Riding the giant slide

Zachary Hoyt · Feb 7, 2011

Anyone else been shoveling a metal roof? I decided it was time to move the +/- 2 feet of heavy wet snow off the roof of the sawmill/tractor building today. I slid off the low side three times but I was more careful on the high side and didn't fall off that. It is a 6/12 pitch metal roof and I have never had to shovel it before, but this winter it just wouldn't slide off. By the time I got it all down the snow is piled 2/3 or more of the way to the eave. I could only stand on the snow, not on the roof, so when I got to the end I slid down since I couldn't get to the ladder. It is a 25' run so I got going pretty fast. I'm grateful for Carhartt nylon overalls that don't tear. Tomorrow I'll do another building or two, but they'll be easier since one has shingles and the other is only 4/12 or less.
Zach

bill mart · Feb 7, 2011

4/12 pitch on my polebarn metal roof.Snow usually slides off on its own.My 8 year old shingled polebarn collapsed in 2002 from snow load.Fired up 500,000 btu's worth of propane heaters,6 hours later both sides slid off all at once, 3+ feet deep on the south side 2+ on the north.Losing a building to snow load tends to make you gun shy.Metal on these new buildings is so thin I wouldnt dream of standing on it.Bill M.

larry@stinescorner · Feb 7, 2011

good thing your a young man! lol

Gun guru · Feb 7, 2011

Cant you get a roof rake? Sounds pretty scary.

Zachary Hoyt · Feb 7, 2011

I tried doing that but I only have a 35k salamander, and the building is built to have good ventilation in the loft to help draw the moisture up out of the hardwood lumber that we store up there, so it didn't seem to be able to get it warm enough.
Zach

MarkB_MI · Feb 7, 2011

You can get seriously hurt doing that! Can you hook up some sort of safety harness?

4 bottem · Feb 8, 2011

Use a roof rake and pull off the first couple of feet by the eaves. this relieves the snow and the rest usually comes off.

Kippster · Feb 9, 2011

I took the snow off of our heifer barn roof by standing inside it and touching off my muzzleloader down through the field. The concussion from the gun going off made the snow slide right off. It was fun, safe, (no falling) and it only took about 10 seconds.

Riding the giant slide

Zachary Hoyt

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bill mart

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larry@stinescorner

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Gun guru

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Zachary Hoyt

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MarkB_MI

Well-known Member

4 bottem

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Kippster

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