Winter is coming, and now is a good time to buy a snow plow to keep your driveway free and clear of the white stuff.

There’s no doubt that clearing a long driveway is a lot easier with a truck and a snow plow. Let’s take a look at how to do it.

Stake The Driveway

If you have a small, short driveway without any curves or bends, then this might not be necessary. However, if your driveway is long with curves and lots of room for more than one vehicle, then you’ll want to stake it to make sure you know where to plow.

Start by putting a stake down on each side to mark your driveway entrance down by the street. Add stakes on each side of the driveway for every 10 to 15 feet up to your house. If you have any curves or wider areas, make sure to stake those as well.

This tip allows you to easily see the dimensions of your driveway even when it’s covered in several feet of snow. If you need to plow in the dark, then make sure to use stakes with reflective markers.

Image courtesy of Peter Griffen

Know Your Snow Type

Light and fluffy snow typically falls in the coldest temperatures. It’s much easier to deal with than wet and slushy snow. If your driveway is full of light fluffy stuff, then one pass is usually enough to get your driveway pretty clean.

However, if you have wet snow, then you’ll likely be dealing with compact layers and surface ice. This means you’ll have to take more than one pass and lower the blade of your snow plow with each pass to get it all clear.

Be Ready For The Big Plows

Another problem you might encounter is finding a mountain of snow at your driveway entrance from the commercial street plows. If your driveway is reachable by the local city or county plows, that’s exactly what might happen.

You can avoid this by carving out a large indentation on the right side of your driveway. The snow pushed by the other plows will then have a place to land instead of falling across your driveway.

Photo copyright Washington State Dept of Transportation

Back Dragging For Short Driveways

If you have a short driveway, you can still use your snow plow to get it clean. In order to do this, drive all the way to the top of your driveway, then lower your plow and reverse back towards the street -- pulling the snow with you.

Pro tip: don’t use your modern truck or SUV’s backup camera during this maneuver. It’s much safer to physically turn your head and watch behind you as you reverse.

Plowing A Long Driveway

If you have a long driveway, then the best method is to park your SUV or truck at the top of your driveway with the snow plow facing out. When you get ready to plow, you only have to jump in and push your way out through the snow.

As previously mentioned, if you have wet snow, you’ll have to take a few passes to get the driveway fully clear. If you have a vehicle with a good turning radius, like a Jeep Wrangler, this won’t be too hard.

Plowing A Gravel Drive

Plowing a gravel drive is a lot trickier than plowing a paved surface. The biggest difficulty is picking up gravel with your snow plow and spreading it around with the snow. You may need to adjust your plow several times to avoid picking up gravel.

If you have a lot of snow, be prepared to make several passes and lower your blade with each pass. Your truck tires will also compact the snow and help prevent gravel from being picked up by your plow.

Use Salt If Necessary

In most cases, you probably won’t need to salt your driveway. But if you have a driveway with hazardous areas like a steep incline or curves, you might consider using salt to make it less treacherous and provide more traction.

Salt also lowers the freezing point of snow and ice, which can keep your driveway clear longer.

Be Aware Of Your Snow Piles

Unless your house and driveway are fairly isolated on a large property, you’ll need to be aware of where your snow piles end up. You don’t want it to drain and cause damage to someone else’s property.

You also don’t want it to obstruct traffic, sidewalks, mailboxes, or fire hydrants. If you have a street drain nearby, you can pile snow near the drain, but don’t pile it directly on top of the drain.

Photo copyright Andrea_44

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