Life Without Snow Plows: The History of Snow Removal

Encyclopedia of Snow Removal - Volume XI (The hard years) ^ | October 7, 2015 | Case Snow

[SamAdams76]

[DesertRhino]

And when we had steam locomotives, they had that huge rotary snow blower on front. Several are still in use today.

[rlmorel]

Snow Blows!

[dfwgator]

[terart]

thanks for posting...I enjoy seeing and reading about the history of things I didn’t know :)

[CGASMIA68]

good machine

[rlmorel]

LOL, it is getting up in years, I am hoping it lasts until my time runs out...:)

[Sacajaweau]

Thank goodness I never had to dress in those ridiculous dresses. I did have several long elegant dresses in the 1960s but they were evening wear and not everyday dresses.

That reminds me....wonder where my iron is?

[libertylover]

I remember that, I think. Was that when they cleared a space for the field goal kicker to get a better place to kick from?

[dfwgator]

Yep, and I was a Dolphins fan at the time, and I was pissed!

[libertylover]

I have an electric one of those and it works quite well. Of course I’m tethered to the electrical outlet in the garage but I have two 12-guarge extension cords.

If you’re thinking of an electric I’d recommend it but buy the one with the most power you can find.

[metmom]

Looks like a Bills game.

[McGruff]

That's not snow,

[libertylover]

Yep, and I was a Dolphins fan at the time, and I was pissed!

Me too.

[fhayek]

The Encyclopedia of Snow Removal, Volume XI.

Yeah, you have to laugh at that...

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I knew a guy who had a story about being out working on the road with a fresno plow in Nebraska.

[Peter ODonnell]

Notice the two guys standing around watching the peons shovelling the snow?

[redfreedom]

Several years ago I had a very large 8’ wide by 4’ high blower mounted on the front of a 4WD truck. The blower had it’s own 300 HP gas engine mounted behind the cab.

With this size rig you are actually creating your own whiteout conditions which really restricts visibility. This rig had a master kill switch that shut down both the truck and blower engines in case of emergency.

One night I was blowing snow with restricted visibility. I thought I saw a person approaching the blower, then came a white out. Next visible moment the person was directly in front of the blower and fell down in the deep snow. I hit the kill switch immediately.

I got out and there was this drunken lady looking up at me saying: “I need a man, I need a man”. As it turned out she needed someone to light her furnace.

True story.

[nascarnation]

I use a 4wd Polaris ATV with a blade on the front.
It’s a superb machine. Lots of drawbar pull with great maneuverability.
With their drive system all 4 wheels are locked together when you are in low range.

Also great for pulling a sled full of people.

[pepsi_junkie]

I was in Norway when it snowed and nobody cleared anything, even the streets remained unplowed. They told me that in Norway the law is that God put the snow there so it's not the responsibility of anyone to clear it and it's not their fault if someone gets hurt on it. But if they clear it and then someone gets hurt it IS their fault because they didn't do a good enough job. So of course nobody bothers at all.

For the first time I considered moving to Norway ...