So we a blizzard the other day. Sort of unusual to get any kind of measurable amount of snow before January where I live. But like the last pre-Christmas snow storm we got back in 2009, it was just as deep, wet and slushy. We might get one 6" snow storm per year. Last winter we didn't even get any measurably snowfall. Despite that dry arctic blast we got in January that didn't get above freezing for about three weeks.
That morning after I got off work there was 6" of snow on the road. It was a bit dodgy driving 8 miles home but I managed to get up my driveway which has an incline and is 1000 feet long. Being a Sunday morning, the road crews had not even salted or scraped the roads! If this had been a Monday morning, I bet they would have got crackin' on it.
After I woke up we had 1 foot. So before leaving for work I decided to see if I could back my Subaru away from my garage because the snow was up to the bumpers. I accidentally ran off the driveway because the snow was so deep and my rear wheels was in the grass.
I bought this Subaru new back in 2003 and this is the first time I have ever got it stuck in the snow. I couldn't even shovel my way out of it.
I've even had this car out in the backyard doing doughnuts on dry frozen snow about the same depth and never got it stuck. The only thing I can think of was this particular snow was wet and slushy. I called Dad to see if he could pull me out with his truck. Somehow I managed to break free (burning probably 2000 miles off my tires) only to get stuck again behind my house. AAARRGGHHH!!!!
So I took Dad's truck to work. Kind of wish I hadn't sold my Ford Explorer now.
Despite being 48, I still look forward to snow. I guess I can still a kid at heart but this was the first snow storm I can truly say was a pain in the keister.
I asked Dad if he would help me take loose the mowing machine on his tractor and install the grader blade so I could scrape my driveway (and his). He said, "If you want to son your welcome to it but I'm not trudging through all this snow, I'm retired and can sit here until it melts"! He's 75 so I can't much blame him. He suggested just using the mowing machine to knock the snow down.
Wednesday I was off so I drove my ATV down to my parent's house and got his tractor. A 1976 John Deere 830 Diesel. BOY, did this thing put up a fight starting. I figured it being a diesel it would struggle and sure enough it did. I ran the battery down cranking it over but I brought the battery charger with me on my ATV and a can of starting fluid. I finally got it going, it smoked like a coal powered train when I fired it up! I can't understand why people like diesels so much. They are a pain to get going in freezing weather.
So I proceeded to "Bush Hog" my driveway, knocking the snow down from 12" to about 2" or 3" packed. Now my Subaru has no problems driving on this stuff. Must have been where the bumpers were pushing the snow like a plow.
ATV content:
This was the first time I had driven my Xplorer 300 in this amount of snow. What fun! I tried it in 2 wheel drive just to see if I could sling more snow but it bogged down. It went through the snow but not like butter. I had to rev it at full throttle at times but it went and go up hills. That was the ONLY thing I can say that was fun about this blizzard. Getting to slide around in the snow on my ATV.
Which brings me to my next question.
Would an Xplorer 300 have the balls to push a snow plow? I found this snow plow on Craigslist.
https://tricities.craigslist.org/snw...773587659.html
I think it's overpriced because it doesn't seem to have any hydraulics involved with it. Looks like I'd have to manually lift the blade up. Says it can be lifted using a winch which I have but not mounted on my ATV yet. I've never used a snow plow before.
Where I work years ago someone once rigged up some 2X6s and some skids to a fork truck and made a makeshift snow plow. It didn't scrap off all the snow but knocked it out of the way to where you could walk on a path instead of having to trudge through it.
Looks to me like I could take some 1/2" or thicker plywood and layer it and mount it to the four mounting holes on the brush guard of my ATV (at an angle) then use some leftover metal siding I have for the scraper blade.
When it does get 1 foot deep, I'd probably have to make this thing where it's adjustable. Where I can mount it 6" off the ground and knock that out of the way ant then lower it another 6" (or make a removable piece) and make another pass. That might take longer than if I had a real hydraulic operated snow plow but what else would I have to do? That would just give me an excuse to get out of the house and play around on my ATV!
Anyone ever built a homemade snow plow for their ATV out of plywood and 2X4s?
