Testing a Woods rear mount PTO snow blower and enhancements to protect your driveway. Materials: Tractor Supply Co., SKU: 101184899 Utility Rubber Stall Mat, Black, 4 ft. x 3 ft x 1/2 in.
beutiful property, I used to have a driveway similar to yours, 15,000 sq ft. It lasted about 25 years with being seal coated twice. Held up real well, but had several construction projects with heavy cement trucks eventually deteriorating it. I put curbs around entire paved area so a repave will be easy and efficient. The curbs stopped the asphalt from spreading at its edges, very important to spend the extra. Now it is time for a repave. 1996 cost was $15,000. 2022 price was $55,000. JFYI Enjoyed your video.
Thanks for the comment. I tried to finish most of my big projects to prevent heavy equipment from using the driveway. I needed concrete a couple of years ago, so I had the trucks drive aside of the driveway to the house. It took me two years to complete a lawn renovation project which was from the concrete trucks driving on the lawn. A lawn is cheaper to repair then the driveway. I recently used a company that applies a seal coating (old school way) from Seal Master for $1300. Instead of spraying the sealer on the driveway they bucket and squeegee the liquid sealer into the aggregate. They claim it should last several years since the product goes into the aggregate vs. staying on the top like sprays does. Hopefully this will be the last driveway I have to pay for.
I like the final setup. As a structural engineer, I wondered how you determined the size and spacing of the stainless bolts the first time around. Reminded me of an engineering book that I have called "To Engineer is Human - The Role of Failure in Design". Design like this is trial and error. You might get a chance to try the new set up tomorrow! Keep the videos coming!
The placement of the bolts was a scientific guess. The plow didn't get painted yet that will be a spring project. I need to focus on pruning the fruit trees before spring, I need more cider.
Poly and rubber edges are both available for plows and would be so much easier than all the work I watched you do in a couple videos. I've found the snow blowers are best for blowing back piles, dispersing winrows, and big snows. All of which having the cutting edge off the ground is fine. Final cleanup is usually done with a blade or broom. Great ingenuity on the materials for non gouging your asphalt.
Unfortunately I have no commercial recommendations. We found a local company that we would cut and tap. Easy to use the old edge for pattern and as a holding plate. Your shoes or skids are what are designed to do less damage. Less damage means not as clean. The least amount of damage I've done is with 4 inch pvc cut and fit over the metal cutting edge on a plow for snow removal on artificial turf.
You have shared some excellent ideas! Thank you for that. I thought about your squeegee idea and came up with the idea of using a cow mat. Tougher material, same thickness and about the same price, but much larger. Tough too. (It has to put up with a cow's abuse!) Anyway, please keep the videos coming.
Thanks for the information and the thumbs up. I'm currently working on 4 new videos, finishing a DIY repair video in the next day or two. I think I have a great way to prevent snow from clogging the snow blower chute. I just need a decent snow to test my idea, stay tuned.
I use my Woods now blower on gravel so I have no need for this. But I have found that using strips of 1/2 inch rubber belt material mounted to each fan blade to close the gap between the blade and the housing works well.
I never considered an inverted blower. I probably should have done a little more research. Thanks for the comment and mention about the property. Maybe when I hit the lottery, I can start my deck and stonework project.
