Cold, snowy days signal the start of skid steer snow removal season. Whether it’s your fortieth winter with a skid steer or your first, it’s always good to plan out a job before you try to plow through it. These 5 easy snow removal tips will help you have an easier — and more efficient — time with winter road maintenance.
Snow Removal Best Practices
If you’re undertaking a commercial snow clearing operation, these 5 easy snow removal tips can save you time and equipment wear.
1. Plan Your Pattern
One of the biggest mistakes that people make is dropping into a parking lot and just starting to push snow around. This can be a waste of time and energy as you’ll find yourself:
- Retracing your path
- Building more piles than necessary
- Spending more time on a job than it may be worth
To avoid large amounts of over-plowing, it’s best to first survey the area and make a plan. With some quick math you can even figure out how to cover the whole area in the least amount of turns. You can also take this time to plan where you will be building your piles so that they are unobtrusive and won’t cause a safety concern.
2. Watch the Wind
As part of your “site survey,” make sure to take the wind into consideration. One of the most frustrating things that can happen when performing winter road maintenance is to get things clear only to have the wind undo your work. That’s why it’s important to always work with the most common wind direction in mind.
If the area you are plowing in typically has North/Northwest winds, you should build snow piles on the South/Southwest side. That way, if the wind begins to blow, the snow will drift towards your piles, not off of them.
The versatility of a skid steer makes it ideal for snow removal because of the unpredictability of some storms. For example, if conditions change while you are commercial snow clearing, it’s easy to adjust with a skid steer.
3. Remember the Drift
In heavier storms, already settled snow can be blown along the ground. Clearing snow with your skid steer as far back as you can go will help so that when it does drift it is only covering the side areas of a lot and not the most regularly used space.
You should also keep piles low in open areas, where the winds tend to be strong.
4. Use The Right Attachment
A snow bucket can be a great tool, but it shouldn’t be the only one you use. As you are undertaking commercial snow clearing you’ll want to have the right skid steer attachments for the area you are clearing and the type of snow that is falling.
That’s why at Prime Attachments you’ll have access to the right snow accessory:
- Power sweeper
- Snow blower
- Snow bucket
- Commercial grade low profile snow bucket
- Snow pusher
- Snow blade
5. Maintenance
When the last lane of snow is cleared, you’ll be ready to get inside and warm up, but there is one more part of the job to complete. That’s cleaning the equipment and performing quick maintenance tasks. This could include:
- Cleaning off any salt, sludge, and ice.
- Refilling the fuel tank.
- Checking the lubricants.
- Tightening any tire chains.
This will ensure that the skid steer, and snow attachments, are ready when the next storm hits.
Be Prepared For Winter Road Maintenance
The cold weather brings with it a range of winter tasks for your skid steer. When the time comes, and the snow starts to fall, Prime Attachments will be there to help you take it on.
Prime Attachments is the number one skid steer loader attachment manufacturer & supplier in the business. They have the attachments to help you not just get ready for winter, but to get through it.
This winter, visit Prime Attachments for help with all of your skid steer snow removal jobs.
