Question for people who plow snow

[heatherindeskies]

Is it true the plow blade has to be dropped fully to the ground for plowing?
My concern is that when this is done, the plow guy scrapes off all the gravel off of the driveway and deposits it into the yard. Not only is this annoying, when the spring rains come, the driveway is bare of the gravel needed for traction.
My plow guy said the blade has to be dropped to the ground.... when i asked it the blade could be raised a couple of inches just to push the snow, not all the gravel, he said something about the blade needs to be all the way down for the uneven areas....
any thoughts?
I mean it feels pointless to buy loads of gravel for summer use when it will be pushed into the yard anyway during the winter...

 

[pdsavage]

OK so your paying this guy to plow right?

 

[un-named]

no... he does it for free in exhange for me keeping some of his stuff at my barn...

 

[ODS-n-ENS FARM]

We plow both commercial and residental properties. It is very hard to keep a plow up a bit. Plows come with what is called "shoes" that would keep plow up a little bit but know nobody who uses them. They leave to much snow and customers complain. On driveways that are not paved we do not plow the first storm if it is a light snow unless the ground is frozen first. We are careful in the early spring storms also. Our policy for our year round customers is we will repair/clean up any plowing damage for free.
Tammy



Are you posting under 2 different names? heatherindeskies & un-named

 

[Denninmi]

I plow for myself and my sister next door, and I do the street I live on -- just to be nice.

It's possible to raise the plow just an inch or two, but it's kind of hard to know exactly what level it's at without jumping out and checking it. And, the ground is not even, so that is another complicating factor. So, that would basically mean constant adjustments every few feet along the drive unless the ground was extremely flat and level.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard this person tries, if you have a gravel drive, there is always going to be some gravel taken up with it and moved. Some of it is probably stuck right to the snow and ice and comes up that way.

Ultimately, the only real solution would be to pave the drive.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Gravel driveways means some gravel inevitably gets pushed onto the grass. It really cannot be helped.
If the plow operator is careful, uses shoes, etc, it can be minimized, but not eliminated.

Get out your rake!!

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Agreed. We plow and have a gravel drive. I spend the first weeks of spring - every spring - using the jake rake to bring the gravel back and the kids and I go along the drive each day as we walk to and from the bus stop chucking stones back onto the drive. DH does not put the blade all thr way to the ground as our surface is very uneven, but this leaves icy patches and gouges. Besides DH says it is harder on the plow than having it all the way to the ground.