Budget Ice Scarifier

[CobyRupert]

I see jokes fall fairly flat here. I was trying to make light of the fact I forgot to take the tags off. I was the one who actually thought the clamps would fail, as in bend or break, right out of the gate. Does that sound like I'd seriously return them? Whatever.

TBN has made me realize that not every part of this country has the same sense of humor or appreciation for (recognition of?) sarcasm.
However I understand the comments as there's also a lot of people who would use a product and then take it back.

Eric, in your pictures you show the location of the lag bolts pointing up. You also mentioned you use the implement while backing up. That means you have your bucket rolled all the way over, which extends your curl cylinders fully. You can destroy those cylinders doing that when the end brakes off!

You might clamp the 4x4 on the bucket so the bolts are facing down when the bucket is flat on the ground. Then just lift the bucket, but leave it level, and you back up...Then those cylinders will not be extended and subject to the shock load.

:thumbsup: There's plenty of stories and pictures here of bent tilt cylinders when people are back dragging with cylinders fully extended. There's a lot of leverage in that position.

 

[deezler]

I have a 6-tooth tooth-bar on my 60" loader bucket. It does absolutely nothing on hard, cold ice on my driveway. I think the teeth are just too wide tipped to get enough pressure when travelling in reverse, they simply glide along.

Like you, oosik, my wife and I have no problem heading up the icy hill on our snow tire equipped vehicles - just go for it. But my family, friends and other guests try to crawl up at 2mph until they get stuck! Arg.

So I either need something nice and pokey like this idea, or maybe I'll keep a stash of sandy gravel under a little roof/cover somewhere that I could still scoop up in the winter time. Spreading that over the ice should help, no?

 

[crazyal]

I do the pile of sand thing. However, at least around here, by mid January the pile becomes frozen. I've tried covering it with a tarp but just the moisture alone is more than enough. Luckly I have a full size backhoe and can break through the frost. If your driveway is short I would fill some bags or 5 gallon buckets and place them in the basement or bring one inside to thaw when it's needed.. it doesn't take much sand as long as the people driving on it don't think spinning your tires at 500mph is the best way to drive across it.

 

[deezler]

Yeah no, I have a 1000' gravel driveway, with a 200' section up a shady hill that likes to ice up. I would need at least a yard of sand/gravel mix, ideally.

 

[450]

This is what I use for hard pack removal.

 

[450]

I did use the rippers on my rear blade but decided to build a stand alone attachment. Hard pack removal is one of the services I offer with my business. The rippers do a great job breaking up the hard pack.