City testing snow boot to avoid blocking driveways 

We had this in the 90s and they didn’t work. So we’re trying them again and they’re not working but we’ll keep evaluating.

December 8: 6:00 PM. 2006 It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses Print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love the snow December 9: 2006 We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a lovelier place in the Whole World? Moving here was the best idea I’ve ever had. I shoveled for the first time in years, felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life. December 12: 2006 The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbor tells me not to worry; we’ll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we’ll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I’ll never want to see snow again. I don’t think that’s possible. Bob is such a nice man, I’m glad he’s our neighbor. December 14: 2006 Snow, lovely snow! 8″ last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn’t realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I’ll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn’t huff and puff so. December 15: 2006 20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a I bought snow tires for the wife’s car and two extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that’s silly. We aren’t in Alaska, after all .December 16: 2006 Ice storm this morning. Fell on my ass on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like hell. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel December 17: 2006 Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for five hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should’ve bought a wood stove, but won’t admit it to her. God I hate it when she’s right. I can’t believe I’m freezing to death in my own living room .December 20: 2006 Electricity’s back on, but had another 14″ of the damn stuff last night. More shoveling. Took all day. Goddamn snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they’re too busy playing hockey. I think they’re lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower, and they’re out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they’re lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he’s lying. December 22: 2006 Bob was right about a white Christmas, because 13 inches of the white shit fell today, and it’s so cold it probably won’t melt ’til August. Took me to get all dressed up to go out to shovel, and then I had to piss. By the time I got undressed, pissed and dressed again, I was too tired to shovel! Tried to hire Bob, who has a plow on his truck, for the rest of the winter; but he says he’s too busy. I think the asshole is lying. December 23: 2006 Only 2″ of snow today, and it warmed up to “0”. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What, is she nuts!!! Why didn’t she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did, but I think she’s lying. December 24: 2006 6″. Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the son-of-a-bitch who drives that snowplow, I’ll drag him through the snow by his balls and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a an hour and throws snow all over everywhere I’ve just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching for the Goddamn snowplow. December 25: 2006 Merry fucken Christmas. 20 inches of that shit tonight. Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. God, I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she’s a fricking idiot. If I have to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” one more time, I’m going to stuff her into the microwave. December 26: 2006 Still snowed in. Why the hell did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She’s really getting on my nerves. December 27: 2006 Temperature dropped to -30, and the pipes froze. Plumber came after of waiting 14 hours for him; he only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes .December 28: 2006 Warmed up to above -50. Still snowed in. The BITCH is driving me crazy!!!!! December 29: 2006 10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That’s the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?December 30: 2006 Roof caved in. I beat up the snow plow driver. He is now suing me for a million dollars; not for only the beating I gave him, but also for trying to shove the broken snow shovel up his ass. The wife went home to her mother. 9″ predicted. December 31: 2006 I set fire to what’s left of the house. No more shoveling. January 8: 2007 Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed?

Pry the smartphone out of your kids hand and put them to work with a nice shovel.

People can also stop being lazy and clean their driveways themselves

Let's see...costs more, breaks all the time, takes way longer, seems to me the answer is not to use them ? Snow at the end of your driveway is just part of living in a snowy area.

Toronto has had this system for at least 15 years. Works very well. Any contractor plowing for the City must also use it.

If the boots are prone to constant repair they shouldn’t be discarded, rather redesigned & re-engineered. It’s a great idea & it should be improved upon.

I don't know where you live but when graders plow my rd they are traveling roughly 15 miles per hour. With their 12 tall V blades that is fast enough that it pushes at times wet salty snow 15 - 25 feet into my drive and up to 5 feet deep. Once it has a chance to freeze in about 20 minutes it's almost impossible to move except with my tractor and its snow blower. I am 72 years old and not able to always start my tractor let alone drive it because of my legs and feet being so bad. I have a spinal injury that has taken the feeling from my legs and feet so I can't hardly walk or push pedals on my tractor any longer. So don't call everyone lazy I have been doing this this before you were wet behind your ears.

I’m 75 and I clean out the bottom my driveway by myself, not a big deal. I also either hand shovel or blow out my own double driveway. Imagine that.😳🤔

Takes twice as long and breaks often? Sounds like a union job!

They should just stop plowing the streets at all and see how long it takes people to miss the piles on their driveways.

City testing? In Finland we've had those in graders for like decades.

Another way to waste money. Smh We here in upstate/northern NY (lake effect country) don't whine about the banks at the end of our driveways...we buy the proper equipment. It's called a snowblower.

Park those cars in the driveway or the garage? I'll need to be all in the street like that

So if it didnt work before then what makes it work now or they didnt use enough of the budget n make up for it

They're too nice in Canada 😂 here in America your driveway will get plowed in ans if your car is parked on the street it'll get burried and ticketed with a pretty good chance someone is gonna hit it with a car or a plow

Omg really. I used to live in a northern province in Canada and there have been using these there for 25 years.

It almost never snows where I live, but it is nice to how other people enjoy their winters.

I live in south texas, what is snow?

I live in Florida now, but some good memories from the snow belt.

It looked to me like snow was still piling up in front of the driveways.

What is that machine called? I used to call it a greater but I forgot the name.

So they have been trying to use them since the 90s and they just dont work. How is this a story?

They have these in my town for as long an I can remember

Wondering why they had chains on the steer axle of the grader?

On our winter graders the boot (we call them flippers) we weld a piece on the end like a big L so it catches all the snow so it leaves zero snow at a driveway. We also have a shear pin on the boot so the pin breaks not the boot. Pins are cheap broken boots are not but sometimes they do break..

Coeur d Alene use these on plows that are mounted on the front end of large bucket loaders. They use the road graders to move most of the snow, a team of two. Front end loader and road grader. Just go across the border and see how it's right.

My city just runs a second plough behind the first one that has a drop down extension for the blade to clear off the windrow at the end of the driveway.

How did the boot turn out?

It was just a couple of years ago that the City of Spokane Threatened to arrest a Guy for Plowing out his Neighbors with a Four Wheeler. It Was Deemed by the City Employee Union as " Taking City Employees Work."

They are talking about the fold down attachment at the end of the blade, not the grader itself

They were using this system back in 2003 in new brunswick.... excellent.

Testing??? I live in Toronto Canada, and in my street has had Windrow-clearing for like 25 plus years!! Two graders, the second one has an arm/scoop that the operator lowers and raises for each driveway. This isn't rocket science!!!

Allways pissed Me off that I spend 2 hours digging out My driveway only to have the plow operator fill it back in with heavy slush, but at least the roads got done!

God forbid someone has to do a little shoveling

Plow the streets and let the people shovel their drives... so lazy...

Hey that looks like a good idea . I like it cause 3 to 4 inches can be a foot or more in my driveway , the more snow , the bigger the pile in my driveway.

We got heavy snow for two days once. It piles up at the street. 6 of us with pick ax and dirt shovels take turns opening the drive.. takes one to 3 hours depending

There's absolutely no reason why they can't be engineered more heavily, stopping them breaking.

Atleast they are trying. After 30 years of plowing I've never seen any town care about a driveway. Time = $$$. Wich results in higher taxes

Do you really get that much snow in Spokane? I'm surprised. Sounds like somebody needs to start a private plow business to clean people's driveways.

Narrow streets in USA?

Would people be willing to pay extra to have the city clear the end of your driveway? They make trucks with a collection that melts the snow and then they dump the melted snow down the sewer. So instead of plowing to the side it gets plowed in the middle then another system comes by and picks up the snow.

this is so inefficient, just plow the streets and who cares if it gets piled at the end of peoples driveways

What happened to the old way? They used to plow everything into the centers of the roads. Then, when they had the time, they'd come along and truck it away. You know, actual snow 'removal'. Never had blocked driveways. But now, at least where i live, they don't even go out until AFTER the storm has passed. So that they can save money, by only doing it once. But, what this does, is by then, all the traffic has packed it down, and now there's 5 inches of solid snow-packed ice on the roads.

I lived in Boston for 38 years. I solved the snow issue. I moved to Florida!!😎🌴☀️

Add a tail blade on the gradder for clearing out the driveway apron that's how we do up here in Canada. Well if they use it anyway. Lol

I park next to the curb, no driveway on my property. This whole street is designed this way. City can’t plow until most go to work before 7am. When they do show up, they plow to the middle, front end loader scoops it up. Done and done!

Same in my small town in northern Canada

In Kitimat BC they use these giant snow-blowers that can spray the snow wherever they want.

If the homes are really close. There is nothing you can do. But if there is a large gap between driveways. Rotate the blade to cut from the driveway side. Then rotate it back to dump the extra snow. After decades of clearing everyone else's snow. Only to return home from a 12 hr shift and be plowed in myself (with plow packed snow) I empathize. Another thing I would do is shift the blade over to just leave the driveway alone. At least it won't have hard packed snow in front of it.

I fail to see how you would get snow infront of driveways anyways. In my community (outside of Edmonton) they plow all the snow to the middle of the street, then use a large snowblower contraption to blow all the snow into a semi trailer. Leaving very minimal snow left on the street, and no giant pile infront of driveways

Did he say "we're on 12hr days 7 days a week so we're 24/7" ?

The city of portage La Prairie Manitoba has been using that attachment for years

If they're anything like the plow guys in massachusetts they won't have time to mess with those boots. What with hanging out in DD, drinking coffee and driving around with their plows in the air they barely have time to take a 2hr bathroom break.

Still tryimg to figure out how 12 hrs a day 7 days a week is 24/7!!!!

Just drive a lifted 4x4 and drive over the top of the snow

Why not follow the plow with a front loader?

Coeur d'Alene Idaho really doesn't have a problem with this system they use on the front end loader all the time they didn't 950 miles of streets last year alone using the system Spokane just doesn't know how to use it right

I hate when this happens, i grew up on a court and the plow pushed counter clockwise by time my rents they get 5 houses of snow at the driveway one year they had over 6ft blocking the driveway.

Seems like everyone needs to park on one side of the street.

So glad I live where snow is usually just a few days a year and never stays for long.

If the snow boots is breaking then it needs to be redesigned or rethought, it's a good idea it just needs to be tweeked a little to make it work under all snow conditions.

Would liked to have seen more of the snow working and not so much faces blabbing.

Um...I've spent pretty much my entire life in the North East. All you have to do is wait until the plows are done before clearing the end of your driveway. Seriously how wimpy can you get when you expect the folks clearing the road to keep *your* little piece of driveway clear. Really!?!? Yes I get that this is an old video, but can't help commenting.

I grew up on a road with 3 houses on the street and they was all on the same side of the street every time the plow came down the road he wouldnt even turn his plow to the other side where it was just grass and a little wooded area. Even if I just got done blowing tbe snow off my driveway then morons would just push it and block the end of the driveway every time.

They fine ppl for using plows on public streets so they better figure it out or stop giving fines

They have the entire city to plow, you can do your driveway.

We can send a man to the moon but we can't figure this out.

OMG People really that mad about it? There doing there dam job! to help you get to school work etc like seriously I think this device is a waste of money because it simple if you need to go some where move the snow out of the way or drive over the dam snow

Coeur d alone idaho Uses the boot and they had as plowed out and the day our systems do break down but we have dedicated mechanics who know how to fix our equipment Even though the snow is heavy they so using the works just fine

I grew up in Spokane and I had to dig out the driveway many times

It’s a boot time someone looked into this eh?

its the thought that counts, right?

Used to live in vt never seen a grader used to plow roads

In Chicago they snow stays on the side streets all winter

Why not just have a follow up crew move driveway snow?

I wouldn't worry about the snow in people's driveways

Why did they get so cheap as to use a snow plow like that? Thats part of the problem. Use trucks instead.

Shovel?

Have a loader follow them, 2 graders 2 loaders. Works in Canada

Most of the time, I think I'd prefer the city didn't plow at all. By the time they get to my area, the roads are already packed and smooth. No problem getting a vehicle down them.

Looks to me that it needs a steel tube or pipe from the tip of the boot on pivots to the belly blade for more support. At a 45 degree angle to re enforce the gusset it already has

I live in SC. I have no idea what any of this is all about.

Why don’t you use snow plows

Give the boot the boot and tell the home owners that this new invention called a snow shovel will remove the snow at the end of the driveway!

Just make a extending arm to go down at beginning of driveway and up at end of driveway. That all you get if need more info.$$$$

"We're working 12 hours a day 7 days a week so 24/7". Anyone catch those math Skills?

If/had they taken time to look around the web, they would have seen a more simple yet effective system by Daniels Plow that can be attached to not only a loader but also the scrapper with some factory installed modification.

We are on 12 hours days, 7 days a week, so we are 24/7. Haha

They plow my driveway in, I snowblow it into the street.. Its a fun game we play all winter

But sometimes it is just lazy plow operators. I would get my driveway plowed shut when I was the only resident on my side of the street. Other side had no driveways or pavements and no parked cars. Could easily turn plow other way and eliminate plowing my driveway shut every time it snowed enough to warrant plowing. Complained to township and asked if they could talk or train their operators to avoid plowing driveways shut if they could. Obviously, if driveways and parking on both sides, this is not possible, but in my situation, easy to do. When snowed heavy, it was common to plow 3’ of snow blocking my driveway. Could not drive over even with my 4WD pickup, and heaven forbid I didn’t get out and shovel that mess to clear my driveway before it froze and closed it till spring thaw.

Make a windrow in the middle and then pick it up

Spokane city guys just need to come to Alaska we show you how to do it we dont use chain's we use winter tires that are siped also the gate is the best those boots there using are to long and the operator need to learn how to articulate his machine

Actually a lot of people shovel their own driveway but nothing like getting up at 5 a.m. in the morning shoveling out your driveway going back inside getting ready for work and you coming out to find a wall snow at the end of your driveway now mind you have just taking a shower and dressed for work

Nice concept but it looks kinda cheap built but would like to try it!

I don’t think 12 hr days mean 24/7

The town im in has one like this but works a lot better lol

We need them in the City of Buffalo for our snowplows.