Snow fence install ?

[IXLR8]

I really need to install a snow fence. I am tired of clearing 3 ft of snow blown into my driveway... days after the snow has stopped falling. I am looking for any advice on type of fence and location of fence. Seems I heard somewhere that the fence should not be right next to the driveway... but a certain distance away.

TIA

 

[Gator6x4]

I don't know anything about snow fences. Do not live in an area where used or required. But here is a how to article.

Snow Fence Installation Instructions

 

[Thomas]

If the ground somewhat flat next to your driveway,bucket 4"or so from ground make couple of passes both sides of driveway 15' or so from driveway.

 

[DJ54]

Years ago when we put it up along highways here in Ohio, I'm thinking we put it back 50' from the right-of-way fence which made it approx. 70 to 75' from the edge of the road. Most years it would handle our snowfalls, at least we could plow it back.

Steel T-posts set every 10 feet, except the ends. We would make like a standard brace post configuration, except the brace part was on an approx. 45 degree angle.

All of ours was put up on the West side, per the prevailing winds, of the North-South roads... Every now and then, you guys would send us a Nor 'Easter. We'd have pretty good drifts in the fields on the "other side", LOL...

I suppose in a average year we'd put up at least 500 rolls. I never really looked forward to it, because me and another fellow usually ended up on the post driver. After the first year, I tried talking the Superintendant into letting the mechanic/welder put something on the loader tractor we had, to simply "push" the posts in the ground..., but it never happened... He told me that's what they pay me for...

You always had to wait until farmers got their crops off, before putting the fence up. Many years it was during the rainy time of fall, and it all had to be carried in by hand... And guess who got that job... Yup, slide a steel post through the center, and two guys carry...

Not sure which was worse... Putting it up, or taking it down. At least you could unroll it by using your foot to roll it.

They finally quit using it. Too many city boys when pulling posts in the spring would raunch on the posts too hard snapping them off at the ground surface, and puncture the farmer's tractor tire when doing the spring plowing. Their theory was, the farmer had plenty of money to buy new one's...

I'd hate to say how many tractor tires the State paid for.

 

[rus_geek]

I'm currently using three different types of snow fence. I have several old rolls of the wood & wire fence that my dad no longer needs (they spend winters in Arizona) that gets the job done, but it is heavy and the wood is getting weaker every year. Each time I put it up, I probably "lose" ten or fifteen feet of fence that just isn't worth keeping and gets cut off the ends of the rolls. I also have a hundred foot roll of some fence that is basically a half-inch grid of knotted string/twine. And a hundred foot roll of the plastic stuff that is frequently used to barricade construction sites. All seem to do a decent job of making the snow drop at the fence rather than my driveway. About 60' off the driveway is close enough for me to not have "redrifting" downwind of the fence, but far enough away that the drifts won't reach the drive. By the middle of January last winter, this fence was actually completely buried in the drifts over some sections.

 

[timswi]

Here are some instructions...There is a science to this.

Snow Fence Installation Instructions

 

[tugboat-2]

IXLR8 : Hey, good name, is that your licence plate as well? I like it. Yes, keep your snow fence back about 50 feet from the driveway. Any closer, will just fill your driveway. Knowing the general principal of the fence might assist you.

The fence is there to "sift" the wind. The WIND "carrying" the snow across an open area, is stopped or slowed by the slats of the fence. The wind "stops" and the snow "drops" to the ground "just past" the fence.

Depending on the wind velocity and the amount of snow carried by it, affects the distance the drift will drop,.."past" the fence. But 50 feet back from the driveway is a good general rule.

I started with three rows, 50 feet apart,...during the years I waited for my new evergreens to develop a very successful snow fence of themselves. The spruces and pines have grown "out" to the point where they are now 30 feet across the bottoms bringing the edge to about 5 to 10 feet from the edge of my laneway.

A couple rows of trees has made a solid wall of evergreen along my lane now which means hardly any depth to the laneway snow aside from drifting, but also much less grass to cut in summer!!

I planted 6 inch seedlings but you might want to purchase more mature trees ,...if that is your desire. It is much easier than putting up and taking down snow fence. Those were the old wood slats wired together. But todays, lightweight plastic stuff should be easier to handle.

Several years ago now, a "city-slicker" bought the farm down the road and his first winter he installed snowfence directly beside his long open lane. I don't know what number I was,..to stop and suggest he move it,...but as he was a tad sarcastic with me,...I got a kick out of watching his lane drift in solid all winter. Turned out he bought the farm to use the barn for a "gro-op" and next harvest, police and military choppers dropped in on him and soon there after, the farm was sold to decent folks,...who moved the snowfence!

Anyway, I hope this helps you a little. Good luck with it!

CHEERS!
. . tug

 

[jimmyj]

Do you have any structure beside your driveway? Even a paige wire fence can apparently disrupt the wind and cause some drifting.

 

[wolc123]

I have a north-south driveway next to a big open field and drifting used to be a major problem. I would always put up a snowfence about 70 ft to the west. It did a good job keeping the driveway clear. I used a handheld pile driver for putting in the t-posts, and a lever operated puller (from Harbor Freight) for pulling. Those two tools made the task much simpiler than using a sledge hammer to drive the posts, and pulling them out with brute force as I did the first few seasons (I was young and strong then). About 5 years ago, I used my tractor and plow to make a nice berm where the fence used to go, and planted a row of blue spruce trees about every 10 feet on the berm. This has developed into a permanent solution to my drifting problem, and it is a lot prettier than those fences. When and if the trees get too big and start crowding each other, I will cut every other one. Right now, at about 8 ft tall, they stop the drifts better than the fence ever did.

 

[studor]

Another great snow fence is three or four rows of unharvested corn -- far easier than putting up fence and just about as effective until you can get trees to grow