Staking
Prior to the first snowfall, mark the edges of your property to indicate those areas that need to be plowed, so that you can plow safely and neatly without damaging the surrounding turf. Also, mark utility boxes and other objects such as gas meters and sewer vent pipes to help prevent injuries and costly damage.
Keep Drains Clear
Throughout the winter, keep drains clear and unobstructed, so melting snow has an easy, appropriate escape.
Maintain Safe Speeds
While plowing, always maintain a manageable speed limit, generally 10 miles per hour. A faster speed can push snow onto the windshield, reducing your visibility. Also, if you hit an obstruction while plowing, the faster you’re going, the greater potential for injury or damage.
Planning
When determining where to pile snow, think two snowfalls ahead. Build snow banks far enough back to ensure you have room for future snow accumulation. Also, when determining your plowing pattern, try to push snow away from the building, if possible.
Stacking
As you come to the end of the pass, begin to raise the blade to prevent damaging the turf and to help stack the snow.
Avoid Overloading
The snow’s depth and water content should determine the width of your pass, or how much of the blade you use for each pass. The goal is to move just enough snow with each pass to get the job done efficiently without overloading your equipment.
Back-dragging
When plowing driveways more than three car lengths long, one common technique used is back-dragging. This is when you drive to the starting point (very often the garage), lower the blade, and pull the snow back approximately two car lengths, repeating the process the full width of the driveway. Then turn around and back into the area you just back-dragged and push the snow to the area where the snow will be piled.
Use Common Sense!
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