Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Yukonica on February 18, 2015, 10:08:44 PM
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Pretty simple: plough the yard all winter long with the ATV... everybody is happy.
Spring time; the nicely plowed grounds melt during the day and glaze over at night: skidz-ville: broken limbs.. that sort of stuff.
I can break the glaze somewhat with the plough blade. But I want a better option.
Still using the ATV: does/has anyone used a landscape rake or other implements to break-up sheet ice?
I'm thinking landscape rake because of 'summer' options but would consider other implements.
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We used a 'drag', which was a couple of really big angle irons set with cleats along their outer surfaces. They were attached to cables and spaced about a foot apart. We dragged it behind a tractor, but you could scale it down.
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A coat of cinders from the coal furnace worked well when I was young.
Later in Oregon it was a coating of volcanic cinders.
The cinders not only provide traction, they are dark in color and so gather the suns' heat
to melt the ice. BTW does not contaminate the soil like salt or chemical deicers.
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We used a 'drag', which was a couple of really big angle irons set with cleats along their outer surfaces. They were attached to cables and spaced about a foot apart. We dragged it behind a tractor, but you could scale it down.
I built a drag from grader ripper teeth and 4x8 (probably 250 pounds)... works alright but still doesn't have the down force to rip an inch into the ice layer. Also built a compacter from corrigated sewer tube filled with cement that does a splendid job on fresh fall or snow with a bit of moisture: just doesn't break the ice up. There's two or three weeks in spring when walking in the yard or on trails gets positively dangerous.
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A coat of cinders from the coal furnace worked well when I was young.
I still use ash from the wood stove the same way as you. Works great and I'm willing to live with the paw prints tracking into the house ...
I'd need a lot to cover the area I groom around the house. There's another 3km of trails @ 6' wide I need to groom.
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Get those ice cramp-ons for your boots.
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Get those ice cramp-ons for your boots.
Yaktrax