Tractor snowblower not working either.

The focus of the weekend was trip prep and winter prep.  Saturday I started on winter prep.  I forgot to take a picture, but I got the front area over by the steps all cleaned up.  I had intentionally left the sawhorses since there was a bunch of little blocks and the like over there.  Those are all cleaned up, and the sawhorses moved.

I also gave it one more crank, and the old snowblower still won't turn over, even after spraying the cylinder with PB Blaster, so it get deposited in my graveyard.

The carport looks a lot better.  

I also got all my Christmas presents wrapped (except the last one that hasn't come in yet), and did some cleanup in prep for my trip this week.

Sunday was dedicated to getting the tractor snowblower going.  Once I remembered all the tricks, I finally got it on without issue.  It is harder to put on than the grading blade since I can't really move it around (it weighs almost 600 lbs).  Unfortunately the good news kind of ended there.  I managed to get the chute freed up.  It had iced up, and the ice patch looks conveniently like a leaf :P  For those curious, the liquid on top there is chain oil.

I checked the gearbox oil, it still looks good.  

Despite all that though, I couldn't get it to break free.  Last year I was able to turn everything easily by hand.  This year the second stage (which is scarily rusty for a unit that is only a year old) was frozen up.  I don't know if it is iced up or just rusted up.  I hope it is the former.  I sprayed everything down with lube and it is now under cover.  The next couple of days are all supposed to be above freezing, so it should thaw out if it is ice.

On a side note, I have been thinking about it a bit and am starting to warm up to the idea of a used Uhaul.

Pros: 

• Cheap.  You can get a UHaul with under 100k miles on it for about $10-11k
• It is expected that this would still be true when it comes time to rebuild/replace the vehicle
• This is cheap enough that I could just buy one next year and start on it at my leisure (because I clearly need another big project...).  It doesn't require trading my truck in to purchase
• I haven't yet run the budget, but this might actually make it tenable.
• The box is already built and watertight.
• The box is all metal, so I don't need to worry about resealing it periodically like an RV roof..
• Low deck height means I don't need to build stairs.
• Comes with a big back bumper.  I might be able to put a moped or something on there so I don't have to take the truck itself everywhere.
• Comes set up for towing.
• There is plenty of available exterior space to add toolboxes and stuff to the frame for exterior storage.
• The 10' U-Haul is over a foot shorter than my truck (a 10' uhaul is 236" long, similar to a van, whereas my truck is 250" long), so adding a box or something on the back isn't a big deal.
• I might even be able to bump up to a 14' truck (which is actually only 2' longer than a 10')
• No side door to eat up a bunch of wallspace (unless I want to add one)

Cons: 

• They get bad gas mileage (~13mpg if I don't build it heavy)
• It should be noted that while worse than a van, 13mpg is in the expected range of a truck house.
• Suspension tends to be stiff and low-travel, this is how they get the low deck height.  It also means no ground clearance.
• The engine is undersized; they come with a 4.8L V8 (for the 10').  
• The 4.8L however is bolt compatible with the 5.3L and 6.0L though if I want to update it down the road.
• I would not expect a uhaul truck to make 200k; it is likely to be beaten up/run hard when I get it.
• Requires more work, they are very de-featured trucks.  I will need to add the following before I would take it out, at least off pavement.  This is in addition to the list of adjustments for a regular truck/van (things like the light bar, winch, etc):
• Cruise control (no, they don't have it)
• Locking rear differential.  4WD is out of the question, so this is a must.
• Swiveling seats (I would probably replace the seats, Uhaul seats generally suck).
• Significant exterior work since they typically only apply a wrap to resell it, they don't remove the Uhaul decals and whatnot.  This may not need to be done immediately though.
• Cut out the passage between the cab and box.
• Remove/replace rear door.
• Roof and flooring insulation might be limited.  Some of these trucks are only 6'2" tall inside (depending on the year), before insulation.  They do have plywood flooring that I could remove to add a little extra insulation.  
• I don't have a problem putting laminate flooring like what I had in the tiny home down directly on top of foam board, I think it would be rigid enough.

I drew up a quick floorplan too.  It is very similar to the van one I drew up.  This has a full size fridge in it too, not a short under counter one like the van had.  This is roughly to scale, each square is 4" (since I didn't put it on the diagram)

I am not sure if I will have another post before I leave for Christmas.  It did get down to single digits over the weekend, and my water line was okay, but it looks like we are supposed to be below zero while I am gone, so I am going to go ahead and put down some sand bags anyways.  I thought this was supposed to be a mild winter; it has been well below average for temps thus far.  Grumble