Snow moving. Not as easy as I thought

[jgayman]

FYI a good shop vac works well to get gravel out of the grass. No matter what I've tried over the 17 years I've lived on this property, I manage to get at least a little gravel in the yard. It mostly depends on how winter hits. If we get a wet snow and a hard freeze after, the gravel will set well and I can plow snow with the back blade without much trouble. If the gravel doesn't freeze well, it's a lot more difficult.

Same here. I load the shop vac and generator in the back of my lawn cart and then just drive around vacuuming up rocks. It works much better than raking.

On the flat part of the drive I leave an inch or 2 of snow anyway. On the steep hills I have to scrape it all off or only 4x4's can get in and out. I've learned to always keep a load of 1 inch crush at the top of the hill to spread during winter.

Same again. If I don't scrape down to expose the gravel the layer of snow will melt down and form a 1" thick layer of ice that is immune to salt. The one year I left a "base" I ended up buying a couple hundred pounds of sand to spread around so we could walk on the driveway and parking area.


Kevin[/QUOTE]

 

[Reb954]

For years I used an ATV with a 5 ft blade and a 2WD Ford 4400 with FEL and a 7 ft snowblower on the back.

I would start the winter using the ATV until a base was built and the gravel drive way was frozen solid. After that I used the snowblower on the tractor. The FEL was only used to stack snow or if the base was getting too thick I would back drag the bucket to peel off the snow on top, then use the blower to clean it up.

I wouldn't suggest using the float feature on the FEL. Using some of the skid shoes others suggested might help keep the bucket from digging in tho.

There is a learning process in how to move snow though. And it changes from snow storm to snow storm.

This summer I bought a new tractor and snow blower so my learning process will start again.

 

[Stomper]

Thanks for all the information guys. It is quite obvious from all the posts that the bucket is not a very desired way to remove snow. We just got another 6 inch dump of snow today and thought I would give it another try to see if the ground was froze enough. Nope. Had to pull out ole faithful (quad) again. I am already pricing out material to make a ssqa blade like oldafretired has.

 

[mcfarmall]

When I was a kid we had a Ford 2N with a Superior loader. Chloride in the rear tires, cross-link chains and a 6' rear grader blade on the back. For the winter we took off the bucket and had a bolt on rigid 6' blade that attached to the loader arms and had a generous skid shoe on the left and right side of the blade. This setup was virtually unstoppable even with the wet heavy lake effect snows we had in SW Michigan. I could pile snow up 6' high with that front blade and we had a lot of turns and such around our house and barn area. Want to steer? Lift up the front blade a little and use the left/right brakes if needed. I get a kick out of all the hydraulic angle, top tilt cylinders, sub-frames, etc. etc. and amazingly you CAN do a great job without all that stuff.

 

[Soldier415]

dont have them...but these may help.
Edge Tamer - Move Snow With Your Tractor Loader Bucket R2 Manufacturing

The problem I found with edge tamers is they leave too much snow on the drive as you can't get the edge of your bucket low enough

 

[Stomper]

I was thinking that also. I like the idea of the angling of a plow to push the snow where I want it to go. I am going to build one and if I could figure out how to post pictures here from my phone I would create a thread in the do it yourself section for those who are interested

 

[gladehound]

The problem I found with edge tamers is they leave too much snow on the drive as you can't get the edge of your bucket low enough

I think this speaks to how much climate and the actual job dictate what the best tool is. I love the edge tamers because I don't pick up rocks and the 1/2" of snow they leave melts away in a few hours as soon as the sun hits it. But I imagine that in a colder climate the driveway might never get "clean".

 

[tmcj]

I think this speaks to how much climate and the actual job dictate what the best tool is. I love the edge tamers because I don't pick up rocks and the 1/2" of snow they leave melts away in a few hours as soon as the sun hits it. But I imagine that in a colder climate the driveway might never get "clean".

I'm expecting to receive a set of Edge Tamers any day now. I'm in Pa. too and I'm anxious to see how well they do with my driveway. I really would like to eliminate the need to rake and shovel gravel out of the yard every spring, or at least minimize it. You're right though, most times the little bit left on the driveway will melt off shortly after plowing so it may not be a big deal. Most of my driveway is a hill so I can't just leave a packed down layer that turns to ice if it is too cold and will have to continue using the rear blade. It really does depend on the temperature and type of storm we get.

 

[Soldier415]

I think this speaks to how much climate and the actual job dictate what the best tool is. I love the edge tamers because I don't pick up rocks and the 1/2" of snow they leave melts away in a few hours as soon as the sun hits it. But I imagine that in a colder climate the driveway might never get "clean".

Climate here is once winter sets in it stays well below freezing for the most part. November and december you get snow and then it warms up and melts. But by christmas generally you are below 20 and spend a lot of the time near zero or well below.

For those snows I generally pull the blower forward using the back of it to pack down the snow.

I have 1/4 mile of steep driveway with a 90 degree turn at the top and various grade changes. Using a FEL is not practical as there is nowhere to push the snow.

Once I have a base of packed snow I pull the shoes up on the blower and use the top n tilt to pick the cutting edge up about 1/4"

Driveway for reference

 

[TheMan419]

Edge Tamers made all the difference in the world. I maintain 150 feet of drive. We live in the land of lake effect. We get 70 inches of snow a year. Keeps all the gravel on the driveway and the snow wherever you want to push it. Also you can push it into the grass further back and not damage the grass.

I also bought the edge extenders. While not a snow weapon they are a good addition for moving logs and other things. Easier to put on and off than forks are.