Before snow plowing..

[bcp]

There was snow rolling.













Bruce

 

[HEC]

Thanks for sharing , nice pictures .

 

[4570Man]

Why did they role it? Didn't that make it slicker than snot.

 

[Wagtail]

Why did they role it? Didn't that make it slicker than snot.

Exactly = A better surface for sleigh or sledge.

 

[Baby Grand]

By the size of those teams, those rollers must have had some weight.
Never knew about this practice, but when you think about getting around in a sleigh, it makes perfect sense.

 

[4570Man]

Exactly = A better surface for sleigh or sledge.

Well, that makes sense. I assumed they were using wagons or old trucks.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

By the size of those teams, those rollers must have had some weight.
Never knew about this practice, but when you think about getting around in a sleigh, it makes perfect sense.

Yup, certainly does make sense. I'm guessing it takes far less power to pull the roller than a similar width plow. You never run out of room going up and don't have an ever increasing plow ridge contributing to drifting.

Pretty sure my dad told me they were still doing this is parts of rural Manitoba in the mid 1900s

 

[Thomas]

Sure do like viewing yester years pics...thanks.

 

[SnoFighter]

Some farmers around here still use a drag to flatten the snow in their yard, same idea as the roller. Works great until spring or an early thaw, then less than great as your 2 foot thick roadway slowly dissolves!

 

[PILOON]

Snow was rolled here in rural Quebec in the '40's as well.
Once packed down cars could drive on that frozen base but come spring thaw nothing could circulate for about 2 weeks.
Bombardier became famous because he designed tracked drive train with skis for steering up front.
From snow sleds the have progressed to world class jet aircraft.

 

[NHBill]

I seem to recall hearing about a city in AK (Anchorage?) that used to roll all the snow on their streets. Then, one year, they invested a ton of $ in "modern" snow removal equipment... and all the under-street utilities froze because they lost all of their insulation. Oops!
Don't know if the story was true or not, but it makes sense.

 

[Ugarte]

Good stuff. A fellow history buff. Thanks.

 

[Mace Canute]

We used to use a wood pole as a drag. It worked quite well but like others have noted spring thaw was a slushy time. We'd often pull it down the road after the snow blower had went through opening it up. This would knock down the snow on the sides and reduce the tendency for the snow to blow in and build up deeper.

 

[scons]

Cool pictures

Thanks for sharing

 

[smfcpacfp]

I love the pictures, but I prefer using my modern equipment:

 

[skyhook]

I love the pictures, but I prefer using my modern equipment:

Some people are just spoiled....:thumbsup:

 

[SIMassey]

There was snow rolling.

View attachment 429639

View attachment 429640

View attachment 429641

View attachment 429642

View attachment 429643

View attachment 429644

Bruce

Google, fordson snow machine - 1929 concept - YouTube

Now this is neat!!

I can't copy the link on my tablet.

 

[SIMassey]

Google, fordson snow machine - 1929 concept - YouTube

Now this is neat!!

I can't copy the link on my tablet.

:http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zBjlSJf4274

I'm trying this to see if it works. Got it!