Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Plowing your long driveway.

[Thomas]

10" plus I like to set plow at 45 degrees than on my first couple of runs plow each edge of driveway,by doing so I find easier cleaning plus quicker than one lump sum on final run.

Whats your plan of attack?

 

[jimmysisson]

Center then edges, then cleanup. If drifting, all windward to leeward. Lots of pushing back early in the season for fewer hassles later. Luckily it's gotten soaked and frozen hard again so we're set when it comes.
Jim

 

[Gordon Gould]

Run down each side of the road just inside the edge and pile all the snow along the edge, or against the snow bank when there is one. Let it set up a little, like over night, then come back and run along the edge about 15 mph and watch the piled snow fly 20 feet into the woods. Hard to do with a tractor though

 

[RobS]

Center with blade square then edges with blade angled. Dress the edges back a couple of times throughout the winter as needed. Blade backwards until gravel frozen (like now). Good seat time for sure, Carhartts and Bomber Hat all the way!

Thomas, you keeping up with the coffee???

 

[redharley]

Same here,plow center straight,then angle side's. My driveway is quite long so I have learned that about every 100ft to plow a straight plow width back into fields to hold drifts and more snow as banks get hard.

 

[beenthere]

10" plus I like to set plow at 45 degrees than on my first couple of runs plow each edge of driveway,by doing so I find easier cleaning plus quicker than one lump sum on final run.

Whats your plan of attack?

I can't get my plow close to a 45 degree angle. About 30 deg max I think, but don't know that I've measured it. What brand plow??

I move everything over to the "downwind" side to minimize drifting (not piling any snow on the windward side). So first pass is far left with about a 10 deg angle, come back up moving that over with full angle, and then a pass back down to finish. Then put on the wing and knock the berm over leaving a shelf of about 4-5'.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I can't get my plow close to a 45 degree angle. About 30 deg max. What brand plow will go 45 deg??

I move everything "downwind" side to minimize drifting (not piling any snow on the windward side). So first pass is far left with about a 10 deg angle, come back up moving that over with full angle, and then a pass back down to finish. Then put on the wing and knock the berm over leaving a shelf of about 4-5'.

My guess is they are talking rear grader blades because I am with you, running a truck plow on my FEL, and it will only go 30 deg or so.

I run down the center of my 25' wide by 280' long drive with the plow angled off the the right. I make a pass up and down then come back and clean up the edges. For my parking area, about 80'x40' I just drop the back blade down strait and pull it away from the barn then push it off into the grass with the snow plow pretty much strait.

Chris

 

[lhfarm]

I have a 1400' long 12' wide gravel drive, with a long section cut into the hillside. In the past, I've used by Cub with a 54" plow and made a run down the inside of the drive and then returned to the top and plowed downhill again to the outside.

I now have an FEL mounted 7.5' snowplow and am considering trying the first pass downhill to the outside, so I pile less snow in the inside ditch. I've never used a bigger plow and I know speed is important. But I don't have the guts to go very fast on the outside edge.

It is snowing now and I'll do some experimenting this afternoon.

 

[Dead Horse]

I am plowing 4,000' of drive and have tried pretty much every combination of tactics I can think of.

Over the years I have added snow weapons, currently culminating in a TPH blower and power angle 9' Fisher mounted to the FEL of the big tractor.

Initially all I had was a small 6' plow and the FELs on two tractors. They got the job done but it took a lot of time, especially once the snowbanks overwhelmed the little plow.

So, my opinion is based on having the right equipment for the job, which took me near ten years to accumulate.

Up (from the barn to the house) and down. Rinse and repeat. Put tractor away. If it is over 10" deep, I switch to the blower. Up once, do both sides of the loop and down. Clear off the shop pad and back to the barn, unless I am enjoying the seat time too much......... then I get all "picky" about the job.

 

[RalphVa]

I go down the middle with either the FEL or back blade, depending on how much snow. Lots of snow: use the FEL. When full, turn and dump; continue on down the middle. Then use the back blade with it at an angle to push snow to the side. If much snow, drive backwards. If not much snow, drive forward.

Last winter, it would have helped a lot to have a rear blower, because I started running out of space to stack the snow to the sides or ends.

Ralph

 

[varmint]

Yep, last winter, here in the central seaboard area, running out of territory to push the snow was a big deal! A blower would be great. Plus, my neck isn't as flexible as it once was, so a plow blade on the front would be nice. Oh, and heated cab, while I'm at it. Let's hope for a mild winter.

 

[scesnick]

Well, my driveway is 2.5 miles ( yep, miles ) It winds up over a mountain and into my farm. I share the first mile up from the bottom with the coal company on the other side of the mountain but last year they shut down and i had to plow the whole 2.5 miles.

I use the 6ft. rear blade whent he snow is light and under about 12-16 inches. One trip down and back is wide enough but i usually make two trips to make the road wide and clear up some room for snow later. It ususally takes about 1 - 1 1/2 hours to plow it completely.

The last mile into my farm is though the woods and there isn't much room on the sides of the road so once I plow it 2-3 times it is time to bust out the blower because there isn't anywhere to put the snow after a while.

Last year we got 22ft. of snow and I did nothing but run the blower. It took quite a while to keep the road open. Especially since the wind just killed us. It was a daily job to keep the road passable. Lucklily wifey has a Subaru Outback and that thing goes as well as my diesel pickup in the snow, maybe even better.

I used my blower so much and machine gunned so much gravel and rocks that now I have to put the rubber paddle extenders on the fan impellers so i can throw snow a good distance again..

 

[weatherman]

Only 600' of asphalt driveway, but lots of snow in northern lower Michigan. We prefer to use our 5-foot front blower to avoid snow piling up on the sides. The blower makes quick work of the driveway and the two-track to our 30x40 storage building. We do have a back blade, but rarely use it for snow.

John

 

[schmism]

you would think if your plowing that much snow (that banks become a problem) you could rig up a wing plow off side and or 3pt in the rear.