Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hello.

  It is freezing rain all day today in southern NY, but did get an inch of snow before it changed to rain.  Wanted your advice on how to tackle it if at all.  Right now my whole driveway has an inch of almost translucent slush covering it (around 400 feet long).   I am worried that it is going to freeze solid tonight if I don't do anything (rain scheduled to let up around 5PM EST, then drop to 27 degrees overnight.)  It hasn't "washed away" as I hoped.  Tomorrow is calling for a cloudy high of 38, maybe that will finish the job?  Or do you suggest hitting it tonight before the freeze with the 2 stage?  I am just not sure what the 2 stage would even do with an inch of slush, but I guess clearing it is best?

Thanks,

Dan

Quite a few years ago we had a snow-rain-snow-hard freeze. I ended up with places where I had 4" of almost clear ice. I tried something and it worked very well, although it was probably expensive to do. Next day after trying to shovel, chip, etc etc and getting nowhere, I had an idea. The house I was in at that time had a furnace closet in the back of the garage, which also housed my gas water heater. I hooked the garden hose to the drain on the heater. No nozzle, I just laid the hose down and let the really hot water run out. As it started working its way under the ice I was able to pry up huge chunks and just slide them down to the street. In a few places I couldn't break the slabs into manageable sized pieces, so I used the hose to cut them.  Then I just made a huge ice pile at the curb. Ran out of hot water so I took a break. Next time I ran out I discovered cold (50ish F) water worked too, just not as fast.
It worked, and wasn't hard at all. In fact it was kinda fun