Saturday, September 26, 2026
Don't fix it if it ain't broke

Still Running / Yard and outdoors

38 Chicago winters and a 24-inch gangway

A Gilson snowblower from around 1975, restored by its owner. Not a Toro, and not the one in the story.
A Gilson snowblower from around 1975, restored by its owner. Not a Toro, and not the one in the story. Photo: ColinMB, CC BY-SA 3.0. The real one is in the original post.

The gangway to the front of this Chicago house is barely 24 inches wide, so a small machine is the only kind that fits. The Toro has been through 38 winters in the family, which covers every winter of its 36-year-old owner's life. At the time of the post it hadn't been started in three years, and it went on the first pull. Three years is plenty long enough for stale gas to gum up a small engine, which is what kills most of them. It comes out for blizzards. The rest of the time a shovel and a pair of arms do the work.

Retold from a post on r/BuyItForLife. Read the original

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