Loader Bucket Tooth Bar and Broken Hip Glare Ice...

[Wyobuckaroo]

Here in our part of the north, we are into our "broken hip slick ice" stage of winter..
This meaning too cold yet to thaw anything, but we get enough sun during some days to glaze the existing packed snow on the yard and driveway... Not enough heat to melt anything, but enough to glaze the cold surface... It can be as smooth as a hockey rink or rough as all get out and both are so slick you can't get anywhere without boot cleats.. There have been times there were patches I had to cross on my hands and knees to get to the tractor shed... Bummer...

So..... I have a Piranha tooth bar on my loader bucket.. I got it primaraly to keep ware from the front bucket edge.. It does work well moving packed snow.. I back drag it at about a 45 degree, or a bit less, angle to scrape the surface of the glare ice..

With no weight on the front wheels, depending on how rough the ice is, it will make the tractor steer where it wants to go, not the line you want it to follow.. If I run the loader in float it steers OK, but requires multiple passes to grind down rough spots or leave a good walking surface.. It works well enough...

At one time I had a homemade grader bar that bolted under the cutting edge of the back blade.. This with teeth about every 3" that would groove the ice.. Or level the gravel in the driveway.. It is way too early in winter yet to be taking off the 3 point snow blower, to put on the back blade..

I guess I could "invent" a clamp on for the loader bucket edge, over the tooth bar that would have a set of teeth on the under side, much like the lower teeth on a Ratche Rake for this job...

How do you handle glare ice ?? As for the clamp on teeth.....
Ideas, thoughts, experience.... ?? ??

 

[Torvy]

Growing up in South Dakota, we would often just use gravel (or even plain soil) atop the slick areas. The dirt provides a grippable surface and the darker color can enhance solar melting. A little goes a long way.

We are getting a dose of Texas winter today. Freezing rain....just a matter of time before they close schools and businesses.

 

[doneill127]

Couple years ago slipped carrying in basket of eggs and fractured my femur. What a mess with the eggs flew up in the air and splattered around me. Must have been quite the sight. Got up limped to the house and continued about daily life somewhat painfully for 2 months when I decided to see the doc after my entire side turned black and blue. Decided didn’t want to do that and bought these, they’re great

 

[5030]

Me, I run chains on my tractors all winter. Ice is never an issue. I wear ice creepers on my boots too. What ice fishermen wear so they don't bust their butts out on the ice.

 

[mikester]

Tis the season. I can't wait for spring to arrive.

I tried out these IceFX shoes this winter after seeing a review of "winter boots" on CBC. This was the only brand getting a passing grade for walking on wet glare ice.

Men's Rundle IceFX T-Max Heat Quad Comfort Winter Shoes - Brown

Make your outdoor winter adventures more enjoyable wearing our WindRiver Rundle shoes. They’re made with T-MAX HEAT® to keep your feet warmer, QUAD COMFORT® for

www.marks.com

I find the IceFX works pretty good. They have sand impregnated in the sole for extra traction. If you hang out in hockey arenas they might save you from a bad fall.

 

[5030]

Really has not been a terrible winter but I'm looking forward to spring myself. It's coming, my Australian Shepherd is starting to shed. Sure sign of spring, the hair clumps on the floor...

 

[JJT]

Same situation here, lots of ice. How do I handle it? Sand, chains and shoe spikes. I'm hoping for an early spring.....

 

[oosik]

Well - I put my trust in "Luck". Outside - I skip around from patch to patch of crusty snow. Avoiding slick, icy areas like the plague. Sometimes it's a rather long path to where I want to get - but nobody likes falling on slick ice.

The driveway develops an iced over section also. Coming up out of the valley. The field to the north drains down onto the driveway. It always clogs the roadside ditch with ice and then this mess is out on the driveway. If it get really bad - dirt or gravel or a bag of pellets from my pellet stove.

However - with the Taco Wagon in 4WD I've never had a problem. Right at this moment it's an area about 15 feet wide and 120 feet long. If it were to snow now - I would have to get the tractor up on the high side and plow down into that side of the valley. Right over the icy area.

Probably the saving grace - every time I drive out the driveway - I track mud/dirt back onto this icy area. There is a soft/wet stretch not far from the valley.

Life goes on ...........

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

Someone mentioned setting the bucket on an old section of diamond harrow and chain it down.. Good concept, kind of long teeth for this application..

From there my thinking has gone to a kind of slip on thing, like a boot cleat, or foot in an old slipper with 2-3 rows of teeth, knives on the bucket bottom.. Secured up the back of the bucket with a chain and load binder.. Kind of like a clip on guard on a home hair cut clippers... It may be push only, but you have float and bucket angle to make it work as you need... Will have to spend some time in my "good idea" sketch book with my crayon...

 

[crashz]

I too have a Piranha bar and it worked OK on peeling up ice and asphalt this year.. Definitely didn't cut it like I thought it would. And it either felt like I was going to bend something on the tractor or dig up my driveway. I quit using that pretty quickly.

My landscape rake worked pretty good though. I turned it backwards and just let it scarify the ice, roughening it up. Light ice would peel right up, heavy stuff would scar. Backing up would peel the ice or bend the rake. I stopped backing up to peel the ice when I put a nice twist in the main beam.