fire as a snow removal tactic

O

obobski

Newcomer
ok, i have like 6" of snow on my driveway/walkway, which is 6" more than i'd like to have, I don't want to go shovel through all of that because its 3 cars wide, and I don't own a snow thrower machine...wouldn't fire or another heat source work? (i'm talking like the $50-style flame thrower, wouldn't that work for getting the snow away?)

or if anyone has other ideas for getting rid of the snow...can't think of much, i just keep thinking of fire as a solution to my problem

edit-
ok after reading something about rotary snowplows i have a better (and probably legal) idea

couldn't you take a lawn mower, turn the blade facing up (ok thats where we realize this is dangerous, so instead of a lawnmower blade, take like a piece of metal or something, but you get the idea) and stick the motor at a 90* rotation, move the wheels (or build a cart ffs) and have yourself a rotary snowplow?
 
Water (even in the form of snow) has an extremely high heat capacity, so getting rid of snow by applying fire to it is both very slow, expensive and dangerous. It is possible to get heat elements to get rid of snow/ice, however these are fairly power-hungry and expensive to use.

As for the lawnmower idea, keep in mind that the mass you will be moving is a few orders of magnitude larger than what a lawnmower is designed to cope with in the first place. Also, if you happen to hit a hidden rock or ice block with that contraption, how are you going to prevent your metal blades from flying off in random directions at lethal speeds?
 
If you melt snow, it's not going to disappear, it's going to turn into water... which is going to freeze into ice (if it's cold enough for snow), probably turning your drive into an ice rink.

As for the lawn mower idea - you'd be better off getting a proper snow blower. Most basic domestic lawn mowers arn't meant to handle something as dense or as wet as snow.

You could just salt/grit your drive, but that won't do your car paintwork much good, though no worse if you're then going to drive on gritted public roads.

If you're really desperate not to use a shovel, you could hose it off the snow with hot water, and then salt/grit over the top to break the ice up before it properly forms. You'd better be careful not to leave pools on the pavement or road that could freeze into ice and cause someone a nasty fall or driving accident.
 
Using fire is also a problem if it involves common liquid fuels like kerosene or gasoline. In the event that you use enough to really melt the snow, the water will carry the blaze elsewhere.

Flagrant use of fire in this manner is also probably against local ordinances and could possibly constitute a criminal offense if it is reported, especially if something goes wrong.
 
6 inches? That's not that hard to shovel through...as long as you don't wait too long and the weather is still cold. (If you wait, you'll end up with a half frozen / wet mess to shovel.) They key to shoveling is to do it RIGHT when it's done snowing...

By the time you figure out what you "could do", you could have shoveled it 3 times already. :)

Of course, the real key to shoveling is to buy a proper snow blower or pay someone else to do it. :cool:

Check your paper for used snow-blowers if you're on a budget!
 
this reminds of that Calvin in Hobbes cartoon



ch890102.gif
 
Blow some cash on a snow thrower, you won't regret it.

Just make sure it's a thrower and not a blower, the blowers suck but the throwers rock. ;)
 
For gods sake, before you try anything unorthodox please remember to....


.....setup a recorder/webcam and if anything horrible/funny results upload it so we may laugh at you.
 
I'm always tempted to hook my pressure washer up to a hot water source when ever it snows around here. Pee is an effective snow remover, after all, so should hot water under pressure.
 
Ratchet said:
I'm always tempted to hook my pressure washer up to a hot water source when ever it snows around here. Pee is an effective snow remover, after all, so should hot water under pressure.
Click to expand...

woooo, same goes for you, record the driveway that you want to saturate with hot water to clean the snow. It should be fun watching the mpemba effect and you trying to walk on your new ice rink :).

i'm feeling delightfully eeeevil.
 
SugarCoat said:
woooo, same goes for you, record the driveway that you want to saturate with hot water to clean the snow. It should be fun watching the mpemba effect and you trying to walk on your new ice rink :).

i'm feeling delightfully eeeevil.
Click to expand...
Rock salt would solve the inevitable ice problem :p
 
yeah, i've been looking at snow thrower devices, i said f'it when i saw the price tag and just got two of the same shovel and used them at the same time, it works a lot better than you might expect, cleared the entire thing in like 15 minutes

didn't stop to think about water's heat carrying capacity (which is understood from understanding liquid cooling) carrying over to snow...hmmm, i'm just thinking there still has to be a more energy efficient way to clear it

what about a pressure washer running heated anti-freeze/windshield fluid? it won't freeze until about -15* C or so (which is a lot colder than it gets here usually) and can still heat up, and shouldn't mess the pressure washer (like running salted water) and shouldn't be ultra dangerous (like DN alcohol)
 
no offense but if i saw some guy spraying down his snow covered drive way with a pressure washer filled with antifreeze, making the snow all nice and blue, i'd think he was a fucking idiot. Ethylene Glycol is...bad, and quite poisonous. Not something you want running in the town/cities drainage system nor is it something you want pooling along the sides of the street. You may even attract some very hefty fines from the town if someone sees you and has the brains to notify authorities. Its not like you can deny doing it either since its going to look like you just mass murdered a hundred smurfs next to your house.

I once knew someone who use to go out and chip away then re-paint his houses aluminum siding. Or the science teacher who got a vial of mercury, opened it, passed it around the class, then washed it down the sink. Its a special kind of stupid.

If you take care of your snowblower (or thrower if you prefer), dont let the gas rot, change the oil (or make sure to always add oil in the case of 2-cycle engines), store it under a real roof of some type, you're investing in something that will last you 20-30 years and will work as good as the day you got it. With periodic belt replacements of course. If you live in someplace that gets a good amount of snow its a good investment.

If you dont want to spend the money, shovel, if you're too lazy to do that, pay someones kid to shovel for you, but please try not to fallback on ideas that require you to saturate your driveway with poisons.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I always thought a heated sidewalk/driveway would be the way to go. Lay down tubes in your forms before you pour the cement and seal in a nice liquid heating system.

As it stands, my wife bought me a snow thrower after my heart attack. :)
 
its expensive and usually reserved for the rich since most people need their entire driveways torn up to even do it. And they're usually electric i believe.
 
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