Plowing stakes

DickR · 10-13-2019, 10:14 AM

Every November, before the ground freezes, I place some plowing stakes, a few along the edges of my driveway but mostly along the last stretch of road coming down into where I am. Without these, the plow tends to take corners too wide in places. Although plowing done along the road by the town and at driveways by other contractors usually takes out a fair number of the stakes, at least the snow pile at the sides becomes enough to guide subsequent plowing. Often I'll pick up plow-removed stakes and plant them in the snow piles. Sometimes I'll use my snowblower to trim out edges where the plow has been way off, but that's another story.

For stakes, I have been using wood poles, mostly scraps from various minor carpentry efforts, plus some rips of 2x framing. I use the table saw to cut the bottoms to crude points. To place one, I drive an old cold chisel into the (usually stony) ground to make a hole, then drive the stake in as best I can. Getting a stake in more than 4-5" is a usually elusive effort, but once the ground freezes it's enough. When the plow hits a stake, it snaps at ground level.

But I'm thinking there might be a better choice of materials for the stakes and a better way of placing them in the ground, so I'm looking for suggestions.

One idea would be to use skinny orange fiberglass rods made for the purpose, and use a piece of rebar to make the hole for insertion. When one gets broken by the plow, I could cut off the frizzy broken end and grind a new point for it. Any other low/no cost ideas?

10-13-2019, 10:14 AM	#1
DickR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 735 Thanks: 4 Thanked 254 Times in 166 Posts	Plowing stakes Every November, before the ground freezes, I place some plowing stakes, a few along the edges of my driveway but mostly along the last stretch of road coming down into where I am. Without these, the plow tends to take corners too wide in places. Although plowing done along the road by the town and at driveways by other contractors usually takes out a fair number of the stakes, at least the snow pile at the sides becomes enough to guide subsequent plowing. Often I'll pick up plow-removed stakes and plant them in the snow piles. Sometimes I'll use my snowblower to trim out edges where the plow has been way off, but that's another story. For stakes, I have been using wood poles, mostly scraps from various minor carpentry efforts, plus some rips of 2x framing. I use the table saw to cut the bottoms to crude points. To place one, I drive an old cold chisel into the (usually stony) ground to make a hole, then drive the stake in as best I can. Getting a stake in more than 4-5" is a usually elusive effort, but once the ground freezes it's enough. When the plow hits a stake, it snaps at ground level. But I'm thinking there might be a better choice of materials for the stakes and a better way of placing them in the ground, so I'm looking for suggestions. One idea would be to use skinny orange fiberglass rods made for the purpose, and use a piece of rebar to make the hole for insertion. When one gets broken by the plow, I could cut off the frizzy broken end and grind a new point for it. Any other low/no cost ideas?