Large snowfalls create congestion on the roads, fall asleep courtyards and sidewalks. Snowplows can quickly clear driveways or large areas, and where they cannot drive in, snow and ice must be removed manually. Special equipment helps to carry out this work. A variety of snow removal tools are sold at retail outlets, which, if desired, is easy to make with your own hands.
Overview of factory-made snowplows
In rural areas, people are used to cleaning snow with hand tools of their own making. It will not be difficult for any owner to put together a plywood shovel or a scraper from an aluminum sheet in an hour. City dwellers have no place to make snowplows, so people follow them to the store.
The most common tool for clearing snow from paths is a shovel. Such inventory is presented in a wide range. Shovels differ in shape, dimensions, material of manufacture. The most common tool with a plastic scoop. Such shovels are characterized by light weight, resistance to corrosion and wet snow does not stick to them.
A scraper is considered a more productive tool. In one pass, he cleans a wide strip of snow. The design of the scraper resembles a mixture of a scraper and a shovel. The front of the scoop is protected from abrasion by a steel strip. On the very working canvas of the tool there are stiffeners, but they still play the role of skis. Due to these skids, the scraper easily rides in the snow.
A capacious bucket has another model of a scraper – a shovel. A plastic scoop with high sides is controlled by a U-shaped handle. To clear the path, the shovel is simply pushed in front of you. The snow collected inside the bucket is unloaded at the selected location.
On the video you can see how to work drags:
On sale you can sometimes find devices for snow removal of a rather interesting and unusual design. One such tool is the miracle shovel “Sno Wovel”. The development of foreign manufacturers is unusual in the presence of a large wheel on the handle of a snow shovel. The tool can work on the principle of a manual excavator. The bucket is pushed forward with a long handle. Due to the wheel, it easily moves forward, raking in a large mass of snow. The snow shovel is unloaded by pressing the handle down. When performing these actions, the bucket rises sharply and throws the snow far forward.
Continuing the conversation about snow shovels, we need to pay attention to another smart tool. A feature of its design is the presence of an adjustment mechanism on the handle. Thanks to the hinge, the middle of the handle of the super snow shovel is able to rotate. A person is given the opportunity to choose from the existing 16 positions of the most convenient location of the instrument in his hands. Such an invention is expensive within $ 80.
The modernized snow and ice removal device is a scraper on two wheels. This snowplow can be called a manual bulldozer. A feature of the tool device is a scraper, shaped like a shovel blade of a tractor. It is attached to a steel frame. If necessary, you can adjust the angle of the blade to shift the snow to the side towards the curb. The scraper is driven by pushing movements of the operator through a long handle.
The release of manual snowplow bulldozers has been established in production, but they are easy to assemble on your own. It is only necessary to cut off a semicircular segment from a large diameter pipe. It will be a dump. So that it does not scratch the paving slabs, a soft knife made of thick rubber can be bolted from below. The finished shovel is attached to the wheel frame of the baby stroller, the handle is adjusted and the snowplow bulldozer is ready.
The video shows the manual snow plow in action:
We have already considered a two-wheeled manual blade. But the manufacturers did not stop there and developed a four-wheel snow plow bulldozer. The device of this dump differs only in the presence of an additional wheelset. In management, such a bulldozer is more stable, but less maneuverable. The shovel is similarly equipped with a rotary mechanism that allows you to set the desired angle.
The advantage of a four-wheeled bulldozer is its all-weather use. In winter, this is a great snow scraper. In the summer, the blade is removed, and the body can be adapted to the frame. The result is a great cart for transporting heavy loads.
The video provides an overview of the four-wheel snowplow dozer:
Snow fills up not only roads and sidewalks. It accumulates in large hats on the roofs of houses. An avalanche is dangerous for people passing near the building. Large accumulations can deform the roof and damage the roofing. A special scraper helps to remove it. If you can climb onto a flat roof and dump snow with an ordinary shovel, then with a pitched roof everything is more difficult. This was taken into account by the manufacturers when developing the scraper.
First, the snowplow was equipped with a telescopic handle. The scraper can reach the roof ridge while standing on the ground. Secondly, instead of a traditional bucket, a frame is attached to the handle. It can have a different shape, but more often it is made in the form of the letter “P”. A long strip of synthetic fabric is attached to the lower element of the frame. When a person pushes the scraper up the roof, the frame cuts off a snow cap, which randomly slides down a strip of fabric and falls to the ground.
It will not work to remove thick growths of ice with a snow shovel and a scraper. Here you need a more serious tool. Craftsmen adapted an ax blade for this purpose. A handle made of a metal pipe is vertically welded to it. A wide icebreaker strikes against thick growths. The bulk of the ice breaks, and the remains are simply scraped off, pushing the blade of the chopping tool down a slope.
According to a similar principle, the factory tool “Snow Lance” was made. Here, a wooden handle is attached to a wide metal blade. The design of the icebreaker is almost the same, only in the store version it will cost a person within $ 22.
Homemade rotary snow blower
Of the mechanical devices for snow removal with their own hands, a rotary snow blower is very popular. His scheme can be seen in the photo.
The design of the snowplow consists of a frame, a gasoline engine, a wheel pair and the rotary mechanism itself.
The principle of operation of a mechanical snow blower is based on the capture of snow by the rotor blades. In the body, it mixes with air and is thrown out through the outlet sleeve to the side at a distance of up to 8 m.
There are a lot of factory-made snowplows. More complex and productive tools are expensive. If you carefully study their design, then almost any scraper can be made independently. A snowplow will turn out no worse than a store-bought one, but it will cost several times cheaper.