In Brief: In Brief: How to Remove Snow from Gravel Driveways
If you have gravel driveways, you’ve probably fretted over how to get rid of the accumulated snow. The answer is simple: get a two- or three-stage snow blower. You can adjust the height of the auger and housing to stay several inches above gravel surfaces. Single-stage snow blowers don’t offer this option.
However, if your driveway is made of gravel and not concrete, then you’ve got an entirely different set of issues on your hand.
How in the world are you supposed to remove snow from gravel driveways without scattering gravel all over your and your neighbor’s yard?
The answer is simpler than you may think: get a two-stage snow blower.
If you’re wondering how a single-stage differs from a two-stage, there are several answers to this question.
First, two-stage snow blowers come with impeller fans that shoot out the drawn-in snow piles across long distances.
Second, they have beefier motors to tackle several hundred more pounds of snow per minute than a single-stage could hope to achieve.
However, when it comes to gravel driveways, two-stage snow blowers’ augers and intake housing can be lifted off of the ground to keep from drawing in pieces of gravel into the impeller fan.
The same can be said for three-stage snow blowers.
Single-stage snowblowers cannot be lifted without the operator physically picking the tool up.
If you’re using a powered shovel, that may not be an issue, but single-stage snow blowers can weigh more than a hundred pounds, and keeping it up and away from gravel is going to destroy your shoulder muscles.
If you’d like to see how dangerous it can be to use a single-stage snowblower on gravel, this video will give you a crystal-clear idea.
Royal Reynold’s YouTube channel has an excellent video showing how to adjust the height of the auger housing and how it keeps the machine from pulling in bits of gravel.
Now, if you’re wondering whether you should invest in a two-stage snow blower, the answer is yes if you have a gravel driveway.
As to whether a three-stage machine is ideal, it depends on how much snowfall your city experiences every winter season, but more often than not, a cheaper two-stage option will work just fine.