# How do I "back blade" the proper way?



## Zack1978 (Apr 30, 2005)

Hi everyone,
I own a 1979 Toyota 4x4 short bed pick up, with a 6.5 Fisher plow, it has a underhood hyd system. Well two weeks ago when I went to plow my first driveway(other than my own), and I am very confused how to do it. Two rows of the driveway were done with a snowblower, so I backed in and pushed everything else out. HOwever there was a large area in front of the garage. I pulled in the driveway straight, and drove to the door, and dropped the blade and went in reverse. All it did was pack the snow down, and it didn't move it out of the way. So what am I doing wrong? When you push forward, the plow gets right down to the blacktop. But I don't understand how to do a driveway? Any ideas or tips?

Thank you,
Zack


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

In simple terms "perfect".
Thats about all that you can do depending on the time of day the sun should melt it later.


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## MOW ME OVER (Jan 30, 2004)

When I back blade from a building I will actually drop the blade at a point that is a little longer than my truck and push up towards the building stopping about 3 feet from the building or door. Then I pick the blade up as high as it goes drive forward 2 or 3 feet and drop the blade again and then reverse away from the building pulling the snow out to where I can then push it away in a forward gear. 
I have found that by doing it this way you do not pack the snow down with the tires but I also suspect that having a heavy 9' blade helps to keep it down on the surface possibly better then a small blade would.

Or you could just get a back blade set up on the backside of your plow if you do a lot of driveways and that will solve your problem also.


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## Mowerpan (Jan 31, 2005)

Yup, what you need to do is go forward and push it all forward, but leave enough room so then you can "backblade" the pile. Going forward will scrap the snow up, and then just backblade the whole pile. Otherwise that's about as good as it gets.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

You can do that, but if you push to much or it's wet with your plow being a little lite you might leave a hump in front of the door.


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## Rgory (Feb 24, 2005)

You may want to look into a back drag cutting edge. This goes behind the regular cutting edge and is angled towards the pavement to help scrape the snow while your in reverse. I dont know if there is a production model made for fishers, but I do know that Western makes one, and there are several other people around here that could point you to towards a helpful hint. 

Or just push forward and pull it all back... Good luck

Ryan


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## go plow (Dec 14, 2004)

your not doing any thing wrong, i think its just because you have a small plow


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

go plow said:


> your not doing any thing wrong, i think its just because you have a small plow


Exactly. Use the same technique with a 9' and watch the difference.


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## Zack1978 (Apr 30, 2005)

Thank you everyone!

I do have one more question. With the driveway in question, if two rows had not been done with a snowblower how should I have attacked the driveway? Should I have just backed in and pushed out? What about the packing down of the tire lines?

Thanks,
Zack

PS: Also what does it mean to stack the snow? And how do I do it correctly?


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## cward05 (Aug 16, 2004)

hey zack...stacking is what you do when you come to the end of the driveway to push the snow into a pile. you have to keep some forward motion while lifting the blade simulanteously (not too soon though otherwise the snow will all be dumped before you want it to be). as you do it more, you will get used to this technique. make sure to keep forward motion otherwise your truck might start to slide or won't be able to drive forward anymore due to the weight of the snow in front of the blade. as for the snow tracks for your tires, you have two options: you can either drive forward and eliminate the problem of packed down snow, or you can backup and plow the snow toward the end of the driveway (and/or across the street IF LEGAL). i have a steep driveway and have to do this often, but my 7'6" blade doesn't leave much snow behind anyway. hope this helps.


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## Yaz (Apr 13, 2005)

go plow said:


> your not doing any thing wrong, i think its just because you have a small plow


yes the weight makes a huge difference as much as the water content in the snow itself. It is just fact that the heavy blades just get down better. As far as riding over your driveway and packing your tracks, if you not pushing forward or off to the side there isn't much you can do.


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## yellowsnow (Aug 1, 2003)

I tried the backdrag blade this year and was unimpressed to say the least. I do like others and push the snow forward, and back drag the pile. I'll take a second and sometimes third backdrag swipe to get right down to pavement.


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## westwind (Sep 14, 2005)

Backdrag blade is the only way to go. We have them on all of our trucks except for the "v". Good Luck.


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## PORTER 05 (Dec 28, 2005)

the only reason you are not pulling any snow up, is casue you have asmall plow.....my 8 FT fisher back drags much better than my 7.5 fisher, thats all it is, youre doing nothing wrong, get a bigger/heavier plow and youll see!


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## dubeb31 (Feb 14, 2005)

i bought one...and if you do driveways that need back dragging....snowman plows are the only way to go.....


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## WOOFSPLOW (Sep 17, 2003)

I have just about the same set-up but it seems to drag a little better than yours. It might depend what kind of snow you had that day (wet) Most of the time I bring my son along to take care of the garage entrances


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