How to Properly Use a Snowplow on a Gravel Driveway

I have plowed both commercially and residential over the years using many different types and brands of plow equipment and I find that there is nothing more complicated than plowing a gravel driveway.

The typical issues are usually that you have no idea how well packed the gravel is, and you usually cannot tell where the gravel ends and the grass begins. I am not sure which is worse, tearing up someone's grass with the blade, or pushing half a ton of gravel into the grass. Even with those costly driveway markers it can be tricky getting the blade to lay exactly how you want it, especially if the snow is heavy or there is ice involved.

Either way you have to return in the spring to fix it, usually at your cost. So I have found that there are a few tricks that make the job easier and can help you keep the customer happy as well.

First thing is to resist the temptation to rush the job. If I am there for an extra minute or three because I am taking my time to do it right, the customer will notice, and the job will look better in the end. Pushing too fast can lead to the blade digging in too far, and also adds to the distance it takes you to stop if you do run off the edge a little bit.

Here is a snowplowing spoiler for those who have never tried to make money doing this, it is a very hard job, and the rewards can be extremely thin. Figure the plow guys have to pay for a decent vehicle, the plow equipment is not cheap, repair parts are very costly, fuel has done nothing but go up in price, and the upkeep on the vehicle will sap profits very quickly. So it is to the plow drivers advantage to go easy on the vehicle as much as possible.

Now the thing many plow guys remove from their blades are those little skid shoes that you use to set the height of the blade when the plow is fully deployed. These are essential if you are going to plow a gravel drive. They make it harder to get right down to the surface of a regular driveway, especially when it comes time to back drag, but trust me on gravel there is no substitute for these. There may be a 3/8" skim layer of snow left behind once you are done plowing but the driveway will be left intact.

Another problem I see is that many plow owners go for the longer wheelbase pickup trucks, and don't get me wrong there are many good reasons for using that, but most residential jobs really call for something shorter and more nimble. That is why I prefer a Jeep wrangler over a long pickup truck. The tight turning radius helps me to get the blade into places where the bigger trucks simply cannot go.

Now for my money the absolute best plow for any gravel driveway job is the rubber edged "Snow Sport" brand plow blade. It is amazingly simple to mount as there are no hydraulics or electrics, and the rubber makes the blade conform to your driveways contours. I have never displaced gravel or torn up grass using this snow plow blade.

I can also go right up to another parked vehicle and have no worries about having the steel blade gouge the side of that car, the rubber edges of my blade keeps everyone safe.

These mount to your vehicle using a standard hitch that mounts to the front of your car or truck. The blade comes with a special frame that inserts into that hitch and the actual aluminum alloy and rubber blade hangs onto that frame. I have been using mine on an 800 foot gravel driveway for about eight years now, and I will never go back to a steel blade. This is so light that there is virtually no damage to the drive train of my vehicle!

So to summarize it is not impossible to do a nice job on a gravel drive, you just have to slow down, and use the proper tools that are available. Put the skids back on your plow, but adjust them so that they do the job correctly.

If you are interested in doing a gravel drive perfectly then look into the rubber edged plow blade from Snow Sport, they really do work.

Sources:

www.snowsport.com

Please leave a comment if you have any questions, and Thank you for reading my articles here on AC-Yahoo!