Removing Snow From Driveway - Best Long Term Solution?

[TD]

"SteveB" wrote in news:rd5l75- [e-mail]:

You should lie down in the guy's driveway and have a bulldozer run over you about 666 times.

[Dick Adams]

Wrong again. Gravel driveways are suboptimal especially when it snows.

You get to lie there 287 times. I'd sentence you to 288 times - but that would be too gross. ;)

Dick

[Dick Adams]

Anthony,

Tell us where you live.

Dick

[hobbes]

Hi,

I have a similar situation and I am also looking for a different/ cheaper solution. We live in Westchester County, New York. Over the last few years the winters have been quite mild and snow has not been that much of an issue. Our drive way is about 150 feet with a car park bit near the garage doors. Our driverway ends onto a private road which we share with neighbours. We all share the plow costs of this road, but my driverway is my problem. Each time it snows it costs me $US 75 for the driverway, car park bit and my share of the road. Fortunately winters have been not too bad or it would get VERY expensive.

We have an ashphalt driveway not a gravel one. Hence I think this option may not suit your needs. I think the truck plow when it hits your gravel driveway it will tear up the driverway. One of our neigbours has an electric heated driverway. For mild snow and ice it works O.K. For the really heavy snow falls I see him out there with a snow blower because the system cannot keep up. It is somewhat temperature and snowfall rate dependent.

The downside to having a plough guy come is that you only want him to come AFTER the snow has finished. Hence you have a time slot when you want to get your car out BUT your driverway is socked in. This is especially difficult for us because we live on a hill and getting up it to go home in snow is not possible with normal tires. So my solution was to get snow tires. I have a Honda Civic (Front wheel driver only) and Bridgestone Blizzack snow tires. These tires really do the trick and I can make it up a 1:14 gradient, max building code gradient, in 6 inches of snow. All our neighbours have AWD cars of one sort or another. However on a really bad day, even one of those SUV AWD got stuck, but they have the normal all-season car tires on them.

For gravel driveways alot of people like the Honda snow blowers with tracks.

The main advantage is that the scoop height can be controlled accurately. Many snowblowers simply allow the scoop to scrape the ground. This is bad for gravel driverways because your snow blower will scoop up all the gravel as well. In the Honda's case the weight of the snow blower rests on the tracks, hence the scoop can be held just above the gravel. From net experience people say the electric start is really not worth getting because it is so easy to start anyway, and you need a nearby plug to power the starter. I was really considering getting one of these to lower the snow clearance costs.

Maintenance wise I find the Honda products to be pretty good. I use Stabil in the fuel of my Honda lawn mower, and it always starts, no problems.

I think the only downside on the Honda snow blower is the cost, these puppies are listed at about $US 2,400.

Let us know what your final solution is and maybe I will do the same.

Warmest regards, Mike.

[trader4]

Why would you have to change the antifreeze twice a year?

[George]

So instead of investing in and having to maintain equipment hire someone to do it. Lots of folks do it especially in areas such as you describe where you only deal with a few storms/year.

Part of the equation for snow country is to have an "anywhere". Maybe you can tinker with the landscaping. It doesn't take much.

[George]

That wouldn't work where I am located because it would create layers of jagged ice that would have to be dealth with for months.

[trader4]

To the discussion, I would add, living in coastal NJ, I haven't had much need for snow removal either the last decade. However, I did buy a Sears gas blower with electric start. The electric start takes care of the issue of having to pull start it when it's cold. It starts right up. And maintenance has been minimal. I just run it dry of gas at the end of the season. And change the oil every year or two. Some years I haven't used it at all, like this year so far, but it's a great convenience when I do need it.

[Pete C.]

What's your point? The vehicles mentioned handle the ice pack just fine. Indeed, on the gravel driveway the OP indicated the ice pack will have plenty of texture for traction. The only time it starts to get slippery is towards spring when you get some melting that starts to level the surface, at which point you sprinkle some sand on it. If you need to walk the driveway, say to the mailbox, you walk in the unpacked areas to the side of or between the tire tracks. Decades of experience in the northeast prove this works just fine, the only thing you need to clear is what the town plow piles at the front of the driveway.

[Pete C.]

Actually, a snow blower will work just fine on a gravel driveway if you know what you're doing. You have to get the first inch of snow packed solid to cover the gravel and then start using the snow blower, ensuring that the height adjusting skids are set properly.

[Pete C.]

Bingo!

[Pete C.]

Absolutely. A snow blower works just fine on a gravel driveway if you know what you are doing, and of course if you get a reasonably capable vehicle with 4WD or AWD you don't need to do anything but drive. As I noted already, you don't have to get a big truck or SUV, most any Subaru vehicle and others with AWD and some ground clearance do just fine. The Viper and the Prius will need to stay in the garage until spring of course.

[Pete C.]

Gravel driveways are just fine if you have a clue and maintain them properly, and just for reference, a paved driveway requires maintenance as well.

[hallerb]

this is like saying must go to moon, on the cheap.

the two are mutually exclusive.

paying for plowing is likely the cheapest since it requires no up front purchase

[George]

Maybe the 4wd vehicles can handle it but people need to be able to get from the vehicles to the house and vice versa. It can be a real challenge to do that once you have lots of icy built up ruts especially as you get older as the OP described was part of his situation. Plus it is nice to have some consideration for visitors including those who are driving cars.

The vehicles mentioned handle the ice pack just fine.

I have lived in the northeast all of my life in many different places and I have to say it is pretty unusual for people not to clear their driveways as you describe.

[George]

Sure, you have it plowed and then when spring comes you redistribute the little pile of stone where the plow stopped. It is just normal maintenance no different than cutting the grass or trimming the trees.

[Pete C.]

It's also an excuse to rent a Bobcat for the weekend to redistribute the gravel as well as tackle other landscaping rehab, and of course, just have fun with it.

[mkirsch1]

Don't rule out the snowblower. With some simple once-a-year maintenance, you can sock it away and it will be ready when you need it.

Modern snowblowers have electronic ignition, so there are no points to rust up on you. Even the lowest-end models have electric start now. Plug in an extension cord and push the button. Mine starts with 1 pull, though, and it's a cheap "Yard Machines" model.

Put about double the normal dose of StaBil in the gas and run the engine for about 5 minutes. Then drain the gas from the tank until dry, and restart the engine. After it quits, pull it a few more times to make sure the carb is dry. Replace the fuel line on the dry tank. Park the snowblower.

The point of the StaBil is so that if there is any residual gas, it won't turn to varnish on you before it evaporates.

Next time you go to get it out, it will be ready to go and will start within 2-3 pulls. You should get the machine out, gas it up, and start it around Thanksgiving. Drain it and put it away around St. Patrick's day.

[HerHusband]

SW Washington state. Generally a mild climate, but we're at roughly 1500' elevation so we get more snow than most people around here. For example, we had 14" of snow Saturday, but just 2-3 miles down the hill they had nothing. Location is everything.

Of course, the folks who live even farther up the hill from us probably laugh at our snow totals. :)

Anthony

[HerHusband]

That's fine if you only have one car coming and going each day, but my wife and I leave at different times and neither of us wants to commute in a truck. Then there's the licensing, insurance, and maintenance of a truck unless you drive one anyway.

Also, we can have a foot of snow here, and completely bare pavement just a mile or two down the road. It doesn't make sense to drive a big gas guzzler truck when the majority of our commute is completely clear.

Even snow tires would be hard to justify, both for cost and the hassles of swapping them with regular tires every year. We only get a few snowstorms each year, and the last several years we've had practically nothing. We would just end up wearing out the snow tires before we ever really needed them.

Anthony