Snow Removal Tips - Page 1

Boy, did we get dumped on yesterday!  And the roads were very icy, too. As I was headed into town to get gas for the snowblower, the tow truck was hauling someone's pickup out of the ditch!

This is my first winter here, and one problem I'm running into is clearing the snow from the dog runs. The runs are, of course, for safety reasons, an enclosed space. The only access is through doors at each end.

So, those of you who have kennels, how do you cope with a foot of new fallen snow? Push it through the wire at the end of the runs? Lug the snowblower in to the runs somehow?

And how do you keep runs clean when it's below freezing, and you can't hose them down? (Besides scooping up poop, of course!)

It's beginning to dawn on me just WHY some people have their runs completely roofed over! 

I just block them inside, shovel the snow out the ouside door and push it away with a tractor & blade

when i was a kid, it was my job to keep our dog's kennels clean - oh boy!

the key is to clean them often, during the warmest time of the day (pray that its warm enough for snow/ice to melt just a bit) and use a square shovel (concrete mixing shovel). its possible to get in between the ice and the concrete and on a good day, large ice chunks would separate. Sometime a pick axe is usefull to break up the ice.

don't dress overly warmly or you'll catch a cold when the wind rips through your clothes and hits your sweat.

 Yes, push snow out however you must, build runs in sunny areas, if used with different dogs you must still clean and disinfect and that means hot water and disinfectants rinsed well. Runs must drain well or it is all for naught. A good reason to build your own kennels so they are done correctly and take into account such things......

I wish I had a snowplow. The lawn tractor isn't designed to take one. Just me and the orange beast - my 20 year old Homelite snowblower!

Believe me, if I were redesigning this place, I'd have a big section of fence somewhere that could be opened up to get rid of snow!  Or, even better, each run would open up at both ends to make snow removal easier. My dream kennel would have them open to a large grassy exercise yard where I could turn dogs out for playtime in the good weather, and dump sn*w in the winter. 

The kennels on the east side are the worst. They are shut in on three sides by two buidings and a board privacy fence. On the fourth side, there is a gate in the fence, but that leads to my driveway, and I don't exactly want to dump the snow there...I just finished clearing it!

We're to get another 30 to 40 cm tonight (that's 12 to 16 inches for you non-metric folk), and more tomorrow!  Anyone wanna come and help shovel?? 

"Believe me, if I were redesigning this place, I'd have a big section of fence somewhere that could be opened up to get rid of snow! Or, even better, each run would open up at both ends to make snow removal easier."

Or even better...put heating elements in the concrete!

Yeah, that WOULD be nice...but I have electric heat in the kennel, and a very low slope on the house roof, which means I have to put ice and snow melting cables up there. If I installed cables in the floor of the runs, I'd go broke paying the electric bill! 

Mind you, with 2 acres of land, I am seriously thinking of investing in solar panels!

There's another foot out there this morning, and it's still coming down at a pretty good rate. Gotta get out there, and start dealing with it...(yes, I'm procrastinating!)

Mine have a roof over them and I put those truck tarps (like the sun shades) on the sides. Helps cut down on wind too!