Snow Plowing on stones

[don white]

Some time ago read about putting a pipe on the cutting edge of a snow plow for use on gravel driveways. The idea was that the gravel would not get piled up in front of the plow. Has anyone tried this and how do you attach the pipe. I believe the pipe had to have a slit torch cut the length and then slipped on to the cutting edge. But how do you keep it there.

 

[ray66v]

Those who slit plastic pipe, and put it over the edge of the plow, seem to find it breaks at some point.

I could not be convinced it would be necessary to do that, if you used a steel pipe.

I welded 2 tabs made from 1/4" steel, approximately 2 x 4 inches to the side of a piece of 1 1/2" steel pipe, one near each end. With the 2 inch side attached to the pipe in a location that aligns with the bolts that hold the cutting edge on to the plow. I then used those bolt holes to hold the pipe on to the plow, with it aligned so that the bottom edge of the pipe, extended lower than the cutting edge of the blade. But not so that the entire pipe was below the blade. Although, that would probably work fine too.

After a year of testing with both forward plowing, and back dragging, it worked exactly as expected. I found no other modifications necessary.

Also, If you pack the first 3-4 inches of snow down by driving on it, plowing on top of that without disturbing the gravel is much easier, no matter what you use.

 

[timswi]

I use a piece of machine belt that hangs around 2.5" down...It's sandwiched between the cutting bar and a piece if steel I welded up and bolted to the cutting bar.

250' of driveway and 700' of gravel right of way....This has worked well for me. The plus side is that when i do a couple of paved driveways on the hard road, it doesn't scratch.

When the ground is frozen, it moves very little gravel.

I would think that the ABS or PVC would break in the cold or when you hit a stuck piece of stone...Just an assumption on my part.

 

[don white]

I understand what you fabracatied and it looks like a good design. I like it better than trying to slit the pipe. I have also considered the rubber or machine belt. I have used rubber on a york rake which I pull behind a garden tractor
My drive is 1100 feet long. Part of it is on a north facing hill. The problem I have had with packing down 2or 3 inches of snow is that it turns into ice. Because of the north facing slope my drive gets very little sun and it takes for ever to melt. In fact it will melt some and refreeze overnight. ICE on a hill is a problem even with 4 wheel drive.

Do you guys think a B26 is big enough for an 8 foot plow?

Thanks for the input.

 

[ray66v]

Studded snow tires!!! :thumbsup:

I will be interested to see if you can solve that problem, without resorting to paving it.

 

[nwltruck]

If your blade is equipped with mounts for skids or feet, weld bolts to the pipe to fit into the mounts. This would let you change the height of your cutting edge with washers. Also if your using it with a FEL you can tip the blade forward to let the cutting edge contact the ground if needed.

 

[crazyal]

Ice can be a real problem so I make sure to scrape as much snow off of the drive as possible once the ground freezes. Of course usually in mid December it freezes solid and will stay that way until late March. Before it does freeze I try to the blade up off the ground a little bit. I does require adjusting the height up and down as you drive vs just letting it float on the ground. I've had much better luck doing that and back dragging when we only get a couple of inches over using shoes or something else to keep the edge off the ground.

If your driveway is sloped then I would get chains for the rear tires. I run a set that has spikes. The 8' plow could be a little much when you get a real dumping of heavy wet snow. I think you'll want to have plenty of places to push the snow so you don't get too much of a pile in front of the blade.

 

[psdx]

Those who slit plastic pipe, and put it over the edge of the plow, seem to find it breaks at some point.

ABS pipe holds up much better than the PVC pipe in case the OP wants to try this out.

 

[IndyIan]

I understand what you fabracatied and it looks like a good design. I like it better than trying to slit the pipe. I have also considered the rubber or machine belt. I have used rubber on a york rake which I pull behind a garden tractor
My drive is 1100 feet long. Part of it is on a north facing hill. The problem I have had with packing down 2or 3 inches of snow is that it turns into ice. Because of the north facing slope my drive gets very little sun and it takes for ever to melt. In fact it will melt some and refreeze overnight. ICE on a hill is a problem even with 4 wheel drive.

Do you guys think a B26 is big enough for an 8 foot plow?

Thanks for the input.

I have a similar driveway and I'd rather rake a few stones and plow with a plain rear blade, than pack snow on driveway. In fact if I had a box blade I'd try the scarifiers on the ice and worry about stray gravel in the spring.

As you can see I still have some ice from driving on wet snow, having it freeze and then plowing it...
I've got a 7' blade on there and could see using an 8' rear blade. But I think an 8' truck plow mounted on the FEL would turn the tractor with heavy snow on a slippery base with any sort of angle on it. In really heavy dense snow on the second or 3rd "wind row" the whole back end of my tractor can be pulled a bit sideways if the blade digs hard on something and those are brand new beet juice loaded Ag tires. A big blade is good for light snow but when you get a load of heavy stuff I think narrower is better.

 

[PowerEngineer]

FWIW... I have homemade pipes on my truck plow. I clear a big section of the front yard for the dog and kids to play and the pipes work great for keeping the yard from getting torn up. Went with the slit pipe method because I don't weld (yet!). To mount them I put the pipes in place and then drilled through the pipe and cutting edge - two bolts per pipe.

I'll also add that once you wear a bit of a flat spot in the pipe it will actually scrape a little too but not so aggressively that it tears stuff up. Of course, my drive is blacktop so that helps wear the pipe faster.