Snowblower On 300 yard gravel driveway

[ctcrtaja]

Is it possible to use a JD3320 with a front snowblower attachment on a 300 yard gravel driveway and do a good job, without throwing alot of gravel. Or should a front attachment plow be used?

 

[moored4]

Welcome to TBN and as your snow question "i don't have a snow blower" so I can't help you!

 

[Gordon Gould]

Welcome to TBN.
How much snow do you get ? Wet heavy stuff or dry fluffy typically??
I don't have a blower but I have one mile of gravel to take care of. If you want to clean off the snow right down to bare ground either way, blower or plow, you will lose gravel until it is frozen. I leave my plow up or back drag until I have a packed snow surface. Then gravel is not a worry and I can drop the plow. Only down side is if we get rain it gets icey. Then I just start over making my snow road.

 

[grsthegreat]

I have about 600-800 feet of gravel drive/walkways to snowblow every year. If you run one without shoes on the blower, you will throw alot of gravel until the road surface freezes. I always run it with the shoes until i get a good solid frozen base. The shoes let you leave an inch or 2 of snow, not enuf to cause any issues. if you leave too much, and a thaw happens, youll have a slushy mess thats hard to drive thru.

After i get the frozen base, i lose the shoes and maintain the hard pack thruout the rest of the season. Been doing it for years and hardly throw any gravel.

 

[psdx]

I've seen lots of comments about cutting a slit in a piece of ABS or PVC pipe and sliding it over the cutting edge of a snow blade to keep it up out of the gravel. Has anyone ever tried this technique with the cutting edge of a snowblower to keep it up out of the gravel???

 

[lungdoc]

Absolutely possible in locations with consistent cold temperatures. I do just under a mile of gravel road without trouble - but we are able to keep a nice frozen packed layer. Usually adjust blower to not dig in for first blow or two then readjust to scrape (a few turns of toplink do it). If you have repeated freeze-thaws will be more difficult but still feasible but you shouldn't try to scrape to bare gravel.

 

[Craig Clayton]

I have been blowing and plowing about 700 feet of gravel driveway in southern Ontario for 22 years. I am using a 26HP Kubota with a REAR mounted blower that I wish was on the front. I run for the first snow falls on a rear blade with a hydraulic angling because snow blowers need a 1" base of hard pack. If you ran with a blower on the front and a blade on the rear this should provide you with all you need.
Once you get 1800 feet and 1 complete winter you will be talking like an OLD SALT.

Craig Clayton

 

[koosa]

I've seen lots of comments about cutting a slit in a piece of ABS or PVC pipe and sliding it over the cutting edge of a snow blade to keep it up out of the gravel. Has anyone ever tried this technique with the cutting edge of a snowblower to keep it up out of the gravel???

Wish I had read this post before I cleared the yesterday's snow dump. We had 25 cm of snow on ground which has not yet had a chance to freeze. Above normal temperatures for much of the fall. May have to buy grass seed by the ton next spring. :laughing: My snow removal includes gravel driveway, grass pathways to oil tanks, barn, and gravel highway shoulder for mail delivery - none of the areas are flat. Although I am keeping the "sheer pin" manufactures in business. Thanks for the idea.

Dave

Operating a Kubota BX25 with a Lucknow L48 and a front bucket.

 

[Oldmopar]

My gravel drive is about 1/4 mile long and I use a rear mounted blower. In the fall and late spring I just adjust the top link a little shorter so that the front of the cutting edge tips up. The weight of the blower keeps it down but the cutting edge doesn't dig in, it just rides along on the rear shoes of the blower. I like a blower for around here mainly due to all the wind (its pretty much wide open prarie around here) a blower will scatter the snow out a long way from the drive while a blade will ridge it up along the sides. Ridges + wind = plugged driveway, then you go through it with a blade and ridge it up higher , then higher and pretty soon you have so much snow you'll never get out of your drive.