Remove snow first or after ice hits

[Scrounger]

The questions is, should you remove a few inches of snow from the drive before an ice storm hits or leave it as a base so you can remove the ice easier.

 

[Duffster]

Leave it til it ices.

 

[Gizmo2]

X2, Leave it.

 

[t man]

I leave the snow if there is ice coming as long as it isn't a high traffic area where it will pack down. Much easier to remove the ice if there is a layer of snow under it.

 

[ScottyChip]

I agree, leave the snow.

 

[RoyJackson]

It's unanimous...leave the snow.

 

[First one]

I see everyone says to leave it .
But if there's only two or three inches of snow the only thing I can say is, I've seem more times then not that it will freeze down though it and you can wind up with a very rough surface to plow. (The only time we have left snow is if we had 5 or 6" were the ice would stay on top and just freeze into a crust).
If we leave only 1 or 2" we find we get places where the snow has drifted more and in those spots you can scrap down to the base ,but where it was only a 1or 2" it froze into hard spots which made it really rough to plow. We plow around 5mils. of dirt roads on a private Island, along with cement pads . We always clean up any snow before freezing rain so to keep the surface as smooth as we can . We sand the roads after for more traction. :2cents:

 

[Gizmo2]

We sand the roads after for more traction. :2cents:

I would say good points but I also think the key is the sanding.

 

[First one]

I would say good points but I also think the key is the sanding.[/QUOTE

Your right, [U sanding[/U].:thumbsup:
We have to keep the roads even.(dirt not tarred). We can't leave snow on them to freeze on and make bumps so the plow will dig in and start making the road a mess . When you work for the wealthy you have to have them the best you can get them.
I clean up the same way at my place , once I have a good base I don't keep scraping up gravel . I have a flat drive and I don't use sand , there's always some snow left on it so it's not a glare of ice, like you might be thinking.
Not for everyone but that's just the way we found to get them the best we can keep them.

 

[crazyal]

Depends on the weather. If the temps are going to drop and you just got a couple of inches of wet snow with ice on top of it you could find all of it becomes ice. Otherwise I usually wait if I can. I know some people like to have a layer of packed snow but I like to scrape it as close as I can to the dirt so if things melt I get a dirt driveway not hard packed ice that I have to sand.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Leave the snow. You are playing Russian Roulette removing it.

Chris

 

[RoyJackson]

Depends on the weather. If the temps are going to drop and you just got a couple of inches of wet snow with ice on top of it you could find all of it becomes ice. Otherwise I usually wait if I can. I know some people like to have a layer of packed snow but I like to scrape it as close as I can to the dirt so if things melt I get a dirt driveway not hard packed ice that I have to sand.

I've seen snow get pretty crusty after a freeze, but never freeze through (doesn't mean it can't happen though). That's why I like to clean up after all precipitation has concluded, if at all possible.
This also depends on the equipment one is using. A 12" snow may be insurmountable by a smaller, low HP tractor (so you have to take smaller bites or do the plowing before it stops).

 

[JimP]

Leave the snow until the icing is over. If the snow doesn't freeze through you can plow snow and ice together. If the snow does freeze through you can use your bucket to scrape most up. If you plow early and the ice freezes hard to pavement it is almost impossible to remove. Your stuck with putting down lots of sand and salt, waiting for the sun and driving on an ice rink.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

The questions is, should you remove a few inches of snow from the drive before an ice storm hits or leave it as a base so you can remove the ice easier.

Let it all fall, then clean it all up.:thumbsup:

 

[Scrounger]

I left it and it worked pretty well for me. Still a mess to deal with since the snow base had turned into a slush base. My BX had to work pretty hard to get it all cleaned up.