Power broom for snow removal?

[CreativeGuy]

Greetings,
I'm thinking of getting a 48" wide power sweeper attachment for my Power Trac PT425 tractor. Anyone using a sweeper for snow removal? Where we live in Oregon, we don't get much snow but we do get moss growing on our driveway. Which would be the other main use for the sweeper.
Cheers
Steve

 

[zzvyb6]

Works wonderfull as long as the windrow is not more than a few inches. That means keeping up with accumulations. But: sidewalks to. What makes it better for me is that irregular patches of asphalt are cleaned just as well as smooth sections. A plow usually won't catch the dips and likely fills them with snow, too. Use it year round to keep the driveway clear of stones, nuts, pine needles. It's concrete now so it even makes it look new.

Precaution alert too: sometimes a tine may fly out and you may get it direct or on the next pass. I've seen pics from MSU showing a kid with one stuck through his cheek. Not meant to be a cheeky remark but it deserves lip service predicted by Nostrildomis way back in 1555.

 

[mikester]

It'll work with little amounts of powder snow when it's very cold out

It also works to rake lawn leaves. My previous neighbor used one that way

 

[scootr]

I've seen brooms with rows of steel bristles mixed in. Looks like that might extend the wear factor and move some heavier stuff. I have a nylon broom that I sweep dirt rock and gravel off the asphalt. No snow here.

 

[bigtiller]

We tried a broom at work one year.

In 4" or more, it turned into a white cloud. Snow went everywhere including back on the cleaned part. It then required a second trip to clear the snow off.

It also left the sidewalks looking clean, but the brushes would warm the snow just enough to leave a thin coat of ice on the sidewalk making them very slick until the sun came out.

 

[stevem5215]

I have a Steiner with a 50" brush. It's great for snow removal. I have the cleanest driveway in the winter. Here's the simple video from one of my fixed cameras.

As for heavier snow what I do is to turn off the brush and then just use it to plow the snow off the driveway first. If the snow is 8" or more at least. The 2nd pass you just use the rotating brush as normal and it's down to the pavement. The previous poster mentioned ice. I've found that even on a cloudy day once I remove the snow the warmth on the asphalt pavement is enough to evaporate the rest of the snow dust that may be left and the driveway ends up dry by the afternoon. I've never experienced the snow brush making the snow melt and turning it into ice in the twenty years I've used this method.

 

[Sportsman762]

They work great for all but heavy slushy snow. I used a sweepster broom on a 5610 and it could chew through drifts higher than it (very slowly). Brooms leave a very good finish on virgin snow. However they would leave packed snow like footprints or tire tracks in place. We used it on an area with donor bricks that we did not want damaged. We nicknamed it the sidewalk polisher as it would leave a thin layer of ice so we would always spray liquid deicer after it.