Snow pusher on gravel.

[b737drvr]

Does anybody have experience with a snow pusher box on gravel/crushed asphalt? I have been plowing our 1/8 mile lane for the past several years with an ATV plow and tractor backblade for the really heavy snows. Not real happy with either of those methods as they just tear up the lane too badly. Too much of my gravel/asphalt ends up on the side of the road. Have a Kioti DK40 and Bobcat T770 that I could push with. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[herm0016]

i have 3 6 in wide sections of 4 in pvc jammed on edge of a back blade, works pretty well and does not tear up the gravel much. it really comes down to having some kind of shoe on the blade.

 

[FarmerPhilip]

I use an atv and llow on pea gravel without any issue. Do you have the plow skids set at a height so it wont rip up the gravel? Atv plowing is sooooooo much faster!

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. I clear snow with a very HD Rhino rear blade. If I need to clear snow before the driveway has frozen, rock hard - simply reverse the rear blade 180 degrees and plow forward. It will nicely clear the snow and leave the gravel right where it is.

 

[bridge4]

I just bought one for gravel parking lots and a few drives to combine with my snowblower. Haven't had a chance to use it yet and am picking it up next week.

Probably not helpful now, but I will update any info after a few uses.

I'm sure if the ground is frozen or not plays a big role in how well it works.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I run a heavy truck plow with shoes on it. Sometimes the road is so soft that the shoes don't provide enough float so I get two grooves from the shoes plus the blade digging in. In those cases I take off the shoes and raise the plow a hair to take the weight off the cutting edge and plow the road that way. It makes a messy plow job because the angled blade is not parallel to the road surface every where and in the dips and rises I leave piles. But then I just back drag the whole thing to neaten it up. It does leave a little snow on the road but that is fine by me.

gg

 

[arrow]

I have the same situation as you with my driveway landing strewn with 3/4" gravel. I also use a snow pusher as well as a back blade. I find it nearly impossible not to pick up stones and blade height lift off the ground is of little consequence. What happens is the snow itself (on the first dump anyway) picks up the stones and rolls the stones to wherever my tractor goes. It is an unavoidable consequence that I have dealt with for the 42years I've lived here. I simply pull the stones back every season. It's akin to having logs with dirt or mud on them but you need to cut them up anyway. It would not stop me from using a chainsaw.
The snow pusher is a great tool to have to clear wide swept "areas". Nothing beats a plow in my mind for speed when having to clear "lanes".

When there becomes a hard pack snow covering, there is no problem with either tool.

 

[LD48750]

i have 3 6 in wide sections of 4 in pvc jammed on edge of a back blade, works pretty well and does not tear up the gravel much. it really comes down to having some kind of shoe on the blade.

I tried the PVC but it kept breaking.
Then someone on this forum suggested angle iron.
He used 3". I didn't have any so tried 2" bolted to my york rake.
Worked GREAT.
Next I used a section of old bed frame on the ATV plow I have on my tractor.
I can now plow the drive without disturbing the gravel even before it freezes and a path to the barn over the grass with no trace of any damage in the spring.

 

[Jchonline]

i have 3 6 in wide sections of 4 in pvc jammed on edge of a back blade, works pretty well and does not tear up the gravel much. it really comes down to having some kind of shoe on the blade.

Same here. I have the adjustable feet on my front blade and it works great.

 

[b737drvr]

I just bought one for gravel parking lots and a few drives to combine with my snowblower. Haven't had a chance to use it yet and am picking it up next week.

Probably not helpful now, but I will update any info after a few uses.

I'm sure if the ground is frozen or not plays a big role in how well it works.

Thanks again everybody for what you use on your gravel surfaces. I have tried several iterations on the ATV plow and back blade all with varying successes (and failures). Just hoping somebody could shed light on those big snow pusher boxes. Please let me know Bridge4 when you get that new pusher!

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

OP,

Does it get cold enough where you are for your ground to freeze up hard? If so, you could just run an edge guard (pvc pipe, etc) over your cutting edge until freeze up. I take my Edge Tamers off of my FEL bucket once we freeze up. The ground is hard as concrete until spring thaw, and the cutting edge can't touch the gravel.

 

[b737drvr]

It does get cold up here in Michigan, but it still seems like a lot of rock ends up on the sides of the lane even in January when the ground is frozen, but I may have to try a piece of PVC. Do you recommend 1" 1.5" or smaller? With my blade angled, will I have to worry about the PVC slipping off the end of the trailing edge?

 

[shooterdon]

When I had a plow truck, I used a thick walled plastic pipe I got from the oil/gas well operations around me. It helped a lot.

 

[herm0016]

It does get cold up here in Michigan, but it still seems like a lot of rock ends up on the sides of the lane even in January when the ground is frozen, but I may have to try a piece of PVC. Do you recommend 1" 1.5" or smaller? With my blade angled, will I have to worry about the PVC slipping off the end of the trailing edge?

i would use something 2+ it does wear a bit and the smaller stuff has a pretty thin wall.

 

[PILOON]

Well I have a CUT C/W pusher and rear blower and my drive is gravel.

My solution is to modify and weld on oversized shoes or skids.
On my blower they are 2 1/2 wide and about 10 ins long with ends turned up like skis.
Works 4 me.
These I leave on all season.

For the front clamp on O/S skids work well.



Search will reveal some folks that sell 'clamp on' skids, but I welded mine DIY.

 

[Tomtint]

I was just reading through this thread and was thinking that a 8' rake with the gauge wheels set just above the gravel.. and some sort of mold board attached to the rake tines old probably work pretty well...

 

[LD48750]

I was just reading through this thread and was thinking that a 8' rake with the gauge wheels set just above the gravel.. and some sort of mold board attached to the rake tines old probably work pretty well...

I learned a couple years ago that a York Rake does a fine job
.
Then I learned that attaching a length of angle iron to it makes it GREAT for gravel & even clearing snow off unfrozen grass without damage.

 

[DJ54]

I put a section of 1-1/4" pipe on the cutting edge of the blade on my little Farmall blade. Cut a slot with the plasma cutter wide enough to slip over the edge, then welded tabs on it, matching bolt holes in the moldboard, to keep it in place. I'm sure you could do the same on one of those, although with the extra weight, maybe go with a larger size, maybe 2" pipe.

It will pick an occasional few stones in high spots, but doesn't gouge in. I leave it on year round, and makes it a bit easier to grade dirt without gouging in also.

 

[b737drvr]

Thanks for the visual DJ54. If only I was a welder!:confused3:

 

[Imold]

I have adjustable pads on my UTV blade and bought Turf Tamers to use on my tractor bucket.