Leftover Gasoline for snow removal

Hi all,

This may be an insane idea but I'm tired of shoveling snow and we are getting a lot here in southeastern PA. I am thinking of getting my lawnmower, weed whacker and other power tools left over gas and pouring it on the snow farthest away from my house and then throwing a newspaper which is on fire on to it.

A controlled burn?

Thoughts and thank you in advance.

Unless you want to trim your eyebrows and mustache the fast way, DON"T attempt it.... It WILL go BOOM !!!!


not to mention the ground water contamination.

That may not even melt it. The vapors off of gas burn,not the liquid, so the heat may not get to the snow. Now if you had a tanker load, that may be a different story Wait till spring, watch for a gas snow blower and use your leftover gas in that next season

why don't you pick up a war surplus flame thrower

I keep telling you, that's what teenagers and money are made for.

Lets see....
I'm thinking of taking a pressure washer that is siphoning off a gas can instead of a bottle of cleaner....
Ignite the mixture coming out of the nozzle with my handy dandy propane torch.....
Wallah!! a home made snow melter!!

Can anyone see any issues with this? If not I plan on getting a patent. I will get the gas I need by using my shop vac to suck the gas out of any abandoned vehicles I find on the side of the road during the upcoming snowstorm tonight.

Sounds like really bad idea to me. As mentioned the vapors burn. As the snow melts its going to carry away the liquid gasoline which of course is going to be producing vapors and be on fire.

Getting back to the vapors one very important thing be aware of about gasoline vapors is they will travel across the ground where there is no liquid gas. For example if you went and dumped a lot of gas on some wood with the intention of lighting it those vapors can travel out to the area where you are standing if given enough time.

Oh yea,what a good idea--keep us roasted--whoops, I mean posted

Richard S. wrote:Sounds like really bad idea to me. As mentioned the vapors burn. As the snow melts its going to carry away the liquid gasoline which of course is going to be producing vapors and be on fire.

Getting back to the vapors one very important thing be aware of about gasoline vapors is they will travel across the ground where there is no liquid gas. For example if you went and dumped a lot of gas on some wood with the intention of lighting it those vapors can travel out to the area where you are standing if given enough time.

I don't know if it's still used in gas blends since so much ethanol is prescribed but the old stuff might have MBTE in it. This stuff loves water and will end up in the ground water as quick as it burns. If you have a well for drinking water, you and your neighbors will be swallowing is soon after melting any snow

Thank You everyone. It was an ah ha moment and at this point and time in my cabin fever I thought this could work.

I won't be doing it after reading these answers.

Back to the drawing board.

Maybe you can try pickle juice.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/01/25/ ... kle-juice/

Wouldn't it be better and cheaper to go to your local nuke plant and have them load your pickup with their waste. It really doesn't take much. They probably have spec sheets on the half-life. Schedule a vacation until that is reached.

OTOH, forget about the nuke waste and just take a vacation till the birds return to Capistrano or the Monarch Butterflies head out for Canada.

titleist1 wrote:Lets see....
I'm thinking of taking a pressure washer that is siphoning off a gas can instead of a bottle of cleaner....
Ignite the mixture coming out of the nozzle with my handy dandy propane torch.....
Wallah!! a home made snow melter!!

Can anyone see any issues with this? If not I plan on getting a patent. I will get the gas I need by using my shop vac to suck the gas out of any abandoned vehicles I find on the side of the road during the upcoming snowstorm tonight.

You might be a redneck!!!

I'm thinking 1 or 2 strategically placed sticks of dynamite will do the trick, and the resulting craters in the ground are great for disposing of coal ash.