Effective Snow Removal

There are many known ways to remove snow and ice from your driveway, but the safest and most effective way is mechanically, whether it be a snow shovel, snow plow or snow blower. �I know everyone is wanting some kind of magical potion and I will get to those, but unfortunately they are not as safe to use on your concrete and landscaping as the mechanically means of removal.

The most popular of the skid steer loader attachments is by far the forks, or pallet forks. They allow your skid steer loader to function as a forklift. They are great for moving pallets, which landscapers love, because they receive sod deliveries on large pallets. Roofing shingles and drywall can also be removed from delivery trucks and moved to their proper location with pallet forks, which the contractors appreciate. Rather than hand carry rolls of sod, drywall, and shingles, with pallet fork skid steer loader attachments, the contractors can just drive the pallet to its proper location.Pallet fork skid steer loader attachments can also be used to pull stumps out of the ground, move heavy logs and large rocks, and collect and lift brush, which makes it a fair replacement for a grapple. They are even used for digging trenches. Contractors will remove one of the pallet fork skid steer loader attachments, and drag the other one along the ground. This will dig a quick and easy trench for laying plumbing pipework or electrical wires and cables.Understanding Deicers: There are many types of deicers and each has a practical lowest temperature limit that it is effective at. �This is important, the higher the practical temperature of the deicer, the more freeze/thaw cycles your concrete will potentially be exposed to. �For example, if sodium chloride (salt or halite) has a practical temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning it is only effective above 20 degrees, and the temperature falls below 20 degrees, then the salt brine will freeze. �On the other hand calcium chloride has a practical temperature of -25 degrees, so it is effective and the brine won't freeze until temperatures drops below -25 degrees reducing the odds of a freeze/thaw cycle.-Calcium Chloride = -25 degrees FahrenheitBelow is a table describing 3 of the most used deicers and their lowest practical temperature.Remember....Limit the traffic on your driveway/walkway, mechanically remove all the snow you can, apply a deicer to snow packed/icy areas and clean these areas shortly thereafter. �This will protect your driveway and keep everyone safe.So let's be real! �Most of us don't get a chance to remove any snow until after we have driven and walked on it. �So now we need to mechanically remove all the snow we can. �What is left is snow that has melted, refroze and bonded to your driveway or walkway. �Now we use our magic potion, deicers. �Apply an effective�amount of deicer to only the snow packed and icy areas, let the magic potion work until it breaks the bond between the snow and your driveway. �Once this bond is broken, immediately remove the snow pack and icy areas with a snow shovel. �The key word is "immediately". ��You don't want these areas to start melting and then refreeze because you will be faced with the same problem tomorrow.The secret to effective snow removal, for the most part, is limiting compaction and removing it as quickly as possible. �Have you ever noticed once you get home from work, after you have driven up and down your driveway several times, the snow is much harder to remove where you drove on it. �The reason is when you drive on snow you are compacting it creating friction, or heat, that initiates the melting process. �Because the temperatures or ground temperatures are still below freezing, the snow refreezes and bonds to your driveway, thus making it more difficult to mechanically remove. �So, the easiest way to make mechanical snow removal effective is to limit the foot and vehicular traffic on the areas you want to remove snow.-Practical Temperature of Common DeicersThe grapple is often used for anything that cannot be balanced or held on the pallet forks. While it is not advisable for using it to move live trees � the tree could slip and become damaged in the grapple's grip � it is great for moving anything else that would normally be moved by hand, by pallet forks, or by a bucket and thumb attachment.

Remember....Limit the traffic on your driveway/walkway, mechanically remove all the snow you can, apply a deicer to snow packed/icy areas and clean these areas shortly thereafter. �This will protect your driveway and keep everyone safe.

Author: Steve Combs