Snowblower and crushed rock driveway

[sheamus]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

 

[stumblinhorse]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

Same thing here today. Only thing to do is raise the blower and leave enough snow to pack down with driving over it. Anything that I have tried has not helped. Ground is too soft and any interaction with it just digs down.

These early snows, we got about 14”, I use a back blade to cut off the top 10-12”, leave 2-4” to pack down. Blowers is way too heavy and digs in.

 

[oldnslo]

is this a front mount or 3 point hitch? If you have the option tilt the top of the blower back towards the tractor lessening the attack angle of the blower cutting edge. This will usually lessen the digging in.

 

[PEJ5]

You need to create a base of snow for the first few snow falls. If you are only clearing a few inches, use the bucket in float mode with a slight upward angle. It will scrape off any high spots. For larger storms I raise my blower slightly to clear the majority and pack down the rest to create that good base.
Once we are far enough into the season and everything is frozen, I remove my blower's skis and clear down to the base.

 

[mikester]

I tilt my blower back using the top link and it leaves a skim coat of snow on the gravel. After the base packs I can tilt forward to scrape down to the hard pack/ice.

 

[Beaver Cove Deere]

As mentioned, adjust your cutting angle to build an ice base.

 

[oosik]

Here we usually have a rock hard gravel driveway BEFORE the need to clear snow. There are always the exceptions.

I reverse my rear blade 180 degrees and clear snow this way - if my driveway is still soft.

In 2009 - after 27 years - I gave up with the blower on the 3-point. It took more than four hours to clear my yard - mile long gravel driveway - mailbox area. It took more than two day for my neck and shoulders to return to normal.

I bought a brand new Kubota M6040 and heavy duty Rhino rear blade. Now I do all my snow clearing - driving forward. It saves my neck and shoulders and takes half the time.

I still miss blowing snow in ideal conditions. I would blow the snow forward and slightly off the driveway - to the right side. This would blow all the snow off the pines that line the driveway. Prevent snow cascading down on me as I motored on by.

 

[jjeff]

From experiences I am for welding a pipe to cutting edges on snowblowers and plows it's worked better than the adjustable skid shoes raising plow or blower slightly on soft ground. I don't need my gravel driveway or lawn looking like an interstate though, I wouldn't weld the pipe on actual plow or blower just removable cutting edge.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Until our ground freezes up hard, I do have issues with picking up gravel. Once our ground freezes, it stays frozen like concrete for the rest of the season. I have a gravel driveway to clear, as well as the approach to my equipment shed, which is just grass to clear.

This year I have Edge Tamers on my cutting edge of my snow blower. I used 3 of the 4" bolt on style Edge Tamers, bolted on center and each end of my cutting edge. I have used Edge Tamer's, the "clamp on" style, on my FEL bucket cutting edge for years now. They work great.

We will see how the bolt on ones work on the 3pt snow blower this year. I may or may not take them off later in the season, once the ground is hard. After we get a layer of frozen snow on the ground, it solidifies like concrete and the Edge Tamer's on my bucket aren't needed again until spring.

If your blower has a replaceable cutting edge, you can attach these bolt on Edge Tamer's to the cutting edge on your blower:

Edge Tamer - Move Snow With Your Tractor Loader Bucket

 

[jjeff]

I've heard great things about those edge tamers on here especially. But I'm to cheap to buy them lol. So I'll stick to my proven somewhat perfected with usage and install plow/snow blower pipe hack.

 

[nyone]

Always leave the first snow until its nice and packed. No thing fancy or product to buy...I also dont rake gravel back into the driveway in the spring. Because it's all still in the driveway.

 

[TractorTYMe]

This is WHY I also have a front blade on my FEL for early season and parking lot use. I don't use the blower until I have a certified clean surface of snow and ice.

 

[sheamus]

Thanks for all the advice. The problem is here that for the first month of winter we get a big dump of snow when it is still hovering around 0, then it will warm up and melt etc. Not like the prairies. But I am going start with some of the advice here before I go making modiciations to the blower:

• do a run with bucket at upward angle to create packed base
• adjust the attack angle of blower (I noticed that it is currently pretty aggressive)
• If the above don't work, I'll try welding a big of pipe on the shoes/slides to make them float a bit better.

Thanks!

 

[herm0016]

Same thing here today. Only thing to do is raise the blower and leave enough snow to pack down with driving over it. Anything that I have tried has not helped. Ground is too soft and any interaction with it just digs down.

These early snows, we got about 14”, I use a back blade to cut off the top 10-12”, leave 2-4” to pack down. Blowers is way too heavy and digs in.

this, Colorado also. I only put the blower on if we have a big snow and/or I have to do my neighbors switchbacks for them. The blade creates too much resistance and side slope on the uphill run to their house trying to push me down a very steep slope.

 

[BadgerCheese]

I maintain a couple driveways and when the real snow comes, about 1/2 mile of gravel road. We get 220-270" per season, and I use a Frontier 74" PTO (rear) driven blower. I adjust the tilt so the skid shoes are slightly up early in the season to build a snow mat, and once the mat is established, adjust the top link for a level or slight down bias on the shoes. I put a hydraulic top link on this year, so making that adjustment from the warmth of the cab is awesome.

Another commenter said he doesn't rake stones out of their yard because they don't shoot any with their equipment. I don't rake stones either. My wife does it...........division of labor! Maybe someday I'll be good enough that she won't have to.

FYI- I run 10mm square alloy chains on the back (over filled tires) and diamond style 3/8" studded chains on the front.

 

[John_Mc]

FYI- I run 10mm square alloy chains on the back (over filled tires) and diamond style 3/8" studded chains on the front.

How do you like those square chains? I just ordered some for my UTV (Honda Pioneer 520). We have about 1/4 mile+ of driveway and unmaintained town road to clear. I'm hoping they are enough to get it up the steep section of my driveway that often gets icy. They are supposed to be easier on pavement than studded chains (we had the loop up near the house paved a couple of years ago), while still providing better traction than the non-studded round link chains.

This will be my first year plowing with the UTV. I've been using the loader and rear snowblower on my tractor. The tractor has studded "Euro-style" (diamond pattern) chains on the rear. I've not had problems with spinning the wheels on the pavement, but figured that could be an issue with the lighter UTV. The tractor will still get used for the heavy snows

My neighbor is nice enough to do the common areas of our shared driveway with his tractor-mounted plow or the one on his ATV, but I figure it's time for me to pitch in for more of that.

 

[John_Mc]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

You'll find a lot of good suggestions in the Snow Removal section of TBN.

 

[Gord Baker]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

It isn't necessary (at least to many) to remove every flake of snow. I bolted some 1¼" square hardwood 6" long with 45° cut on each end to the 'shoes'. Works for asphalt too to keep from wearing out the 'shoes'. No rock throwing ever.

 

[dcarman]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

Loaders and snow blowers have the same problem. They work much better after the ground is frozen. I generally leave that first couple inches of snow and drive it down so the rocks are covered and let the ground freeze then you can let it down and go without worrying about taking the driveway gravel with it.

 

[LouNY]

Ah to be one of the lucky ones that can leave a pack on the driveway. When I plow it has to be clean,
any snow pack left will turn to ice. Ice and 14 degree slopes is not a good combination for safe traveling.
Any ice or snow pack requires sanding