Plow snow before ice? AND asphalt vs gravel strategy?

[Mossy dell]

We have 1-3" down, with freezing rain forecast for tonight. Plow before the rain? Locals on NextDoor are debating, with most saying wait.

My prior experience inclines me to plow before ice. Our asphalt driveway is long and steep and located without good sun exposure. Sticky patches of melded ice and snow are bad. Thin remains of snow or a skim of ice will melt.

BUT my experience probably relates to our own drive: our daughter's and neighbors' drives I also plow are gravel. Maybe gravel is more forgiving of a snow pack topped with ice.

 

[chim]

Whatever you decide to do will seem like the wrong thing after you've done it

If it were mine (and the 1-3" is not a packed-down 1-3") I'd let it go till after the freezing rain so there's something to get under it for removal. If the 1-3" is hard, packed and frozen it probably doesn't matter what you do. Gonna be a pain to deal with. Keep us posted.

 

[Mossy dell]

Whatever you decide to do will seem like the wrong thing after you've done it

Had to laugh. That's the ONLY thing I remember every year about snow plowing.

 

[jimh406]

I'd wait and hope the freezing rain hangs out on top of the snow. However, it's just a guess.

 

[Geezer3d]

For me it would depend on the forecast for the next day or two. If the temperature is expected to stay below freezing then I would wait for the ice to form on top before plowing. If it is expected to warm up above freezing then scrape off the snow and the ice will melt on it's own.

 

[RCW]

Yeah, no right or wrong answers.

I usually like to leave the snow and move it after it gets rained on.

But like @Geezer3d says, if it’s going to stay warm/above freezing, peel it off ahead of time.

We’ve had snow and rain several times lately. Have two more in the forecast.

I haven’t gotten it right yet this winter, and I’ve been doing it for many years…

 

[Mossy dell]

As my late neighbor used to say, "Let's do something even if it is wrong."

So I did.

Picture shows the left side clear after going downhill with my blade and its new rubber edge in float. That really squeeged the snow off, but sandpapers the rubber.

I can't plow well going up hill, though the snow was very wet and soft so I did a little that way. The asphalt seems to have melted some snow as it hit.

Freezing rain now forecast into tomorrow!

P.S.-Forecast temps are slightly below and slightly above freezing.

 

[Sawburner]

I have a gravel driveway and it's up hill from the road and we are facing north so the sun does not hit it. It is packed snow or ice most winters the best thing I have found is to put grit of some kind on it. I plow even the light snow but there is always some left that gets packed down.

 

[Mossy dell]

Sawburner, how do you spread the grit? I have a pile of sand but don't have a spreader. I suppose I could try to dribble it out with the bucket.

 

[RCW]

As my late neighbor used to say, "Let's do something even if it is wrong."

So I did.

Picture shows the left side clear after going downhill with my blade and its new rubber edge in float. That really squeeged the snow off, but sandpapers the rubber.

I can't plow well going up hill, though the snow was very wet and soft so I did a little that way. The asphalt seems to have melted some snow as it hit.

Freezing rain now forecast into tomorrow!

P.S.-Forecast temps are slightly below and slightly above freezing.

"Let's do something even if it is wrong."

If I said it once, I've said it 1,000 times (10,000?).....

Like I said, I've gotten this wrong a few times this season.

I'm sure that is much more steep than it looks in a picture......looks like a very nice paved but steep driveway.

Your B2601 with blade doesn't plow that little bit going uphill?

Do you have rear ballast on the 3 point hitch? 3-400+ pounds on the 3PH can help plant the rears for traction. Sometimes I carry my box blade for weight if we get a lot of snow and I need extra traction.

What tires do you have? R4, R14, or R3?

Are the rears loaded? In 4WD I'm sure? Doubt you have chains on the tractor or want them. I wouldn't on a surface like that in Virginia.

Worse case, plow downhill one side. Head back up with blade lifted, then angle to the other side and repeat downhill for the half.......

 

[Mossy dell]

"Let's do something even if it is wrong."

If I said it once, I've said it 1,000 times (10,000?).....

Like I said, I've gotten this wrong a few times this season.

I'm sure that is much more steep than it looks in a picture......looks like a very nice paved but steep driveway.

Your B2601 with rear blade doesn't plow that little bit going uphill?

What tires do you have? R4, R14, or R3?

Are the rears loaded? In 4WD I'm sure? Doubt you have chains on the tractor or want them. I wouldn't on a surface like that in Virginia.

Worse case, plow downhill one side. Head back up with blade lifted, then angle to the other side and repeat downhill for the half.......

It's a front blade on my tractor. Most of our driveway slopes 20%. There's a curve at the top, where it turns toward the hose, that is steeper. Tires are loaded R14s.

Yeah I pretty much plow downhill. I can take take a small bite going uphill . . . Very small!

 

[chim]

...............Picture shows the left side clear after going downhill with my blade and its new rubber edge in float. That really squeeged the snow off, but sandpapers the rubber..................................

That looks quite good. Does your setup allow you to float just the blade or are you floating the FEL? If the weight of the FEL is on the rubber edge it is a lot of abuse.

We made a rubber edge for a rear blade at work from the tread part of a tire. It held up for years of use on a combination of blacktop, crushed stone and dirt. The biggest challenge was cutting the tire and making holes in it so it could be sandwiched between the cutting edge and the moldboard. We did think ahead and made it wide enough to flip when it wore down. Never had to flip it because the tire is many times tougher than cow mats. IIRC we had about 2" of rubber below the cutting edge.

 

[chim]

Grooving R4's makes a big difference in traction. See Post #652:

Snow Equipment Owning/Operating - Cutting / Groving / Siping R-4 for snow

Watcha gonna do with all of them "fishing worms" :)........

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Mossy dell]

That looks quite good. Does your setup allow you to float just the blade or are you floating the FEL? If the weight of the FEL is on the rubber edge it is a lot of abuse.

We made a rubber edge for a rear blade at work from the tread part of a tire. It held up for years of use on a combination of blacktop, crushed stone and dirt. The biggest challenge was cutting the tire and making holes in it so it could be sandwiched between the cutting edge and the moldboard. We did think ahead and made it wide enough to flip when it wore down. Never had to flip it because the tire is many times tougher than cow mats. IIRC we had about 2" of rubber below the cutting edge.

That's a good question on float, never thought of that. It floats the FEL, I suppose, and thereby what's attached to its front.

I've heard tires make great edges. Mine isn't cow mat, but probably the same, came from Kubota—so whoever supplies them.

 

[RCW]

It's a front blade on my tractor. Most of our driveway slopes 20%. There's a curve at the top, where it turns toward the hose, that is steeper. Tires are loaded R14s.

Yeah I pretty much plow downhill. I can take take a small bite going uphill . . . Very small!

Wow, 20% is significant.

I plowed a friend’s driveway with his BX23S with a similar front blade.

Worked great and was a tricky sloped driveway.

He still had the backhoe on it. Extra weight back there helped a lot.

Consider a carry-all, back blade or box blade back there just for weight. Don’t need them for the snow, just weight.

They can also serve other purposes.

A ballast box is great too, but serves just one purpose.

To @chim ‘s question, I believe the “float” is solely within the FEL booms. You can adjust the curl function of the blade if needed.

Some of the SSQA blades also have power angle.

 

[Donystoy]

Last week my 4000 ft driveway was a sheet of ice. Managed with 4 x 4 truck as it was well below freezing. Now it has 5 inches of snow so I made single track. Hopefully with storms coming there will not be too much freezing rain. Whatever I end up with after the storms I just hope it will manageable with the blower. Better stock up on shear pins.

 

[The Evil Twin]

I'm a wait n see kind. Ours is all gravel. My hope is that the rain will crust in top of the snow making it easier to remove it all in the morning. Tomorrow is going to be right around the freezing mark. The day after in the 40s and sunny. Whatever mistake I make mother nature will rectify by then

 

[Mossy dell]

Wow, 20% is significant.

I plowed a friend’s driveway with his BX23S with a similar front blade.

Worked great and was a tricky sloped driveway.

He still had the backhoe on it. Extra weight back there helped a lot.

Consider a carry-all, back blade or box blade back there just for weight. Don’t need them for the snow, just weight.

They can also serve other purposes.

A ballast box is great too, but serves just one purpose.

To @chim ‘s question, I believe the “float” is solely within the FEL booms. You can adjust the curl function of the blade if needed.

Some of the SSQA blades also have power angle.

I have a Heavy Hitch rack on the rear with quite a few suitcase weights. Can't remember the total right now but it's significant. Much more compact than my box blade!