I have plowed snow with most every thing except an ATV, jeep, scouts, pickups, trucks and tractors 2 and 4 wheel drive.
My particular driveway is graveled dirt and a steep hill I can never let any snow stay on it or even think of packing it down to ice up,
if that was gone you would be guaranteed to crash going down and not make it up. I do move some gravel every year, I use my back blade
quite often and how I use the backblade differs on every storm, if the driveway is froze and hard i'll pull the blade while going forward or
if the storm is large I"ll push it backwards, if its a light storm and the driveway is not frozen I will run the blade backwards and
using my hydraulic top link adjust the blade angle of attack for the best results. I also have a blade on the front of my loader it sets so far forward
that the weight and leverage is to much to float unless the driveway is froze tight, a lot of the time I have to go slow and carry the blade, my plow truck
is the same if the ground is froze plow like ****, if not you have to carry the blade and you can't see it in the truck. A close mounted blade on a tractor
will do a nice job as it is visible while you are using it and the leverage and bounce is eliminated, however it's difficult to use with a loader attached.
To sum it up every driveway is different, and the equipment available is different, and the removal methods are going to depend on the operator and equipment.
All the well meaning advice is only going to give you a multitude of methods and equipment to try. A shallow storm is much different then an 18-24" one,
fluffy dry snow is so much different then heavy wet snow, at times on the early and late storms I have used my York rake at the maximum angle to clear snow
and not move a lot of gravel, I have also used it to break up ice and snow pack. Also I maintain a sand pile and have and use a sander, I can usually get about
2 years out of a tri-axle load of winter sand with a salt blend.
Snow, ice and driveways make for a lot of work. But I have no desire to live where it's not an issue.