Best set up to remove snow on gravel driveway

[TorontoGuy]

Reading so many different angles online

Tracks or Wheels

Plow, snowblower or sweeper broom

 

[Tyler d4c]

Pack the first few inches in so the stone is held in place. Then snow box or plow after that.

 

[phil314]

Yup, pack the first couple inches down helps a lot.
Dedicated snow tires are the best I've found so far.

I also added a gravel guard to my plow blade.
Cut a slit in an 1.5 pipe, then tack weld it to the cutting edge of the plow.
Works awesome on gravel.

 

[Arny L]

That's what I do as well, drive my truck OCDishly, back and forth, until everything is flat. Next day it freezes, and your good to plow all winter

 

[BC Placer gold]

That's what I do as well, drive my truck OCDishly, back and forth, until everything is flat. Next day it freezes, and your good to plow all winter

That’s what we do as well. This winter was unusual because we had a complete thaw in January.

 

[ThreeCW]

Lots of factors to consider when deciding the best method for snow removal. What works for me in the Foothills of Alberta might not work for your in the wilds of Toronto or in North Dakota.
Factors to consider:
You mention a gravel driveway - how long? Removing snow from a 100 m driveway is different than a 2 km long road.
What other areas are you clearing snow from?
Where do you want to move your snow to ... the edge of the road or will you pile it at a certain spot?
How much snow are your removing? 2" snow removal is different that removing 2 feet.
Heavy wet snow or dry powder?
How much snow do you get in a year?
How much accumulation do you get through the winter?
What is your topography? Flat ground or big hills (it is considerable harder to push show up a hill)?
What type of skid steer are you using?
Equipped with single speed or two speed?
Lift capacity of skid steer?
Budget for snow removal equipment?

Not knowing anything about your situation other than it is a gravel driveway I would suggest that a Snowblower is not recommended (snowblowers HATE rocks) and a Rotary Broom with gravel does not sound like a good idea either.

Here are a few snow removal discussions that might help you with your decision:

Buying a skid steer for snowclearing and light grading

I'm considering buying a skid steer for snow clearing and light grading of a 25,000 sq ft yard and parking lot, both with a gravel/dirt surface. Would a skid steer be a logical choice for this work? I know nothing about them. Our last snowplow contractor declined the work this past season...

www.heavyequipmentforums.com

Skid steer in snow

Was wondering. First year with the cat skid steer. It's a rubber tire model. Was out crossing over the lawn this evening. Traction was terrible. Tires are at about 85%. Snow is roughly 8 inchs deep. Any tricks to getting better traction? Such as deflating tires? Do tracks perform better?Thanks...

www.heavyequipmentforums.com

What kind of snow blower do I need for this?

I have a driveway that's 120x18ft. I get a lot of snow. 8ft overnight, 20 feet in a day sometimes. There is downhill off the main road so ice/ traction is a problem. The plow company is pulling out due to lack of staff. Frankly I have to move a lot on my own anyway with a push blower as it...

www.heavyequipmentforums.com

Cat 226 snow bucket size

Hi Guys, just wondering what size of snow bucket a 226b could handle? There is an 84” locally for sale but want to make sure it can handle it before I buy it. Thanks

www.heavyequipmentforums.com

 

[Acoals]

Don't overthink this; use what you have. Are you plowing your driveway or are you plowing commercial?

If you are plowing your driveway with the machine in your avatar, buy a plow for it. Try to stay away from the old truck plows that somebody converted into a skid steer plow.

If you live somewhere that gets hundreds of inches of snow a year; maybe a snowblower, otherwise blowers are expensive, power and fuel hungry and generally unnecessary.

A push box is for big parking lots, really not ideal for around a house or farm. Unless you have one, then use that.

Brooms work great for light snowfalls on a sidewalk, not so much for lots and such.

For commercial lot plowing, a wheeled machine with snow tires works best, mostly because they are faster when roading and wheels are cheaper to operate than tracks. On blacktop skinny wheels have a traction edge over tracks. On dirt a tracked machine will do just fine, especially if it has a suspended undercarriage and bar type tracks. If you have a tracked machine it certainly won't be cheaper to buy another machine just for snow around you farm or shop.

 

[phil314]

Try to stay away from the old truck plows that somebody converted into a skid steer plow.

I'll give this a big second. It was what I did originally and although it can work. It's far less than ideal.
It worked ok on my 1845C. But most newer skids run higher pressure and flows.
I ended up completely rebuilding it, in order to make it work on my S650.
Simpler and easier to just buy a skid steer plow.

 

[BC Placer gold]

Don't overthink this; use what you have. Are you plowing your driveway or are you plowing commercial?

If you are plowing your driveway with the machine in your avatar, buy a plow for it. Try to stay away from the old truck plows that somebody converted into a skid steer plow.

If you live somewhere that gets hundreds of inches of snow a year; maybe a snowblower, otherwise blowers are expensive, power and fuel hungry and generally unnecessary.

A push box is for big parking lots, really not ideal for around a house or farm. Unless you have one, then use that.

Brooms work great for light snowfalls on a sidewalk, not so much for lots and such.

For commercial lot plowing, a wheeled machine with snow tires works best, mostly because they are faster when roading and wheels are cheaper to operate than tracks. On blacktop skinny wheels have a traction edge over tracks. On dirt a tracked machine will do just fine, especially if it has a suspended undercarriage and bar type tracks. If you have a tracked machine it certainly won't be cheaper to buy another machine just for snow around you farm or shop.

I thought a push box would be good (home acreage, 500m driveway, 2 parking areas etc) it was overkill for our situation. Exchanged it for a 84” cleanup bucket, which works pretty well and is useful in the summer. Would like a plow for the straight runs but can’t really justify the price. (A nice quality HLA, locally is over 6k)

 

[Acoals]

A lot of the problem with push boxes is that most of them are cheap fixed versions with no oscillation. They are lousy on a lot, and worse on a farm. Also a push box doesn't windrow, which is a real pain on a driveway.

 

[stefuel]

Personally, I don't see a problem with repurposed truck plows if it's done right. I used the Fisher 9 foot off my 1 ton to build the setup on the front of my Case. I have always been a Fisher trip edge guy as I've always exclusively dealt with pavement. Unless the ground is frozen solid, Fishers suck on dirt. Years ago, I was driving someone else's truck, finishing up his work as a favor. He had a Meyers plow that the whole face tripped. Thought it was a candy-ass setup until I tried it on a dirt road. It would flip over but still plow without gouging the road. My Fisher would have made a mess. If I had a dirt/gravel driveway I would build one with a Meyers

 

[Bumpsteer]

Plows on a skidsteer suck.
Never seen one with the proper "curl" to cast the snow away, it really doesn't matter, at 5 mph you ain't going to cast the snow anyway.

Ed

 

[BC Placer gold]

Plows on a skidsteer suck.
Never seen one with the proper "curl" to cast the snow away, it really doesn't matter, at 5 mph you ain't going to cast the snow anyway.

Ed

Right….that makes sense.

 

[stefuel]

Would I use one for plowing roads? No. How fast would you be plowing driveways???
All depends on the application.

 

[Acoals]

The problem with truck plows in a skid steer is that they generally aren't built heavy enough to withstand a big skid steer. It can be done, and in some applications will work ok but it isn't really ideal. One of the benefits of a skid steer is that you can put heavy down pressure on the blade, a truck plow really isn't designed for that, especially the A frame.
The homebuilt conversion plows usually don't have a crossover relief valve either.

 

[stefuel]

Well I'm happy with the way mine works. I have no idea how much a 9 foot Fisher weighs but under it's own weight has never failed to scrape my driveway clean. I'm done here. Not going to argue the point.

 

[phil314]

Got no problem getting a 'curl' off my plow.
And it clears my 1500 ft gravel driveway faster than anything else I've tried in the last 25 years.
Not that it's been of much use this year.

 

[Tinkerer]

TG;
I see you have a skidsteer in your avatar. If you get on YouTube, type in (skid steer plowing snow on gravel roads) in the search box and you will see a lot of options in action.

 

[ThreeCW]

Do you require a two-speed skid steer (operating in high range) to efficiently remove snow using a plow? Or can a single speed skid steer be used to plow snow efficiently?

What sayeth the plow owners?

 

[phil314]

I plowed for many years with an 1845c. It's single speed and would get the job done just fine. It just takes more time for the long driveway. But didn't matter so much around the outbuildings as you just can't go that fast around them.

Using an S650 2 speed now. It will do the driveway in half the time. More weight, more power, better traction, and more speed. Each little piece adds up to a big difference overall.

Chains work good, snow tire are much better. They give more ground clearance, more traction and faster speed. Rabbit mode with 37 inch tires gets me 14 mph. Can move a lot of snow fast.

Need to drop down to turtle sometimes for snow drifts and deep snow. They are like concrete and hitting them fast will cause you to veer off course very quickly.

So long story short - single speed works fine, just takes longer.