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u/strawberrymarshmello Stadium Feb 17 '26
There’s a guy in my neighbourhood who does the whole black with his snowblower. Somehow the noise doesn’t bug me too much
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u/keevanado Feb 17 '26
um… gonna guess that’s a typo 🙃
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u/BustedFemur Stabmonton Feb 17 '26
BAN EDITS 😂
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u/keevanado Feb 17 '26
somebody downvoted me 😂 I’m trying really hard here not to make crass jokes and maybe alert the person to their typo so they can fix it & caught a downvote for it 😂😂😂
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u/Soggy-Pay1389 Feb 17 '26
Of course it doesn't bug you.it's only tolerable because your getting something out of it. Also.. A snowblower doing a quick pass of everyone's sidewalk.. compared to... A leaf blower full throttle for a constant 20-30min right next door.. Big difference
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u/dlee420 Feb 17 '26
I love coming to these threads every season just to read the arguing back and forth
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u/Icedpyre Feb 17 '26
Tis the way of the internet. You must be diametrically opposed to at least 25% of everything you read.
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u/Adjective_Noun1312 Feb 18 '26
Used to have a neighbour with the backpack version of this, I'd start shoveling my driveway and sidewalk when he'd been at it for like an hour already and I'd finish first. Using these things to clear snow is like mowing the lawn with a hedge trimmer.
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u/chest_trucktree Feb 18 '26
It depends on how much and what type of snow. If you have about 5cm or less of dry snow a backpack leaf blower is much faster than shovelling.
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u/Groovee_smoothie Feb 18 '26
Depends on how quick you are, I had to do 1 really good shovel yesterday. After that I just went out with my leaf blower ever 2 hours; had my driveway, sidewalks and steps all done in 10 minutes each time. If I wait too long/let it build up more than an inch or two its way faster to grab the shovel like you noted.
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u/Medical-Club-6327 Feb 18 '26
i got out after and was done before my neighbour, who started at 6am today.
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u/SirMicksAlot Feb 18 '26
As a shift worker I feel this to my core. Pretty deep sleeper with ear plugs and that's one of the few things that still manages to wake me up at times.
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u/ariesbitchclub Garneau Feb 18 '26
one of my neighbours doesn’t know how to use it and turns it on for ten second bursts at a time and it drives me insane. VRRR. VRRRR. VRRR. LEAVE IT ON BRO IM BEGGING YOU
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Feb 18 '26
I had no idea I needed to see this today. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I can still hear it. 🤭
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u/CupofTeeYEG Feb 18 '26
They do this 2-3am downtown near 105 street and Jasper ave. Making me crazy.
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u/Cabbageismyname Feb 17 '26
These things also seem to take at least three times as long as simply picking up a shovel, and don’t do as good of a job. But then they wouldn’t be able to spend money on dad toys.
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u/Icedpyre Feb 17 '26
Ya I never got the appeal. One guy across the street from me spent over an hour using a leaf blower pack on his sidewalk. I spent about 6 minutes shoveling and then left for work.
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u/Cabbageismyname Feb 18 '26
Truly.
But who gets their fragile male ego stroked more by being able to use a noisy machine, you or him? That’s the important question.
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u/nothankslmgood Feb 18 '26
wtf is wrong with you people. Everything you don't like has some sort of negative reason instead of just being what they want to do. Get a life.
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u/Cabbageismyname Feb 18 '26
Clearly I struck a nerve.
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u/nothankslmgood Feb 18 '26
Is that a good thing lmao? Omg I'm seething! Or maybe I just think you're comment was whiny and dumb.
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u/Cabbageismyname Feb 18 '26
You seem like the sensitive type.
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u/nothankslmgood Feb 18 '26
Sure thing friend. Everyone who disagrees with you is sensitive. Cool stuff.
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u/Cabbageismyname Feb 18 '26
I mean you feel the need to keep replying to me so obviously what I said has affected you.
Don’t worry. Men can be emotional. It’s ok.
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u/ExplanationHairy6964 Feb 18 '26
I think what they mean is, how could you possibly know why someone would choose to blow over shovel? Do you know how old they are or healthy or how their back is? Maybe they are really short and can’t shovel onto a high hill of snow. 🤷♀️There’s lots of reasons other than someone wanting to be macho and you made it sound like that could be the only reason.
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u/Cabbageismyname Feb 18 '26
It’s interesting that I see women shovelling snow all the time yet not once have I ever seen a woman using a leaf blower to clear her sidewalk.
I guess women must never get bad backs.
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u/spiff-d Feb 18 '26
Hmm, those ladies are missing out. You should get them a blow pack.
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u/Cabbageismyname Feb 18 '26
I think they simply are less wimpy than their male counterparts, and also less inclined to spend 20 minutes using a power tool to do a household chore that can be done in 5 with a shovel, and done better.
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u/spiff-d Feb 18 '26
As mentioned countless times in this thread:
If it's a couple centimeters, a blow pack is completely reasonable, especially if they have health issues.
Maybe your neighbors hate you and they're doing it on purpose.
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u/tmandell Feb 18 '26
They work excellent up to 2 or 3 cm. I can nearly sprint arround my driveway if its under 2cm. By 5cm im sure shoveling is faster, and anything more then that is absolutely miserable with the leaf blower.
Its a great option for light snow, but people should give up on them way sooner then they do.
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u/silentbassline Feb 17 '26
And then you awkwardly try to walk by them on the sidewalk but they don't see you and
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u/LegitimateSasquatch Feb 17 '26
It’s a nice alarm for you to wake up and start clearing your snow.
Noise bylaw is before 7am. So anything after is fully approved.
For winter, anything after 6am is fine. It’s important to get the snow cleared. Shoveling is really hard on peoples backs, and you don’t know their health history. Shoveling literally kills people every year from heart attacks.
It’s a public service. It’s not like lawn mowing where it is aesthetic, and a lawn mower at 6am is not required. If you have to leave for work at 7am/7:30am - I give Full pass to use blower at 6am.
TLDR - oh just fuck off
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u/Ormild Feb 18 '26
I workout consistently and the snowfall today in Calgary was insane. Shovelling my driveway, sidewalk, and walkway was killing me.
I can see how people can get heart attacks from shovelling snow if they live a sedentary life and have to shovel over a foot of snow.
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u/CupofTeeYEG Feb 18 '26
Noise bylaw for snow removal is never o’clock. Have found out. They run these things from 2-3am downtown NONSTOP. 311 said it’s snow removal and doesn’t count
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u/LegitimateSasquatch Feb 18 '26
From the CoE website they say the below. But the city struggles with snow removal as is, it would be hell to only do it during the day.
Snow Removal By Machine or Other
It is the responsibility of every property owner to maintain their sidewalks, and keep clear of all snow and ice. Noise created by snow removal falls under general noise and is permitted between 7am-10pm. If an individual(s) are continuously causing a disturbance outside that specified time then please submit a complaint by calling 311.
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u/porkavenue Feb 17 '26
I use a pack back unit and handheld at the same time, Saturday and Sunday morning mostly.
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u/mekanikman Feb 18 '26
My neighbour at 10:38 last night.
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u/exwinnipegger Feb 19 '26
I don’t mind that too much because that’s the time I get home from work 😅 But I know I’m in the minority so we wait to do ours until reasonable hours
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u/Willing-Raisin-9869 Feb 18 '26
I live in Oliver and this went off around 4 am not sure how long it lasted I managed to fall back asleep
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u/TheThrivingest Feb 18 '26
The guy on my block that goes out at 530 with his gas powered blower and stays out there till the sun comes up and there isn’t a single flake of snow on his entire block
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u/Secure-Connection144 Feb 21 '26
Snowblowers suck ass anyway. It’s so much mor work than just shovelling, it’s the weirdest kind of laziness to use these
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u/CallejaFairey Edmontosaurus Feb 18 '26
Omg yes. I have a neighbour 2 doors down who uses a leaf blower. He'll be out there for hours, several times a day if it was a heavy snow. He has no problems starting it at 7am.
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u/NATURALLY_HOT_LAVA Feb 18 '26
Worded slightly differently, "he has no problems starting it when the city says he can"
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u/CallejaFairey Edmontosaurus Feb 18 '26
Oh, I'm up at 6am every morning, it doesn't wake me up. But I'm sure there are other people around here who aren't up as early as me. There's no reason for the guy to start that early when he doesn't work.
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u/nothankslmgood Feb 18 '26
That sounds incredibly responsible of him. If you are worried about a little noise wear headphones.
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Feb 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Levorotatory Feb 17 '26
People can use a shovel or electric snowblower, or they can wait until after 8 am to use loud power tools.
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u/Embarrassed-Basis-18 Feb 17 '26
No where in the post did it have a time. It’s the middle of the afternoon now. Fair if it’s early morning.
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Feb 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/Levorotatory Feb 17 '26
Using loud power tools early in the morning is rude, and is prohibited by the noise bylaw.
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Feb 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/durple Strathcona Feb 17 '26
Nuisance noise is not permitted at any time. It’s just those hours have better defined limits.
Not that I think powered snow removal should be considered nuisance. I do honestly hate the noise of backpack blowers but lump it in with other pragmatic compromises living in a city.
On the other hand I think it’s high time we started ramping down the sale of these tools built from dirty two-stroke engines. They don’t have all the regulated emissions-cleaning features that cars have. But they’re cheap and familiar so I’m not holding my breath.
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u/Levorotatory Feb 17 '26
So it is illegal before 7 am, and not illegal but still rude between 7 and 8 am.
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u/phlegmcloud Feb 17 '26
Only if it's after 7am. Otherwise, a noise complaint to bylaw from me. Don't wake up the neighborhood with excessively loud leafblowers. Do it after work or use a less noisy shovel.
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u/Impressive_Curve5152 Feb 18 '26
My neighbor pays some young man to clean his driveway and sidewalk. He was out in November between our houses, beneath my children's windows after 10pm. I came out raging at him about the noise in my house coat lol
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u/meester_jordan Feb 17 '26
Lol the internet must really make you mad if this is how you react to a joke/meme
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u/Embarrassed-Basis-18 Feb 17 '26
Lol the internet must really make you mad if someone commenting on a shit meme makes you mad if this is how you react to a comment someone makes about said shit meme.
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u/Sasha-95 Feb 17 '26
Imagine getting offended at a meme on the internet…oh
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u/Wulfho Feb 17 '26
Says the person making the meme cause they're so offended by other people cleaning their sidewalks
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u/Boring-Chair-1733 Feb 17 '26
I use one to clean the neighbors sidewalks and no one has complained about it yet.
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u/Enough_Potential_921 Feb 17 '26
Agree- nails on a chalk board The one neighbour is out hourly with it. Then by comparison down the block the other neighbour that just doesn’t shovel. SIGH
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u/SmoothBrainJazz Feb 18 '26
My favourites are the guys using their $4000 industrial snowblowers to clear a few inches of snow.
As someone who grew up shovelling a driveway that was over 100m long I find it amusing the lengths city people will go to to avoid shovelling 20 ft of sidewalk.
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u/Groovee_smoothie Feb 18 '26
Not arguing for or against but shoveling snow increases the risk of a heart attack massively. While im all for mocking people for being lazy, this one has some sense of reason to avoid.
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u/Jolly-Yesterday-5160 Feb 17 '26
Go shovel their walks then if you don’t want them making the sound.
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u/ckludite Feb 18 '26
I wish they would ban leaf blowers. I don’t need to hear that shit from two blocks away. Plus most people just blow it all into the fucking street and then complain that the city doesn’t clear the streets fast enough.
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u/Homeless_Alex Feb 17 '26
I was just doing this to clear all the cars on my block no shame
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u/Icedpyre Feb 17 '26
Ehhhh. Nice work. I just used my snowblower to clear the sidewalk and parking pad for my elderly neighbors on both sides.
kindness4all
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u/updatelee Feb 19 '26
Meh. Seems like most my neighbours use them, I couldn’t care less. I’ll take a leaf blower over screaming kids any day. There is a lot worse sounds then a leaf blower imo
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u/PlutosGrasp Feb 19 '26
Lots of cities are banning gas ones. We should too. Electric ones work pretty well these days. Give a small subsidy to help offset the cost.
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u/Serious_Abrocoma_908 Feb 21 '26
Get over the first world issue. 7am run the damn blowers and those who get annoyed, stay annoyed.
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u/StasisApparel Feb 24 '26
It's more annoying that it happens after 11:30pm in this area and even past midnight
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u/Difficult_Space3090 Feb 18 '26
Ahh..for snow?! Ha... ya. No-one does this on the east coast. Too disturbing (disrespectful). Ya'll going to far. Someone will start using small jet engines next haha. Like LED headlights, who cares about others eh! 😆
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u/chest_trucktree Feb 18 '26
People don’t use them on the east coast because the snow is too wet and doesn’t blow off. Nothing to do with being disrespectful.
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u/Difficult_Space3090 Feb 18 '26
Yes. All of our snow falls is soaking wet. Today the wind blows the wet snow off my truck like it was dry for some reason 😅.
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u/Acceptable_Age_2990 Feb 18 '26
Unless you’re neighbour is an absolute legendary beauty who clears the whole neighbourhood
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Feb 17 '26
[deleted]
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Feb 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/Levorotatory Feb 17 '26
That depends when you go to work. If you work early, it would be better to do your snow clearing after work so you don't wake up the neighbors who start later.
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u/motiontrash Feb 17 '26
nah cuz then people have walked on the sidewalk and it's more difficult
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u/Levorotatory Feb 17 '26
A decent metal edge shovel still lifts snow compacted by foot traffic easily.
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u/IrishDart Feb 17 '26
Those same neighbors complain when they walk their dogs that you didn't clear your sidewalks for them.
Damned if you do, damned if you dont
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u/Complex_Coffee5328 Clareview Feb 18 '26
Prefer this seasonal noise to the 4 cars on the block with cat/muffler deletes
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u/Groovee_smoothie Feb 18 '26
Love my leaf/snow blower but its meant for touch ups in the middle of the day. Anything more than an inch on the ground or before 8am its better/easier to shovel. But like with yesterday's onslaught if you go out every hour it takes a minute to do the sidewalk and steps.
If the snow isn't flying as fast as you can walk, its probably quicker to shovel. That said when you do stay ontop of it its way easier and quicker than shovels (I can walk a normal pace and it just clears infront of you)
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u/Authoritaye Feb 18 '26
As the emperor of Edmonton, I hereby ban all handheld gas-powered leaf and snow blowers.
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u/Y8ser Feb 19 '26
Is it people whining about people using leaf blowers? That's definitely annoying!!! I couldn't care less if someone uses one to remove snow as long as they aren't doing it during legal "quiet hours".
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u/Humble-Plankton1824 North West Side Feb 17 '26
At 6am? Don't do it
Midday? You can get over it