TIPS TO CLEAR SNOW, NOT STONE FROM GRAVEL DRIVEWAYS ???️
When you're plowing a gravel driveway You're almost dealing with two Completely different materials Frozen And unfrozen in a video that we posted Just the other day had a lot of comments Asking questions about gravel driveways What's the right tool to use How do you keep your gravel from going Off the drive all that kind of stuff This first snow of the year in November I knew it was going to melt off you can See the long-term forecast you can see The snow melting away the the 12 to 14 Inches we had is is nearly gone now I Did clear all the snow on the main Driveway on the on the paved surfaces The asphalt the concrete that kind of Thing but the rest of the drive is all Gravel and even dirt we haven't even got To that part yet and to be honest I Didn't even want to deal with the gravel Driveway right now you know it's Unfortunate we're in an area of the Country it seems these last handful of Years where we don't get a solid freeze All winter long we get a lot of the the Freeze thaw cycles and so that's going To play into how you're tackling a Gravel driveway as well let's take you Through everything what you got to pay Attention to gravel driveways are great I love them they're very aesthetically Pleasing but they come with some Challenges so the first thing that you
Want to do Is get yourself it doesn't matter what Kind of equipment it is it could be a Snow Pusher it could be a snow blower it Could be a snow plow could be all sorts Of different things but you need to have Something like skid Runners here or up On the front or skid shoes on a plow Something that allows you to get that Main Cutting Edge main Cutting Edge on The on the blower main Cutting Edge on The Pusher of the plow up above the Gravel there's going to be certain Pieces of equipment that actually don't Have those adjustments in there and I Would rule those out right out of the Gate because you never know what you're Going to need what you're going to have To maybe switch to or what kind of Surface you want to clear maybe you want To start clearing part of your yard Maybe you go from gravel to a pave Surface down in the future You need to have that adjustment built In and when gravel is soft your Equipment is going to want to sink down A bit into the stone itself or into the Into the dirt or the mud like we have Back there and so you need to account For that that's why you want to raise it Maybe as high as it can go which could Be an inch or more above the plowing Surface and then the great thing is that Once you do get those hard freezes and
Everything's kind of kind of firming up And not going to sink down then you can Adjust those adjustable skid shoes skid Runners to lower your blade down so you Don't leave as big of a swath of snow on The ground folks I think we all know Traction is King when it comes to Plowing snow and if you have a gravel Driveway we've got a perfect solution a New discount Club member to tell you About but first three quarters of you Folks watching are not subscribed yet What are you waiting for it's completely Free hit that subscribe button down Below give us a thumbs up if you like The video and if you need something for Your tractor we sell and ship tractor Attachments all over the country Goodworks tractors.com so here's what we Have folks we have a brand new discount Club member so you use code GWT you save Five percent off of your order you go to Tire chainsonline.com but we have A new set of tire chains here put on our 1025r but you can get these For all sorts of tractors skid steers Vehicles you name it they got a solution For you they even have installation Instructions on there too we're going to Get these added to our 1025 are sometime Really soon I got the chains themselves And then Um yeah Tire chain adjuster Springs That's what these are okay so uh both
Things here come in real Handy get them Nice and snug on there too but I've never installed tire chains before I am going to be well I've already Looked at actually a lot of videos too GP Outdoors if you haven't watched this Channel follow along he's up in Canada North of the Border a gourd's a really Good guy all sorts of fun videos with This Kubota tractor up there he's living In a piece of paradise I'll tell you That so anyway more to come on the tire Chains well I think this said what'd it Say 30 somewhere around here I thought Well somewhere I saw 34 pounds I think It was for these guys and probably a few Ounces for those but these are not good For paved driveways though I would not Recommend these for asphalt or concrete I'd stick to gravel unpaved surfaces Only unless you're looking to do some Damage now what's the best material to Use on your piece of snow removal Equipment up front there we do have the Hard plastic the uhmw I'm back here on The on the snow blower we do have the Steel skid Runners and steel edges on There I would suggest sticking with Steel anytime you're going to be on a Really abrasive surface like what gravel Is the uhmw you'll see it marketed as Being as hard as steel but I do think That gravel is pretty rough on it so we Got this set up basically for our smooth
Our pave surfaces and the concrete and Everything else stick with steel on your Edges and Runners for gravel now an Interesting one that I'm actually going To try out this winter for the first Time is using a tool backwards and That's going to be a rear blade so you Can you can spin a rear blade oftentimes You would just kind of angle it to push Snow or dirt or whatever to one side or The other of the tractor but if you Completely 180 it spin it around so that That curvature is facing away from the Tractor and so it doesn't want to dig in And grab the gravel it just kind of the Weight holds it down and just kind of Glides along that's going to be really Good for those times in the season When your gravel's not froze up and it's Going to have a tendency to want to Leave the driveway I think that could be A really affordable and clever solution Without doing a lot of driveway damage And then of course when things do freeze Up you can go ahead and spit it around And get into the more traditional Orientation that you would think of and In fact a lot of the the rear blades That we sell I think the 72 inch and Larger all have holes pre-drilled in Them so you can add on skid shoes again Just like a front plow to help prevent Sinking down into the stone folks we are Proud to be sponsored by rim guard
Solutions a liquid ballast weight it Goes right inside your tires completely Hidden we're big on safety on this Channel these tractors are just too Light and Tippy right out of the factory Not only is it going to help with safety Keeping those rear tires planted on the Ground it helps with loader efficiency And traction too the benefits of rim Guard include being the heaviest All-natural liquid ballast weight on the Market it's not going to corrode your Rims like the old calcium chloride it's Not going to freeze and it's available At over a thousand dealers Nationwide Find the dealer near you at Rimguardsolutions.com now one of the Realities of having a gravel driveway is That you're just not going to get all of The snow off of there a really common Technique is to actually leave a skiff Of snow on top and so you kind of do That naturally by having that Cutting Edge raised up a bit but you'll want to Let that get packed down and harden up If you can and let that stay there all Winter long if it's possible it's going To be kind of a barrier that kind of Almost like seals the gravel down Underneath and then keeps your your Cutting Edge safe and above and that Helps prevent major driveway renovation In the spring now if all you have is Your Bucket to use then you can still
Get your driveway done but you want to Make sure you have that front edge Rocked back curled up in the air you Know oftentimes the bottom of those Buckets have kind of some different Angles that are welded into them and so You can still make contact and kind of Sort of clear the snow out probably not The most effective solution but as long As you have that Leading Edge maybe an Inch or two above the ground kind of Like how you would want to leave your Plow Cutting Edge an inch or two above The ground the same sort of concept will Help you Almost packed down get that base layer Down there and get the majority of the Snow out of the way now of course one of The big things that you want to do You need to do no matter if it's snow Season or not is maintain your gravel Driveway so if you have a very uneven Rutted up surface right out of the gate When you start plowing well you're just Asking for trouble if you have potholes If you have washouts or or other Drainage issues that you see coming fix Those in the fall you know they say an Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of Cure and so anytime you can do that kind Of get ahead of what you know is coming Just take your land plan take your rig Take your take your box blade whatever It is and grade and smooth out that
Driveway because if you start well it's A pain to get gravel out of your lawn or Out of out of the non-driveway areas Right it's expensive to have more of a Dropped off and added on to fill those Problems so just a little bit of regular Maintenance it's it's easy it's easy if You stay on top of it don't let your Driveway get out of shape to begin with And you won't have those major projects To deal with next spring now to try to Give you the best bang for the buck I Scour the internet to see if there were Any other pieces of advice that I could Give you guys And I didn't really find much other than They recommended one other tool which I I think is kind of crazy but I'm going To try this winter just just to give it A shot I can see it working I suppose But a landscape rake to remove your snow On a gravel driveway you know not a Super aggressive tool right it's not Super heavy so maybe it's not going to Be as inclined to really go down into Frozen or semi-frozen gravel and strip a Bunch of that away but kind of stay on Top and if that snow is sort of clumping Together then maybe that one inch Spacing is enough to do the job and and Get her done so it's a bit Unconventional but uh I don't know any Of you guys tried that out there so Folks if you're looking for a piece of
Snow removal equipment or another Attachment for your tractor we'd love to Help you out we sell and Chip Attachments all over the country visit Goodworks tractors.com hey I know most Of you are subscribed that are watching So hit that subscribe button down below And tag along it is completely free I Want to thank you for taking time out of Your day to stop by and until next time Stay safe we'll see you soon [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]
