Montanans v. Snow Blowers, Two Terrifying Tales

There is another winter storm forecasted to come through Western Montana very soon. This would be a good time to remind people about the issues and the dangers that can happen when a person uses a a snow blower.  

Snow Blowers Can Be Dangerous in Montana Winters 

My grandmother was a very strong-willed and hard-working person, she raised twelve kids here in Montana. One day after a big snowfall she decided to use her snow blower to clear the driveway. She was too impatient to wait for my grandfather to do it. There was so much snow that the snow blower got clogged. She then went and got a crowbar to clear the auger. She forgot to disengage the mechanism and when she cleared out the snow, the auger rotated and slammed the crowbar back into her face, breaking her nose. My grandfather, who was a retired doctor, went outside to check on her and found her and was able to take her to the hospital for treatment. She was very lucky that it was only a broken nose. She was also able to laugh about it years later, she was tough. 

Watch Your Fingers Montana 

After I told the story of my grandmother to Peter Christian, he told me the story of his snow blower accident. After a heavy and wet snowfall, he too had his snow blower get clogged. He didn’t reach down to the main auger, instead, with his gloved hand he tried to push the snow back down the chute to clear the blockage. He wasn’t aware there was a secondary auger in the chute and it grabbed his gloved hand. He was able to pull his hand out of the chute, but his glove was pulled into the machine. When he looked at his hand, he saw there was significant damage to three of his fingers. He was able to make his way to the hospital and the doctor was able to repair his fingers. He was also very lucky, the damage could have been much worse. 

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Please Be Safe with the Snow Montana 

Please read the manuals of your snowblowers and follow the instructions on safe usage. Or if you can handle it, you can always just use a shovel. Be safe out there Montana.