# Please help me Lady has a New Truck & Nd a plow



## Laura (Dec 28, 2006)

Guys, I just bought a new 2007 Silverado Z71 1500 and want a plow. I have a long gravel circle driveway and I'm tired of hiring plowers that send half my gravel in my bushes. Its going to cost me $1000 just to get a load of gravel down for next year so I want to buy a plow. Please help me as far as giving me advice on the best plow for me and my truck. It will be just for me to use only and my driveway. Are there some plows easier to use than others. This is kinda intimidating for me but I know I need to do this. I do know that you can get these lifts for the bottom of the plow so it won't destroy my gravel driveway. I live in Traverse City , Michigan. Thank you in advance for your responses. Laura


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

Welcome, Laura. Why don't you go to this thread and see if someone near you would come out there and give you some advice: http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=20844&highlight=Traverse+City

You're going to find that being a new to plowing, it's hard to plow a gravel drive without dislocating gravel. Especially being circular.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

Laura, I didn't see what MICK gave you to look at but you can be sure its good info. We don't plow gravel drives but any plow will do the same thing to a gravel driveway if it's not raised up a little while plowing it. IMO its not "what plow to buy", just a matter of getting used to the plow and the heights you need to be at in order to not take 3" of gravel with the snow. You will find its not as easy as it looks. Good luck.


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## ltlm (Jan 14, 2005)

hi Laura go to gtr on the way to buckly. then when you buy the plow tell them youll want the sod saver installed. its a pipe that covers the cutting blade. it will work great on your drive.


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## corey1977 (Sep 16, 2006)

*please help me lady has new truck&nd a plow*

I think she could get away with a fisher home steader plowpurplebou


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## graycenphil (Mar 4, 2006)

What's the sod saver?


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## Kramer (Nov 13, 2004)

Laura;343368 said:


> Guys, I just bought a new 2007 Silverado Z71 1500 and want a plow. I have a long gravel circle driveway and I'm tired of hiring plowers that send half my gravel in my bushes. Its going to cost me $1000 just to get a load of gravel down for next year so I want to buy a plow. Please help me as far as giving me advice on the best plow for me and my truck. It will be just for me to use only and my driveway. Are there some plows easier to use than others. This is kinda intimidating for me but I know I need to do this. I do know that you can get these lifts for the bottom of the plow so it won't destroy my gravel driveway. I live in Traverse City , Michigan. Thank you in advance for your responses. Laura


Laura,

You didn't say how big your driveway actually is. For plow advice, the answer given that any plow will dig up gravel is correct.

I have a light duty plow with a plastic edge on it........I've been plowing for about 25 years and still dig up a little.

The idea of the pipe on the bottom is good, but no matter what, until the grounds frozen, you have to be extremely careful.

With regard to spending $1000 for a gravel top coat, I can't see how (although I don't know your area). Around here, you can buy it for about $8/yd at the pit, and easily get 20-25 yards delivered for about $50.

For $1000, I could re-do a home depot lot! You're looking at over 100 yards of material at that price. Instead of a plow, I'd invest in a dump truck.

By the way.... I just put in a new parking area for a guy--gravel-- 20 x 25ft. I asked if his plow guy was OK as the area is quite wet and the gravel is still not setup. He said the guy was not too good, a friend of the family. I said, see you in the spring. Now theres some $ waiting to happen! His driveway has got to be at least 750 ft long with a turnaround and new parking area. Just thought I'd mention this to say--- "and you think you have problems"!

Good luck and happy plowing. You're most likely going to need a load of gravel after you're done though!


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## itsgottobegreen (Mar 31, 2004)

A Western ploy mid weight is what you want. Because its a plastic blade, the gravel will not remove the paint and cause it to rust like a all steel blade. Its a real easy plow to install on the truck when you want to use it. My 49 year old mother can put my 9' Western pro plus (weight about 4 times more than a midweight) on my dump truck by herself in 30 seconds. 

Then have your plow dealer install the gravel saver. Which basically a piece of pipe with a grove cut in it with 4 bolts welded in the side so you can slip it on, tighten the bolts to clamp it down. Then the plow will glide over the gravel. Thus reducing the amount of gravel you move with the plow.


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## go plow (Dec 14, 2004)

hi and welcome to plowsite! 
ive been plowing for many years, and if the ground has no frost in it you will dig it up!
as far as the gravel saver ive never heard of it before, if it doesnt get down to the gravel what do you think will happen ? ICE ! 
The best way to plow gravel is to keep your blade a few inches off the ground , do your plowing, then at the end make a few back drag passes to clean and smooth everything over..this way you dont have to much buildup that can freeze, then as the winter progresses and you have some packed or a good snow base on your drive, you can plow without to many problems. One other thing that will help you in the spring is invest in a sweeper to help with the clean up.. gravel drives are tricky, rather you save the gravel and have a ice problem or you clean the drive good and move the gravel around a bit!! please dont take this the wrong way but i think that the first time you plow for yourself you will find out that your plow guy really tried to do the best he could....its not as easy as it looks!!!


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## DBL (Aug 27, 2005)

im not trying to be smart but would it be logical to put that $1000 and the money on a plow towards paving the driveway


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## 00 Ram (Nov 11, 2004)

that's what I did....well, at least in part. the worst part...the last 100ft is on a steep hill, and the gravel would wash out quickly. It was very treacherous in the winter, because the plow (whether it was me or someone else) could never get a clean scrape...then it would ice up, etc, etc. after repairing and resurfacing several times, I decided that one way or another, It was gonna cost me. either one big bill for paving, or endless smaller bills for perpetual re-surfacing of the gravel. 
So now I've got both.  
the still non-paved part...thats flat, so it wears much better. yes, the plow digs it up, but not that much. Its not as big a problem as, say, a suburban driveway thats got landscaping along side of it. this is just a dirt road in the woods.


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## scuba875 (Dec 22, 2004)

DBL;344129 said:


> im not trying to be smart but would it be logical to put that $1000 and the money on a plow towards paving the driveway


That was going to be my advice.

The first thing I would do is make sure that $1000 was just for rock.Our lot is 320' wide x 120' deep all gravel. With delivery and grading I think it only cost us around $1500 last spring. We don't have to do it each year eaither.


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## BobC (Nov 5, 2004)

Gravel drives will always scrape up. Raise the plow slightly and push all the snow to one spot, that way you can recover the stone.
Kramer, come to my house 25 yards for $50 I'll take it!!!


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

> With regard to spending $1000 for a gravel top coat, I can't see how (although I don't know your area). Around here, you can buy it for about $8/yd at the pit, and easily get 20-25 yards delivered for about $50.
> 
> For $1000, I could re-do a home depot lot! You're looking at over 100 yards of material at that price. Instead of a plow, I'd invest in a dump truck.


If I wanted to get 10 yards of gravel or stone or whatever I want from the gravel pit its gonna run me $400 for the truck to pull into my driveway and dump the gravel in a big pile, then I have to either pay someone to come up and push it around and flatten it out or do that myself. $1000 to get your driveway topcoated with gravel is a reasonable price...though not one I'd want to pay regularly.

You will dig up your gravel on the first pass or two, if you kep the plow raised slightly it will certainly help.


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

> With regard to spending $1000 for a gravel top coat, I can't see how (although I don't know your area). Around here, you can buy it for about $8/yd at the pit, and easily get 20-25 yards delivered for about $50.
> 
> For $1000, I could re-do a home depot lot! You're looking at over 100 yards of material at that price. Instead of a plow, I'd invest in a dump truck.


If I wanted to get 10 yards of gravel or stone or whatever I want from the gravel pit its gonna run me $400 for the truck to pull into my driveway and dump the gravel in a big pile, then I have to either pay someone to come up and push it around and flatten it out or do that myself. $1000 to get your driveway topcoated with gravel is a reasonable price...though not one I'd want to pay regularly. How you could possily get 20-25 yards delivered anywhere beyond next door to the gravel pit is utterly incomrehenisible to me.

I also submit that she probably doesn't use bulk fill-grade gravel in her driveway, probably more like a blustone or something ornamental that runs (locally) $22/ton. Thats what I'm slowly converting my driveway over to.

You will dig up your gravel on the first pass or two, if you kep the plow raised slightly it will certainly help.


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

mayhem;344620 said:


> If I wanted to get 10 yards of gravel or stone or whatever I want from the gravel pit its gonna run me $400 for the truck to pull into my driveway and dump the gravel in a big pile, then I have to either pay someone to come up and push it around and flatten it out or do that myself.


I damned near choked on my potato chips while reading that. $400 just for the delivery? And I thought it was high when I got a quote of $500 to gravel about 250' of my driveway - that included the gravel and spreading it, then rolling it.


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