L6060- Half mile paved driveway

[leonz]

I don't see the relationship between acreage and length of driveway. Our last place we had 10 acres and maybe 20' of driveway as we were right on the public road. Here we've only 6 acres, but the driveway is either around 900 yards if I head South, or more like 1100 yards to the North.

Anyway my real reason for posting is that there's an aspect of the "blower vs plough" debate that I don't see mentioned. Round here we frequently get snow blowing after the main snowfall has stopped, either because the wind changes and picks up lying snow, or because it's a new lot of snowfall. Where I've seen lanes ploughed it always builds up banks at the side which are deeper than the original snow, and what this means is that the next lot of blowing snow builds up deeper drifts between those banks. Do other people not find that, and if so I wonder why not.

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That is a common problem over here with roads and farm land that have deep drainage ditches.
Any place that does not allow for room to cast the snow fall away and the downwind side like access roads/driveways with deep drainage ditches on both sides will act like a garbage can and collect anything that is plowed or blown away and or free blowing snow can and will adhere to any pile along a lane or road if the road is not level with the adjoining field to permit the snow blower to get rid of it on the downwind side.

If we had drainage ditching set ups that were simply ditched and filled with rip rap stone it would be easier to use snow blowers and plows if one was to use a plow BUT the plow would still leave a bank of snow on both sides the lane or driveway where the snow blower would disperse the snow in a finer pattern away from the driveway, lane or road.
When the piled snow gets deep enough and tall enough to create a mess on the roads from the annual snow falls that has been pushed back they will get creative and use a front loader to push it back and it reduces the ability of the snow to create drifts in the road as the snow that has been pushed back becomes a snow fence until the melt season begins.

 

[dnw64]

However, nothing will be faster than plowing. That痴 a fact.

If you can "plow once and done", sure.

But in areas where you get multiple "snow events" and that snow don't melt, the time to deal with what won't plow starts to add up.

 

[dnw64]

How about a pull-type snowblower? No need to go backwards and you can keep the FEL on. You could even put a plow on the FEL and the blower on the back to accommodate whatever snow you get, or draft then blow like someone else suggested.

Interesting concept I've never considered. Use the plow to lower the amount and the pull-type blower to clean it up. I won't do it, but I can see it slotting in well in specific instances.

 

[dnw64]

...the more I look and read lotsa guys say 150 HP or better for snow removal.

???

Maybe for commercial. Many, many people using under 30HP very successfully for snow removal.

 

[fishhead]

I have a rear pull and often use it for only a couple of inches
The guys doing hundreds of drives with one machine do the same
There is no reason to keep a rear pull to large events only
With less snow you just drive faster
Paved drive and limited drifting help alot
A rear pull will blow anything you can drive thru
With that driveway slope I would want chains, where I live with r-4's and no chains you would just slide off the drive
Another benefit of chains that no one seems to mention is that they prevent any packed frozen strips from driving on snow

 

[crashz]

Lots of opinions here.

To the OP: I'd pick a plan of attack and go with it. All have merit. Ideally, don't spend a lot of money up front in case you do want to to go another route. In my case I plowed last year with the L2501. Loaded R4's, no chains, very little ballast and a 9ft Western truck plow attached to a SSQA plate on the loader. By all accounts and advice here it should have been a flop. Worked awesome! I am rebuilding a 7.5ft Meyer plow to reduce the weight on the front axle and make parking easier in the garage.

 

[WALT]

One point I have not seen brought up is that if you are concerned about snow bank height build up, make cuts into the bank every 20'-50' to give the snow off your plow somewhere to go. The OP said he has 10' flat shoulders the length of his driveway. I have been doing this for many years with good results.
This does not work well when your shoulders have steep drop-offs. If your front tire goes over the edge,at best your stuck, at worst you can roll your plow vehicle.
This method takes a little more time, but it has worked well for me, if plowing vs. snow-blowing.

WALT

 

[ChesapeakeBoy]

I have a 2015 MX4800 with R4's and fluid filled wheels. I run an 8' blade on the back and a 72" hydraulic skid steer blower. The blower is slower, but is much better in deeper snow, or for clearing out the edges when they get to deep. Even with fluid, deep and/or wet snow will still pull the back end over when using the blade. I have changed how I plow over the years. I now leave the blower skids on all year, and then use the blade for cleanup. The skids hold the blower up about 1.25", which is great since I have a gravel lane. I typically run the blade reversed which nicely move snow off without scraping the rock off...unless it is wet and heavy.

I have put a 30 gal external reservoir on the beam of the rear blade, and a Prince PTO to power the front blower. The blade is the fast way, but I would not want to be without the blower...and I can quickly and easily change over to the bucket, the grapple, or pallet forks.

You can get an idea of my set up in this video.

11/21/215 MX48 snow blowing first time with GoPro - YouTube