Snowblowing with X540/47" blower on uneven gravel driveway

Alberta Al · Sep 7, 2013

Hi guys. I'm relatively new to this forum, and definitely new to my garden tractor and blower. I recently moved from the city to a country property ... if that helps explain my newbie questions LOL.

I posted some pics of our 300 foot long gravel/dirt driveway. It has some good ruts where the tires drive over. I'm wondering if I need to do anything specific with my equipment to operate over our driveway so I don't end up breaking a ton of shear pins. I have a new X540 that I'll be using with a 47" snowblower (pics below).

Question - Can the X540 hydraulics raise the blower 1 or 2 inches above ground level? Or does the hydraulics only raise to max height, and lower to the ground?

If not, what are my other solutions to avoid breaking shear pins? Do I need to prep the driveway (would prefer not to)? Lowering the shoes as far as they will go will only raise the blower a 1/2" maybe above ground level.

TUDOR · Sep 7, 2013

Regrade the driveway so that it is level, then run your truck or tractor up and down the driveway at the first snowfall to pack the snow to lock on the rocks and create a base to run the blower on.

Pack the entire width with overlapping passes, and it takes at least a 6" snowfall to be effective. You will still hit rocks, just not as many. Alternatively, pack the first 2 snowfalls.

If you get chinooks, you'll have to pack it again.

Alberta Al · Sep 7, 2013

Thanks for the pointers Tudor. I agree with you that the best thing would be to re-grade the driveway, however I'm quickly running out of time (will be travelling a LOT over the next couple of months).

I'm more looking for suggestions if I don't get around to re-grading. Can the snowblower be 'lifted' off the ground by a couple of inches? Is there any other suggestions.

Btw, if I do re-grade, I like the suggestion of driving over the first few snowfalls to lock down the stones. Good idea!

TUDOR · Sep 8, 2013

Whether you regrade or not, packing is still the best protection. That is job #1 for snow removal on granular drives.

Another option is to make new skid shoes that raise the blower enough that it won't clip the center of the drive. When the ruts fill in enough with packed snow that that risk is academic, put the standard skid shoes back on to limit further buildup.

Trying to set a consistent height with the hydraulics is a losing proposition. You can limit the downward travel with a chain on some blower setups. I don't think that that will be easy with yours.

Davisio · Sep 8, 2013

I tried to use the lift on my x540 to stay out of the gravel. It tended to throw the belt when the unit was lifted more than halfway up.

And, I still threw gravel. That thing bounces a lot up front when you're driving along with it lifted and has a tendency to "dig" when it hits. Never broke a shear pin though.

My drive is 800ft and no longer gravel. But it was...

Alleyyooper · Sep 8, 2013

I would just bite the bullit and make some new skids to raise the blower a couple of inches. So simple to use some flat stock to bolt to the blower and weld some more flat stock with a slight curve on the bottom for a shoe.

We always used a blade for the first few snow falls to plow the drive but leave a base before switching to the snow blower on our gravel drive. Benifit of doing that is it seemed to keep the frost from making a muddy mess of the drive come spring. Switching from blade to snow blower is simple on a Ariens S16.

greenhobby · Sep 8, 2013

You also want to look into getting the heavy duty shoes for that blower. I believe they can lift the blower more than standard (what you have). Also, check the blade under the blower. This can dig into the dirt and catch the stones.

good luck!
-gh

Alberta Al · Sep 8, 2013

Thanks for all the replies guys! Davisio, I was kind of wondering about how the blower would perform when raised slightly. The bouncing would be problematic. As others have suggested, I need to be able to run the blower on the ground somehow. I like the suggestion of getting shoes that raise the blower higher, but for this year, considering my travelling schedule, it may be simpler to get someone to grade our driveway for us.

PA318Guy · Sep 8, 2013

Your hydraulics will raise and hold the snowblower (minor adjustments may be necessary) which answers the question you were asking. What tends to happen over time though since you're not floating it on the surface is you may build up high spots (places your tires or vehicles packed). Not sure if you have a blade or not but I just used my blade to flatten the driveway for this very reason. I backblade it to level it out.

Alberta Al · Nov 5, 2013

Just thought I'd provide an update. Used the snowblower for the first time after this weekend's snowfall (6 inches). It worked very well. I was worried for no reason. I adjusted the shoes as low as they would go to give me as much clearance as possible. Yes I had to raise the blower slightly in some locations, but it handled the uneven gravel driveway extremely well. Very happy!!!

Btw, the hydraulic adjustments were very easy and smooth.

Thanks for everyone's advice!!!

PEIDeerefan · Nov 5, 2013

Just saw your post and I am a little late in answering but, Yes, you can adjust the blower up or down a little at a time no problem. You will get better at it with a little practice. I do it a lot when in my back yard when clearing an area for the dog to run in. The back yard is fairly level but has a couple of small dips.

Alberta Al · Nov 5, 2013

Thanks PEIDeereFan. Yes it will take a bit of practice to get proficient, but not too much. It's a pretty simple blower to operate. It was good to see how well the blower handled the wet snow we got.

Alberta Al · Dec 22, 2013

I'm posting this photo in case someone searches out the same concerns I initially had with a gravel driveway. Again, the X540 with a 47" blower was perfect for this driveway.

Kplu191 · Nov 16, 2014

Very nice! I really like the overall " neatness" look after you're done, too. I have a gully on the uphill/street side of my drive, that kinda worries me. I slide into it once in a while. Well, I did with the old craftsman, and then the atv a little bit while plowing. The atv was sold this weekend, and i guess I'll sue how the X530 will work soon enough! Comes with the plow. I imagine that I may wreak havoc on a blower. Kinda like getting high centered..... Beautiful property there Alberta Al!

Alberta Al · Nov 16, 2014

Kplu191 said:
Very nice! I really like the overall " neatness" look after you're done, too. I have a gully on the uphill/street side of my drive, that kinda worries me. I slide into it once in a while. Well, I did with the old craftsman, and then the atv a little bit while plowing. The atv was sold this weekend, and i guess I'll sue how the X530 will work soon enough! Comes with the plow. I imagine that I may wreak havoc on a blower. Kinda like getting high centered..... Beautiful property there Alberta Al!

Thanks! We got lucky with our property. It's our slice of heaven.

You might be surprised how well the X530 will handle difficult grades ... especially if you throw some chains on the tires. For my flat driveway, I do not use chains ... no need. But I do test it on our front ditch area adjacent to the road. It handles hills very well.

Get used to your setup for a while before making any expensive purchases. If you find the plow is not adequate, or takes too long to clean up the snow, then definitely look at a snowblower. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to clean up my driveway.

Good luck either way!

Monkeybiz · Jan 4, 2015

Here is another way if you don't want to wait for snow pack.
http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=725890

I tried it tonight. My driveway is just dirt... Very uneven. It just glided and took 90% of the snow.

Alberta Al · Jan 4, 2015

Yeah, I've seen that modification before. I wouldn't mind seeing a video of it in action on a gravel driveway. It's the gravel that is the concern when it comes to packing down the snow ... into the gravel. My snowblower has no problem going over uneven portions of the driveway, or ruts in the driveway. My neighbour has a more extreme problem with loosely laid down gravel on the driveway. I have a feeling that your solution would work quite well for him.

Snowblowing with X540/47" blower on uneven gravel driveway

Alberta Al

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