I like you idea! Mine was a bit simpler to build but yours is considerably more robust and compact. I drive in reverse with mine because the edges are sharper on the back edge and they dig into the ice better. You could easily make yours to pull in both directions and always have sharp edges or just drive in reverse like I do.
It isn’t the little bit for driveways. Rather, what does the damage is the salt and “brine” which the highway departments use every winter. People like it though because they can do 70 up the road, the day after a major snowstorm.It's no wonder y'all have so many rust problems. Salt is definitely effective and helping to melt ice, but it is not worth the corrosion to me. (Or the damage to plants near the application site). Lots of good examples without the corrosion of salt.
Of course, you could just move where ice is rare and temporary.
Every region has its upsides and downsides. Vehicles are a lot more rust resistant than they were even 30 years ago.It's no wonder y'all have so many rust problems. Salt is definitely effective and helping to melt ice, but it is not worth the corrosion to me. (Or the damage to plants near the application site). Lots of good examples without the corrosion of salt.
Of course, you could just move where ice is rare and temporary.
Other than "bagged" sand, it all has moisture in it and will freeze like a big solid rock. The salt prevents that but covering it is a good idea.
I have a 6ft landscape rake and have used it before. What I found is that it works ok for lightly compacted snow, but not for ice. The ice was too hard for the wider tines of the landscape rake. I pulled it forward though not reversed. Pulling rake reversed, if I understand you correctly, would make it dig in less than forward. This is what led me to make something with more bite that would dig into the ice more and chip/rip it up more. I can adjust the top link to either level it out and have the weight on all the teeth, front and back, or tilt it to where just the front or back alone is digging in and thus putting all the weight on just one set of teeth if I need it to dig in harder. I could always add some weights to it also to get it to dig in harder, but haven't needed to yet or at least haven't bothered too.
That's not a bad idea. I currently can't drive it in reverse because the teeth are cut at angles like a chisel. I would be a little nervous though pushing it backwards if it were to snag on something. I do have a few spots where tree roots are exposed in drive. Pulling it lets it jump up when it catches/digs in hard. 3pts are more designed for pulling forces on tractor than pushing.
I don't have tree roots to deal with. I find if I pull the harrow it does very little digging because of the way the teeth wear in the gravel in summer. If I drive in reverse the lower 3ph arms are at a down angle which helps to get the harrow to dig in. I also control how much the harrows dig with the top link. I'm not to concerned with the pushing forces on the lower arms. The harrow is built light enough that it will bend if I hit something too hard. The teeth are worn down to about 2.5" long and it's time to rebuild the unit anyways.
