Need ideas for a raised walkway

[BeezFun]

This path out to our barn gets icier every year and we keep getting older. Looking for ideas on building some kind of raised wooden walkway that we can keep free of snow and ice. I'm thinking of building segments about 10' long and 3' wide out of deck planking that I can pick up and move with tractor forks in the summer to get them out of the way to mow. Then put them back in the fall before the snow flies. Anybody done anything like this or have any ideas?

 

[Gee Ray]

That looks to be a lot of 10 foot sections. The elevated wood would still get covered with ice and snow. With the price of lumber the way it is I would look at pouring a concrete sidewalk that would be more practical. Mow over it and be able to snow plow it makes more sense to me. You could add the tubes to the concrete to circulate hot water to make it ice free if that is easier but costly.

After my fall and being a wheelchair user I would also add ramps if you were ever to need them. If this is your forever home it might be money well spent.

 

[ponytug]

+1 on not using wood, and using concrete or asphalt with buried heat (electric or glycol). Don't forget to insulate the concrete underneath with foam.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

same concerns here.

How about traction mats (rubber) or horse stall mats cut into strips. Use tractor / forks to flip over and clear when it rains ice or snows? seems like lot of work though.

Have you ever thought in switching to wearing spiked logger boots in the winter or other of those non slip winter foot wear?
I do and they work great as I have replacement hips and would hate to fall and break them.
Thinking spiked shoes took over the golf world so why not same in winter places?

just need to be carefully when you go into a concrete shop or indoors as then they go from great traction to very slippery quick.

 

[BeezFun]

That looks to be a lot of 10 foot sections. The elevated wood would still get covered with ice and snow. With the price of lumber the way it is I would look at pouring a concrete sidewalk that would be more practical. Mow over it and be able to snow plow it makes more sense to me. You could add the tubes to the concrete to circulate hot water to make it ice free if that is easier but costly.

After my fall and being a wheelchair user I would also add ramps if you were ever to need them. If this is your forever home it might be money well spent.

Sorry about your fall, we're trying to avoid the same thing.

I could pour concrete but there is drainage across the path, so I'd have to incorporate small pipe culverts to let water flow under it. We also have 4 other paths I haven't shown to get to the goat house and turkey/chicken area. So it's a lot of concrete and it starts to look like a shopping mall instead of a farm, and the wife's not crazy about concrete anyway. I was planning to use ramps at each end, not just for us but to facilitate getting a hand truck in and out. I can use our walk behind snow blower to clear whatever I build, I just need to make it wide enough to get the blower on it.

 

[BeezFun]

same concerns here.

How about traction mats (rubber) or horse stall mats cut into strips. Use tractor / forks to flip over and clear when it rains ice or snows? seems like lot of work though.

Have you ever thought in switching to wearing spiked logger boots in the winter or other of those non slip winter foot wear?
I do and they work great as I have replacement hips and would hate to fall and break them.
Thinking spiked shoes took over the golf world so why not same in winter places?

just need to be carefully when you go into a concrete shop or indoors as then they go from great traction to very slippery quick.

We use mats to make paths for the horses so they don't fall on the ice. We put them down right before a freeze so they stick in place. We don't take them up until spring, we just keep putting more on top the next time there's an ice problem. But that gets pretty ugly looking and I don't think the design committee would approve. I also can't run the snow blower over mats because they end up getting snaggled in the auger.

 

[bcp]

Zip line with a chair.



bruce

 

[deezler]

How about just getting the pathway a bit more elevated in the first place? Some loads of dirt to raise it up out of the ditch it appears to be now. Then topping it with something like loose mulch would keep it from as easily turning into an ice sheet.

A heated concrete sidewalk sounds like an easy way to blow 50 grand here. Keep it simple to start, and see if it improves enough for ya.

 

[BeezFun]

Zip line with a chair.



bruce

Good one
I think zip lines only go one way though, I guess I need two.

 

[DGZRT]

I would find some low cut zipper on the side slip in boots and buy screw in studs for the bottom. Then load a large fertilizer spreader with sand and apply it to the walk way . Any raised surface will still have to be taken care of . Swept or shoveled and you might still need the sand . Better than a raised walkway would be a railing all the way out there . Less work to clean.