Snow removal - long country driveway - lots of snow

[2squared]

For those of you with longish country driveways who also get a lot of snow, what do you use for snow removal? This is our first winter in the country, and we weren't prepared for snow removal. We've been blessed by others so far, but that won't continue for the entire winter.

 

We have a snowblower attachment for our lawn tractor, but that's a joke where we live. Dh tried using it, and it broke under the volume of the snow. :glare:

 

We then bought a 4-wheel drive truck and we considered putting a blade on it. Our concerns are 1) the blade and equipment would cost double what our truck is worth and possibly not transfer to a new truck when this one dies and 2) I think we have too much snow for a blade to be the best answer. Everyone else seems to have tractors and blowers which work fabulously. A tractor would be nice for when the truck gets stuck too. Right now dh either shovels himself out or our neighbor rescues him.

 

If you have this same type of situation, what do you use for snow removal? I'm looking for equipment, size, age, etc. Any creative solutions would be great too. We've been looking for someone to pay to clear the driveway, but we haven't found anyone yet. :glare:

 

If it matters, we live near a tiny little town on the MN/SD border.

[OrganicAnn]

Man power and/or kid power. Snow shovels. Hot chocolate. More shovelling. More hot chocolate. :)

 

Also when we know a big snow is coming, we will park a vehicle near the end of our driveway and walk to it. This is good especially if you have someone who really needs to go to work no matter what the weather.

Edited January 10, 2010 by OrganicAnn

[LauraGB]

My dad uses the blade attachment on his old truck - but, he went into it knowing the truck would be The Snowplow and he expected it to be beaten. Its all he uses that vehicle for, and he bought the blade and attachments used.

Our neighbor invested in a skid steer. That works nicely because he can pick up the snow and actually move it instead of just pushing it off to the side (much to the delight of my kids because it makes for great sledding when the pile gets super high).

Other than that, you could make fast friends with a neighbor and keep a case of beer handy for payment. ;)

Edited January 10, 2010 by LauraGB

[mammaruss]

We have a looooongg driveway too and have a BOSS plow on our truck--when we buy a different vehicle we take the truck in to an auto body shop--they take off all the plow attachments and are able to make adustments to fit next vehicle. We have done this numerous times over the years and it all works out! We have tried plow attachments for riding lawn mower and 4-wheeler--those are not really made for long drives with huge drifts!

If you lived near us my dh would happily plow you out!! He LOVES plowing!! Sometimes he plows out our a neighbor or two-just to be nice--our ds goes with and they listen to an audio book and plow away! ;)

[hillfarm]

Dh and dm went halves on a new Kubota L3400 tractor for general use like plowing the driveways. We bought an old, used blade for $50. It doesn't have any of the fancy settings, but it definitely moves snow and levels mud!

 

The other thing is that dh realized that he needs to plow after about every 3-4 inches of accumulation to keep things really passable and the equipment working well. So sometimes that means taking a run out and back in the middle of the night. If for some reason he can't do that, then the only other solution I know of is to pack the snow down and cinder it. That works pretty well for us but only until it snows another inch or so and then the cinders become covered and more are needed.

[LizzyBee]

You probably need a more powerful snow blower. My hometown gets over 100" of snow per year and our driveway was about 1/4 miles long. My brother is still using my Dad's snowblower. My Dad bought it several years before he sold our farm in 1982, so it's at least 30 years old. It attaches to a farm tractor, not a lawn tractor. If you're in a rural area, maybe you could find a cheap used farm tractor.

[Vida Winter]

Well you're already halfway through snow season so for this year I'd hire it out - find someone (we use someone who owns a local garage) who has a tractor with blower and pay them to do it after each big storm. Then get busy and talk to your neighbors, find out what they do. A neighbor of ours has an ATV with a blade and they have plowed our driveway and road quite a bit. Last year we gave them a couple of hundred dollars to use toward ATV maintenance and we look after their dogs when they go out of town. Most of the time we do our own driveway with a snow blower but there are times when that is not effective.

[Bee]

First it was shovels. We're getting too old and to deal with the aches and pains. Then it was a truck with a plow. Hard to put the plow on and off and not exactly fun to drive with it on. Then an atv with a plow. Expensive to maintain and it takes more time to plow so you get cold just sitting on it. Now it's a tractor. We can plow and do other things with it. It was more expensive than those other things but it should last us the rest of our lives.

[Audrey]

For those of you with longish country driveways who also get a lot of snow, what do you use for snow removal? This is our first winter in the country, and we weren't prepared for snow removal. We've been blessed by others so far, but that won't continue for the entire winter.

 

We have a snowblower attachment for our lawn tractor, but that's a joke where we live. Dh tried using it, and it broke under the volume of the snow. :glare:

 

We then bought a 4-wheel drive truck and we considered putting a blade on it. Our concerns are 1) the blade and equipment would cost double what our truck is worth and possibly not transfer to a new truck when this one dies and 2) I think we have too much snow for a blade to be the best answer. Everyone else seems to have tractors and blowers which work fabulously. A tractor would be nice for when the truck gets stuck too. Right now dh either shovels himself out or our neighbor rescues him.

 

If you have this same type of situation, what do you use for snow removal? I'm looking for equipment, size, age, etc. Any creative solutions would be great too. We've been looking for someone to pay to clear the driveway, but we haven't found anyone yet. :glare:

 

If it matters, we live near a tiny little town on the MN/SD border.

 

 

Snowblower on an old Case830.

[Starr]

Hire the plow guy. It makes me crazy but when dh is called to the hospital and the kids weren't around to shovel and, and, well hire the plow guy.

[kiana]

We used to bribe the plow guy with cookies and a mug of hot chocolate. :)

[Leanna Tomlinson]

We bought a Kawasaki Mule as a utility vehicle for our property. We can plow with it in the winter, and for fun we can pull the sleds/inner tubes behind it in the snow. In the summer we haul dirt, hay, gardening equipment, and give rides to the kids and elderly visitors. We've lived in the country for 11 years, but just got the Mule two years ago. Before that we plowed with a tractor. The Mule is much easier for my teenagers to manage. My husband was the only one who could manage the tractor, but my teens can plow with the Mule.

 

HTH,

Leanna

[G5052]

It still can take awhile to do the driveway, but the blade works better than the snowblower attachment.

[In The Great White North]

:iagree:Hire the plow guy. He'll plow for years and years for what a tractor costs.

[elfgivas]

Man power and/or kid power. Snow shovels. Hot chocolate. More shovelling. More hot chocolate. :)

 

Also when we know a big snow is coming, we will park a vehicle near the end of our driveway and walk to it. This is good especially if you have someone who really needs to go to work no matter what the weather.

 

:iagree:

 

(from way, way back when i lived in ottawa.... )

[Meriwether]

We were in the same situation. We moved here in Sept. and weren't ready for snow removal. My husband actually considered the lawn tractor attachment or a blade for his truck. He also talked about a four wheeler with a blade. Luckily, our neighbor used to clear snow for the previous owners. They have a big tractor with a scoop on it. We would never have been able to take care of it (we've have several big snows and then 5 - 10 foot drifts) with just a shovel - the drifts pile up in front of the garage almost every day and I'm 8 months pregnant. Dh would have to shovel himself in and out twice a day.

 

We decided it would be much cheaper to hire it done when needed than buy an expensive piece of equipment. You might ask around. A neighbor kid using his dad's tractor might help for a decent hourly rate.

[LizzyBee]

Also when we know a big snow is coming, we will park a vehicle near the end of our driveway and walk to it. This is good especially if you have someone who really needs to go to work no matter what the weather.

 

This is what we did before my Dad got the snowblower, except we'd usually ride the tractor to the pick-up instead of walking. :auto:

 

I think my Mom might have divorced my Dad if we had to do that one more year (not really, but I still remember her complaining an awful lot that last winter). Shoveling was not an option - too much snow, too much driveway.

[MommyX8]

We just got about 20 inches of snow and our 42" snowblower did well (even on the steep part of the driveway.)

 

Personally, I spoke to a plow guy. He charges $65 an hour and I'm thinking that is a bargain. How long could it take?

[yarrow]

and we've chosen to hire a plow guy. He's expensive but we don't have to worry about getting out every couple of inches when my dh is at work. Also, whenever it starts getting icy, he'll sand it as well. There have been winters when he's had to come out with graders to push the snow banks back. I know that he uses a blade on a pick-up with chains on his tires.

 

I would just hire someone, at least for the remainder of this winter, and then in the spring you & your dh could make decisions/purchases for the following year.

[st_claire]

MY brother in law lives in the country and has this issue. He uses a tractor with a blade attachment and it seems to work well. But it does take time. I would probably hire someone and not have to worry about it.

[MamaT]

Man power and/or kid power. Snow shovels. Hot chocolate. More shovelling. More hot chocolate. :)

 

Also when we know a big snow is coming, we will park a vehicle near the end of our driveway and walk to it. This is good especially if you have someone who really needs to go to work no matter what the weather.

 

This is how we do it too. I count it as father/son time. :001_smile:

 

We park our cars that have to get out at the bottom of our driveway (at our barn) and trek down the hill until the snow is off the driveway.

[Slartibartfast]

Dh shovels it, I am thinking of getting a snow blower or lawn mower attachment. It is just too much snow for him to shovel, especially if we get multiple snowfalls in a week or it is just really windy.

Edited January 11, 2010 by Sis