(ET) Snowbanks & Plow

["Elie, Larry (L.D.)" <lelie ford com>]

In all the plow/blower talk, one thing that was touched on is where to put 
the snow if it keeps coming....

If you blow, you can get it 15' away from the drive.  Fine.  But if you 
plow, and it keeps coming for a week, you have a problem.  That 10' wide 
drive becomes 6' wide with 3' or 4' high packed snow on both sides.  I 
have a blower, and yes, you can cut packed snow 8" to 1' at a time for a 
fix.  Before I got the blower, I came up with another (tedious) method.

Starting at the far end of the drive, with the blade straight, I hit 
(fast) the pile at 45 deg to the driveway.  Use the momentum of the 
tractor to help; I use D1 or even on occasion D2.  Don't bother spinning 
the wheels; when the tractor stops just back up.  The snow will move a few 
inches.  Back up.  Re-position yourself just a little back from the first 
run (by a foot to start).  Hit it again.  The next pile has a bit more 
space to be moved into, and this pile moves just a little bit more.  
Re-position back even more, and hit the new pile.  After about 3 hits, the 
large pile will be shifting by 2' or more with each strike as you have 
somewhere to push the snowbank.  You never take more than half a blade 
width.  You have to start at the far end, because you need somewhere to 
push the snow.  This may sound complicated, but I have moved HUGE piles of 
snow this way; you are just clearing a spot for the snow and then filling 
it.  For my 250' driveway, I have to hit a bank abou!
 t 100 to 150 times, taking almost a full charge and well over an hour, 
but it does work.

Larry Elie