How do you deal with snow?

[lugbolt]

How do I deal with snow?

Move.

 

[eipo]

That thing looks awesome. You said it was a 6ft out of 5/16"? That lower long triangle gusset, is it open on the bottom, or closed up so nothing can stay built up under it? I hope you get to use it, it looks impressive for sure!

SRG,

Finally got the majority of it painted, some 1" plastic on the skids, and a chance to use it last nite.

About 3" of wet snow that had some rain and freezing rain on top of it. No issues loading the box full and pushing into a pile. The nature of the snow did cause the skids to want to ride up on top of the snow, but I attribute that to the snow being excellent snowball making snow and I'm using HDPE on the skids. Which is extremely slick on ice or when wet.

The lower gussets collected no snow, which I was surprised at because of the packability of the snow.

All in all, I'm pleased... I likely cut my plow time in half not having to chase windrows and doing the majority of plowing going forward.

I can forward you the fabricators contact info if you like.

 

[RCW]

I did some serious digging into my bare stone driveway last night and today. Wet and icy stuff.

My UHMWP shoe liners are still there!

Like eipo said, they’re pretty slick. They helped by digging in less, and I’m amazed at how tough they are. Thought I certainly tore one off once, but it was still there.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Flienlow]

Ok Guys, I am getting owned by snow. Seattle Just received record snow fall. For some of you its just another day, but here, It brung everything to a halt. We have very heavy wet snow. And so far, the bx25 is no match for it. It doesnt have the weight, or power to hammer through it. I just spin and bog down. The only tools I have are a landscape rake and the front loader. With that said, should I look at a blower, rear blade, or front plow blade for future work? I would also like to know if the bx is feasible to use for light snow removal work for hire.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Most practical solution, since this much snow is a rarety, is wheel weights, ballast box, and chains front and rear. With practice you can clean up most drives fine with a loader.

 

[torch]

Ok Guys, I am getting owned by snow. Seattle Just received record snow fall. For some of you its just another day, but here, It brung everything to a halt. We have very heavy wet snow. And so far, the bx25 is no match for it. It doesnt have the weight, or power to hammer through it. I just spin and bog down. The only tools I have are a landscape rake and the front loader. With that said, should I look at a blower, rear blade, or front plow blade for future work? I would also like to know if the bx is feasible to use for light snow removal work for hire.

Generally speaking, I think a blower is the best all-round snow removal tool. It picks up the snow, hurls it some distance away and piles it high, all in one pass. Deep snow just means slower travel speed, not more back-and-forth. No need to drive through un-removed snow, no plow rows to freeze hard and immobile.

That said, wet snow is the blower's nemesis. Slush doesn't throw very far and packing snow clogs chutes. In urban environments, it may be difficult to avoid piling the snow on a neighbour's property. Gravel throws almost as readily as snow. And blowers are expensive -- front mount blowers doubly so -- and require more maintenance.

Given that you already have a loader and that your area does not typically receive heavy snow falls, your best option might be to add a rear blade (one that can rotate 180°) and some traction aids like WW filled tires and chains. And possibly a snow bucket for the loader.

But that's just my 2¢. Worth every penny of it.

 

[bearbait]

I did some serious digging into my bare stone driveway last night and today. Wet and icy stuff.

My UHMWP shoe liners are still there!

Like eipo said, they’re pretty slick. They helped by digging in less, and I’m amazed at how tough they are. Thought I certainly tore one off once, but it was still there.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is great news, back to the drawing board when it gets warmer. Any chance you could overnight me up a set, think I'm gonna need them today.

 

[Flienlow]

Generally speaking, I think a blower is the best all-round snow removal tool. It picks up the snow, hurls it some distance away and piles it high, all in one pass. Deep snow just means slower travel speed, not more back-and-forth. No need to drive through un-removed snow, no plow rows to freeze hard and immobile.

That said, wet snow is the blower's nemesis. Slush doesn't throw very far and packing snow clogs chutes. In urban environments, it may be difficult to avoid piling the snow on a neighbour's property. Gravel throws almost as readily as snow. And blowers are expensive -- front mount blowers doubly so -- and require more maintenance.

Given that you already have a loader and that your area does not typically receive heavy snow falls, your best option might be to add a rear blade (one that can rotate 180°) and some traction aids like WW filled tires and chains. And possibly a snow bucket for the loader.

But that's just my 2¢. Worth every penny of it.

Will a blade spill slow or just old it? I was hoping my rake would have wind rowed the snow but it didnt. Of coarse this was more like dirt than snow since it was so heavy.

 

[shootem604]

Are you tires loaded? A quick infusion of winter washer fluid for your rears will help. Given the amount of snow you had down there, and now with the rain/melt, I'd think that it will be a bucket by bucket scoop cleanup instead of pushing it around.

 

[torch]

Will a blade spill slow or just old it? I was hoping my rake would have wind rowed the snow but it didnt. Of coarse this was more like dirt than snow since it was so heavy.

How readily the plow spills depends on a couple of factors.
1. how sticky is the snow?
2. how slippery is the blade?
3. what angle is the blade at?

You can't really do anything about the first, but keeping the blade free of rust, nicely painted and adding a non-stick wax or spray looks after #2. Then you adjust #3 on the fly to suit the conditions of the day.

A steeper angle will require less power to draw and spill snow faster, but will have a greater tendency to push the tractor off-course ("plow steer"). Wet, heavy snow increases the effects significantly.

I assume that wet, heavy snow is the norm when it does snow in Seattle?

 

[RCW]

This is great news, back to the drawing board when it gets warmer. Any chance you could overnight me up a set, think I'm gonna need them today.

bear - I'd send you at set if a had them! (Hmm...Maybe that could be a side business along with my chicken wing sauce when I retire.....)

Geez this cold/snow/ice/warm/rain/repeat stuff is tough to deal with... Seems I've been digging in all winter long; only had a decent base once or twice. Without the extended shoe bases I made, and the liners, not sure how much I would have been able to use the blower this season.

Thought for sure they'd rip off first time out. Should have painted them orange so I'd see 'em in the driveway! Only 1/2" and countersunk, so not much material there...but this stuff is TOUGH!

My liners only have 2 mounting points, so they can be reversed.

I don't recall the members that were familiar with the stuff, but they gave me many pointers and said they'd work, and so far, they have!!!

After the season I'll go back to that thread and update with a report.

 

[Muzzy]

B2601 & HLA Snow Pusher, great combo

 

[flyidaho]

In the 40 years I've lived on this mountainside, I don't recall a longer period of very strong winds and precip, then the last several days. I have a grid tied wind turbine, and it's inverter keeps track of how many KWH are produced while it's online, once the wind dies and the turbine quits producing power, it resets to zero. Up to now, in 12 years of having this setup, the most I have seen in one blow is 85 KWH, it's at 130 now, and it's still blowing like heck!

As my rural driveway banks get higher, they drift in faster, today they were about 5' high in places, totally windpacked over, the highest by far then I've ever had to deal with. Plus, it was that wet heavy stuff, and no matter how slow I went with the blower, it was clogging. So, I pulled the power angle front snowblade (and am I ever happy I converted it to power angle, best money spent ever) and put the dirt bucket back on and used it. Basically just picking the snow up and then finding a place for it where it wouldn't cause further problems. It took 2 hours but got the job done, it's good to know I have this option, though it is more work/takes longer then blowing or plowing it. It's snowing heavily now, again! It's getting epic, I wish I had my wheel spacers so i could chain up the rear, as there is an ice base the front chains have been worth their weight in gold. Keeping in mind I snowboard and have a great local ski area 5 minutes away, and a small plane on skis, it is still getting to be a bit much!

 

[D2Cat]

Last week we got an 1-2 of ice, then snow with the weather too cold to cause a melt.

Here's my cure. Use the tooth bar! Sure beats a hand scraper. I use the bucket at about the angle in the picture back-dragging, going one way then 90deg to that. Then lay the bucket level and move it out of the way.

 

[flyidaho]

Another 2 hrs today clearing out down to the hangar. This snow is so windpacked it set up like concrete, unbelievably heavy also. With these heaped up buckets it was making my (filled) rear tires a bit light, and that's with the snow thrower on! I didn't realize how heavy until I picked up a couple big clumps, and that made me feel a bit better anyway as to how the L3301 was really having to work to move it. My nearest neighbor needed a D-6 dozer and several hours to clear his drive, so I'm not complaining I guess.

I actually thought about getting the U-25 mini excavator out of its winter storage, with its 30" cleanout bucket, but it was in the hangar so couldn't get to it until I didn't need it.

 

[Muzzy]

Flyidaho, that is some serious snow on the go, awesome landscape in background, stay safe out there

 

[D2Cat]

Flyidaho, why don't you get a full bucket when you move it?

 

[ItBmine]

Hauling snow for the city right now. Not Kubota's but this is how we handle snow, LOL.

Actually there is a sea of orange in my city now. Almost every plow contractor has Kubota's now. Everything from B2650 cabs with blowers to RTV's to an M7.
Tractors have really caught on all of a sudden.

 

[bearbait]

Another 2 hrs today clearing out down to the hangar. This snow is so windpacked it set up like concrete, unbelievably heavy also. With these heaped up buckets it was making my (filled) rear tires a bit light, and that's with the snow thrower on! I didn't realize how heavy until I picked up a couple big clumps, and that made me feel a bit better anyway as to how the L3301 was really having to work to move it. My nearest neighbor needed a D-6 dozer and several hours to clear his drive, so I'm not complaining I guess.

I actually thought about getting the U-25 mini excavator out of its winter storage, with its 30" cleanout bucket, but it was in the hangar so couldn't get to it until I didn't need it.

Beautiful country, lot's of drifting there.

 

[BAP]

Hauling snow for the city right now. Not Kubota's but this is how we handle snow, LOL.

Actually there is a sea of orange in my city now. Almost every plow contractor has Kubota's now. Everything from B2650 cabs with blowers to RTV's to an M7.
Tractors have really caught on all of a sudden.

Nice pictures, what do you drive?