2FT of snow. I'll be having fun for a while out there later on.


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## scastro901 (Oct 5, 2014)

If you're overly concerned, most towns have noise ordinance laws with defined times that can be different from town to town. 

The average seems to be 11pm-7am. 

That being said, I agree with everyone that storms with massive accumulations are exceptional. Also snow blowers are loud, but not even close to what those ordinances are trying to protect the residents from (like garbage truck pickups, heavy machinery & construction, etc)

Also, if the snow is accumulating that aggressively overnight, no one is going to work anyway so if their sleep gets disturbed it's more forgivable since again it's an exceptional situation. 

If you have an uptight neighbor who has the balls to call the police about you violating a noice ordinance, the worst that can happen IMO is an officer giving you a heads up.

As for the respect side, not the law side, I am in a packed house neighborhood with plenty of snow blowers and when they operate, you can hear them in your house, but it's definitely a noise I can sleep through. And if I was awaken overnight by the sound of a snowblower, I'd be excited to see the snow that's so intense it has neighbors doing overnight removal. Plus again, no work or a shut down society the next day would have me excited too!

In closing, because of the law and respect considerations, use the high end of your judgement thresholds for the risk vs reward.

In all honesty, if you feel the need to clear snow overnight because you'll be screwed if you don't, just know those neighbors you wake up are just as screwed, plus woken up now lol - that's one way of looking at waiting.


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## rjgvt (Dec 29, 2014)

I'll snowblow in the evening until 9pm. If the storm stops overnight, I'll start my pre-snowlowing shoveling at 4:30am, then snowblow. Goal is to be done by 5:30am to get ready for work and out of the door by 6am. Neighbors have never said anything, but I'll help them with the ends of their driveways with my tractor/snowblower if we get a lot of snow. I use my walk behind for making a trail behind the house. I'll do the cleanup stuff around the house after work.

My neighbors probably think I'm nuts anyways, my U-shaped driveway is usually cleared down to the blacktop, even if we get an inch/day. I use a snowblower, 4' and 26" shovels and 2 ice scrapers to keep it clear.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

I can't think of too many things more delightful to fall asleep to than the drone of a snow blower.


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## hallm (Feb 9, 2014)

*When you gota go you gota blow!*

I have owned my home and a snowblower for 25 years in a single family home residential neighbourhood. When I first moved here I was surrounded by seniors and there were only a couple of us with blowers on the block. Snowblowing is like painting your house, one room leads to another, so the neighbours were taken care of as well when I am out blowing. 

I work at a hospital so I am expected to be at work when everyone else gets a snow day. I would use my blower whenever I was concerned that waiting ‘till the end of the storm’ would prove too difficult to clear it without a large time commitment before leaving for work in the morning. I would sometimes be out after 11pm and for sure if the plow filled in the end of the driveway with the Portland cement stuff that they like to push around. I have never had a neighbour complain to me, or the police show up because I was bothering anybody. Now that I have a new blower, it is a lot quieter than my old Tecumseh powered unit.

My rinky dinky snowblower is nothing compared to our city plows and graders who serenade us with their large straining diesel engines, back up alarms, and multiple passes in the middle of the night. I guess the only time I would be concerned about disturbing anybody is if there was a history of having a neighbour who was a known complainer for just about anything happening in the neighbourhood.


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## topher5150 (Nov 5, 2014)

In our neighborhood houses are pretty close together, usually just a drive way separating them. I've been observing when everyone else snow blows, and most people will go out and blow around 6:30-7:00 a.m., and there were a couple of times when a storm ended kind of late at night I would hear people blowing 10:00-11:00 p.m.


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## Bror Jace (Jan 13, 2015)

It's gotta get done. Even in a residential area, anytime there's a lotta snow, it's a good time to blow. I've gone out at 5:00am 'cuz I had to leave at 6:00am. Never had anyone complain. Likewise blowing at 11:00pm.

I now live in an apartment complex and this morning at 4:00am, a pick-up started plowing. The noise wasn't too bad. What really got me was the stupid amber light going. Even with the shades down, it woke me up. 

Now THAT was annoying!


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## Soulcoffr (Sep 26, 2014)

In Dubuque, Iowa, snow removal equipment is exempted from the noise ordinance. It's considered an emergency/safety operation.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

I got home from blowing snow at my sisters right at 6pm, sun was down. one of my neighbors came down and asked if it would blow her snow. i told her I would dig out when I got home from henry's cause I would be clearing some parking spots in front of a few houses and digging by buddy's van out. the neighbors wouldn't have complained about me blowing snow but I was ready for a break


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## SnowG (Dec 5, 2014)

I think 6am to 10pm should be the general guideline. But there are exceptions, e.g. for emergencies or if you're expecting a wet snow to freeze hard overnight. 

My next door neighbor has twin babies and a toddler so I don't blow after 7 or 7:30PM if I can help it. (You'll understand that if you've ever dealt with cranky babies whose sleep is disrupted or can't get to sleep.)


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## 404 (Feb 1, 2015)

The snow really soaks up a lot of noise.. When we are inside a snowblower next door sounds like a purring cat. You have to do what you have to do.


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## Skeet Shooter (Oct 2, 2014)

I would also say that the newer blowers seem to me to be much quieter. My Tecumseh 10.5 hp on my Husqvarna sounds like a harley at full rev compared to my Toro or Honda. 

Now I had to clear snow last night at my investment property... All the houses are multi-family, around 9pm last night. No problems. I've also cleared at 5am in the past. I did have one tenant complain to me 2 years ago about that, but he is a complainer in general. I told him, I have to be at work, and you want to get out and back in so I need to get it done. 

Either way, I have never gotten any complaints from neighbors, and the way I look at it is at my investment property, its Low income housing, and unfortunately a lot of scum in the area. Its a funny thing to wake up the hoodies at 6am on a saturday or sunday morning...


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