Plows

The plow is the most commonly used in snow removal operations. Push plows are commonly referred to as blades because of their different configurations. Three types of snow plow blades are the reversible, rollover, and combination.

REVERSIBLE BLADE.- A reversible blade (fig. 14-38) is a snowplow blade that can be positioned to bulldoze snow straight ahead or angled to throw snow to the right or left. This is a smaller type of blade and is generally mounted on light trucks.

Reversible plows are most efficient for clean-up work or for use in restricted areas where you desire to change the angle of the blade, rather than dead ahead. These plows are also good for removing light snow from roads, walks, platforms, and storage areas. Reversible plows are intended for slow-speed operation and will not remove snow as effectively as other plows; however, they can be used to plow airfield pavements, even if they move less snow than other plows.

ROLL-OVER BLADE.- A roll-over blade (fig. 14-39) can plow snow to either side. It has a tapered moldboard, formed to give snow a lifting, rolling action and can throw snow a considerable distance at fairly high speeds. To change from right to left, raise the plow as high as it can go and (as the name implies) roll the plow over. The toe will remain at the bottom of the arc, and the heel will be the top of the arc.

NOTE: Come to a complete stop to prevent damaging the plow when rolling the blade over. There is only a few inches of clearance when the blade passes the center. After you roll the blade over and before you begin another pass, return the blade hoist lever to the float position to allow the plow to follow the contour of the pavement.

Figure 14-39.-Roll-over blade.

The maximum speed at which snow removal equipment is allowed to operate varies with each military installation. Whenever possible, you should drive a roll-over snowplow 20 to 30 miles per hour (mph) to get good action off the end of the blade. If you drop the speed down to less than 20 mph, the snow does not have enough rolling action when it comes off the end of the blade, resulting in a high windrow.

On the other hand, if you maintain a speed of 20 mph or more, the snow will be thrown off the end of the blade and be scattered thinly. When plowing windrows with a roll-over plow or a reversible or a combination blade, you can keep your speed up by taking less than a full blade of snow or by drifting out of the windrow until you regain your speed and then pulling back into the windrow.

COMBINATION BLADE.- A combination blade (fig. 14-40) can be used in either of three of the following positions:

Figure _{14-38.-Reversible blade.}

Figure 14-40.-Combination blade.

1. Straight ahead

2. Angled to the right

3. Angled to the left

When the combination blade is angled to either side, it throws snow to that side.

The combination blade is usually used as a V-plow when the first pass is made to open the center of a wide pavement. After this, it is angled to throw the snow to the right or left, depending on the direction the traffic travels on the road. If the pavement is short, it will take longer to reverse the blade angle than it will to deadhead for another pass to the right.