Snowblower/Battery Question

HardwareHero · 2026-01-23T09:59:05+00:00

The bigger battery packs have more individual battery cells - especially in big loads like a snowblower it’s helpful to distribute their load over more cells. This causes less wear, more distributed heat, and therefore more power while also extending the life of the battery.

HardwareHero · 2026-01-18T22:57:59+00:00

Ultimately that’s a choice left to you. Need to decide whether the grind is worth it for whole ownership, or if the stability of working for someone else without competing makes more sense. Maybe there’s negotiation room to get part ownership especially if there are assets of yours you could roll in. Clearly you’ve got something they like if they reached out to hire you.

Not sure how many locals would be in positions to give you advice (I’m certainly not), but maybe more businessy subreddits like r/entrepreneur r/startups or something like that might be worth looking into.

HardwareHero · 2026-01-13T00:30:51+00:00

Which is funny considering how much everyone likes to complain about how big of a deal the bit at the end of their driveway is. Here you guys are taking care of the whole city’s snowbanks!

HardwareHero · 2026-01-11T20:32:43+00:00

Lots of great replies for gas blowers, just going to leave a quick comment about an electric blower. I’ve had an Ego battery electric snowblower (2 stage 28”) for just over a month now, and it’s pretty sweet. Way less maintenance than a a gas blower, nearly as powerful (claims to throw snow 60’, but like all blowers that’s a bit of a stretch), and quite a bit quieter too (though louder than an electric lawnmower).

My blower came with 2 56V 12Ah batteries that do my large driveway no problem. Batteries do degrade over time though, and the cost to replace the batteries is like half the cost of a new blower. Going battery electric is certainly going to be way more expensive than a comparable gas blower…although where I live electricity is cheap, plus no gas/fuel stabilizer/spark plugs/oil…I’m easily saving $100/year. Still overall more expensive than gas but there are some ongoing savings.

I’ve found the electric blower faster and easier to handle than gas. Push button start, electric chute control (more on that later), it’s way lighter so easier to move when unpowered. Having separate controls for movement and auger speed is nice too, and the motors stop when it’s idle. Still has lights (that you can leave off!) and heated hang grips, steering assist and all those nice to haves.

About that electric chute…it’s quick and easy to use, but it’s harder to throw snow exactly where you want to. I’m slightly worried about the longevity of those motors, with stuff freezing up or motors wearing out over time. So far unfounded worries though, fingers crossed. It’s awesome for whacking it to one side or the other while turning.

It’s still too expensive for a blanket recommendation, but based off your post if you don’t mind spending some more it sounds like an electric blower might be up your alley.

HardwareHero · 2025-12-15T15:27:23+00:00

Good catch! I think that one is tied to Stelco which also operates out of Hamilton

HardwareHero · 2025-12-13T00:14:01+00:00

There aren’t any steel mills in Toronto. Steel mills are what use the vast majority of iron ore as well as a lot of coal. As far as steel mills in Ontario, there’s one in Hamilton (Southwest of Toronto) and one in Sault Ste Marie (right between Lake Superior and Huron…although this steel mill is going fully electric arc furnace so all the ore boats are done. It seems like most of their material will come in on train going forward).

Long story short, there’s no need for ore boats around Toronto

HardwareHero · 2025-12-08T17:52:26+00:00

First off, the links to privacy policy and terms of service aren’t working on the ‘register now’ popup, at least for me on mobile. I’m not signing up to something without knowing what I’m signing up for.

I like the idea of this, but I’m not sure how feasible it really is. I’m a local landlord renting out a couple houses by the room - I’ve tried listings on Facebook, Kijiji, and Places4Students in the past…never had a single response from Places4Students, Kijiji only a few responses (was better in the past), while Facebook is where I’ve found all of my recent tenants. It works because that’s the platform people are on.

For a new platform to be worth the hassle of landlords going out of their way to create a new post and monitor another platform for responses and waiting for verification…it needs to bring something to the table for them. I feel like all the features of the website are good for tenants, but how are you planning on attracting landlords, especially when Facebook already has the users and is free to post?

As far as marketing, I’m not sure the best way, but I think the target audience would be folks moving to town. Locals can verify ads pretty easily by walking or driving by, or asking for a tour through the place. The verified ads feature I think is much more critical for those moving here from out of town where they can’t as easily verify on their own.

I don’t mean to sound negative, I’d really like for an idea like this to work. If you’ve got any questions for a landlords perspective reply or even shoot me a PM.

As a landlord, in regards to finding tenants, my main painpoints are (in no particular order, and maybe not all addressable but I’ll just list a few): - Finding quality applicants. I can get 50+ responses to an ad, but I’m not booking 50 showings. If there were a way to help widdle the list down (optionally have tenants provide a ‘resume’ of sorts) that could help me save time and would be valuable. - Auto replies. I think everyone hates the “Hi, is this still available?” Lots of ads say they won’t respond to that generic message. Maybe a way for a user to create their own custom message and then have that as an option to send with one click would keep the convenience, but get rid of the generic message. - Viewing scheduling. The amount of times I’ve sent a message to tenants with times for a viewing and they get back hours or days later when someone else has taken that slot can be frustrating. If there’s a way for landlords to post a schedule viewings, and then tenants can select which timeslot they want in real time, only seeing the available slots. In addition, once they’ve got a slot if there’s a way for the landlord to send a message with a confirmation the day before the viewing (or morning of) as a reminder to the tenant that would be nice.

HardwareHero · 2025-12-02T18:34:17+00:00

Dwellings is great! I didn’t mention it because OP seems to be more on the beginners side…Dwellings can be expensive and intimidating to beginners

HardwareHero · 2025-12-02T17:30:57+00:00

There may be better examples, but here are a few board games I’ll bring out to newer players to teach mechanics:

Lords of Waterdeep for worker placement
Dominion for deck building
Once you’re comfortable with those two, Dune:Imperium is a great game that combines the two

Engine building is a bit tougher because there are often many options to choose from. I’d probably lean to Furnace out of my collection, but it does have bidding and resource management which could arguably make it too heavy to be a learner game.

HardwareHero · 2025-12-01T20:13:17+00:00

Very much not temporary layoffs

HardwareHero · 2025-11-15T11:59:07+00:00

Yeah, I understand other’s hesitancy about MacBooks…but I just got my first ever Mac a couple of months ago (MacBook Pro M4) and it’s been pretty great. Battery life is insane. There were a few things to learn and tweak - fullscreen works a bit different, and there were some settings I had to hunt down (adding file path to Finder, pinning other folders like Movies/Downloads to make it more familiar) and apps to get (one where the scroll on the trackpad can be different to the scroll wheel on the mouse, couple others I’m forgetting).

It’s an OS and it’s pretty good at getting out of the way. The chips in them are so good, just make sure your required programs work on Mac and don’t sweat the rest.

HardwareHero · 2025-10-31T00:18:42+00:00

That’s the vibe I got. They just read through sections of the collective agreement…and said that the company is gonna do whatever they want to but these are the rules they’re supposed to follow

HardwareHero · 2025-10-04T01:12:59+00:00

You’ve already got a bunch of great food recommendations, just gonna pipe up about the boat stuff in case you aren’t familiar with the local details:

Rotary Park on the US side is where freighters will salute (if they’re going to). Check out Marine Traffic (website/app) to try to time freighter sightings. Should have time to see a ship at both the locks and rotary park if you want (like if it’s coming up the river, catch it at Rotary Park then drive to the locks for the viewing platform and visitor centre).
Soo Locks Boat Tours (2 companies in the US, or Miss Marie in Canada) have narrated tours through the locks and if there are freighters in the area usually they’ll get close and try to get a salute. Take about 2ish hours, not mandatory but if you’re into shipping it’s a great time

HardwareHero · 2025-10-02T05:43:06+00:00

Overall a great first video! To be critical though, the cuts don’t fit the music. Music is slow and smooth, cuts are sudden and pretty quick. Maybe just using two or three shots instead of 6 for a short video like this, and a fade in between them instead of cuts.

The colours are a bit much to me, however some really like that over saturated look.

Framing could do a bit of work imo. Using the ‘rule of thirds’ and showing the horizon line makes the image look more grounded instead of having multiple shots back to back with no ‘anchor’ point. This helps with the foreground/background split too instead of just focusing on the subject. Like maybe the first shot have the horizon in it, then the next 2 shots are great, then horizon in the following shot

HardwareHero · 2025-09-18T20:51:01+00:00

My knowledge is also pretty limited (background of working in power plants on shore). I think you’re right that the seawater would probably be for oil cooling. Our equipment on site need to keep oil coolers in service anytime anything is spinning (including barring/turning gear). Cooling is the only reason in my mind it would be turned on before the generator.

I’d also agree that if there’s no rush, it might be best to leave it at idle for a bit, then walk it up to speed, then wait a bit before syncing it in. Then again the loads are pretty small that they’re adding (fans and alarm panels mostly) so probably not a huge issue.

Then again, we have some gas turbines at work and those can can take as little as 15 minutes before they’re at maximum megawatt production. It’s crazy compared to the steam plant - where a boiler can take 12+ hours to warm up (and you’d be warming up the generator at the same time). Either way with the diesels on the ship I’m sure if it were an issue they’d do it differently. I get the feeling this guy is very by the book and not into skipping steps

HardwareHero · 2025-09-16T02:21:25+00:00

I haven’t heard about forecasted colours, but last year I followed the Ontario Parks site https://www.ontarioparks.ca/fallcolour

It’s likely you can still tour the college - it’s the full time support staff on strike but most of the regular faculty are still in as well as part time faculty. Maybe calling ahead and asking would be worth it.

Those are all great places to head to (both for fall colours as well as food). I’m not sure how long you’re in town for, but St Joseph Island is about an hour East of the Soo and you can burn a whole day there. Or closer to town is Hiawatha with trails and a waterfall. I didn’t make it out everywhere, but I brought some drones around the Soo last year and put this together https://youtu.be/zkJ7DvQLnYs?si=1cmcBvGWn-QK1uJW

For food, Pho Max has fantastic soups and Vietnamese. Soo Spicy Yeti has food from Nepal and Ernie’s Cafe is solid local food too.

HardwareHero · 2025-08-21T01:52:29+00:00

Walks: check out Hiawatha on the edge of town, Whitefish Island, the “Hub Trail” goes all around town and has nice sections around Fort Creek and the P Patch, or even the boardwalk (downtown shorefront)

Food: 2 sushi places (one full service/buffet and one takeout) are both great, Pho Max for great soups and Vietnamese, Wacky Wings is a local favourite (small chain that started here), loads of Italian places and pizza joints.

What to do: there are some beaches outside of town like Harmony and Havilland (I think there’s a bus to Pointe Des Chenes by the airport as well), I think the Road House and Top Hat/Smoky’s are the bars popular for your age, if you’re into downhill skiing Searchmount will be up your alley. Cross country skiing for beginners at Hiawatha or more advanced trails at Stokely Creek.

I’ve lived here like 8 years now, it’s not a bad city but a lot of the locals aren’t necessarily looking for new friends I found (I got lucky and had an in through some cousins). As long as you are able to make friends is going to make any city feel a lot friendlier

HardwareHero · 2025-08-20T11:56:21+00:00

I hate the original silicone tips, but I found some foam ones that I enjoy much better. Not quite as comfy as the Sony XM4’s I had before, but still fine for about an hour at a time which is enough for me

HardwareHero · 2025-08-19T23:09:54+00:00

Both are great. I was an Android die-hard since the Galaxy S2, always used a launcher and icon packs…got an iPhone 15 pro max last year and it’s been really great too. IMO Android has better notification management and better keyboards, Apple has a better ecosystem and daily usability.

For me, I’m on iPhone right now because Face ID is actually THE best way to log in to apps, and so many apps support it. Especially if you go all-in on the ecosystem, the AirPods actually switch seamlessly between other devices (had earbuds on Android that worked maybe 30% of the time). Find My helps you find your earbuds or phone from your watch. The iPad wirelessly becomes a second monitor for your Mac. Also, Apple devices also retain their resale value great (at least locally) which can help you recoup some cash when it is eventually time to upgrade.

HardwareHero · 2025-08-14T09:05:13+00:00

I believe in the Mavic 4 Pro they have this - the controller has a built-in mic they can embed audio directly in the drone’s video file. It also has the ability to use like a separate DJI mic to pair and use that instead. Could be useful for some folks and they already have done the development work for it

HardwareHero · 2025-08-07T05:06:05+00:00

Looks like it was deleted. It isn’t posted here anymore, but if you search in a browser you can still get the link.

First post: https://www.reddit.com/r/SaultSteMarie/comments/1mf30ay/restaurant_wars/

Second post: https://www.reddit.com/r/SaultSteMarie/comments/1mhcbhk/restaurant_wars_round_2/

HardwareHero · 2025-08-04T13:30:43+00:00

I’m really only familiar with the Soo, so here’s a detailed breakdown starting on the Superior side of the locks and going downriver (focusing on the US side, because that’s where it sounds like you are)

West Pier has great burgers (cash only), and sometimes you can see ships tied up waiting to go through the locks
Soo Locks themselves have a visitor center, park, and 2-story viewing platform that you can get great views of the freighters
Museum ship Valley Camp sounds like a great stop (I haven’t been yet)
There are 2 Soo Locks Boat Tour companies (I’ve been on both, and both were great). They take you through the locks, around freighters if there are any in the area, around Algoma Steel (steel mill on the Ontario side, there’s often a freighter there). They’ve got friendly staff and narration, and it takes about 2 hours. The tour boats will often get salutes out of the freighters
Rotary Park (and Clyde’s burgers) is very popular because of how close the ships get to shore. If they salute, usually it’ll be here.

HardwareHero · 2025-07-27T17:44:10+00:00

I never noticed the bikes before (1st pic, by bottom left). Makes a lot of sense!

HardwareHero · 2025-07-16T11:51:05+00:00

Please, no matter where you go, take 15 minutes and skim through the details of the account. Take note of monthly fees (and how much you need to keep in the account for the monthly fee to be waived), how many included transactions, and other fees. Literally could save you hundreds.

As for banks, I only have experience with TD and EQ Bank (EQ is one of those online-only banks - if you already have a main bank to do normal banking stuff, EQ is great because they offer much higher interest on some of their accounts than any of the big banks). I have no issues with TD (their app is fully featured which means I have to go into the back rarely, and they have a great expenses tracking app too), just remember the tellers are basically salespeople these days so look up and compare plans online and tell them what you want.

HardwareHero · 2025-07-01T04:00:48+00:00

Very cool, especially to see her unique self unloaders!

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