Well I made it through the day, but limped to the finish. I shoveled for 4½ hours and only got two thirds done. I worked alone; wife is sick (bad cold) and she is tiny, 5'2". I don't expect much heavy labor from her. First I did the steps between the back door and my separate garage – probably less than an hours work.
Next, I did the pavement between the garage and the alley behind it. The garage is two cars wide, and pavement between the garage and the alley is about 10-15 feet, although that's a guess. Doesn't sound like much does it? Wind had blown the snow into a 5 foot tall ridge (I measured it!) the full width of the garage. That ridge, and it's wide base, covered the entire part that I have to shovel. It was a lot deeper than the 3 feet we got. It took me the rest of the day. The home owners' association contractor who is supposed to plow the alleys never came. Considering the monthly fees I pay, I am certain someone is getting yelled at tomorrow – and not by just me. Every neighbor who was out there was steamed.
By then it was about 4 pm and I was toast. I never did get to the front steps and sidewalk. That's for tomorrow. I took 2 ibuprofen tablets and hit the shower, as I was soaked with sweat. I'll have sore shoulders and back tomorrow for sure, but my arthritic hands are already complaining. I'm getting too old for this!
I gave up shoveling many years ago.
I bought this tractor and used blower in 1981, and used it extensively in Grand Forks, especially when we had 96" in 1996/1997 winter.
I rebuilt the blower once and wore it out again. JD stopped parts support for it, but I found a good newer used blower about six or seven years ago. I still have that tractor and use it for mowing and blowing snow where the bigger tractors can not get. I clear the lower forecourt here with it every snowfall.
The JD model A can stack a heck of a snow bank. I don't want to shovel this.
The big 8' snow bucket can also carry down over a week's supply of wood for the fireplace.
To be fair to the condo contractor, he can't be everywhere at once. With a big fall like you just had it will take a while to get to all the accounts.
A big snowfall even with a lot of mechanization still takes a while to clear. I usually spend about 6 hours on the model A and the JD 214 after a good snowfall to clear the road, my place and a couple of neighbors.
I can tell you one thing though, I would far rather maintain and fix machinery than shovel snow!
I would just be patient and wait for the snow removal service. They will get to you in the end.
We have this problem at Eagan after very big snowfalls. You just have to be patient.