The Beast, Lawrence and LB ....

A new family has taken roots in Pleasantville ~ “The Husqvarna’s” ~ individually known as The Beast, Lawrence and LB.

The Beast the Snow Blower

A Husqvarna ST227P, Two Stage Snow Blower with a 254cc engine. The Beast has featured in a couple of previous blogs, “Let it snow let it” and “The first nor'easter”.

With a couple of significant snowfalls during the past winter, the machine has already certainly already paid for itself. I had never used a Snow Blower before and basically had to learn on the job. It takes practise and much care to use, a few times both myself and The Beast almost landed in the front ditch, this after narrowly missing a couple of Honda Civics’.

With winter now behind us, The Beast is in summer storage after having a thorough wash, polish, lubrication and all moving parts greased.

 

Lawrence the Lawn Mower

Lawrence the Lawn Mower purchased this past weekend at Cross Small Engine Repair during their annual tax free social event which included hot dogs, Tim bits and other goodies.

With enormous sadness, after 28 years of loyal and extremely reliable service I decided to retire my 3.5HP Tecumseh engine Crappy Tire Lawn Mower. With the lot size we have, I learned very quickly last year that come springtime, I would require some power assistance to the wheels.

If it were not for that reason, the Crappy Tire Lawn Mower would have kept going. In its lifetime I reckon it has been used on just over 900 separate occasions. Religiously after each use I always hosed and washed it down. At the end of each season, it was winterised and carefully stored. The only parts replaced on it were all four wheels (I wore out the first set), the rewind starter and both cables. At the beginning of each cutting season, this Lawn Mower always started first time and it did so with its original spark plug.

I am really proud of this Lawn Mower and will certainly keep it in running order.

 

Old faithful, 28 years and still starts first time



 

The replacement, a Husqvarna LC221RH, is a Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) with a 160cc Honda engine.

 

I used it yesterday for the first time and can report it is fantastic. The Honda engine runs perfectly smooth, the RWD is such a great aid that I required none of my normal breaks.

After the first cut, Lawrence was given a thorough hose down and wash something that will happen (religiously) after each use. To help with the washing process, today I made a little washing area for Lawrence, which is only a hop and a skip with his garage door.

So, will Lawrence achieve over 900 grass cuts …? I am positive with my usual care, attention and maintenance it certainly should do.

Washing Pad for Lawrence

 

LB the Leaf Blower

I never thought a Leaf Blower would feature in my life, but after last fall I decided it’s a must.

Purchased this past weekend at the same tax free event, LB completes the array of domestic Husqvarna’s. With its 28cc 2-stroke engine, it is remarkably quiet while pushing out 425 cubic feet per minute at 170mph.

This fall will certainly be much easier …. Perhaps time to retire the Crappy Tire Rakes …?

 

 

 

Gaff Point

With glorious weather, a high tide and Alan a fellow Scotsman, I had my first hike at Gaff Point. The point is situated at the southwestern end of 3km crescent shaped Hirtles Beach which is located just outside Lunenburg.

The Gaff Point trail is a 7km loop with awesome seascape views, fantastic scenery with a mixture of beach, estuary, forest, heather and rugged coastline with steep cliffs.

Off the main trail are two coves, Sand Cove and Grabble Cove. Sand Cove with its secret beach is a neat sandy area tucked away between some very steep cliffs and multi-coloured rocks and is accessible by way of scaling down a bank with the aid of a rope tied to a tree. Today we did not set about the rope trick, which is obviously something you attempt at your own risk.

The trail was not too difficult, the only challenge was walking on what was today a predominately the cobblestone beach. Normally Hirtles Beach has broad areas of sand with the stones all pushed up high onto the beach perimeter. It seems though during winter the sea storms washes away the sand exposing more rocks and pebbles, during spring and summer the beach recovers and the sand areas return.

 



Hirtles Beach at high tide and cobblestones with Gaff Point in the distance





Looking back on Hirtles Beach

Heather along the  cliff tops

West Ironbound Island



 

Sand Cove and the Secret Beach

A misty morning wander

A lovely wander in the morning mist down to the LaHave River. With the tide on its way in everything was quiet, still and gentle. The air was beautiful, it is an absolute joy to have this virtually on our doorstep.