Hello - Recently started working for a rural township in northern Wisconsin. Have been doing a fair amount of grading of our gravel roads this fall but the outgoing guy didn't give me a whole lot of advice on plowing snow with the grader. We have an International truck/wing setup as well as a John Deere 770 with cable wing for maintaining the roads. Was wondering what everyone's opinions are on plowing snow with the grader....do you let the blade float while on paved surfaces. I believe my predecessor would drop the blade all the way down then just lift it a hair. I wonder if that really accomplishes anything versus letting it float. We do not have carbide blades on the grader so they are changed fairly often. Thanks for any advice.
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New grader operator - snow plowing question
- Thread starter RVR6000
- Start date
You can let the blade float on blacktop unless it gets packed in then you have to stand on it and peel up the hardpack
Front plow also? On gravel in the right conditions sometimes can float the crown and control the shoulder side, the outside is always softer where they don't drive
Watch your wing cable it needs to stay taught don't let it get slack or it will brake when it has a chance make sure to have extra cable and clamps available study the cable routing now take pics with your phone its not hard to replace but even easier to mess up when its -30 and blowing
Front plow also? On gravel in the right conditions sometimes can float the crown and control the shoulder side, the outside is always softer where they don't drive
Watch your wing cable it needs to stay taught don't let it get slack or it will brake when it has a chance make sure to have extra cable and clamps available study the cable routing now take pics with your phone its not hard to replace but even easier to mess up when its -30 and blowing
Thanks Jonas. No front plow other than the V plow that is used a half dozen times or so per season. Getting the seal replaced on one of the lift cylinders this week so already took a bunch of pics of the cable path. For our gravel roads....some have good gravel....some aren't much more than a cow path so I'll likely be holding the blade up a bit on those.
rsherril
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2009
- Messages
- 264
- Location
- Far West Colorado
- Occupation
- Geologist, Retired from teaching sciences
I'm guessing that you have significant accumulation of snow judging by your location and accessory equipment. Do you have tire chains? A shop to thaw the machine out in? Snow mitigation with a grader is serious business with the speed that is necessary to keep things moving well. The blade is not designed for give, even in "float". Puts a lot of wear and tear on the machine and the road. Get to know your roads and priorities, (school bus routes, traffic patterns, hills, etc.). What are you going to do if you get stuck? How will you handle driveways?
In my situation I chain up early, (4 sets on the tandems), and leave them on until I'rm ready to go back to grading. My roads are usually soft until after the first snow, so I am careful to just expose enough road to faciliate melting and hope they freeze up to a hard surface soon afterwards. Here, sun and low humidity will "evaporate" the remaining snow and ice even in freezing conditions provided some of the road base is exposed, (all of my roads are gravel). Problems show up in the spring when they begin to thaw unevenly. Best to have clear roads by then.
Good Luck, you came to the right forum for good, experenced information and advice.
In my situation I chain up early, (4 sets on the tandems), and leave them on until I'rm ready to go back to grading. My roads are usually soft until after the first snow, so I am careful to just expose enough road to faciliate melting and hope they freeze up to a hard surface soon afterwards. Here, sun and low humidity will "evaporate" the remaining snow and ice even in freezing conditions provided some of the road base is exposed, (all of my roads are gravel). Problems show up in the spring when they begin to thaw unevenly. Best to have clear roads by then.
Good Luck, you came to the right forum for good, experenced information and advice.
rsherril - sorry it took so long to reply. Yes, we can get a fair amount of snow here but outside of a major snowstorm the typical snowfall at a time will be maybe 1 - 6 inches. We have a mix of asphalt and gravel roads the majority being paved. The town quit plowing private driveways several years ago so that it a plus. We have three sets of chains and plenty of extra links for repair. I don't believe the previous patrolman ever chained up more than one set of wheels in his 32 years there. All the equipment goes into a heated shop at night (or whenever you're done). We keep it about 60 degrees inside. We have very good working relationships with the neighboring towns/villages and help each other out if someone get stuck. If it's really bad there's a heavy tow company about 20 minutes away. In addition to the grader we have an International 7400 dump truck (single axle) with plow and wing.
cuttin edge
Senior Member
I never use float, I like to be in control of the MB. I find on float it seems to bite manhole frames harder. I learned to plow on an old 14E so it didn't have float anyway. Once the snowbanks are bigger and harder, you can use your wing like a rudder to get around sharp corners. Until then, a bit more pressure on the right side of the MB can slide you around
rsherril
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2009
- Messages
- 264
- Location
- Far West Colorado
- Occupation
- Geologist, Retired from teaching sciences
Sounds like your in good shape, better than I these days. I would recommend that you consider going no chains or all four tandems wheels chained as I posted a similar question and was told that the unequal traction could result in excessive stress on the chained wheels resulting in damage inside the tandem case, (broken drive chain maybe), causing bigger problems than I would want to deal with. Given that you will going faster under full power, a sudden slow down due to the blade being close to or on the road surface, this was a real possibility in my circumstances. I'm all about avoiding problems, especially in the cold and snow.
By driveways, I meant leaving a windrow of snow and ice where the driveway hits the road. Some people can get quite irrate upon discovering their driveway blocked, especially if the previous guy would clear it. I generally slow down and square the blade as I go by to carry most of the windrow past that point. Maybe your township has a policy on this.
By driveways, I meant leaving a windrow of snow and ice where the driveway hits the road. Some people can get quite irrate upon discovering their driveway blocked, especially if the previous guy would clear it. I generally slow down and square the blade as I go by to carry most of the windrow past that point. Maybe your township has a policy on this.
DB2
Senior Member
One thing I would mention is that once you get the ends of the blades set (I use float to get it level on the ground) use the moldboard tilt to apply or retract pressure as needed. Easier in my opinion than working both ends all day long. Good look on your new endeavour !
As mentioned...a lot of good info here. Getting new seals on one of the wing cylinders tomorrow then the wing goes on. Weather Service is talking about a mix of rain/snow tomorrow and again mid-week. Put the spreader on the dump truck before I left for the weekend. We have a couple roads with steep hills intersecting down onto a state highway so we try to give them a little more attention so people aren't sliding right out into traffic. I forgot to mention we have a part-time guy who helps with the mowing and plowing. He's been a huge help in bouncing questions off of as well. He said the previous guy would float the blade all the way down then "jerk" the handles up just a bit to take some of the weight off the cutting blade. I guess when you think about it, that's a huge amount of weight on the grader blade compared to the snowplow on the dump-truck.
RVR6000, Glad to see some new blood getting in this game! I have been doing this for a while and if I am on new blacktop I always let the blade float, it seems to clean things up pretty good. I usually start out with the moldboard tipped back just a little then every mile or so roll it ahead just a touch. This gives you basically a new edge, once it is rolled all the way forward back it up & start over again. You will want to get on your heaviest traffic roads first before they get it packed down. Everybody has their own way of doing things, I'm sure you will figure it out. We might not be too far apart, I'm in Rusk Co. Good Luck!
The city boys here plow with a big Austin Western, front plow angled left to push toward the divide, blade angled left, wing pushing left and the ass end crabbed over with a grader clearing almost three lanes in one pass and really hauling!
On gravel you have to carry the blade. This is a developed talent. I have good lights, good mirrors, I can glance in the mirror and see what I'm leaving. When I start seeing bare ground I bump up a bit. Better to leave an inch of snow than to peel off all the gravel.
As for chains, in 30 years I've never just chained one tire on each side. I don't even understand the point. Other than laziness.
I depend on chains to get me out of the tough spots. Why would I want half the traction.
This will be my first Winter with a 6wd machine. I'm anxious to see how that works.
We have a JD672G with 14ft moldboard, front V plow and a bolt-on wing for equipment. I always hope I never have to use the wing. Last year for almost a month straight I had the plow and wing on. That tests your operator abilities.
Speed is your friend. Push snow as fast as your abilities allow. I normally run 15mph when simply blading snow. Snow conditions change constantly and that speed goes up or down depending on what works best.
As for chains, in 30 years I've never just chained one tire on each side. I don't even understand the point. Other than laziness.
I depend on chains to get me out of the tough spots. Why would I want half the traction.
This will be my first Winter with a 6wd machine. I'm anxious to see how that works.
We have a JD672G with 14ft moldboard, front V plow and a bolt-on wing for equipment. I always hope I never have to use the wing. Last year for almost a month straight I had the plow and wing on. That tests your operator abilities.
Speed is your friend. Push snow as fast as your abilities allow. I normally run 15mph when simply blading snow. Snow conditions change constantly and that speed goes up or down depending on what works best.
8 - 12 inches of snow forecast tonight starting about 9pm with winds gusting to 40mph. Will cut out of work a little early today so I can come home and take a nap. Will be going in early and expect tomorrow will be a long day...haha. All the gravel roads were frozen over a few weeks ago but then we got a warm spell and many of them opened back up (was grading last week) so will have to give some extra care on those. Want to thank everyone on sharing your expertise. Will let you know how it goes. We're just south of Siren.
https://www.weather.gov/dlh/weatherstory
https://www.weather.gov/dlh/weatherstory
I spent the last couple days going over my roads again. Might be the last time before they freeze and/or we get snow. We had a very tough year for roads. Two Disaster level rains that gutted them. After running them a dozen times I finally have them back in shape and pretty solid. Sure makes snow pushing easier.
Good luck tomorrow and stay safe!!!
Good luck tomorrow and stay safe!!!
terex herder
Senior Member
Work your drifts uphill wherever possible. When the drift breaks over your vee blade you have a better chance if you are trying to back downhill.
Yep. And better to stop 3ft short than 3ft too far in.
I've never got stuck pushing snow. But I've had to rowboat myself back out of a few drifts.
Done with the first blast of winter. Overall, I think everything went pretty well. Started out yesterday morning about 0330 with the dump truck just clearing a couple of the busier roads running through town. No school yesterday so was nice knowing I wouldn't be meeting any buses. Got done with that about 0600....took a little nap til our part time guy came in at 0800 and then we went out again - him in the dump truck and me in the grader. Hands down, I'll take the grader any day over the dump truck. It may be slower but I think it does a much better of clearing the roads than the plow truck. Good visibility of the wing, can see the kind of snow (wet, dry, slush, etc) rolling off the blade.
At least 80% of the paved roads had a decent layer of ice under the snow so I let the blade float a fair amount of the time. In areas where I could see pavement I took some weight off the blade. I only had to do a couple of the gravel roads but no real issues to speak of....held the blade up a little initially then worked it up and down as I went just like when grading.
It was windy but the drifting wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Snow wrapped up about noon and winds died down about the same time. Was out this morning for a few hours sanding and cleared a couple small finger drifts but that was about it.
OVRSZD - you mentioned having good lights a few posts back. That's something I think I'll have to look into. It was dark before I got done last night and the lights on the grader are showing their age - not super bright, cracked lenses and are getting foggy, etc. Considering how cheap nice LED lights are now and how little power they consume I think it would be a worthwhile upgrade. I might have to ask the board if I can replace them.
Thanks again for all the advice. Really appreciate it. Hope you are all having a good Thanksgiving.
At least 80% of the paved roads had a decent layer of ice under the snow so I let the blade float a fair amount of the time. In areas where I could see pavement I took some weight off the blade. I only had to do a couple of the gravel roads but no real issues to speak of....held the blade up a little initially then worked it up and down as I went just like when grading.
It was windy but the drifting wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Snow wrapped up about noon and winds died down about the same time. Was out this morning for a few hours sanding and cleared a couple small finger drifts but that was about it.
OVRSZD - you mentioned having good lights a few posts back. That's something I think I'll have to look into. It was dark before I got done last night and the lights on the grader are showing their age - not super bright, cracked lenses and are getting foggy, etc. Considering how cheap nice LED lights are now and how little power they consume I think it would be a worthwhile upgrade. I might have to ask the board if I can replace them.
Thanks again for all the advice. Really appreciate it. Hope you are all having a good Thanksgiving.
Glad you got along well!!!!
In regards to pushing on gravel. If I can look in my mirror and see bare ground I have my blade too low. If you do that very much you'll be embarrassed next Spring by how much gravel you have thrown off in the ditch. I prefer to leave an inch of snow if I can.
If you buy lights definitely get LEDs. They are pricey but worth it.
I had my roads in very good shape last week. Last couple days we've been in the 40s-50s with rain. There are still some crops left to harvest. My roads will be in real bad shape by the end of this coming week.
This time of year I just want the roads to freeze and stay frozen until late February.
In regards to pushing on gravel. If I can look in my mirror and see bare ground I have my blade too low. If you do that very much you'll be embarrassed next Spring by how much gravel you have thrown off in the ditch. I prefer to leave an inch of snow if I can.
If you buy lights definitely get LEDs. They are pricey but worth it.
I had my roads in very good shape last week. Last couple days we've been in the 40s-50s with rain. There are still some crops left to harvest. My roads will be in real bad shape by the end of this coming week.
This time of year I just want the roads to freeze and stay frozen until late February.
DB2
Senior Member
One thing to consider is that LED lights do not generate heat so ice buildup can be problematic. There are heated versions but the price goes up as does the power consumption. Either way they provide superior light to normal incandescent’s. Happy plowing !