How do I keep gravel out of my yard when plowing snow??

[TerryR]

Let the first few snow falls pack on the driveway.

I see several replies recommending this, or a variation of leaving an inch or two to pack and freeze. That won't work here - it gets warm enough most times to melt the packed snow enough to freeze it into ice. With an average 14% grade to our driveway, ice insures a quick one-way trip to the bottom of the hill.

The only solution that seems to work, unless the forecast calls for warm enough weather to melt it off entirely, is to plow it as clean as you can, making sure some gravel appears above the snow. That means some gravel goes to the ditch, where it has to be retrieved in the spring.

Terry

 

[TerryR]

Let the first few snow falls pack on the driveway.

I see several replies recommending this, or various methods to leave an inch or two to pack and freeze. That won't work here - it gets warm enough most times to melt the packed snow enough to freeze it into ice. With an average 14% grade to our driveway, ice insures a quick one-way trip to the bottom of the hill.

The only solution that seems to work, unless the forecast calls for warm enough weather to melt it off entirely, is to plow it as clean as you can, making sure some gravel appears above the snow. That means some gravel goes to the ditch, where it has to be retrieved in the spring.

Terry

 

[SPYDERLK]

I havnt had to use shoes with our Rhino back blade. We just angle it, go out on the drive and lower it all the way, then raise it about 3" and go. That seems to be enuf that it never touches the gravel.
larry

 

[compact]

Dont push the bank over your lawn stack higher with a FEL and keep it on the gravel or get a blower and send it somewhere it wont bother

 

[Piston]

I'm with TerryR...

Do you guys that recommend leaving a snow packed layer on the driveway have fairly flat driveways? I can't see that being good advice in hilly areas.

 

[Ford850]

I'm with TerryR...

Do you guys that recommend leaving a snow packed layer on the driveway have fairly flat driveways? I can't see that being good advice in hilly areas.

My drive is about 1/4 mile long and gradually climbs towards the house. It is fairly steep for the last area, so I know what you mean about packing, thawing, and refreezing to ice. Some years are not so good, but most times the wheel tracks that are slick can be avoided and the rough ice to either side of the tracks gives plenty of traction. Once in awhile I push a thin later of snow/ice back onto the drive if it is too slick. That cures the problem.

 

[Ford850]

The other thing I've done is improve the shoes on the blade. I had large 10" disks made from plate steel that float on the mushy gravel when needed. The original shoes sink deep into the gravel when it's soft during the freeze/thaw cycles. The guy that made my shoes used a hydraulic press and a short piece of 8 or 10" pipe for a die. He pressed the center of the plate down into the pipe an inch or 2. They aren't pretty but they do a great job.

Ok, I dug out the plow to get a few pictures of the large shoes I have on mine. You can also see the welder added a collar at the base of the post to add strength. The best I can tell is that the collar is just a portion of a pipe coupler slid over the 1" post after the post was initially welded in place. Then the coupler was welded top and bottom for extra support.

 

[Paul Thornton]

Those look great, thank you for the pictures.

L2800 w/FEL - 72" Land Pride rake

 

[Deerherd]

For plowing a gravel drive with any type of blade you should properly prep it for snow season. If it's already "rough" you are only going to make it worse with plowing. Most driveways are not wide enough to have a proper crown anyways so you can make it smooth and level now before it freezes or spend time on the forum asking what's the best way to get gravel back in the drive. You pick.

More importantly if you use a front blade and if you have properly prepped the drive, once it's frozen you can set the blade on the shoes which are adjusted a little lower than the blade and just go.

Most problems I see on here stem from trying to plow a poorly maintained road. The blade catches and digs in, then they think they can have the blade follow the road using the float function which just makes a bigger mess.

A good way to check is to actually run the blade on you driveway after you have freezing weather, but before it snows. You should get a couple of tracks from the shoes, but no movement of gravel to the sides.

 

[psdx]

I may do something similar for a FEL snowplow. Do you have a problem with snow clogging the wheels and the wheels not turning?

No - been doing this way for 20 years.