Best way to clear snow from a rural driveway?

[HighlandHeart]

I've learned the hard way that a snow blower isn't the best for clearing a gravel driveway that's a few hundred feet long. I sometimes have snowbanks that are a few feet deep and the wind drifted stuff freezes in place. Should I get a quad with a plow blade on it or should I get a plow on my 3/4 ton truck?

[yoteblaster]

Plow on your pickup. Quad is too light in my opinion. I have a skid steer with a blade that works awesome. Also used to have a pickup with a blade, really nice especially if you need to travel any distance to help out a buddy or whatever

[58thecat]

14 old car tires all,lashed together 5 across, 4 across etc tie it off to the quad and do passes up and down lane way.

[The Elkster]

Truck plow. I use a quad for light snowfall but it won't handle big drifts and it doesn't push the snow that buildups up on the side well so you get closed in real fast as the snow builds. Or use this an excuse to buy a tractor...

[omega50]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

14 old car tires all,lashed together 5 across, 4 across etc tie it off to the quad and do passes up and down lane way.

We use a variation of this with a couple of old truck tires on my buddy's acreage West of the John Ware Cairn. About 800m of gravel that blows in. Works like a charm

Pulls them with my old Burbs 4x4 that lives and stays on property

[riden]

I live in the Peace country and used my quad and a blade. People always told me it wasn’t heavy enough and eventually I would reach a point my quad couldn’t do the job.

Did it for 10 years, never had one problem and do the majority of my plowing in 2 wheel drive. I make sure the lane is good and wide to start and that is enough.

Best part is a quad does the job so fast.

House is for sale and I already sold my quad. I really regret it.

[HighlandHeart]

Is the v plow worth the extra cost or is it overkill?

[wwbirds]

On a garden tractor and guess I didnt plow wide enough as many years ago I made banks on south side of drive the tractor would no longer climb to push snow over. think the biggest problem was the 2 wheel drive on small (20hp tractor). Following year I bought a two stage tractor mounted snowblower and dont think we had any substantial snow for 2-3 years but when I did use it it threw snow 20-30 feet so piling up on edge of driveway was never a problem. Odd time in yard the 2 wheel drive became an issue and it would be a lot of work to get it going with the weight of the snow blower on front. Counter balance weights and chains highly recommended.
Sure I threw a few pieces of gravel until I got the height adjustment right judging by how many times the hydro company replaced the glass globe on the meter on power pole. Still have small tractor and snowblower but rarely hook it up (takes some time) as it is so much easier to put two slide clips in blade on quad. Hard packed wind blown drifts in October 2 plus feet high took some time as I had to take 18 inch to 2 foot slice rather than push the whole blade width but I did get it done and that to date is the toughest snow we have had for several years. 4 wheel drive on quad makes all the difference.
Never had a blade for the truck but if I needed one I would also need to plow routes out to the tree rows and ditches where we plant pheasants all winter. Neighbor has a gigantic 4 wheel drive tractor with 20 foot blade that we have had to use a couple winters to make route roadways so I can get the truck and client trucks to the bird cover but not that often. Perhaps 2 winters in last 20 or so years.

[Red Bullets]

Some counties will come and open up your driveway when the grader goes by. You just have to let them know you need it. The county of Leduc by Edmonton gives 3 free snowplow openings per year per landowner.

[NCC]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

14 old car tires all,lashed together 5 across, 4 across etc tie it off to the quad and do passes up and down lane way.

I have a 4wd tractor with a 6 way 14' blade and I still prefer to use a drag to pack and level the snow. I find it way easier than plowing all the snow off and I don't get the drift catching ridges. It can get a little messy in the spring but the slush is easy to push off the road before the frost comes out. If you blade your road down to the gravel all winter, it is the first thing to thaw in the spring and the windrows seep into your thawed drive way and make it soft and prone to rutting.

[Badgerbadger]

Plow on your pickup.

Or raise your snow blower so it's an inch or so above your driveway. You can also blow the windrow from plowing, so you maintain driveway width.

[bb356]

Originally Posted by yoteblaster

Plow on your pickup. Quad is too light in my opinion. I have a skid steer with a blade that works awesome. Also used to have a pickup with a blade, really nice especially if you need to travel any distance to help out a buddy or whatever

+1 !!!

[58thecat]

Or flag down the grader fella, invite him in for a sandwhich and a hot bowl of soup...worked when we lived in Saskatchewan.

[Jack Hardin]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Or flag down the grader fella, invite him in for a sandwhich and a hot bowl of soup...worked when we lived in Saskatchewan.

Used to be able to do that in Red Deer County. When we first moved in (1987) I asked the grader operator if he would grade my newly gravelled driveway. It cost me a coffee. The County also used to sell flags for $15 that you put out at your gate and they would plow it for you but, they stopped doing that for liability reasons. Too many complaints of property damage claims, such as accidentlyknocked gate post over, cracked pavement due to weight of grader etc, etc.

[Jalan]

Have a tractor with a snowblower, blade attachment. Haven't connected either in the last 3 or 4 years. Always fine with quad + blade. Don't find it too light. Have a Arctic Cat TRV so has a bit more weight then normal, but it plows through even when the snow is so deep it goes over the blade. Done in a quarter of the time a tractor takes.

[silver]

Has anyone tried using a rotary broom instead of a snowblower?

[rosshimself]

Originally Posted by silver

Has anyone tried using a rotary broom instead of a snowblower?

JESUS!! thats gotta be more expensive than BUYING a plow? whats gonna power it? unless of course you have a tractor...

I had some scrap wood laying around and I already had the chain, but I still dont think I paid more than 80 bucks to build mine... Granted I got the ratchet extension on saldsfor about 20 bucks at PA.. Love that store...