# back-dragging



## MIwinter (Dec 20, 2008)

One of my customers had about 14" infront of her garage doors and hardly any at the end of her drive. My question is whats the most efficient way to back drag it out of there. I have a 7.6 western straight blade. Is it better to angle it all the way one direction or leave it straight? I got the job done just looking to see if theres another way other than backdraggin the same spot 3-4 times and still leaving 1" of now packed snow.


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## GreenManEnvy (Nov 7, 2007)

You definitely want to keep the blade straight, not angled.

I've got a V which is pretty terrible to backdrag with ~ for my plow, I could improve things with locking cylinders and a back drag edge, but as of now the only site I do where backdragging is even needed is my own drive, so I haven't bothered yet.

Do a search here and you'll find a number of threads on home-fabricated edges, and a few on commercial products.

If you really have a lot of places you need to backdrag, maybe look into adding a back plow. My truck is already too long without the V plow, so adding another few feet would prevent me from getting into some of the places I plow now, but the next truck will have a shorter wheelbase and a back plow.


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## nekos (Oct 16, 2003)

just pull in , drop the plow and back out. it's about the only thing you can do. 
what i would normally do is angle the plow as im backing up. i try to get all the snow out of the driveway and not windrow any thing to the sides ... so angle the blade so the snow go's into the middle of the driveway then come back and pull it out with your blade straight.



GreenManEnvy;687994 said:


> You definitely want to keep the blade straight, not angled.


just curious why you are saying not to angle the blade when back dragging ?


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## GreenManEnvy (Nov 7, 2007)

nekos;688006 said:


> just curious why you are saying not to angle the blade when back dragging ?


Now you've got me wondering.

It was definitely something I've read somewhere ~ I only played with backdragging a little bit last year, because it only helps with a short band of snow in front of my garage. This past weekend, I used my eldest son and a shovel to deal with that bit, so I didn't bother.

I suppose, if you have a straight, short drive without a lot of room, the plow's going to be straight when you pull up to the garage... never thought of angling it as I backed away.

In my drive, angling right up to the garage doors might give me a better shot - truck's so long, I can barely fit up to the garage door, and if I do, I can only back away a few inches before I'm up a short grassy bank. At an angle, I can pull down the driveway and it might work out pretty well.

I'll play with it some next snow. Still won't have locking cylinders on it, so the V will fold, but maybe having one side already extended will help it hold better...


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## BRENTMAN (Oct 13, 2008)

im curious as how the Boss V plow works with backdragging....is it horrible or what? I'll be doing driveways and i'll possibly be getting the boss v


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## Snowchief (Sep 26, 2007)

BRENTMAN;688618 said:


> im curious as how the Boss V plow works with backdragging....is it horrible or what? I'll be doing driveways and i'll possibly be getting the boss v


Still beats shoveling, even without the smartlocks and the wings flapping all over the place. Definitely not the best but it's not horrible.


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## Kenyou (Oct 13, 2007)

My 8ft Meyers poly plow with a straight blade doesn't do bad, but not great either. I back drag my sidewalk in front of the house and it keeps it clean and 2ft on each side of the sidewalk. I still have to go after the sidewalk with my blower.


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

I've got an 8' Fisher straight which helps cause it is heavy. I pull in with it straight, but as I start to back up, I'll angle it. Works well, about like angling forward, but it does take some getting used to in order to be efficient. I'm not trying to get to the surface, either. Just be careful not to get too much buildup in your A-frame that you can't lift and back up. That's especially a problem if you're backing into unplowed snow. Lifting the plow puts the A-frame deeper into the snow you're backblading and the rear wheels getting less "bite". Practice in 3-5" snow.


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## Oasis (Oct 28, 2007)

I also usually drive up to the garage drop the blade straight and angle once i begin reversing. Once Ive back dragged the driveway I always start again at the begining of the driveway and push forward. I then back drag again. This step takes an extra 2 minutes but it does leave a much cleaner surface.


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## s helping hand (Dec 4, 2008)

I back drag 60 driveways a snow fall.. i have a western 7.6 mid wight with a back drag edge.. Even with that its not that good at back dragging...The plow is to light 510 pounds and tends to left when pulling snow back in some conditions... May not have had this problem if i had a snow way pow with down force.. or a heavy plow that would stay to the ground... when i do a drive way i 1st drop plow scape forward making a clean pipe than i back drag it out to road... but if theres lots of snow in front of garage theres not much you can do.. Would help if you ask them to open garage if no cars are in there u can pull in there and pull it out easy.Doing a.front scape and than back scape is best may take 2 to 4 passes to make it clean... Drive ways are pain with a plow i now switched to using snowblowers like it better


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## GreenManEnvy (Nov 7, 2007)

BRENTMAN;688618 said:


> im curious as how the Boss V plow works with backdragging....is it horrible or what? I'll be doing driveways and i'll possibly be getting the boss v


I wasn't impressed. Then again, I've only used it on gravel, which adds another layer of complexity and a few extra layers of snow and ice...


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## BRENTMAN (Oct 13, 2008)

anyone buy one of those backdrag blades from BackDragSnow.com? they seem pretty cool but i'm wondering if itll cause any problems.....only $175 for one, do they even work i wonder?


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## daninline (Nov 1, 2004)

What I do is pull up to where I want to backdrag and drop the blade and move forward just a little you will see the blade go down a little as it digs in. Then I back-up.

I also built a back drag blade that works good only cost about 50 bucks at the most. I have been running this one for 2 years. I have some photo's of when I was making it, it's kind of a mini pusher when I back up so trails.

I don't want to us a odls cutting edge it's to stong so it won't give if you hit something and to much weight


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## MOWBIZZ (Sep 11, 2007)

I backdrag every driveway I plow...but the difference is that I have a SnoWay plow with down pressure...it's great to hear the plow scraping pavement as I back ayaw from the garage. I can literally, pull the snow all the way to the street in some cases, then just push to the sides. If you ever have the chance to try one you'll never go back. This is not meant to down all the other brands of plows....just a fact about SnoWay.


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## BRENTMAN (Oct 13, 2008)

Yeah, my plan was to put a snoway on my wrangler...but it might be easier to to finance a new truck that comes with a plow, and buy the snoway maybe next year......plus with the F250 i'd be able to do work all year round, and not just rely on plowing with my wrangler....who knows whatll happen....i still might just do my best to do get a loan for a snoway, but its been a real PITA


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## 1pfieffer1 (Aug 27, 2007)

Oasis;688836 said:


> I also usually drive up to the garage drop the blade straight and angle once i begin reversing. Once Ive back dragged the driveway I always start again at the begining of the driveway and push forward. I then back drag again. This step takes an extra 2 minutes but it does leave a much cleaner surface.


DAMN.....beat me to it...........works wonders and clears down to surface.

Been doing it that way for years with my Fishers. Now that I have a SnoWay I still use this method to clean off the packed snow.


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## scottL (Dec 7, 2002)

Here's your order of value for back dragging.....

1) snoway for back dragging.
2) Any straight blade with a backdrag blade
3) western mvp with backdrag
4) a shovel or snow blower
5) boss V without locking cylinders or sport plows

A plow has a limit to how much depth it can back drag per pass. After the the snow roles off or floats the blade. When the snow is packed down after your first pass you push forward toward the garage and lift the blade two feet before and then drop and backdrag again. You never get closer than a foot because at some point ( guarnteed ) you will buy a garage door the hardway.


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## GreenManEnvy (Nov 7, 2007)

After playing around with the V-XT in our last pitiful little dusting, I can offer the following:

1) When, because of the size of the truck and the orientation of the driveway and garage doors, you can't get a nice straight angle of attack, the V does a decent job of clearing things when you backdrag in scoop mode. Of course, this was purely for fun and experimentation - there's only about 1-3' of area I can't get going forward, and it's quicker to take care of it with a shovel. But I was surprised that it did a good job in scoop and left things pretty clear (on gravel).

2) I plowed a paved drive ~ first time, all my regular work is on gravel ~ and it did okay backdragging, although not having the locking cylinders did make it more difficult. This was with a very tiny amount of snow, though, and the the non-locking cylinders would probably do even worse if there had been even an inch of snow in that part of the driveway.

I expect that if I pick up any clients where I need to back drag on a regular basis, those SmartLocks are going to become necessary.


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## Runner (Jul 21, 2000)

I just installed a new backdrag edge on a western 7,6 w/ prowings. It is installed with a new 6" x 1/2" wearbar. Actually, I am impressed with this edge. While I cannot get and do not expect a perfect scrape for too long of back draggings, I DO get MUCH better results. Now, technique wise (for deeper snow), I go all the way up, drop the blade (sometimes creeping forward a bit to dig in, but not so much anymore with the backdrag edge). I pull back, angle the blade as I am going backward to sort of "push off" of the garage. This then gives me a clean edge as I am pulling backward, and moves snow over to the side. It is also cutting well at an angle. I pull back a little further than a truck length, lift the blade, and pull up to the next row - making sure I have overlap, and making sure the blade is slightly angled to push the snow over opposite of what is already cleared. When that is pulled back, I then pull forward without lifting the blade - scraping forward and clean. I stop, lift the blade, creep forward a bit (to get in front of the pile), and pull back again. Repeat with other rows. I then back out, turn around (or use the drive to turn around) and push outward...either stacking in the yard - off the driveway, or in the street to be placed in their yard. 
Now, for shallower snow, I can backdrag the whole length of the drive and scrape forward and repeat...using the same angles I use for the short distances.
I can say, that I get much better results without all the back and forth stuff I was doing before (repeating).
And I'm sorry...to answer the original poster's question, sometimes, (usually for me), it is easier to just jump out and shovel in front of the garage BEFORE you start the backdrag. this will knock the drift(s) down, as well.


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## AJ Snow (Oct 22, 2009)

Just go to www.backdragsnow.com. Mounts on the back side of the pro plow. Looks like it would work well.


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## hydro_37 (Sep 10, 2006)

If it is packed down you can push it forward a few feet to break it up and then backdrag it out.


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## Silverado_guy07 (Jan 29, 2008)

ok i use a straight blade and a V blade.
I find the V blade back drags better because its heavier (960lbs)
When i pull into the driveway i drop the plow and keep it angled.
I drive on the clean part & before i reach the garage I RAISE the plow. (very important if you dont raise it in time you will have a mound of snow by the garage and your shoveler is going to hate you)
drop the plow & drag the snow
repeat untill finished 
i also do use the angling as requierd to speed up the process.
this is a slow way of plowing it takes me around 4 - 5 minutes per standard double wide driveway

my straight blade (7'6" pro plus) has a westen back drag blade and I think it was a waste of money no difference I find it floats right over car tracks


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## andcon83 (Dec 10, 2005)

I use a 8.5' Fisher Xtreme V. Due to the 80* angle of the cutting edge and the stock locking cylinders, this plow backdrags really well. The EZV I had before wasn't very well. I would recommend taking a little at a time. If you take it all at once, you will have a build up of snow and it will lift your plow. Just take 4-5 or so feet to a time. More snow, less to a time. If you take to much and then have to stop because the truck spins, it will be very hard to get over the pile. Then it will be packed down harder because you had to drive over it. Good Luck!!


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