Hitch 'N Plow

[rambler]

A company in Florida selling something to blade snow???? That always leads to fun results. Not for the owner of the new gizzmo, but for those seeing the results.

You will drive over to your dad's place at under 5 mph? That will last maybe 1/2 of one trip, then you'll be at 60mph like everyone else.

Looks like a nifty idea, but also a way to really break up some equipment in a hurry.

I kinda like the garden tractor converter, that will work until the tractor spins out, not much broken. The pickup hitch - well nifty looking, but the potential to bust things is high, and it can't possibly be road legal so don't have an accident.....

Just sayin'.

--->Paul

 

[Jeff H]

A company in Florida selling something to blade snow???? That always leads to fun results. Not for the owner of the new gizzmo, but for those seeing the results.

You will drive over to your dad's place at under 5 mph? That will last maybe 1/2 of one trip, then you'll be at 60mph like everyone else.

Looks like a nifty idea, but also a way to really break up some equipment in a hurry.

I kinda like the garden tractor converter, that will work until the tractor spins out, not much broken. The pickup hitch - well nifty looking, but the potential to bust things is high, and it can't possibly be road legal so don't have an accident.....

Just sayin'.

--->Paul

Now come on Paul, did you really think I would drive across town with the plow down? 5mph or less refers to plowing the driveway.

 

[iwhitne]

hey guys... just wanted to let you know I have one of these... I have a thread over ton dodgeforum about it...
http://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen-ram/224259-poor-mans-snow-plow-6.html

btw.. i take it down the road at 60mph... i just attach a safety chain... in the pic you can see the winch cable is about to snap... solution would be a limiting strap to prevent the blade from tipping back when pushing snow backward therefore taking the stress off the winch and cable... also i have bent it serveral times.. the adapter needs to be made from solid 2" bar instead of the 2" hollow tubing..

overall.. worth every penny... but don't expect to move mountains of snow... and i think it would be best used on long straight drives

 

[some zilch]

I am only looking to plow about 80' of cement driveway in the suburbs at my Dad's during the snow. Nothing else. No unknown objects to hit. Not even going to get to 5mph.

Just looking at it as an alternative since I already own this blade to a more expensive product like these.
Home Page - Snowman Snowplow
SuperPlow The Best Personal Snow Plow

 

[GPintheMitten]

I built something like that about 8 years ago. It worked ok but not great. I thought I was going to patent it and get rich but there were a few problems in operation that I was going to work and then I got into a divorce situation so the idea got sidetracked. Later I just bought a truck mounted plow.

But the idea can work for light duty snow removal. Nice to stay warm while clearing the drive. You need to go slow and don't try to clear going in reverse.
Some extra weight mounted to the blade would help as well.

Edit: One of the problems was the blade would bounce up and down. You rely on gravity to keep it in place. But it could be improved by either using hydraulic up and down (more expensive) or using a 2 directional motor than can power in and out with down force or up force.

 

[iwhitne]

hey guys just thought i'd give an update on the plow

so far I've been through 2 winchs on my 3rd...glad I got the 2 yr warrenty..

1-winch... backed into a pile of snow and jerk on the winch so hard it snapped in half...

2-winch... remote stopped working and snapped the cable backing again...

harbor freight replaced them for free because they were still under manufactures warrenty.. and my 2 year warrenty from HF starts over... can't beat that for a total investment of $45!!!

the reason the cable snaps is because when backing the plow wants to bend downward and the back of the truck want to lift upwards.. this puts a lot more stress on the cable and causes it to snap.. the solution is to install a limiting strap/chain the will limit the amount of blade travle and take the stress off the winch cable... the limiting strap is attached between the top link on the plow and is connected to the adapter near the winch.. by installing the limiting strap there is no need for a larger winch... unless you want to run a larger blade or want a faster lift/lower speed

now for the adapter...

overall it works well... with only a few problems

1. How the adapter connects into the trucks 2" hitch is poorly designed... the company uses hollow 2"x2" square tubing for construction... this is strong but they drilled two hole to mount the winch and therefore creates a weak point right at the reciever... solution... construct the adapter from 2" solid steel bar, and attach the winch with U-bolts instead of drilling into the adapter... The steel bar would make it heavier but it will not bend as easily.

2. The second problem is articulation..or lack there of.. the blade follows the movement of the truck.. i.e. if you run over a packed mound of snow with the right side of your truck.. the right side of the blade will lift off the ground and the left side will dig in...still working on a solution for this.. probobly need to add a link to allow some movement.. but not too much...

this being said.. it does a great job for the most part.. you just have to be careful and not get too carried away with the skinny pedal!

the only other complaint I have is my blade.. it's a little too light and I will be adding some bolt on weights to it so it digs in just a little more... it works great on gravle because it doesn't dig in but does a poor job on heavily packed snow...

I know this sounds like it's a total pos.. but it really does a great job for the money I have in it. It's fast, there's no truck mods needed, and you can take it off in a matter of minutes and you stay warm!!! and now shoveling!!!!!.

We are going to be getting another snow storm tomorrow so I will post pictures of before the storm and after.. We just had 24" over the weekend and I just went out and plowed and will post pictures of that too.. fyi.. they sell these on ebay now and I informed the company of these problems and they are "looking into the matter"

 

[GPintheMitten]

Here's how I would do it. I would use a bi-directional motor and wind the cable around the motor shaft (axle) about 3 turns and terminate each end of the cable at the implement. I would modify the implement to add point of attachment about 4 inches lower than the lift pins.

Then I would one end of the cable to the top link and one to the added lower link.

Turn the motor counter clockwise will raise the implement, turn the motor clockwise will lower the implement. The cable at the top and bottom connection points will keep the implement from bouncing around.

See attached diagrams for up position and down position: Now can I get rich?

 

[GPintheMitten]

I forgot, lack of articulation left to right was a problem. To solve that change the center tow member to a round heavy walled pipe, like 2.5 inch outside diameter quarter inch wall. Then cut quarter inch walled 3 inch pipe into 3 pieces about 3 inches each. Slide them over the inner pipe. Weld the forward 3 inch pipe to the 2.5 inch pipe. Drill and tap for a hard bolt to fix the aft 3 inch pipe in place. The other 3 inch pipe is placed between the two and articulates.

Add a grease zert to the middle section, weld the outboard pieces that comprise the lower lift points to that middle section and you now have articulation. Limit the articulation if you want by adding limiter lengths of chain to these arms.

OK, now can I get rich please?

 

[aczlan]

OK, now can I get rich please?

Only if you figure out how to get the cable to draw evenly from the top and bottom with different distances between the cable attachment points and the pivot point. I might suggest separate pulleys of differing sizes for the top and bottom cables, otherwise it will rip itself apart.

In the above diagram, A≠B, thus the distance moved by C ≠ distance moved by D

I get a 10% cut of any profits for devices using my design

Aaron Z

 

[GPintheMitten]

I think your right. The winch or other motor needs to be on the same plane as the center of the pivot point and the cable connections equidistant from that plane. So, make a 3 point fixed connection so the blade fixed to a pivot that is fabbed with pipe in pipe setup with the winch mounted to center on the same plane. I tried to draw it but could probably mock it up with material easier than draw. You get 10% of the profit I get. That'll be a lot, right?