Snow Snow Removal

[jdgreg]

Before we got our's paved, I used skid shoes on my BB just for the purpose of reducing scraping gravel onto the grass. Even with the skid shoes, come spring I usually found myself back on the tractor with the rake, scraping gravel back onto the drive. Seems only sure fire way of keeping gravel out of the grass, is to ether leave the snow alone, or pave the drive.

 

[Stef]

I had that dilemma before buying a blade or a blower. Finally got a blower. My driveway is gravel so I raise the blower an inch in the air. When I'm at the end of the driveway I drop the blower on the ground and drag it forward. The result is a nice flat surface and it compacts the snow at the same time.

I do the same thing over the lawn (blower at 6 inches from the ground) when I want to make a slide or a snow pile for kids (a track for the dog). It works very well and it doesn't damage the lawn at all.

I remember my first winter with a blower mounted on the tractor. I didn't know how to adjust it as it should be at first and I blew a lot of gravel. One learns from his mistakes after passing the next summer raking gravel 50 feet away from the driveway.

I'm sure it's fun to plow though. One day I'll by a front blade.

 

[Fjord]

Sounds like a good idea. How do you attach it? I would not want to weld it on. I suppose it could be welded to a plate and bolted on.

Check out this thread in this forum. Near the end, Herringchoker explains how he attached a piece of pipe to the bottom edge of his snowblower for the same reason. I think his method would also work for attaching it to the rear blade.http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/92915-rear-5ft-snowblower-questions-about.html

 

[AceDeuce]

I've heard the pipe idea before. Never got around to trying it though. My blade does have shoes but they don't help much because the gravel over most of the driveway ranges from 3/8" to 1-1/2" with little or no fines. It just rolls around like marbles. It'd be a different story with a 21A mix.

Hopefully it won't be an issue next year because it's looking like I'll be having it paved soon.

I too have paid the price of being a rookie blower operator. It only takes one time having to rake gravel 50' either side of a 500' long driveway to learn not to drop it all the way down!

 

[Pks]

Last year I made extra large skid shoes/skies for my Kubota snow blower. They are longer and wider so they slide easily over the sandy sections of my 900' drive. The skies don't dig in much on the sand and don't dig in at all on the 3/4" gravel frozen or not. I needed them to prevent the blower from digging into the crown of the drive. Our driveway is really a two-track/jeep-trail so the crown is a bit high and there isn't much gravel.

The pipe idea was applied to my back blade and also worked well. I use both approaches depending on the condidtions.

 

[rfogle]

I wonder why you couldn't use the pipe idea I posted as a reply in this forum
about 02/11/2006 under the thread "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow". I also posted some pix. It's a 2" pipe with a slit plasma cut in it to put the cutter bar edge in, 1 flat washer welded on each end to prevent side slip and a short length of chain welded close to each end. For my bb, I place the pipe and use a tarp strap from chain to chain over the center arm of the bb to hold it in place. Cleans the snow real well w/o digging in.

 

[ccsial]

I wonder why you couldn't use the pipe idea I posted as a reply in this forum
about 02/11/2006 under the thread "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow". I also posted some pix. It's a 2" pipe with a slit plasma cut in it to put the cutter bar edge in, 1 flat washer welded on each end to prevent side slip and a short length of chain welded close to each end. For my bb, I place the pipe and use a tarp strap from chain to chain over the center arm of the bb to hold it in place. Cleans the snow real well w/o digging in.

That is a pretty simple idea and sounds good. I like simple. I have customer who can cut the pipe and I have my own weldor. I'm gonna try it.

 

[Raddad]

The tractor or your technique aren't the problem. I have a drivewar made from a mix of clay and crushed stone. It is as hard as concrete in the winter. I never grade it in the fall so it's loose when winter comes. I'm sure someone on TBN will know what the mix is called. I use a rake with gauge wheels in the spring and summer to get it good and flat. I don't use skid shoes on my back blade when I plow snow and it scrapes most all the snow off.