Know your terrain when plowing snow

[Urbish]

I thought I'd do my neighbor a favor and plow their driveway after we got a freak 9" snowfall here yesterday. The LoBoy was doing good until it slipped sideways on the ice under the snow and slid off the 12" step from the pavement that sloped further down from there. I'm glad I was on the LoBoy and not on the standard Cub as I would have rolled for sure or at least slammed against the adjacent tree. It happened pretty fast! I ended up chaining my ATV to a stump and using the winch to slowly and safely recover it. I took the attached photos after pulling it out part-way.

Moral of the story: Always know what is under the snow. And if you don't, proceed carefully and keep the greasy side down.

[Urbish]

A few more photos from the storm last night. The ATV wasn't up to the task on my driveway, so I broke out the LoBoy instead.

[Slim140]

Glad you didn’t get hurt Jim, that could have been bad.

[ricky racer]

Wow, Jim. You're lucky!! Thanks for sharing and reminding us that you always need to pay attention.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, things can happen fast on a slippery surface, even when you think you are going slow. It is always a bit of a surprise when the snow melts in the spring and you see where the driveway really is.

I had a related experience a couple years ago, not a dangerous one. I was pushing snow out by the street, so I was going crosswise of the driveway. I went just barely far enough to drop the front wheels off the edge of the hard surface (very similar to where the Lo-Boy's left rear tire is). There was no way I could back up. I finally had to plow a big loop back to the driveway so I could get back on the driveway going forward. Of course, my next door neighbor had to come along and see me while I was plowing 40 feet off the driveway.

[T-Mo]

Here at work, they use poles along side both sides of the roads and parking lots to mark where the pavement ends. We used outside contractors, so the drivers are always changing from storm to storm, so having the edges of the pavement marked with poles I'm sure helps them.

[Stanton]

So glad you weren't hurt. Thanks for sharing this winter safety reminder.

[Lt.Mike]

Here at work, they use poles along side both sides of the roads and parking lots to mark where the pavement ends. We used outside contractors, so the drivers are always changing from storm to storm, so having the edges of the pavement marked with poles I'm sure helps them.

True but you’ll read back and hear it said to plow several feet off to either side of a driveway to allow room for snow to be piled from the next storm. I’d say for us, mark 4’ in from the edge so you have room and in doing that you’ve also walked the area to know what your in for.