Jim Macdonald, from Mt Gowrie station on State Highway 87 at Clarks Junction, said he and two neighbours were often called on to rescue people stuck on the hill halfway between Outram and Middlemarch.
The farmers sometimes spent all afternoon or evening towing out vehicles, often driven by "joyriders".
"The road's getting faster; it's getting busier.
It's now a main arterial route to Central [Otago] and people seem to think the road closed signs are a joke, something to drive around," he told Radio New Zealand.
He told the Otago Daily Times people said they drove around the signs because they could not see any snow, but did not realise the snow was lying 18km up the road.
Thanks to Transit and police staff manning the barriers at the weekend, the farmers had to tow only two or three vehicles from the snow, compared with the 25 to 30 vehicles that got stuck in snow three weekends ago.
"It's an inconvenience. We've got stock to feed - we have other things to do rather than pulling cars out."
"We are not really going to be very merciful with our tractors and strops, either. We just hook on to the first thing we see, tow them out, and get rid of them."
He said one trapped driver had traipsed 1km across a paddock in freezing temperatures about 10.30pm to ask for help.
Transit regional network manager Murray Clarke said Transit was "very appreciative" of the farmers' efforts in coming to people's aid.
"They're a bit of a lifeline to us. They do a great job."
He met Mr Macdonald last week to discuss the problem and Transit had settled on manning barriers at either end of the stretch of road, with some assistance from the police.
Transit was also looking at developing barriers that made it more difficult for traffic to pass by.
Mr Clarke said Transit had received complaints after its decision to close State Highway 1 from Dunedin to Waitati for 24 hours from 8am on Saturday.
It was the longest period the road had been closed in his memory.
Three trucks stuck in the snow at the Leith Saddle, one which jack-knifed when the driver tried to move on, complicated things further by blocking off one lane of the highway in the worst-affected section.
A tow-truck could not move them until Sunday morning.
