I Stink At Removing Snow From My Gravel Driveway

[zzvyb6]

I've done an 8' York rake with a 2x12 clamped on the tines, a 47" front snow blower, an 8' Western plow, a 7' snow pusher, and a broom. Broom by far is the best, fastest and cleanest. Set the tines maybe 1" above the gravel. Never picked up a single stone. Can go as fast as the machine runs. JD1435 goes faster than I can stand the ride. Drive on it a few times afterwards with the broom up to pack it down and I'm done. If more that 12" of snow expected (Maybe onece per season), get on it early.
Rake is ok but rear mounted you have to watch out where the edge is when going forward, (and still picks up gravel). Snowblower WAY too slow, snow pusher: where do you stash the snow ?) Plow is next best but leaves a berm and PITA to mount up (while it's snowing of course). Plus the broom has other uses on my concrete pads, does sidewalks clean, and can even do grass and dirt corrals. Snow (and any other unwanted substance) nicely distributed far away from the source. Sht happens, sht burns, and sht flies now too !!!

 

[oosik]

However - this will be year number six that I have not had to do ANY snow plowing. Driveway - mailbox area - yard. We got a good solid three inches yesterday. Today - @3PM - there isn't even traces of that snow in the shaded areas. Warmer weather and rain -----POOF, it's all gone.

The way it's going around these parts - time to consider pineapple and banana plantings.

 

[ruffdog]

However - this will be year number six that I have not had to do ANY snow plowing. Driveway - mailbox area - yard. We got a good solid three inches yesterday. Today - @3PM - there isn't even traces of that snow in the shaded areas. Warmer weather and rain -----POOF, it's all gone.

The way it's going around these parts - time to consider pineapple and banana plantings.

Same here. Nearly the entire state is snow-less....strange. The little snow we did get I shoveled.

 

[jyoutz]

Same here. Nearly the entire state is snow-less....strange. The little snow we did get I shoveled.

We had an 18” storm on November 5, then nothing at all in December.

 

[CalG]

I just got a second set of edge tamers. (Buy American!)
Having two loader tractors will do that ;-) I put large skids on the front mount blower . But that's another tractor again ;-)

Don't get me started on the other tractor fitted with the front "Western" blade.///// ;-)

 

[Blue Mule]

But allowing snow to melt into the gravel makes a mushy mess of the road.

It's going to be a mushy mess anyway. It's not like if you plow it the gravel will stay dry.

I just don't plow gravel. Gravel provides much better grip than pavement when it's snowy and there's no need to waste fuel, wear on equipment, and risk tearing up the smoothness of the road.

 

[jyoutz]

It's going to be a mushy mess anyway. It's not like if you plow it the gravel will stay dry.

I just don't plow gravel. Gravel provides much better grip than pavement when it's snowy and there's no need to waste fuel, wear on equipment, and risk tearing up the smoothness of the road.

Not really. Having a foot of snow melt into the gravel makes the road really soft. If I can remove it from the road before it melts, the road bed doesn’t go to crap. Removing snow like I do with a reverse blade doesn’t tear up the road smoothness. But driving on a soft road does tear up the road.

 

[ruffdog]

Not really. Having a foot of snow melt into the gravel makes the road really soft. If I can remove it from the road before it melts, the road bed doesn’t go to crap. Removing snow like I do with a reverse blade doesn’t tear up the road smoothness. But driving on a soft road does tear up the road.

I think it just depends on the quality of the road bed if moisture and thawing will affect it. My drive has a strong base that even a propane truck can drive on it when the frost is coming out of the ground. It never "goes to crap". Everyone has different conditions to deal with.

 

[ruffdog]

I just got a second set of edge tamers. (Buy American!)

If I was using a bucket for snow removal on gravel, I would buy those in an instant.

 

[jyoutz]

I think it just depends on the quality of the road bed if moisture and thawing will affect it. My drive has a strong base that even a propane truck can drive on it when the frost is coming out of the ground. It never "goes to crap". Everyone has different conditions to deal with.

True. I have clay soil so removing the snow is important. If someone was gravelly, sandy, or rocky soil it will hold up no matter what.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have a homemade box blade with an 8" metal roller about a foot behind the blade. I set how much snow I want to pack down with my top link and then just drive back and forth till the snow is evenly distributed and packed down over the gravel.

The next morning after the snow has hardened I might do a bit of tune up to create a level surface. Then I can go over the whole driveway after subsequent snowfalls with the snow blower and not have to be concerned about the gravel. The snow blower is set to leave about an inch of snow on the ground.

With this regimen I can wait untill the snowfall is over with and I can just snow plow the driveway once. Obviously this method is not going to work where the ground never really freezes.

 

[Runner]

I've done an 8' York rake with a 2x12 clamped on the tines, a 47" front snow blower, an 8' Western plow, a 7' snow pusher, and a broom. Broom by far is the best, fastest and cleanest. Set the tines maybe 1" above the gravel. Never picked up a single stone. Can go as fast as the machine runs. JD1435 goes faster than I can stand the ride. Drive on it a few times afterwards with the broom up to pack it down and I'm done. If more that 12" of snow expected (Maybe onece per season), get on it early.
Rake is ok but rear mounted you have to watch out where the edge is when going forward, (and still picks up gravel). Snowblower WAY too slow, snow pusher: where do you stash the snow ?) Plow is next best but leaves a berm and PITA to mount up (while it's snowing of course). Plus the broom has other uses on my concrete pads, does sidewalks clean, and can even do grass and dirt corrals. Snow (and any other unwanted substance) nicely distributed far away from the source. Sht happens, sht burns, and sht flies now too !!!

Brooms are expensive, but if I had a paved drive, I would like to have one. The neat thing about a broom is that it is so effective cleaning the surface, even with light snows.

I would also like to have a trimer-mounted broom, like a Stihl Kombi for doing walks.

 

[GSVette]

on turning rear blade 180 degrees- I’ve found this-combined with a little blade vertical ‘tilt’ (using my hydraulic top link) to allow for pretty good snow scraping without too much gravel displacement still have to be careful with the tips of the blade digging in on really uneven areas but for the most part, I manage to plow/scrape my 600’ of drive plus a 1/4 mile plus of shared private road with minimal disturbance.

 

[zzvyb6]

Brooms are expensive, but if I had a paved drive, I would like to have one. The neat thing about a broom is that it is so effective cleaning the surface, even with light snows.

I would also like to have a trimer-mounted broom, like a Stihl Kombi for doing walks.

My (used) broom was $1000. Kombi broom would be REALLY useful for removing grass from sidewalk seams.

 

[alexinPA]

How about bolting rubber strip to the blade edge? Worked for me...

 

[bigtiller]

You can put gauge wheels on the rear blade to hold it up a little. I keep mine 1.5" off the gravel and have very little disturbance of the surface.

Also, if you're plowing with your bucket (and don't have edge tamers) you can set your bucket so the lip is about an inch off the ground and then put it in float. It will ride over the snow and you can "bump" your dump/curl function to make fine adjustments to get it to dig a little more or less.
View attachment 2126599
PS: Don't be too hard on yourself, I've been trying to do it for 17 years and still can't keep the rear blade from digging it without gauge wheels.

Are your gauge wheels home made or store bought?
I've been kicking around getting some training wheels for my Frontier 2084 blade.

 

[Tinhack]

I don't have to deal with snow down here, but Country View Acres has a pretty good fix for gravel driveways. Not perfect for round-abouts or sharp turns but better than a plain blade or the side bars. Skip to about the 5:10 mark. He tacks a pipe to the blade. It could just as easily be made to bolt on with a couple of tabs. The pipe needs to be a good size--Perhaps 1 1/2 to 2" to help skip over the gravel.

 

[Runner]

Are your gauge wheels home made or store bought?
I've been kicking around getting some training wheels for my Frontier 2084 blade.

I built them based on designs I saw here on TBN back about 2013. I think the trailer jacks and casters came from Northern Tool. I just drilled four holes in the base of the jacks to mount the casters. It originally had air-filled tires, but they only lasted about 5 minutes before shredding, so I replaced them with 8" solid rubber.

Also, the jacks originally pivoted, but I didn't think they were rigid enough and also they were kind of in the way when rotated to horizontal. I decided it was just easier to pull the pins to remove them completely when not needed/desired.

I lucked out and had two holes per side already in the blade to mount the receivers. These were actually just prototypes, I was going to build some better ones with genuine 2" trailer hitch material, but these worked so well, I just started using them. Didn't even paint them.

If you type "rear blade gauge wheels tractor by net" into Google, it will bring back tons of hits on designs from people on here. I'm pretty sure there is an old thread on the subject.

 

[Tropical Jack]

I bolt a 2x to the front of my blade; slightly lower than the cutting edge of the blade and longer for a better reach.

 

[Tony H]

Here in Virginia we are having our 2 x per decade decent snow event. I have a #8 brownstone driveway and I've never been very good at getting the snow off with my JD 1025R.

I have a rear blade, which requires constant attention to keep from gouging. I have put PVC on my loader and use it in float mode. Not so great honestly. The best luck I've had is backdragging in float mode with the PVC installed on the loader edge. It doesn't get to the surface but it also doesn't displace the stone. I am thinking it's the best case scenario.

What am I missing, if anything here? Edge Tamers?

Have you tried taking you rear blade and spinning the blade 180 degrees? It will reduce gouging tremendously. Never expect or want to get down to the stone.
Yes, Virginia, basically warm temps and rare snowfall. That means when it snows, your driveway hasn't been frozen for weeks.
In my world, in October, we leave the small snowfalls alone and drive them in. This creates a solid bed of hard compact so plowing is stone free. We are White from October until April.