I am thinking of buying a new home with a 1000 foot gravel driveway. What kind of snow equipment would I need to get my Patiot4wd in and out? We average 50" inches of snow a year and it does not melt most of the time. How often would I have to remove snow? Anybody with a long gravel drive have any advice for me? I do not have go some place everyday and time is not an issue.
snow removal for long driveway
HeHi
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Hah! That does kinda look like I'm insinuating it's our driveway... I more posted the photos as reference pics of how well the Pat does in snow. The first one is a pic of our current driveway with 2'+ snow drifts. The rest are just winter wheelin' pics.Heck of a driveway you've got in that photo. Definitely longer than mine. Wider too. Couple runs at it, huh? And you packed all that down with your Patriot? Or did you resort to that 28" Ariens?You're gonna have the Florida guys believing this!
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Yoopers and cheeseheads take their snow removal seriously:
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Forgive me moderators. Please remove last one if inappropriate.
Forgive me moderators. Please remove last one if inappropriate.
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Yes we do! Plows don't usually cut it up here. Usually road graders, front end loader etc for the main roads. But there isn't any amount of snow that you can't eventually get through with a good snow blower and a shovel to knock it down.
MegaPlow
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And we've officially unofficially dubbed this the snowbank eater(usually accompanied by trains of dump trucks)
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Click for full res
They've upgraded some of the front end loaders with snowblowers even bigger but this one's neat because it's really old!
MegaPlow
And we've officially unofficially dubbed this the snowbank eater(usually accompanied by trains of dump trucks)
They've upgraded some of the front end loaders with snowblowers even bigger but this one's neat because it's really old!
Anybody seen one of these? Little big for OP's driveway. This memo is 5 years old, I've been through Franconia notch in snow, but haven't seen this rig yet.
https://www.nh.gov/dot/media/nr2012/20120118-tow-plow.htm
https://www.nh.gov/dot/media/nr2012/20120118-tow-plow.htm
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I use 4 chains and 4wd, I don't plow or blow my drive, almost a mile, up hill. Although the older I get the more I think about a snow blower, but just to keep things around 6 inches, not dry. I've gotten high-centered in the Patriot before, the FDII is really flat underneath, snow was a foot to a foot and a half deep. Sometimes I have to blow into the snow till it stops moving, then stop, don't dig holes or ruts, then back up 30-50 feet and hit it again. I have no where on the sides of my road to plow snow, so a blower would be the only way for me, but would have to attach to an ATV with 4wd I think.
This was my drive a couple years ago, in my red 08.
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Hey dixie! Have you ever messed with tire pressure? It would be interesting to see if you lowered to something like 4-8PSI if you could just mosey on up. Chains are still probably easier than deflating and reinflating without an automated system like truckers/military vehicles can have. Plus you don't have to worry about loosing a bead...lol
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Wow I just realized most of my videos are winter videos...lol
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpMIRzKqCkduJmfcRUah2YBVyk07tqXMs
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpMIRzKqCkduJmfcRUah2YBVyk07tqXMs
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It's because you're a Yooper.
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This cat's got the right idea...
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hai
Snow removal has turned out to be a very serious problem during winter. There are so many ways by which it can be sort out. I had read an article titled commercial snow removal. In this article you could see snow removal services and precautions that has to be taken care of during snow clearing. So I hope you will find it useful.
By "commercial" I thought you meant professional snow removal by companies that plow driveways or rake off roofs. Where my Wife works they've had some 'professionals' problems. A couple years ago one of the company vans got hit -- judging by the damage it was a plow but no one ever admitted it. Last year they fired the plow driver after he took out an employee's car, as in totaled it, while backing up. Then this year the new snowplow driver backed into the building hard enough to bust the bricks and topple stuff inside the building. Stuff happens.
IMHO, and with all due respect to the good ones, plow drivers and school bus drivers have the worst reputation in my mind. Just because you've got a plow on the front or kids in back does not give anyone the right to drive over other vehicles. In a neighboring town I met a humbled plow driver who'd lost control on a curve (30 mile zone if the road was clear), crossed the oncoming lane (fortunately at 4AM there was no oncoming traffic) and went off the road into a ditch. Ice is ice, even if you've got a dozen tons of dirt on board. Throwing the salt/dirt behind him isn't doing a thing for the road he's on. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts if he'd hit somebody the motorist would have gotten blamed and the reporter on the scene would lecture the viewers about being careful around snow plows. As it was another plow was trying to yank him out with a chain, but this was a 10-wheeler and I doubt got out of there without a hook. I didn't stay to watch.
I saw a video recently about a plow that did the same thing over an embankment. Out west somewhere. Utah maybe? Memory fails. Probably some aggressive driver in a Honda Civic ran him off the road -- or at least that's what he told his supervisor.
There are some real characters out there, the problem is legitimate contractors can't compete with a guy plowing for beer money. Accidents do happen and that's where issues arise if the guy plowing doesn't carry the proper insurance. Even with precautions there will still be some cowboy who thinks they're invincible behind the wheel.
It was a semi, hit the plow and spun the truck. There's dash cam video from an oncoming vehicle.
Caught on Video: Semi causes UDOT snowplow to crash down 300 ft. embankment | fox13now.com
Yeah, that was the video. 300' is a pretty steep drop! Hope the guys recovers. The semi was trying to pass on the right -- never a good plan.
Wonder how a dash cam happened to be there. Maybe a police cruiser?
Well now, we've strayed a long way from clearing a long driveway . . .
Wonder how a dash cam happened to be there. Maybe a police cruiser?
Well now, we've strayed a long way from clearing a long driveway . . .
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It was another truck driver running a dash cam as he's had close encounters before.
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I don't plow or snowblow mine, except for about 250 yards of the road near the house. Came up the driveway (about a half mile) last Wednesday, with about 10-12 inches of snow. With maybe the top 4-5 inches of fresh snow. We put chains on and drove right in. Snow is still packed underneath and in the wheels, but should go above freezing and melt off Monday or Tuesday. I might have to hit the wheels at the wand car wash to keep them from having balance issues.
After this next thaw, and rain, it will be several inches of ice, and that's when I really need chains. I might have made it the last time without them, but easy enough to throw them on and not take a chance. I do have 4 good snow tires though, not all seasons, etc.
Check out some of my videos going up my driveway.
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