Plowing on asphalt question

[zmansmac]

I had my 200 foot driveway asphalted in May of this year. In past seasons I used a fairly lightweight plow that I added gauge wheels to and mounted on my loader arms. I was able to curl down to have the cutting edge scrape the cement apron of the garage and then curl up to get the edge up to 1 inch off the ground when doing the gravel part. The gauge wheels worked great even when the gravel wasn't frozen. Now that I don't have any gravel to deal with I bought a new 6 foot plow. It's quite a bit heavier; I'd estimate 450 pounds including the mount I made to go on the loader arms. It has a nice set of cast shoes which are about 6 inches wide by 5 inches long. I welded 1/2 inch steel to the bottom of each shoe as a sacrificial wear surface. Since this is a bottom edge trip plow (Meyer Diamond series) the 2 trip springs on each side are very near the ends of the plow which would make it challenging to add gauge wheels. So my question for those of you who plow asphalt drives is whether or not you think these shoes would any damage to my drive, especially considering that it's only 6 months old, as I understand they should be adjusted to keep the edge slightly off the surface. The loader would be in the float position so no extra downward force.

 

[chim]

I don't use shoes on paved surfaces. For many years I used the FEL and a rear scraper blade. Last year it seemed like a blower would be fun, so when used one was available at a decent price, I grabbed it. I added a piece of 1/2" thick flat bar around 3 sides for a wear surface.

 

[art]

I don't run skid shoes on a paved driveway.

 

[Rustyferrious]

I've plowed many asphalt drives and parking lots. I've never seen much evidence of the plow on the asphalt when winter ends. one older drives with cracks and seams, the plow must approach the crack at an angle, but on a new drive you should not have any cracks yet. The cold actually makes the material harder, the skid shoes are helpful in keeping blade wear to a minimum.

 

[davesl708]

I plow 200' of asphalt with the FEL. Works fine. My neighbor applies that thin overcoat on his asphalt drive and I see very little scuffing from the FEL.

I keep the angle very shallow so it does not dig in.

 

[LD1]

No shoes for me either. Plowed countless hours of paved surfaces.

 

[farm boy00]

I run straight plow on asphalt. My buddy who owned my plow truck before me he ran casters on the previous plow (punched a hole from trying to help a cola truck) and replaced the blade. Never switched casters bit I haven't had any problems without them

 

[msb1766]

I have a truck mounted plow and a 3 point hitch back blade that I use for snow removal on my asphalt driveway. The only thing I have done was round over
the edged of the scraper blade with a grinder. So when it is angled the leading edge of the scraper blade is not sharp to cause and damage.

 

[SARG]

The blacktop sealer doesn't last long when you scrape off the snow. The coating gets chewed up as well.
That's why I only put the big machines onto the asphalt when I absolutely have to i.e. when we get buried.

 

[Cord]

No skid shoes on a paved surface and no tire chains either. If the pavement gets icy, the sun will burn it off a couple of days later.

 

[srs]

I added a piece of rubber (discarded by the local government snow plow crew) to the bottom of my plow. Doesn't scrape as clean as metal directly on the asphalt, but when the sun hits the driveway it melts any left over snow down to bare asphalt. Works great for slushy snow too.

 

[RalphVa]

I never used shoes on the 4' plow on the Gravely and don't use shoes on the FEL or rear blade that I've used on my JDs for 10 years.

I'd think the shoes are more likely to damage the driveway because they'd exert the full weight on a small (show footprint) surface area.

Just remove the shoes and put your plow in float if it's on the front.

Ralph