Snowblowers on gravel roads?

[Boondox]

My only experience with blowers was PTO-driven unit on a BCS walk behind. It blew like a son of a gun, but the sheer pins broke if it picked up a rock half the size of a pack of smokes. That really got old, and I sold the unit to someone who had a paved driveway.

I've been plowing with the rear blade angled for years, moving the snow into a windrow in the center of the drive when we ran out of room on the side to push it, then using the FEL to move it out of the way. The problem is on snowy years, like this one, moving snow becomes a problem. I'm responsible for my gravel driveway, the gravel driveway of my rental property, and the quarter mile of steep (28 degree slope) gravel road between them. That road is flanked on either side by old stone walls and those walls mean I have about three feet to spare on either side of the roadway. Once snow accumulation takes up that space, especially after a warm spell has turned it to ice, I have to move the snow up or downhill to where I still have room to pile it.

I'm thinking a blower would be just the ticket to blow the snow up and over the stone walls, but worry about the effect stones would have on it. Any real life experience dealing with that?

Pete

 

[jgayman]

I've been snow blowing a gravel driveway for 40 years, first with several different walk-behinds and with a 54" front mount on my JD 2720 the past two seasons. I can count on one hand the number of sheer bolts I broke on the walk-behinds and I've not broken a sheer bolt yet on the 54". The key is to eliminate as many large rocks as possible prior to the snow season and to properly adjust the skid shoes up high enough to eliminate the majority of the gravel. Depending on conditions I will occasionally catch a little gravel now and then and throw it out the shoot but it doesn't cause me any problems.

 

[zionview]

jgayman, is your driveway crowned in the middle? Ours is, for drainage. I'd love to blow snow off my 700 foot driveway, but the crown concerns me. I really don't want to level it out for the winter, because the drainage works for snowmelt, too.

 

[Boondox]

jgayman, is your driveway crowned in the middle? Ours is, for drainage. I'd love to blow snow off my 700 foot driveway, but the crown concerns me. I really don't want to level it out for the winter, because the drainage works for snowmelt, too.

Excellent point, and my road is also crowned for just that reason.

 

[hhsco]

I get a little gravel early and late in the season. I've learned to let the first snowfall settle and set the blower a couple inches above the drive at first. Once the gravel freezes solid I don't have to worry about it till things start thawing in April.
We get way to much snow and drifting here to NOT use a blower. Would very quickly run out of place to put the snow.

 

[rekees4300]

Been there done that. You definitely are a candidate to have a PTO snowblower. On a gravel road you are going to pickup some gravel no matter what you do. The challenge is to minimize it. Set the skid plates has high has possible and angle the cutting edge upward using the toplink. Also there are threads on TBN about placing a plastic or metal bar over the cutting edge. Prior to the winter the road should be graded to eliminate humps and dips. Also wise to remove stones large enough to break the shear pin. A set of chains on tractor's rear wheels makes a big difference on ice and steep grades.

 

[jgayman]

jgayman, is your driveway crowned in the middle? Ours is, for drainage. I'd love to blow snow off my 700 foot driveway, but the crown concerns me. I really don't want to level it out for the winter, because the drainage works for snowmelt, too.

Good point. No, mine is not crowned. I'm sure that helps simplify my snow blowing.

 

[doxford jim]

A big concern would be getting too close to the gravel when blowing the snow. I like to leave at least a couple of inches of snow on top of the gravel. yes, I do make a few trips with the rear blade to level off any high and low spots as much as possible. I have gravel on top of clay so the gravel tends to migrate downwards in the wet season.
I wait until I have trouble driving my truck on the now before I start to use the blower - this gets a fair bit snow packed hard. I don't have any adjustable skid shoes on my blower, so I have to manually adjust as the need arises.
Anyway, a little gravel going through is normal - you just don't want lots if gravel or any big stuff.

 

[batwing]

I try to let it freeze by driving over the first few snows then use the back blade to windmill the snow over to the side until it gets narrow then put the blower on and angle up a couple inches for a few times. Our drive way is almost a quarter mile long gravel, did not shear a pin this year and got plenty of use.
Ron

 

[Halftrack]

Between my driveway, limestone and 500+ ft, and one of the neighbors, gravel and 900 ft, I have sheared maybe a half dozen bolts this year. Most were on his driveway with 2+ inch diameter stones and an occasional chunk of ice. My skid shoes are too small for use in gravel until everything freezes solid, so I run the blower an inch or 2 above the surface. Running the blower off the surface also gives you better traction and directional control, if you are dealing with other than straight lines. After that ice layer builds up, then I can run on the surface and the blower is set a 1/4 to 1/2" above the skid shoes. The impeller shows some very minor damage from those impacts, but nothing I am concerned with. I would much rather replace a shear bolt 50 times as compared to a gearbox, shaft or impeller once. I also found a 1/2" diameter 6" long hardened bolt that fell off the neighbors plow, when it sheared the impeller bolt, but both were no worse for wear afterward.