For The History Buff: the evolution of the snow plow

Thinking of getting into the snow removal business this winter? Thankfully today’s high-tech plows, with built-in GPS systems and temperature sensors, are a far cry from the horse drawn “wedge plows” popular in the late 19^th century.

Photo Source

Yes, that’s right – carts pulled by teams of horses were once used to plow the roads. And funny enough, at this time people were more concerned with keeping the snow ON the road than off. Turns out smooth, snow-packed roads were the secret to an enjoyable experience when travelling by horse. Who knew? In the world of travelling by horse and buggy, the slicker the roads the better!

Fortunately (unfortunately?) with the arrival of motorized transportation, gone was the need to have the roads functioning like perfectly groomed ski hills. Instead, the roads and sidewalks needed to be cleared in an efficient manner so that people could safely drive and walk from one place to another.

The quest to develop a machine with the power to stand up to good ol’ Jack Frost was on…

Here’s a look back at the evolution of the snow plow:

The need to clear railway tracks spawned the development of “rotary snow plows” in the 1880s. These types of plows were engine-powered and were made out of rotating fans that cut through snow much faster than the wedge plow. The original rotary snow plow, built for the railroad, literally looked like a large fan mounted on the front of a train.

Source

The basic patent of the rotary plow dates back to 1870 and belongs to J.W. Elliot, a Toronto dentist.

In 1888, the rotary snow plow was introduced to the Canadian Pacific Railroad by three Canadian men.

First, the design was modified by a man named Orange Jull. In an effort to cut through ‘thick’ snow, Jull added a cutting wheel to the model.

After he added the blade, Jull brought the model to the Leslie brothers (John and Edward) of Orangeville Ontario, who transformed the design into a full-scale plow.

The new design consisted of a wheel with two rows of slanted blades. The blades would chop up the snow into a smooth mixture and then blow it back to a second “throwing” fan. The throwing fan would then blow the snow away from the track through a chute.

The three men tested their model on the tracks at the Canadian Pacific Railroad shops in Toronto. While the plow worked to cut through the snow and ice at a rapid speed, it still needed some improvements.

An ice cutting extension was added to remove obstacles before they hit the plow’s blade and a reversible knife was added so that the snow plow had the ability to toss snow to either side of the railway tracks. This time the men tested their invention on the tracks of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

After a few more tests and improvements, the rotary plow was ordered by the Canadian Pacific Railroad for use on many of their Canadian routes.

All seemed well until the rotary plow was introduced to the snow of the West Coast - the plow’s ice cutting extension was no match for the heavy, wet snow of the Rockies.

Source

The Leslie brothers were sent back to the drawing board to come up with a design that would plow through even the deepest, heaviest snow.

The plow wheel diameter was increased to 11 feet and a few other mechanical adjustments were made. The new model was a success and to this day only minor changes have been made to the basic model.

Source

Most sources seem to agree that the basic street snow plow (not horse-drawn or built for trains) was created in 1913.

The first street snow plow, however, wasn’t patented until the early 1920s. At the time, a New Yorker by the name of Carl Fink was the leading manufacturer of plows mounted to motorized vehicles. Today, the company is known as Fink-America and its plows are still on the market.

In 1920, the “Barbara-Green” snow loader was developed in Chicago. Running on tractor treads, the snow loader was equipped with a giant scoop and conveyer belt, which functioned as a “transporter,” carrying the snow away from the street and into a dump truck underneath the loader.

In 1925, Arthur Sicard of Quebec invented the “Sicard Snow Remover Snow blower” after receiving inspiration from a piece of farming machinery, known as the ‘thresher.’ The Thresher was used at the time to gather and disperse grains and Sicard based his own snow blower model off the same idea.

In 1951 the first ‘walk-and-push’ snow blower was introduced by Toro. It was named “the Snow Pup”

In 1961, Ariens entered the market with their own ”snow thrower” model.

Simplicity followed with their own version in 1962, the “Sno-Away” Snow thrower.

Most machines were scaled back to smaller, more convenient sizes in the 1960s.

Gilson snow blowers were marketed in 1966.

In the 1980s, personal sized models were launched and growing in popularity.

Source

Today’s snow blowers are decked out with power accessories (like heated handles and onboard battery power).

According to Statistics Canada, in 2003, more than 200, 000 Canadian households owned a snow blower and spent over $800 purchasing it.

In 2006, over 20 per cent of Canadian households owned gas-powered snow blowers. In New Bruinswick, where heavy snow fall is a given, 36 per cent of households owned snow blowers.

References:

The Weather Doctor: Weather Almanac: “Moving the Snow”

National Snow and Ice Centre Data: “Have Snow Shovel, Will Travel”

Statistics Canada

Landscape Management Network is a collection of systems, tools, and training to help great contractors build and manage great businesses. Visit the LMN website.