snow removal

[GeneV]

Here's me: Trying out ratchet rake's snow edge. - YouTube

 

[Hombre]

What kind of surface will you be removing snow from, Hombre?

All gravel. About a mile of main drive plus around my house and shop. I no longer have to plow out to the barn and clean up that area since I got rid of the horses. I also do several neighbors drives that are along the lower road about 1/2 mile below my house. I've made "changes" to the hydraulic plow I read that others have done to theirs to help with plowing gravel drives to help keep from removing "to much" gravel from the road. I've watched some videos of guys plowing their paved drive and it really makes me envious of that pavement. Cost prohibitive for me.

 

[Branson Bob]

All gravel. About a mile of main drive plus around my house and shop. I no longer have to plow out to the barn and clean up that area since I got rid of the horses. I also do several neighbors drives that are along the lower road about 1/2 mile below my house. I've made "changes" to the hydraulic plow I read that others have done to theirs to help with plowing gravel drives to help keep from removing "to much" gravel from the road. I've watched some videos of guys plowing their paved drive and it really makes me envious of that pavement. Cost prohibitive for me.

Hombre, it sounds like you make do.

 

[Aquamoose]

Plowed TWICE in the last 24 hrs up here in Deer Park, WA (north of ya Oosik). I had about 8-10” to clear and due to the dense snow, decided to do a few passes with the walk behind snow blower and chuck a bulk of it off to the side. Did a neighbor’s home too (husband passed away & was a member of the CIA Flying Tigers) and she had 3 times the area to plow.

My tractor is armed only with the standard bucket and a 7’ back blade. Did most of the plowing backwards. I’ve decided that I’ll add hydraulics to angle it on the fly to make plowing more efficient. Thought about adding wings to the bucket... anyone try that?

 

[JerryK]

Plowing [ or blowing snow on ] gravel is always a pain until you get the top surface to freeze up. You will then still run into soft spots near mailboxes and the edge of the road. If the roadway is froze, you will still dig in if you get over onto areas that have been covered with snow that you are widening out. On your 94" front blade, you could add a steel pipe over your cutting edge that will help a lot. But it will still dig in if the ground gets soft. Our local machining/steel outfits make and stock them in quantity. But you can make one out of 2" I.D. schedule 80 [ 1/4" wall ] steel pipe. You cut a slot in the pipe with a plasma cutter that will allow you to slide the pipe onto the blade. Then add a couple tabs welded onto the pipe, then bolted onto the blade to keep it in place. Does not take much to keep it on. You can go bigger pipe, but 2" seems to be the norm up here. I used to use ABS pipe, and tried bigger sizes. At some point it will just ride up on top too much. I have them on both of my blowers and my little front blade. Not perfect, but works better.

 

[grsthegreat]

Moved snow for 8 hours yesterday. Had between 18-20” on the ground depending on area. Did my place and 6 neighbors places. Used front mount blower

 

[Hombre]

In answer to Slowpoke Slim's question on the 84" snowblower, the 40 horse Branson has no problem with it. It weighs a bit over 900lbs so it helps me when it gets a bit slick out. I have R4's on the tractor and they are just about, no, they are, worthless in snow. I usually have to run chains on all fours when it gets more than a couple inches deep or there is any ice or hard pack. I've done a lot of snow removal here using the front bucket (only when necessary) and 7ft back blade on my old 32hp tractor. When the berms along the drive would get up to a ft or two high and hard, it would just throw the back of the tractor over. Then the bucket went to work to open the road wide enough for a car to pass as the drive is not very wide to begin with. I'm sure you fella's that do this regularly know exactly what I'm talking about. I've lived here 20 years and every year is a learning experience in snow removal. I had a TD 9 cat I used for a few years, now that thing could move snow but also really tear stuff up if things got remotely out of kilter. Had a 87 International 6yd dump that was an X city plow truck, had sanders, double action box (would lift from the front or from the rear to feed the sanders) and a 12ft plow. It would also really move snow but I had to use chains and 3 or 4 yds of sand to get around. Trying to do small areas around the house, neighbors drives and such was pretty dicey. So here I am now with a new(er) tractor, big snow blower for when the berms get big and the road gets small, and the 94" front blade for the majority (I hope) snow work. I think it will work pretty good once I get a handle on how to use it. I've noticed that when changing angles on the blade you have to "adjust" the roll back on the plow to keep it level so one side doesn't dig in. That was an interesting discovery. Also in answer to Jerry, I have done a two inch steel pipe tack welded to the cutting edge and a 12" piece of stall mat that rolls under the pipe. Read about that from someone. Seems to work pretty well so far, and I'm sure I'll tear up less road with this setup than I would with just the blade edge. The best by far was the dump truck and plow but man, I had that in some tight spots around the neighborhood that I wasn't sure I would ever get out of. I probably should add that the "driveway" was originally built with a D8 dozer run up through the woods and a bunch of rip rap dropped for a road base. Over the years and a lot of gravel and it is what it is. Up hill all the way to my house, not level in any direction with humps and bumps with a few small "donikers" sticking up when the gravel starts getting moved out thrown in. When I first moved here I would not haul my horses down it inside the trailer, I would tie them off and let them walk. It was a bona fide 5MPH road in my 4x4 cause' it was so rough. You could actually (if you were so inclined) drive it at 20 today without to much drama, I still only go about 10 though. Sorry for the book size reply guys.

 

[grsthegreat]

Heading out to plow again. 6 inches of new snow. And powers been out for 30 minutes. Got to love the generator.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

We still got nuthin' for snow. A tiny bit of powder last night just sprinkled over the top of all our sheet ice.

 

[whistlepig]

No snow to speak of yet this year but January is our snow month. Most of the time I can take care of the snow with the ATV and a snow plow. However the land around us is very flat and the wind can whip the 2" of snow into three foot drifts. For moving snow like that I use a loader and a tractor with chains.