Plowing snow

[Graeme]

I was wondering if I could plow snow with out chains. I have wheel weights and good tires. The neighbour has a brick driveway and I wouldn't want to damage it with chains. Thank you

[ricky racer]

Yes, just not as easily as with chains.

[Graeme]

Thank you

[TCP]

You will be OK unless you get a little bit of ice. Then you will need chains.

[Barnyard]

Like the others said, you should be fine, unless you have a hill to climb. This is mine on flat ground, front and rear weights, no chains.

[Mike in Louisiana]

I live in Louisiana and we don't plow snow but i have a question. What happens if one of those bricks is sticking up a little bit?

[gitractorman]

Mike,
If a snow plow is setup correctly the plow should be riding on the guide shoes, not on the cutting edge. If I had a gravel or brick drive, I'd have the shoes set down about 1/2- inch, to keep the cutting edge up off the ground about that far, maybe an inch if I knew the drive was very irregular. This way the blade doesn't catch on an edge as you suggest.

Bill

[BobM]

I have nearly bald turf tires with no chains and wheel weights. Plows fine so long as I'm not trying to go uphill. I push off the flat parts then push down the hill, turn around and drive up the hill and push down hill again. Kind of a pain in the butt, but it's seat time. Me and my Cub "Louie" living large.

[KETCHAM]

I've been plowing with out chains for 8 years or so...No problem...Don't let the snow get over 6" ,,I have blacktop..and do other driveways..gravel and concrete...I just keep up on them and don't let to much snow build up..I keep the blade 1 " off the ground...Kevin

[Mike in Louisiana]

I forgot about the shoes I just level the driveway with mine.

[Graeme]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I am going to try plowing. I have three elderly neighbours and have been spending about six hours at a time shoveling snow. This has been a bad winter in Toronto. Graeme

[Bill V in Md]

You can double-up on the rear wheel weights. It made a big difference for me, but my driveway is on a hill. I have an asphalt drive and use a rubber cutting edge, which works pretty well.

[DickB]

If your tractor has a fast-hitch, you might gain added traction by attaching a heavy rear implement to the tractor -- just be cautioned that you might plow or harrow those driveways if you lower it too much. In the future, some kind of rear weight, if it adds to your traction, might be devised that doesn't lower as much as does the snow plow?

Just a thought....

[TCP]

I have filled tires, that has always been enough until we got 3/4" of ice It's been over a month and the ice is still there. Now I have chains.

[Bill Hudson]

I plow, on four concrete drives, with filled tires, one set of weights (have used two sets in the past), and chains. Two of the drives have enough slope that chains are a must. The best thing that I did was install a urethane cutting edge that allows me to plow with down pressure on the blade and since I do not use shoes, I can get right down to the concrete and scrape it fairly clean. After that radiant energy from the sun normally clears the drives right to the concrete.

Bill