Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Serrated blades?

[RNeumann]

I live in an area that stays frozen all winter and now is starting to melt. With melting, our roads get icy and nasty. The municipalities use a motor grader with a serrated blade to create groves in the ice. I've had good luck with my box scraper with rippers down.
My question is with regards to the plow blade. Has anyone used a serrated plow blade? It looks like they are out there for the commercial plows. Anyone have a good source for replacement plow blades?

 

[Rustyiron]

There's no getting around the weight you need (motor grader) to cut ice, even with a serrated cutting edge. It might be expensive but there are serrated grader blade cutting edges available, but I think it would be ineffective with only the weight of the snow plow.
I have similar conditions here and have "played" with everything I have available here to try to get rid of ice. This includes scraping with the full d/p of forks, smooth bucket with a new cutting edge and a land plane. I figure that I have about 5000# of d/p to put to use. The ice just laugh's at me, although I might be able to make a few "shaved ice" treats with some sugar water.:laughing: In just right conditions, the land plane will leave a "zambony" like finish.:confused3:

 

[Looking4new]

I have had good luck with my scraper blade wrapped with a 3/8 link chain. I did that a couple of years ago when I had my snow blower on the front. This year with the bucket, I will back drag the ice with the teeth of the bucket and some down pressure.

 

[RNeumann]

The chain is an interesting idea. To be clear the goal is not ice removal. It's simply to cut some grooves in the snow and or ice as I plow. The motor grader I saw wasn't removing either.

 

[Wolfy]

What you need is plenty of salt. The issue is most DPWs have a stupid low budget, and have to spread sand with a little salt mixed in.

 

[FatTire]

I run a snowcat groomer with a serrated blade. If you set the blade just right it can make nice ridges in packed snow (which then get obliterated by the tracks and groomer behind it), but I'm sure it wouldn't do a thing on ice. In addition to the issue that snowcats have no traction on ice, there just isn't anywhere near enough down-pressure to scratch ice. As Rustyiron said above, there is no substitute for massive weight.

 

[FatTire]

This is the snowcat blade. I should probably paint it, eh?

 

[RNeumann]

Well that's the type of ground contact I was after. I have 6 ripper shanks on the BB that make nice grooves. Bummer the groomer blade doesn't do much on ice. I'll have to keep noodling this. I can always try the chain trick before I have an edge/blade made.

 

[jimmysisson]

I keep my Gannon box on for the winter so I can drag and push some. I've tried it w the rippers down but mine is old and crude and you can't drop them just a little.
They will groove the ice and break chunks off. I'm afraid to use them though as my drive is compacted TRG and could be easily wrecked. I would think a ROBB would give you the fine adjustment that would make this feasible. So the box rides on the ice and just maybe an inch of ripper sticks down. Anyone tried that?
Jim

 

[RNeumann]

I've got hydraulic TnT and hydraulic rippers so I can do that. I just drop the rippers and lengthen the top link until I get the desired ripper depth. I'm in an area that stays frozen all winter so damaging my road base/3/4 minus driveway isn't an issue.