Waiting to Plow

[ovrszd]

After 32 years of plowing snow for ODOT, on a major 4-lane, I don't care if I ever have to plow snow again. I'd much rather play in the dirt..!!

I'm getting that way too. I've been running a grader maintaining 50 miles of gravel roads for 24 years. Last year I only had to push once. Year before not at all. Didn't bother me a bit.

Here's our newest machine. We've had it just over two years. I'm very blessed. Push snow in a T-shirt listenin to XM Radio. I average 500 hours per year with road maintenance and snow pushing. Enough to fullfill the kid in me. Not enough to sicken me of it. Perfect World.

 

[DeereMann]

+10 !!!!

"ovrszd: Here's our newest machine."

 

[dave1949]

Well according to the weatherman, we were supposed to get less than 1 inch of snow today. At 6PM we are at about 6-8" and still snowing lightly. It is warming up so it will be raining by dawn. Temps might be real close to freezing. I'm going to wait until morning to plow even though I'm itching for some seat time! I figure to let the snow act as a sponge to sop up the freezing rain overnight.

Good luck to all tomorrow.

Frank

Of course it depends on what temps come after the freezing rain and how much rain, but sometimes I wait like you plan. That works for me here unless it's supposed to get real cold after the rain and there was a lot of freezing rain. Seems like every snow/rain is a little different with snow depth, amount of rain, temps. You just have to go by the conditions for each storm and the following weather forecast.

If your driveway is fairly flat, the odds probably favor clearing the snow before the rain. The worst that can happen is you get an ice rink that will have to be sanded or let your tire chains chew it up. If you leave the snow and it gets rain saturated followed by cold temps, you can have an un-plowable ice block covering everything. That's no fun either.

Split the difference and plow one side. :laughing:

 

[farmeratheart]

As you say Dave- every storm/forecast needs to be judged individually. Last night warmed slowly towards freezing- it was about 31F at 4am when I went out. The overnight freezing rain had put about a 1/4" crust on the snow. The back blade made pretty quick work of it and the FEL handled the leavings from the county plow at the end of the drive. By the time I finished it was near 32F so when I left for work at 6am there were no problems! Now they are talking about 4-6" more tomorrow ...

Frank

 

[dave1949]

As you say Dave- every storm/forecast needs to be judged individually. Last night warmed slowly towards freezing- it was about 31F at 4am when I went out. The overnight freezing rain had put about a 1/4" crust on the snow. The back blade made pretty quick work of it and the FEL handled the leavings from the county plow at the end of the drive. By the time I finished it was near 32F so when I left for work at 6am there were no problems! Now they are talking about 4-6" more tomorrow ...

Frank

We've only gotten barely an inch from this. Could get some more through the night but so far, there is nothing to plow in the forecast.

Three winter ago we had 4-5 inches of fresh snow with rain and then cold forecast. I cleaned the snow off the driveway and that was a lucky call. The next day everything looked like a 4" thick very lumpy sidewalk and just as hard. :laughing: Stayed like that for two weeks with no new snow to cover it. I hiked all over the lot in tennis shoes with Yak-Trax on them. The dogs could barely keep standing upright. It was weird.

The old neighbor lady has someone plow her little driveway with a pickup and I knew no pickup plow was going to touch that. Just to bust the ice out of her 2 car wide, 2 car long driveway took me an hour with the loader. I'd get a chunk pried up and push it to side where it would go skittering in which ever direction was down slope.

 

[xring100]

Richard,
I can see why you bought the M series over an L serires it must feel like a toy compared to that grader

I'm getting that way too. I've been running a grader maintaining 50 miles of gravel roads for 24 years. Last year I only had to push once. Year before not at all. Didn't bother me a bit.

Here's our newest machine. We've had it just over two years. I'm very blessed. Push snow in a T-shirt listenin to XM Radio. I average 500 hours per year with road maintenance and snow pushing. Enough to fullfill the kid in me. Not enough to sicken me of it. Perfect World.

 

[JJZ 109]

After 32 years of plowing snow for ODOT, on a major 4-lane, I don't care if I ever have to plow snow again. I'd much rather play in the dirt..!!

Kind of the way I look at it. The longer that Bobcat and snow blower sit in the barn, the fewer hours get put on it and the less diesel I have to buy.
And until I get a little more used to operating that 73 inch snow blower, the less rocks that need to be raked out of the yard in spring! :thumbsup:

 

[grsthegreat]

Here in N. Idaho they keep predicting major snowfall every day since out temps finally raised up from -5F.

Wrong as usual. Weve had 1" in 3 days. But im not complaining. This winter season came too soon for me. I dont want 5 months of winter to look forward to. Im happy sitting in front of the fireplace.

 

[ovrszd]

Here in N. Idaho they keep predicting major snowfall every day since out temps finally raised up from -5F.

Wrong as usual. Weve had 1" in 3 days. But im not complaining. This winter season came too soon for me. I dont want 5 months of winter to look forward to. Im happy sitting in front of the fireplace.

I hear ya. We've been below normal temps for about three weeks now. We are surrounded by snow now so the chances of warming up much are gone. I figure we'll be buried in Winter for the next two months at least. Usually when we do this (early Winter) we have a thaw in February. I've saw February's in the past where we had no frost in the ground. That's my hope this time. Worst case we'll stay cool into March, which is only three months away. I can tough it out that long I guess. Long as the wood shed holds up, I'm good.

 

[DJ54]

I'm getting that way too. I've been running a grader maintaining 50 miles of gravel roads for 24 years. Last year I only had to push once. Year before not at all. Didn't bother me a bit.

Here's our newest machine. We've had it just over two years. I'm very blessed. Push snow in a T-shirt listenin to XM Radio. I average 500 hours per year with road maintenance and snow pushing. Enough to fullfill the kid in me. Not enough to sicken me of it. Perfect World.

The straw that broke the camels back was the winter of '92-'93. Down in SE Ohio, near the river they got a 36" of snow. They sent us down to open mostly County and Township roads. We took the F-A 14-C dozer, fairly new Case 850E dozer, and the Galion AWD maintainer w/V-plow & chains. Each of the 7 counties in our district sent at least 3 plow mounted trucks, some 4. A couple tandems loaded to the gills with salt, mounted with V-plows & chains. Dumps were used to haul snow off streets to a city park to store it.

I-70 east of Zanesville looked like a war zone. Semi's setting on the westbound side, with gelled fuel they got down south. Cars & pick-ups littered the roadway, berms, & median strip. Heading south on I-77 looked to be the same. I'll never forget going through Woodsfield, Ohio that day. People were lined up on the streets waving to us. It looked like they were having a parade in town that day.

It was a 2-1/2+ hour drive just to get there, so we spent 5+ hours of windshield time getting there and back. We had to be there around 6:30 in the morning, so left home at 3:30 a.m., then worked until dark. Back to the garage where they let us park inside where it is heated. Fueled and greased for the next day, looking things over, in case something had gotten broken, which they didn't thank goodness. It was so cold, paint was literally flaking off the Fiat down to bare metal, from running on pavement. I'd end up getting home about 10:30, and in bed by 11:00. Back up at 3:00 to go do it again.

Me, being the FNG on our crew got the 850E with just a ROPS and a heat houser. The other 2 had cabs. Second morning there, the temps dropped to -34º, according to the Township Trustee I was working for. Talk abut making some steel sing... He sent me 9 miles across a fire road in the Wayne National Forest. They had a contract with ODNR to keep that road open, no matter what. He was in a 4-wd pick-up, but refused to follow me. Told me he'd meet me on the other end. I had no 2-way radio, and long before I got a cell phone, which would have been worthless anyway in them thar' hills. He told me the only thing I really needed to be concerned about was a one lane bridge, about 1-1/2 miles away from where we were. It's just wide enough to get a truck across. I told him if I wasn't at the other end in 4 hours, he'd best send someone looking.

Went across that bridge. The blade on the 850 is 8.5' wide. Snow rolled of both sides, and down into a small creek. Felt good getting to the other side..!!

The only sign of life I saw was wild turkey's roosting up in the trees. Finally made it to the other end, and no Trustee, and no sign of a house, or vehicle anywhere. I think that is the coldest I've ever been, and sure could have used a cup of coffee..!! I know I lit into him pretty good verbally, when he finally showed up about 20 minutes later. He said he got "tired" of waiting, and went for a little drive...

So yeah, things like that seem to stick with you. Glad I experienced it, but NEVER want to do it again...

So enjoy plowing snow, I do remember a time when it was kinda' fun to do that. I just don't seem to get all that entheused about it anymore...