The house in Wisconsin is causing a little trouble because of snow.

Since no one lives there full time, the snow gets too much time to build up and settle. This is especially difficult where the plow sets up that wake at the end of the driveway. If it isn't taken care of quickly, the bit of melt and freeze turns it into a knee-high wall before just a few days pass.

This hasn't been a problem with my Jeep Wrangler, where the big wheels can float over, and the ground clearance allows it to crawl over the deep and fluffy snow along the driveway. But without the 4x4 engaged, even the Jeep struggles. I've driven over the snow in different bits enough to try to flatten a path, but there's still a 4-foot gap between them were the snow stays deep and the berm remains.

I have a little single-stage snowblower, which works well enough in my driveway and along my sidewalk, but I am the horsepower to move it through the snow, and it's tricky for the two passes I do down the block to get to the sidewalk in front of my house. I've long wanted a self-propelled, which seem almost exclusive to two-stage blowers. I don't need the extra propulsion or digging strength of a two-stage, but it won't hurt. Some of the other old guys, now gone from the neighborhood, had enviable snowblowers, one with a canopy, heated handles, and lamps, and during the really big snows they'd get the whole block, too. I would do that.

I could use the extra oomph of the two-stage in Wisconsin, especially for the plow wake berm wall. And because the drive is a few hundred feet long, and would take four or five passes to clear wide enough to cover the whole drive. I can't justify buying one just for the handful of times it'd be needed or used each winter, so I've considered how to haul one between houses for as long as we own them both. Of course, they're both heavy and big, so lifting one into the back of my Jeep presents a few challenges. I think a small flatbed trailer might be overkill, and then I'd have to figure out how to stow a trailer. So I'm considering a hitch carrier with a ramp that I can get the snowblower on to move between the houses. The Jeep adds a little difficulty with the spare tire back there, and the camera mounted on the spare, but they all seem to have enough neck length to reach, and they do make extenders just in case. And then I still need to stow the carrier, but it seems like I can mount it flat on the wall of the garage when it isn't in use. And it could be used for other cargo in a pinch.

The other option I have is a New Holland tractor with a PTO snowblower attachment. This isn't top of my list because the garage is jammed with stuff, and the tractor is parked having been routed in through the main door instead of the "other" door it's parked next to. Additionally, the tractor has a flail mower attached now, with the snowblower a taunting five feet removed. Without the junk in the garage, it could be as easy as removing the flail, shuffling the tractor over and attaching the snowblower. Some of the stuff is easy, like a ladder and a pallet, but some is obnoxious, like a pallet stacked 6-feet high with boxes filled with books, trailers, and some other cruft that's been added. Finally, as if that's not difficult enough to just muscle through, the tractor hasn't been used in about four or five years, so the condition of the fuel, battery, and other bits are questionable. It is a tractor, so I expect it's fairly straightforward in its mechanics, so putting some fuel additives, fresh gas, and a new battery should be enough to kick it over. Maybe an oil change could be necessary, but it probably hasn't gotten worse for sitting around.

I think I'm going to grab a new battery. I've already got a couple cans of Seafoam fuel additive that should clean some of the gunk from fuel lines and boost the fuel a little. And I have some gas left in a can from when I filled the lawn tractor this summer (or can quickly jaunt to town for more). I believe I can quickly get the tractor started (if I can stand the garage temperatures, or break down and get a heater, too). If I move a few things around and open the "other" door, I think I can move the tractor enough to be able to remove the flail out of the way and then move it again to get the snowblower attached. The attachments don't have wheels, so I don't think I would be able to detach the flail and push it out of the way and then push the snowblower to attach it.

Worst case, if I can get it moving but don't have room to maneuver in the garage, maybe I can move the tractor out of the garage with the flail attached, drive it around through the deep snow on the lawn and parking area, and take the flail off in the part of the driveway I've cleared. Then I can  go back and attach the snowblower, crawl back out through the snow and attack the rest of the drive and the snow wall. Then maybe swap the attachments again, take the flail into the garage and put it out of the way, then return to and remount the snow blower, finally returning the tractor inside the garage.

The other really worst case is to remove the trailers from the garage to the driveway. Then with space in the garage, shuffle the tractor and swap the attachments, parking the flail out of the way, do the snow blowing, park the trailer with the snowblower ready to back out the "other" door for next time, and finally return the trailers to the garage. That seems like so much work, but saves me trying to move a snowblower every time it snows.

I think once the tractor is in a working state, it will be the easier way to get the job done. It's a much bigger deck, with a 50-inch swath, and riding the tractor, even backwards, will be quicker than walking behind a 24-inch wide snowblower. There's no enclosure on the tractor, so it'll still be cold and risks getting coated in snow. But it's a lot less lifting and lugging, once everything is initially lifted and lugged into the right places.

I've got a week to decide. It's a busy week at home before I'll have that time to go there for a few days to get that work done.

A major impetus is the porch stove chimney. There's corrosion and damage that is allowing critters in the stovepipe, and that needs to stop. Plus as weather turns, water can get in there, too, and that's never good. The chimney guy is ready to go, but we already know he can't get his van down the driveway, and he needs to have that closer to reasonably attend to the repairs. Even just wandering back and forth for little things was difficult last time because of the depth of the snow and the inconsistent tracks made by the Jeep tires and tread. So I need to clear that snow before I can get the stuff fixed.

Plus we need to get an electrician out there to address some of the lights and switches that don't do anything. There are lights that should come on when switches are flipped, but don't. And there are switches that we don't know what they should do when flipping. I'm sure whoever that is will want their vehicle closer to the house than the driveway allows.

So if I can get there on Sunday, get the tractor moving on Monday, maybe get the attachments swapped, then Monday or Tuesday can be clearing the drive and such, and Tuesday or Wednesday can be resetting the garage and starting repairs.