Plowing Snow

[chesbaycruiser 82]

Just sitting around on a Saturday night, contemplating the weighty issues of the world, and decided I'd throw this out there for discussion...

Watching various videos and listening to others talk got me to wondering about different plowing techniques and wondered what the conventional wisdom out there was.

I never really thought about it much, and didn't have anyone around to give me advice the first time out, so I just played it by ear. Typically, I start by cutting a swath right down the middle, the turn around, pivot the blade and come back pushing the snow I just plowed further towards the side of the road (or driveway) and continue until I reach the edge. Then I go back to the center and repeat the process on the other side, as shown below.

This works great on a long, uniform-width area like a road....the cul-de-sac (or dead-end, as we used to call them) requires a little thinking outside the box. (Or circle, as it were. )

Any other thoughts?

[Gerry w 2]

The BEST way IMO is to train your wife to do it....BTW, if ANYONE out there knows how to do this PLEASE send me a PM!!

Gerry

[Coadster32 793]

I usually push it all to one side and in one direction. Not sure how you can go both ways, as there's normally a house in the way or something.

[TT-(Moderator) 1,131]

That's probably the most efficient way, but there's normally too many variables / obstacles to actually be able to do it. That is a good pattern for a blower/thrower though.

I usually make three passes down the left side of my driveway, then push everything from left to right - all the way across the yard and into the creek. Not everyone has that luxury, but it's nice not to have huge piles everywhere - and I always have room for more snow.

Then there's the paths through the yard to the shop, the spot for the bulldog to do his business, the mailbox, etc., etc., etc.

I wouldn't want to try drawing all of the "moves" I make. :banghead:

[chesbaycruiser 82]

Now see Gerry...this is why I asked the question! I'm gonna get right on that!

Coadster, thankfully, while some of our local planners are pretty screwed up, they haven't taken to putting houses in the street. Yet. BTW....those new lights really light the place up like daytime. :thumbs:

[AMC RULES 37,127]

You would think moving snow is a pretty simple concept but it can be quite the challenge depending on the type(wet and heavy or dry and powdery)and of course, the amount of accumulation you're trying to move(depth).

I can tell you that starting in the middle and systematically moving it all from one side to the other isn't as easy as it sounds.

Lots of variables to consider, especially when clearing a large expanse of blacktop. My stratagy is to make my very first pass where I ultimately want the snow to end up.

Then I will go back and make a pass down the middle and keep halving that again with successive passes until I get the snow moved where I need it to be.

Your ground speed will play a big factor as well.

Consider too, that last winrow you leave on the side will most probably freeze and limit you moving additional snow falls past that point.

Moving snow gets really interesting when it's coming down faster than you can move it. :ROTF:

[Ken B 3,164]

My technique changes with the depth of the snow and more importantly how heavy it is.

When its deep and heavy you sometimes have to do it all twice. The first time going over it I will keep my blade straight and make my passes pushing the snow straight forward as much as possible. If its deep and heavy and you keep pushing it to one side you will wind up with huge heavy piles all to one side and you will wind up sliding the front end or just not be able to push it effectively.

As TT said, there are just too many variables to reccomend any set way as to getting it done. Over time you will learn what works best under each circumstance.

I worked on a snow crew driving a dump truck and a large Trojan loader with a 20 ft. blade on it for almost ten yrs clearing a huge mall complex in Danbury, CT. Each and every storm was a little different but the general idea was always the same.

It was ALWAYS a good time if I got thru a storm without having to crawl under a loader or dumptruck to make repairs in the wet slop!

[Redbirdman 7]

For years..........many, many, years (when I lived in NJ) my son and I did a half dozen really big driveways in a rich section "up the hill" from our house.

We were lucky to have a lot of equipment but the favorites were JD triple stick 140's with cabs. One had a blower, the other a plow. Both had rinkydink heat and cab mounted cb's.

The joke (most of the time) was to get there and plow before the snow melted!

But really, the biggest factor was to get there before the owners tracked and packed the snow down into ice. So that's my first suggestion.

We would use the plow to break through the hard packed furrow that the town truck left at the end of the drive if he beat us there. Most of the time he did not. But we would always make a first plow (or blow) around the very edge of the drive or parking area first to find the curb or the edge and make a spot to aim for later. And then raise the plow or blower and make another pass as far OVER the curb or grass as we could reach without taking out bushes and stuff. And we would clear a spot at the end of the drive to turn around so we would not be backing over fresh snow packing it down.

Then we would start down the very middle going up and down the drives blowing or pushing wider and wider. By the time the pile got pretty big we were at that first row we plowed at the beginning and it was much eaiser to push it all up over the curb then........

I know, the feeling is to want to start in the middle, but that ribbon around the edge really made things much eaiser.And don't forget, I ain't talking about how to plow with a big 4 wheel truck or a 570 Case or something. This was small machines, really big long winding driveways sometimes down steep hills with rich people in bathrobes holding hot toddys and a wad of cash at the door...............

ED....................brrrrrrrr just thinking about that makes me chilly..

PS: When my son was about 13 and all wound up about making money and snowplowing he had cards made up to put in mailboxes.

They said:

SNOW PLOWING

and BLOWING

call ED jr............

I made him change them real quick!

[Pollack Pete 2,273]

The BEST way IMO is to train your wife to do it....BTW, if ANYONE out there knows how to do this PLEASE send me a PM!!

Gerry

You start the woman with a snow shovel.Graduate to a walk behind snow blower.Then and only then do you get her a Wheel Horse tractor.Hmmmmm........maybe that's why I've been divorced twice??

[bmuone 15]

When we get snow I just wait for tomorrow and it will melt. However, last year we got about 12" and it took a little longer. :banghead:

[Gerry w 2]

The BEST way IMO is to train your wife to do it....BTW, if ANYONE out there knows how to do this PLEASE send me a PM!!

Gerry

You start the woman with a snow shovel.Graduate to a walk behind snow blower.Then and only then do you get her a Wheel Horse tractor.Hmmmmm........maybe that's why I've been divorced twice??

:banghead:

[brianc423 9]

I just get the snow off the driveway....one way or another, no pun intended. 

[Tankman 3,518]

Down the middle then push the sides, blade angled. Outdoor lighting, I usually plow every 6 inches.

Goose down helps too!

 

I usually park by the street where I have 50 ft of blacktop. Closer to the house, 100 ft of tamped millings that I spread with my '53 D2 Cat dozer.

 

Of course, inviting Grandsons over on snow nights helps!

 

Years ago, my old drive was nine cars long. A double garage with an automatic opener. Neighbors laughed when I pulled out the old round hood and shoved the snow out of sight. I then backed into the garage, always up on 2 x's to keep chains and blade out of the melt.

 

I could sit on the Stallion and watch the neighbors shoveling, peaking my way, "Help!"

Nighty night, use your Murray or Craftsman! 

 

[shorts 182]

The easiest way I've found is to borrow the neighbor's pickup with a 8'western plow, it only cost's a couple of lawn cuts when they are gone camping I the summer.

[dtallon 320]

The best way to get your wife to do it is leave the country for two weeks for work and have a big snow storm while you are gone.  My wife got really interested in how to run the snow blower and tractor after she had to shovel some heavy, wet snow by herself.  

 

I have often wondered the most efficient way for shoveling, blowing and plowing snow. For work (I work at Caterpillar) we have training material on the most efficient way to bulldoze dirt, but I don't think those techniques necessarily apply to plowing snow with a tractor in a driveway.  I have used the concepts for pushing snow with a shovel, and I have to say, it does seem to work if the snow is over a few inches deep.  My driveway just isn't long enough for it to scale up to a 42" or larger snow plow though.   

 

As far as plowing goes, and I'm far from an expert, it really depends on the snowfall.  Depth, where the drifts are and how heavy it is all make a difference.  If it's not too deep, I'll push it all down the driveway and across the street.  If its deeper or heavier, I'll start on an edge and push it sideways across the driveway.  If it's really heavy, I'll start in the middle and push some to each side.  We don't usually get that much snow, so accumulation along the edges from multiple snowfalls is not usually a concern.   

[shorts 182]

several factors come into play when moving snow, probably the most important thing is to always move it as far as possible every time that you have to move it, once it is disturbrd and into a pile it compacts and hardens up making it difficult to come back and move it a second time, making it hard on the equipment, if you have enough snow that you don't think you can push it the full monty from the start, pick a starting spot and push to the end destination and then go back and pickup what you didn't get in the start and push it across the already plowed area to clean everything up. Here in the Detroit area if we have only a couple of inches I usually only clear the driveway, porch and walks, ut if we get hit with 4 or more inches of wet heavy snow I will plow out to the big garage/shop and also clear a path so that I can get the Pickup and trailer out if I need to. (onetime it had a 5' tall pile of almost ice pushed up in front of it and stayed where it was until mother nature decided to help move the snow in spring). The other thing is if you need to move snow across the grass is to lift the plow so you don't dig in and move the early snow so the ground can freeze to make the rest of your snow season easier.  It you pick up some grass in the snow it will come back I the spring as long as you don't roll the sod up in the snow.