Waiting to Plow

[ovrszd]

Great story DJ54!!!!

An older Gentleman that owns a Dozer and pushes dirt for us occassionally can tell some stories like that!!!! Didn't have strong Graders back in the 60s and 70s. So at least once each Winter the townships would hire Dozer operators to push with big V plows, no cabs of course. He'd reverse his engine fan so the heat would blow back toward him.

I won't jinx myself by saying we'll never see those days again. I'll just say since 1989 I've been able to always open our 50 miles of roads with the Grader. In the beginning it was more difficult because of having a lot lighter and less HP machine. I've piled snow so high when V plowing that I couldn't see over it from the Grader seat. Get in some spots where you work 4 or 5 hours to go a 1/2 mile. Be very , very careful going downhill with the plow. If you don't make it thru it's a lot harder to back uphill to get another run. Have had to "row" myself out more than once with the blade while trying to back up.

Closest I ever came to getting stuck was a "Stupid Human Trick". Had been pushing all night and was finishing up on my way home. Went by a large drifted area that I had previously opened. Had a V Plow and a Wing on. Made my pass and then thought I'd turn around and hit that one more time. 3 a.m., no houses insight, no Cell Phone. Backed oof into a flat grassy area. Soon as the rear wheels left the roadway I felt them sink. Ground wasn't frozen. Backed into a field terrace dump area. Sank 2/3 up the rear tires, crossways in the road, moldboard firmly gouged into the road shoulder. With the Wing on the blade is limited as to what I can do. Did some careful thinking before I tried anything. If I spun the rear tires they would instantly sink further. Messed around for about 30 minutes before I got out of that. Did a lot of talking outloud to myself. Calling myself every nasty name I could think of!!!! Didn't pull a stunt like that again!!!!

 

[DJ54]

Just one of many stories I could tell, but won't bore everyone..., LOL.. There was some funny stuff too... Back in '77 before I got on that crew, they were opening up roads drifted shut. Had an open station cable blade D-7. Joe made a big push, and when backing up to get another, noticed a VW come sliding out of the pile of snow he'd just deposited. Thank goodnes there was no one inside...

Here's a pic from the Blizzard of '78. We were in the clean up stages at this time, mainly doing traffic control while wrecker operators extracted vehicles. This semi was literally blown sideways off the road by 70 mph winds

 

[ovrszd]

I was pushing out a drifted dirt road years ago. Drifted 8ft deep all the way across. Road had steep banks on each side. Would hit it with the plow and as I lost speed, turn one direction or the other to push the pile back. Had made several hits and was backing up to get another run and thought I saw an odd shape in the face of the drift. Fortunately it caught my attention enough to get out and take a look. It was the rear end of a pickup, totally buried in the drift. Some kids had abandoned it the day before when the storm was still raging. One more push and I would have totaled that ole truck. Left the road closed. The next day the boy's Dad came with his 4wd tractor and loader and dug it out of the snow drift!!!

The other side of that humor is the car/pickup drivers that will go into a drift with you while you are backing up and taking runs at it. They'll pull right up behind you and sit there looking at ya like you are supposed to get out of the way!!!! For the last 8 years our Grader has had very bright backup lights that come on when you shift into reverse. That gives them an advance warning that I'm backing out. I don't know what people like that are thinking!!!

Today everybody thinks they've gotta get to town TODAY!!!! I've gotten phone calls asking when I'm gonna get their road open while the storm is still raging!!!! Had a young man that rented a country house call 911 and tell the dispatcher that I needed to get his road up NOW!!! I'm 6 miles from his house when the dispatcher calls me on my Cell Phone. I think there must be an emergency so I alter my plan and go as directly to his house as I can. When I get there he runs out and asks me where I've been and how come it took so long. I asked if he an immediate emergency like needing an ambulance or something??? No, he just needed to take his kids to his divorced wife's house for the weekend because he was going out of town!!! He should have been arrested and charged with filing a false emergency call to 911.......

This is what greets me in the bad drifted spots.




Keep plugging away and eventually you find a road!!!

 

[Thomas]

Keeps the story and pics coming ovrszd...I am enjoying them.

 

[ovrszd]

Here's another good picture. Took me 3 hours to get to the end of that road. Had snow piled higher than my head (10ft) when I got done. The wife that lives at the end of that road brought me out a big cup of hot chocolate when I got to their house!!!

 

[Thomas]

Son of gun that's some heavy weight plowing.

Have you any major break downs,if so about whats the waiting time for help?

 

[ovrszd]

The Wing we use is an old wing that was designed to fasten to the end of the moldboard and be braced to a bracket between the tandems. That method limited it's use tremendously. We've modified it to brace against the center of the moldboard. This allows it to be used at extreme heights and reach. You can flatten a farmers fence if not careful. Is also death on mailboxes if you don't know where it is....

 

[ovrszd]

Generally I push snow at night. I do that for two reasons. First I prefer it, everyone is home in bed and I don't have as much traffic to deal with. I don't hafta worry about someone sneaking up behind me cause I can see them coming by their lights. Secondly, most storms here blow thru in the daytime. The wind lays in the evening. I sleep all day, and then stay out all night. I usually pack my camera, never know what you'll see. I really enjoy pushing at night. I have a good machine and can run all night in a T-shirt listening to my favorite tunes. If I get tired it's comfortable to take a 10 minute power nap. Great solitude, good for the Soul. Makes for some good pics when daybreak comes.

 

[DJ54]

Understand about people calling in... In the past, and seems more so now, people moving out from the city expect roads to be cleared when they go to work. Which in most cases with normal snows of a few inches they are pretty decent if the snow came through the night, and crews were out. However, cold temps, dry snow, and 20+mph winds can keep a person busy just keeping the prevailing wind side lane open.

Wouldn't it be sweet to have a snow blower to mount on that bad boy..!! Just put some HD guards out front of some sort, to keep from eating them vehicles buried in drifts, LOL...

 

[LD1]

Not sure how it is in nother areas, but in my area/county/township, I think roads are cleared quicker than the city streets. Maybe not the main routes, but the county and township roads in my area, get cleared fairly quickly.

There is MANY more miles of city side-streets than in my county. Sure they have more drivers, but I am betting drivers per mile of road is less in the big cities. Not to mention they have to go slower due to cars parked on the streets, more traffic, more intersections, etc.