First time in the snow - wonderful experience

Mudninja · Jan 18, 2022

Haldir00 said:
Good to see both the TC in action and your partner enjoying the work! Plus, that mailbox had it coming! If you don't mind, I'm from FL, so I didn't grow up with having to deal with snow. Moving around with the military all my adult life, it's not been an issue, either. Retiring soon to NH where snow WILL be an issue, and we haven't settled on type of driveway. How much does pushing snow affect a gravel drive? Are you able to set the plow/bucket to move the accumulation effectively while still leaving the gravel where it belongs? I'm assuming that's the case, but I don't understand how one does it. Is it a float mode thing, by feel, etc? Thanks.

I built my house 24 years ago. Over that time, I've used an atv with blade, skid steer, track hoe with steel sheet pinned between bucket and blade, bull dozer and now the tool cat to clear the snow. Toolcat is by far the best. In all cases though, I just put the blade/bucket down and push away. It always takes some of the gravel away but I have a thick base built up over the years and there's plenty left. I have figured out where to build the piles of snow so that when the snow melts, the gravel is still there to redistribute. Those piles are of course on parts of the driveway that I can work around until they melt. My dad came down with his skid steer one time and was used to his black top drive. He dumped the piles of snow all over the place including on top of bushes. Needless to say, I thanked him for his help but told him I would get it moving forward. Most of the time the gravel is actually frozen and ends up sticking up when you are done through any remaining snow providing pretty good traction. We have had ice storms at times that have made it a sheet of ice. The 4 way bucket in the picture works great for that. I open the bucket and use the cutting edge of the blade to break through the ice down to good gravel. Fun with the tracked skid steer as it will eventually start sliding back down the hill until you get enough ice up.

Haldir00 · Jan 18, 2022

Copy all, thanks for all the input (and sorry to step on Mudninja's thread...I'm a dog guy, so I couldn't help commenting on your companion!). Regards,

ruffdog · Jan 18, 2022

My wife is the hot cocoa and cookie dispenser while plowing a big snow event.

laurencen · Jan 19, 2022

ruffdog, how pleasant, the wife plowed snow a few times during the day and enjoyed the views over the fields but most times now its at night so she stays in, my latest companion is our grandson, he loves the snow drift flying over the plow and whiteout on the windshield, fun times for sure

the banks are sure building up so this weekend I will switch to the blower, I made a toboggan hill throwing the snow at the side of the driveway for him, the things we do for enjoyment these days