Snowblower and crushed rock driveway

[nyone]

Always leave the first snow until its nice and packed. No thing fancy or product to buy...I also dont rake gravel back into the driveway in the spring. Because it's all still in the driveway.

 

[TractorTYMe]

This is WHY I also have a front blade on my FEL for early season and parking lot use. I don't use the blower until I have a certified clean surface of snow and ice.

 

[sheamus]

Thanks for all the advice. The problem is here that for the first month of winter we get a big dump of snow when it is still hovering around 0, then it will warm up and melt etc. Not like the prairies. But I am going start with some of the advice here before I go making modiciations to the blower:

• do a run with bucket at upward angle to create packed base
• adjust the attack angle of blower (I noticed that it is currently pretty aggressive)
• If the above don't work, I'll try welding a big of pipe on the shoes/slides to make them float a bit better.

Thanks!

 

[herm0016]

Same thing here today. Only thing to do is raise the blower and leave enough snow to pack down with driving over it. Anything that I have tried has not helped. Ground is too soft and any interaction with it just digs down.

These early snows, we got about 14”, I use a back blade to cut off the top 10-12”, leave 2-4” to pack down. Blowers is way too heavy and digs in.

this, Colorado also. I only put the blower on if we have a big snow and/or I have to do my neighbors switchbacks for them. The blade creates too much resistance and side slope on the uphill run to their house trying to push me down a very steep slope.

 

[BadgerCheese]

I maintain a couple driveways and when the real snow comes, about 1/2 mile of gravel road. We get 220-270" per season, and I use a Frontier 74" PTO (rear) driven blower. I adjust the tilt so the skid shoes are slightly up early in the season to build a snow mat, and once the mat is established, adjust the top link for a level or slight down bias on the shoes. I put a hydraulic top link on this year, so making that adjustment from the warmth of the cab is awesome.

Another commenter said he doesn't rake stones out of their yard because they don't shoot any with their equipment. I don't rake stones either. My wife does it...........division of labor! Maybe someday I'll be good enough that she won't have to.

FYI- I run 10mm square alloy chains on the back (over filled tires) and diamond style 3/8" studded chains on the front.

 

[John_Mc]

FYI- I run 10mm square alloy chains on the back (over filled tires) and diamond style 3/8" studded chains on the front.

How do you like those square chains? I just ordered some for my UTV (Honda Pioneer 520). We have about 1/4 mile+ of driveway and unmaintained town road to clear. I'm hoping they are enough to get it up the steep section of my driveway that often gets icy. They are supposed to be easier on pavement than studded chains (we had the loop up near the house paved a couple of years ago), while still providing better traction than the non-studded round link chains.

This will be my first year plowing with the UTV. I've been using the loader and rear snowblower on my tractor. The tractor has studded "Euro-style" (diamond pattern) chains on the rear. I've not had problems with spinning the wheels on the pavement, but figured that could be an issue with the lighter UTV. The tractor will still get used for the heavy snows

My neighbor is nice enough to do the common areas of our shared driveway with his tractor-mounted plow or the one on his ATV, but I figure it's time for me to pitch in for more of that.

 

[John_Mc]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

You'll find a lot of good suggestions in the Snow Removal section of TBN.

 

[Gord Baker]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

It isn't necessary (at least to many) to remove every flake of snow. I bolted some 1¼" square hardwood 6" long with 45° cut on each end to the 'shoes'. Works for asphalt too to keep from wearing out the 'shoes'. No rock throwing ever.

 

[dcarman]

Had the first dump of the season, so i got to try out the ne (to me) snowblower. I threw a lot of rocks. It was only 0c so the ground was soft and the shoes sunk. I tried to control the sinking with the 3pt hitch raise/lower but it was tough to get it right. The driveway is slightly higher in the center and so I think I was picking up rocks there. I was thinking of a couple solutions. 1. Weld a 4-6" plate to the shoes so the dont sink so much. 2. Weld a 4-6" plate to the center to prevent the center from getting too low when side shoes hit the soft ground or low ground. 3. Do both of the aforementioned options?

How have others solved this?

Loaders and snow blowers have the same problem. They work much better after the ground is frozen. I generally leave that first couple inches of snow and drive it down so the rocks are covered and let the ground freeze then you can let it down and go without worrying about taking the driveway gravel with it.

 

[LouNY]

Ah to be one of the lucky ones that can leave a pack on the driveway. When I plow it has to be clean,
any snow pack left will turn to ice. Ice and 14 degree slopes is not a good combination for safe traveling.
Any ice or snow pack requires sanding