- Feb 15, 2013
- 33
- 0
This is my first post but my wife posts regularly.
I thought you might enjoy having a reference of helpful tips for clearing your local practice field of snow. We are in Colorado and this weekend is my third time this year clearing a field by hand in time for a Saturday scrimmage. Here are my lessons learned in order of importance:
1. NEVER EVER step in the full depth of snow. Start at the entrance to the field with your shovel and only step on the thin patch of 1/4" or snow that remains after pushing snow with your shovel or tossing loads over the fence. When you step on a couple inches of snow, it compacts and freezes into ice which takes 5x longer to melt. So only step where you've already cleared.
2. Work in patterns that allow you to shovel/push/clear snow in 2 directions. Circular patterns and raster patterns work the best. For example, I'll start at 1 dugout entrance and work along the fence line behind home plate first, moving toward the other dugout and then back the way I came, shoveling or pushing the snow with every step. Avoid shoveling in just 1 direction where you have to walk back the length your cleared path with every load, this wastes time and has you walking without pushing snow.
3. Hit the shadowed spots first and foremost. These are the north facing areas with dugouts and fences shading from direct sun. These spots will take the longest to melt and need to get the most attention.
4. Plan for about 10 man hours to clear a field of a 2" snowfall. Add 10 more hours for every 2" additional snowfall. Remember, all you can do is clear down to about a 1/4" so you don't disturb the infield dirt or hurt the outfield grass, then you need direct sun to melt the 1/4" remnant. Even a cold day of 20-30 degrees will melt snow if you have direct sun.
5. The best time tog et out there is during or immediately after the snowfall. Don't wait until the next day - overnight low temps harden the snow and make it impossible to throw through a chain link fence. If you get out there same day, you can toss the snow thru the fence - which is critical.
Please share any additional lessons learned or accomplishments you're proud of!
I thought you might enjoy having a reference of helpful tips for clearing your local practice field of snow. We are in Colorado and this weekend is my third time this year clearing a field by hand in time for a Saturday scrimmage. Here are my lessons learned in order of importance:
1. NEVER EVER step in the full depth of snow. Start at the entrance to the field with your shovel and only step on the thin patch of 1/4" or snow that remains after pushing snow with your shovel or tossing loads over the fence. When you step on a couple inches of snow, it compacts and freezes into ice which takes 5x longer to melt. So only step where you've already cleared.
2. Work in patterns that allow you to shovel/push/clear snow in 2 directions. Circular patterns and raster patterns work the best. For example, I'll start at 1 dugout entrance and work along the fence line behind home plate first, moving toward the other dugout and then back the way I came, shoveling or pushing the snow with every step. Avoid shoveling in just 1 direction where you have to walk back the length your cleared path with every load, this wastes time and has you walking without pushing snow.
3. Hit the shadowed spots first and foremost. These are the north facing areas with dugouts and fences shading from direct sun. These spots will take the longest to melt and need to get the most attention.
4. Plan for about 10 man hours to clear a field of a 2" snowfall. Add 10 more hours for every 2" additional snowfall. Remember, all you can do is clear down to about a 1/4" so you don't disturb the infield dirt or hurt the outfield grass, then you need direct sun to melt the 1/4" remnant. Even a cold day of 20-30 degrees will melt snow if you have direct sun.
5. The best time tog et out there is during or immediately after the snowfall. Don't wait until the next day - overnight low temps harden the snow and make it impossible to throw through a chain link fence. If you get out there same day, you can toss the snow thru the fence - which is critical.
Please share any additional lessons learned or accomplishments you're proud of!
...probably gotta hit the field again this weekend pushing 70 again.
