plowing snow on gravel driveway

[rundrave]

bought a small acreage earlier this year so this will be my first winter plowing on gravel. any tips or advice that I should know? I have plowed before but it was all paved, just wanted to know if there is anything i should be doing different?

[gr8icefishinmind]

Not really, just make sure to adjust the pegs on the plow to keep the blade out of the gravel. Otherwise there is really no difference!

[Bigtom]

Let the first snow get packed down so it is smooth. Or you can drop your plow than just raise it up 1 inch. Do you have plow shoes on?

[rundrave]

yes I have skid shoes, I actually did a little playing a couple weeks ago and moved some of the gravel around intentially to level out the transitions from the tar road and then again to for the concrete pad in front of my garage.

I know my machine is more than capable, just wanted to see any tips or advice to ensure im only pushing snow and not gravel.

[Inthehollow]

I agree with tom k let the first one pack then once it gets good and hard you can put it flat on the ground

[Ryan_V]

Another vote for letting the first few inches pack down hard. Then its more like plowing on pavement. Not letting it pack makes it a pain.

[KatoMike]

I don't like to let it get packed down - did that for the first few years and it gets tough to walk on when it gets a bit melted and then refreezes. I took off the shoes to spread some gravel a couple of years ago and haven't put them back on. There is no downforce on the blade, so you are not going to be pushing a lot of gravel around (particularly when the ground is frozen). If I was plowing on concrete or asphalt I would put the shoes on to protect the surface - for gravel I will not put them back on.

[sparkydm]

I have 1100 feet of gravel driveway and I plow mostly with my 350 Rancher. I prefer to let it pack down as well. Otherwise I end up with a lot of gravel in the grass. No fun raking that back into the drive in the spring.

[Dave S]

I have 1100 feet of gravel driveway and I plow mostly with my 350 Rancher. I prefer to let it pack down as well. Otherwise I end up with a lot of gravel in the grass. No fun raking that back into the drive in the spring.

I've seen people use a power broom instead of raking. Although you might want to do it before the grass grows too much.