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Oilerfan
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:29pm
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How do all you you weekend warriors deal with snow clearing when you only get out to your cabin a few times a month? I have 250m of driveway so I am definitely not shoveling!!
I am considering a secondhand 4wheeler with plow. Wondering how it would push snow. Maybe a set of chains...might be a tough job to push a load of snow with no tracks??
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Bevis
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:37pm
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I have no idea, as I don't have a snow problem in S. Florida. 
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jjlrrw
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:50pm
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Depending on the amount of snow your area receives and if the main road is county plowed a 4-wheeler may not have enough weight to push through the snow. Plus plowing in a heavy snow area you will need to plow a very large area to make sure you have room to plow all season long.
I picked up a used 24" 8HP Ariens walk behind snow blower. With a 250M long drive you may want to start looking for a beater 4x4 truck with plow. My drive total is about 100M, takes me about 20 minutes to get the car/truck off the road then another 45min - hour to finish up.
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skootamattaschmidty
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:50pm
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We have a long driveway as well and sometimes if the snow isn't too bad I just put the truck in 4 wheel drive and give 'er. When it gets deeper we just park up on the road and hike in carrying stuff in on a toboggan.
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Oilerfan
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2013 01:57pm
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Quoting: skootamattaschmidty We have a long driveway as well and sometimes if the snow isn't too bad I just put the truck in 4 wheel drive and give 'er. When it gets deeper we just park up on the road and hike in carrying stuff in on a toboggan.
Depending on the snow year, how much I get out to the cabin, this was along the lines of what I was thinking. If it gets really bad I could always hire someone local once or twice a year. The wife might not like it but I bet i would be breaking trail and packing the gear!! I have a 3/4ton 4x4 so most weekends I could get probably get in.
A snowblower would be good but I would probably end up spending my enitre friday night blowing snow maybe with a refreshment in hand  . As a general rule of thumb, how long to plow 50m of driveway (obviously it depends on the machine)??
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jjlrrw
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:22pm
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To snow blow 50M with a 24" 8hp it won't take long if the snow is 12" or less you can walk a pretty good pace and average ~20" per pass.
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hattie
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# Posted: 17 Jun 2013 11:01pm
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We hire a neighbour to clear out our driveways. He has an ATV with a plough on the front. He clears our two driveways in about 15 minutes. He has no trouble moving the snow and we can get some pretty big dumps of snow here. He also clears all the snow in front of the mailboxes and anywhere else that needs it. He says it is really fun!! *LOL*
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creeky
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2013 10:02am
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I vote for a local with a snowplow/blower. it'll be way easier. and the lane'll be done before you get there.
Of course spending a couple of hours on a friday night blowing out the lane with a pop in one hand is a great way to decompress.
and like Hattie's neighbor, I look forward to big snow storms so I can get the snowblower on the back of the tractor and let 'er rip!
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countrygirl
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2013 10:45am
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We have a quarter mile Driveway, and we clean it with the ATV Can-Am Outlander XTP 800R. It works great just make sure you start wide as moving the pack sides after is harder to do. We use the ATV to clean the driveway at home, and at work. A walk behind snow blower works too but if you have a long driveway it will take forever. We had over 6 feet of snow this year. We had to use the walk behind snow blower just to make a cut for the ATV to start pushing at the end of winter. Just getting to our cabin with one pass with the walk behind snow blower takes hour, in one hour its clean with the ATV. Our sons 14 and 16 year old love pushing the snow when we get to the cabin, it so much fun doing it with the ATV.
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2013 01:10pm
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Most people with long driveways at cabins don't plow. They park their cars at the end of the plowed road and use a snow machine. If you're hauling in supplies you can attach a sled to the snow machine.
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countrygirl
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2013 04:51pm
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I agree with silverwaterlady if you only plan on going a couple times in winter, just snowmobile in or snowshoe in. If your going every weekend it's worth the time and money to clean the driveway.
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:28pm
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Same here - we shovel the area off the plowed road just enough to safely park the car on the side, and then walk to the cabin.
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2013 08:12pm
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You could use cross country skies and tow a child's plastic sled with your supplies.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 28 Jun 2013 09:35pm
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snow shoes
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neb
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# Posted: 28 Jun 2013 11:26pm
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Yep snow shoe or walk in if not to much snow.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 18 Jul 2013 10:39pm
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At 4000 feet in the California Sierras, there is enough snow to require removal, but not enough to require a snow thrower. So most residents either use a tractor with a blade, or a 4x4 truck with a hydraulically operated blade. Throwers are really only worthwhile at higher altitudes where there is deep, dry snow. Throwers don't like wet snow. Also, they are a lot slower than blades and so are really only useful where the snow is too deep for blades. I look at throwers as the option of last resort if blades or buckets won't handle it.
So, should you get a 4x4 truck with a blade or a tractor with a bucket? Some tractor buckets can be removed from the loader arms ( 'quick attach' feature) and replaced with a blade. A tractor has more low gearing torque to plush heavy snow, but a truck with a blade will clear lighter snows much faster cause it goes faster. But the truck will get stuck in deep snows, whereas the tractor will be able to shovel out deep snows with the bucket. Also, when you blade snow to the side of the road, it accumulates there in piles. Next time it snows, those piles are in the way. Only way to move them is with a loader.
My neighbor has successfully cleared one mile of road each winter at 4000 feet with a 50 hp trencher with a blade up front. It's taken him 8 hours to do it some times in deep snow, but not often.
Those atvs with blades look nice. I'm inclined toward a 40 hp 4x4 tractor with bucket that can be replaced with a blade. But I'd also like to have a Ford F350 4x4 with blade and snow chains.
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Montanan
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2013 03:27pm
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Snow shoes! But we're looking into a cheap snow machine.
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cabingal3
Member
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:21pm
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we get a tobbagan and snow shoes and walk in.we have to wait till we get out there to keep our drive clean.the neighbor even pushes all his snow on the way to our road.the main thought out there is-no one is gonna shovel your snow.i guess there is alot.
so till we get out there snow shoes and tobbagan it is.
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Jebediah
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# Posted: 18 Dec 2015 04:25pm
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Jan-Feb of 2015 was quite the year for snow in Nova Scotia. I have over 300 m and I use a snow blower, 4 passes, 2-3rd gear, so I would say less than an hour. I can't use a plow as there is nowhere to push the snow. If I keep up with it its not an issue.
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darz5150
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# Posted: 18 Dec 2015 08:14pm - Edited by: darz5150
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I have a 4 WD explorer ( 24 years old ) and I took a 4 x 4 heavy duty pallet that had 3/4 inch boards on the top, flipped it over and put a couple cinder blocks into it for weight. I put a short nylon lifting sling looped thru one of the corners of the pallet, then put the other end on my trailer ball. It works like a wedge shoving the snow both ways. This works great because the wedge/plow floats and doesn't gouge or dig in scraping all the rocks off into the woods. I got stuck once and it was easy to unhook the strap, move the blocks and pallet, then back up where it was already cleared, hook it up again and get a run on it. My driveway is well over 1/2 mile long. All in the woods.
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mick968
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# Posted: 18 Dec 2015 09:47pm
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We are lucky enough to have other property owners that (for a nominal fee) offer this service.I have a "understood agreement" and communication with local party that takes cares of (substantial incline driveway) into our cabin in the Rockies I give them heads up and driveway clear when we get there we learned the hardway the first year(cabin) when we arrrived late night to 20 plus inches (couldn't begin to determine where drive way) plowed into where we thought in wifes SUV (Porsche Cayene)capable vehicle but not exactly big foot we eventually made it down to cabin (sled style) but not going to make it back out
without plow it's all about relationships and who you know no worry now
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Jebediah
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2015 06:57am - Edited by: Jebediah
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The Rockies, living where it can dump 1foot of snow in a matter of an hour could have some dire consequences. You must get snowed in sometimes? We use to hunt in the foothills of Alberta and it didn't take long if it was snowing to make things really difficult. A ski-doo in the bed of the truck was an essential piece of equipment lol.
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Just
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2015 09:04am
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This year the plan was to buy a new blower and be ready for that first Canadian snowfall . As you can see by the green field in the pic we got the blower but we have no snow and little or no snow in our forecast ..
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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2015 09:13am - Edited by: hueyjazz
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My cabin on a mountain top near by Swain which is near Buffalo, NY and we can get considerable snow at times. There's six cabin served by a mile and a half of right of way that weaves through the woods at changing elevations.
The cabin before mine is a fancy kit cabin that has a basement. The guy has a mortgage on it and as a condition of the mortgage he has to have it plow all the way to the cabin. My property surrounds this cabin.
My cabin is an eighth of a mile pass his and his plow guy won't go up and down a short steep hill and narrow bridge on the right of way leading to my cabin drive.
Up to about a foot I just put the truck into 4WD and have chains for wheel just in case. Going down every weekend helps control and make a track. But if it freezes to ice it is game over. Base of short steep hill is narrow bridge over stream.
I grew with driving in snow and even took my road test in it. You learn the tricks as well as the limitations.
I have a ATV with plow but that just doesn't cut it other than maintaining the actual driveway to the camp and even then not so good.
Last two winters here have been horrific. Up to four feet of snow accumulation. Last year was a particular problem. My wife was recovering from cancer treatments. (All is well now)
The cabin is her place of peace and strength. I could drive to the cabin before mine but not in the four foot of snow past it. For me not such an issue. In my younger days I ice climbed and winter camped. Ski or snowshoe I would get through but my wife never could do this.
Plan "B" was to use the land to my advantage. A string of 100 foot pines runs behind the cabin that was plowed and runs behind my cabin too. Pines make a natural snow shelter so snow is greatly reduced under them. I could use my mountaineering skis and pull her on a sled where needed. It was rough work but the reward was wine and cheese on the cabin deck with a happy wife.
Master plan is to get tractor and this year we fixed up a 1972 Ski-doo Nordic found in the in-laws barn under tarp. Mint shape.
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LDamm
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2015 09:06pm
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After it snows, I always invite my neighbor over for a high end bourbon. He drives a big 4x4 with a V plow. He always seems to drop the blade on the way in and the way out.
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mick968
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2015 10:17pm
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Quoting: Jebediah The Rockies, living where it can dump 1foot of snow in a matter of an hour could have some dire consequences. You must get snowed in sometimes
I leave the Landrover as the full time cabin vehicle it can pretty much climb out of anything
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bc thunder
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# Posted: 23 Dec 2015 07:29pm
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atv
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