Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Using Blower on a grade

[irvingj]

Frank-- for the last 25 years, my 250' uphill, steep in parts driveway was gravel. (I finally got it paved last sumemr.)

What I would do is to drive over the first few storms to pack it down with wife's AWD Toyota Matrix (nice wide tires), and then maintain a packed snow base for the duration of the winter. The first few uses of the blower did catch some rocks, of course, and I always keep a supply of shearpins available.

I also keep bags of sand for the inevitable icy days-- you know, the storms that start out by pulling air up from the south (rain), followed by a strong breeze from the north (rain changes to snow & everything freezes!). Having sand handy is a must.

I also kept the blower shoes lowered as far as they would go until the driveway was "set" and then raised them (but not all the way up).

This worked well for a long time, but does lead to an icy base once spring starts to come around, and the occasional stomach-in-the-throat trip down the drive. Many a day, I'd be out there early in the AM to spread sand.

I have a front-mount blower, as well as turf tires; I have a set of chains, but have never had to use them...yet. For me, the turfs have worked very well on the packed snow base. I really think the packed base is the key.

As far as FWD cars getting up, if the pitch of the driveway is beyond a certain point --I'm guessing around 9 degrees, or 15% grade-- it might be well to back up, due to the weight shift downhill on the slope. In those cases, rear wheel drive is actually an advantage, I think.

Type of car makes a difference, too- we had a Honda Civic (1980) that could NEVER get up the drive, but my old beater '79 VW Rabbit could do it no sweat, going forward. My '82 Peugeot 504D wagon (RWD) also got up easily, with some weight added in the back. Daughter's 2WD '04 F-150 could also never make it, even with 4 new studded snow tires and 600 lbs in the back. As others have said: snow tires at least, studded snows even better-- but please, all four of them!

Hope this helps-- WBB in NH

 

[ruren]

I keep the shoes on all of the time, adjusted to keep the cutting edge on the bottom of the blower just off the ground. I have turf tires on my tractor that work well for snow removal in my experience, I have never tried chains.

Both my vehicles are four wheel drive, so that helps in my case. Might be time to think about a good set of snow tires for that front wheel drive, if your budget allows. We have a few icy days each year where it gets nasty, but I've come to realize thats the price I pay for the view from the top of the hill.

Thanks for the info and encouragement. I think I should keep at it and see if I can get the hang of it. Do you use the shoes all the time? Chains?

I find that my car cannot make it up the drive with any snow left on the steep parts, since the snow gets pretty slippery when it packs down. It's just too steep for the old front wheel drive. I almost slipped back into a ravine on my first winter with it, so I have been keeping it fairly clear so the sun melts it back to a clean driveway. In spite of this, the mailman was making a delivery last year and tried to come up the drive with her Suburu and managed to get wedged sideways between the snowbanks. Not sure WHAT she was doing, but I managed to pull her around enough to get her straightened out so she could roll back down.

If I can get most of the snow blown clear with the blower and then hit it with the blade, it would be perfect. I hate the snow walls that the blade creates. After a while the snow won't push over the wall and the blade becomes completely ineffective. I usually have to use the FEL to take care of those walls, but if the blower can get rid of the snow in the first place, it would be great.

Frank

 

[Franko]

Guys,
I am a firm believer in Winter Tires! I read the TireRack reviews like my life depends on it (and I guess it does). I have separate performance summer tires and winter tires for my car, which is a Honda Fit. The winter tires that cannot make it up at times are Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25. The problem is that the front wheel drive on that honda becomes one wheel drive when one of the drive wheels breaks free and spins. It is a somewhat poor design but maybe appropriate for an econobox.

Our other car, an AWD Nissan Murano goes up and down the drive regardless of how much snow and ice we get. Actually, it is quite amazing to a guy who grew up in the Great Lakes areas with rear wheel drive cars, but I guess they are all getting better these days. We have followed 4WD pickups up muddy trails that were fishtailing and barely able to make it, without the Murano showing any noticeable wheel spin (at least that we could feel). I do not have the guts to find the traction limits on that car, but nothing we have gotten in the last 8 years here in PA has stopped it (knock on wood!). So we take it when conditions look bad. I guess the reason I was stuck was that it snowed more than expected when I was at work and I had taken the Honda due to its superior gas mileage.

In truth, the Honda is not the only problem. We have lots of visitors that have to make it up the drive with whatever car they drive. That is why I have been keeping it clean down to the gravel. I do plow a little gravel up before it gets frozen and during thaws, but I have a rake to spread it back in the Spring. In addition, our 'soil' here is one big broken-shale-gravel deposit. When I use my landscape blade in full float, it really just scrapes off some of the gravel but there is more below. The sun comes out (eventually), melts the snow stuck in the cracks, and I get a clean drive, and any water that forms seems to drain right down and has never caused any ice. The biggest problem is that I can get a new crop of blower-breakers dredged up with maybe 20 or so distributed over the drive. So 90% of the time, I have found a good solution with the rear blade. It is those 10% big snows that I have to deal with, and what I bought the blower for. I think it will work if I just give it a chance, using the advice here. I will get those skids back on so I am not scraping up every single rock on the drive, and then adjust the 'bite' of the unit with the top link. With the chains I should be able to get back and forth to blow away most of the snow during big storms. If I want to change back to the blade, I can then scrape it down if I want. I don't know though - does anyone else hate changing out implements in the winter like I do?? We will have to see. Maybe the snow pack won't be an unnavigable as I think. My neighbor does not own a tractor and just lets his drive pack down and he seems to make it most days.

Frank

 

[dmay]

I guess I feel the opposite about clearing snow completely off gravel. I have a gravel driveway and large gravel parking and trailer turn-a-round area. I prefer to leave a hard snow base. My snowblower shoes are set to give me 1 inch clearance. I have a front mount blower, rear duo-grip ladder chains and ballast box for weight. I find if conditions are bad I blow down the driveway, then back all the way up for another pass down the driveway.

If the base gets too smooth from winds or driving on, I have a landscape rake that I pull. This grooves the base so it is not slippery smooth. I do not have your degree of inclines. This is just what works for me.

 

[GPintheMitten]

As others have said, use skids, shorten the top link to raise the cutting edge, add weight if you can, and use winter tires on your cars. They have a different rubber compound that increases the grip.

 

[GPintheMitten]

For weight, I made weights for my wheels with 5 gallon plastic buckets, filled with concrete. I put threaded rod to match holes in the rear wheels. Cost me about $20 if I remember correctly. I posted a thread on it a couple of years ago. I'll look for it and post a link when I find it.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Can't find the thread on home made wheel weights but let me know if you want info on it. I think weight will help you and this is a pretty cheap way to add it.

 

[irvingj]

Ah, Frank: There's your problem! "We have lots of visitors that have to make it up the drive with whatever car they drive."

I can be pretty grouchy in the winter, don't much like visitors, and don't encourage them. If they must, I tell 'em to park at the top and walk down. (Man, I'm really sounding grumpy now!)

What I do tell folks who come down w/out AWD or 4WD is, if the wheels break traction and begin to spin, just stop. Immediately. Back down slowly, and I'll drive it out.

Someone spinning their way all the way up the drive (they rarely make it all the way) just ruins the packed base. Amazing to me how many people --even in this area-- just don't understand how to drive in limited-traction situations.

But, if you have lots of visitors, I can see why you need to get it cleaned off as much as you can, and understand your method.:thumbsup:

 

[leonz]

Guys,
I am a firm believer in Winter Tires! I read the TireRack reviews like my life depends on it (and I guess it does). I have separate performance summer tires and winter tires for my car, which is a Honda Fit. The winter tires that cannot make it up at times are Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25. The problem is that the front wheel drive on that honda becomes one wheel drive when one of the drive wheels breaks free and spins. It is a somewhat poor design but maybe appropriate for an econobox.

Our other car, an AWD Nissan Murano goes up and down the drive regardless of how much snow and ice we get. Actually, it is quite amazing to a guy who grew up in the Great Lakes areas with rear wheel drive cars, but I guess they are all getting better these days. We have followed 4WD pickups up muddy trails that were fishtailing and barely able to make it, without the Murano showing any noticeable wheel spin (at least that we could feel). I do not have the guts to find the traction limits on that car, but nothing we have gotten in the last 8 years here in PA has stopped it (knock on wood!). So we take it when conditions look bad. I guess the reason I was stuck was that it snowed more than expected when I was at work and I had taken the Honda due to its superior gas mileage.

In truth, the Honda is not the only problem. We have lots of visitors that have to make it up the drive with whatever car they drive. That is why I have been keeping it clean down to the gravel. I do plow a little gravel up before it gets frozen and during thaws, but I have a rake to spread it back in the Spring. In addition, our 'soil' here is one big broken-shale-gravel deposit. When I use my landscape blade in full float, it really just scrapes off some of the gravel but there is more below. The sun comes out (eventually), melts the snow stuck in the cracks, and I get a clean drive, and any water that forms seems to drain right down and has never caused any ice. The biggest problem is that I can get a new crop of blower-breakers dredged up with maybe 20 or so distributed over the drive. So 90% of the time, I have found a good solution with the rear blade. It is those 10% big snows that I have to deal with, and what I bought the blower for. I think it will work if I just give it a chance, using the advice here. I will get those skids back on so I am not scraping up every single rock on the drive, and then adjust the 'bite' of the unit with the top link. With the chains I should be able to get back and forth to blow away most of the snow during big storms. If I want to change back to the blade, I can then scrape it down if I want. I don't know though - does anyone else hate changing out implements in the winter like I do?? We will have to see. Maybe the snow pack won't be an unnavigable as I think. My neighbor does not own a tractor and just lets his drive pack down and he seems to make it most days.

Frank

Hello Frank,


Yup changing implements or attaching a plow in the middle of an unscheduled
snow storm is rather taxing.

But a very warm kerosene fire salamander pointed under the tractor at the backside warms it up nicely, and melts the ice that will give your cold hands a nice tearing wound no matter how carefull you are.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Here's what I posted on another forum about making wheel weights. If you use home depot buckets they will be orange.

The buckets are a recent tractor mod. The inside diameter of the wheel is 11.5 inches and the buckets fit after cutting off the lip. The discs in the wheels have 3 holes each 9/16" that are not lug nut holes. So I bought 6' of threaded 1/2" rod, cut them to 12", made a 1/4" plywood pattern to match the wheel discs. I inserted the threaded rod in the patterns, leaving 2 inches sticking out. I welded scrap steel to the other ends of the rods so they won't turn in the concrete when I torque the nuts down.

Then I embedded them in concrete in the buckets and left the pattern plywood on top with the threaded rod sticking out 2 inches. Three days later, I mounted the wheels on top of the bucket and then slid the wheels back on the axle on the tractor.

Each bucket has 80 pounds of redi-mix concrete. An 80 lb bag of redi-mix is .66 cubicfeet, same as a 5 gallon pail. I was too cheap to go buy buckets, so I have 1 green and 1 white. My wife says they are MSU Spartan weights. I have about $20 bucks into the whole thing.

Maybe next spring when I take the weights off, I'll paint them.