BETTER SNOW PLOWS THROUGH INNOVATION

When we started building snow plows almost fifty years ago, we hit the ground running through innovation. We didn’t want to just be another snow plow option, we wanted to be the ONLY snow plow option. We wanted to make the best snow plow out there. We started with a need we saw sitting unfulfilled.

ALWAYS THE INNOVATOR

You can see the innovation at our beginnings when we started in 1978 building plows for 4-wheel drive vehicles. We developed the first see-through polycarbonate plow, making our plow lighter but durable. Then put the hydraulics out on the plow with electric-operated valves and coils, eliminating levers and cables that other snow plow manufacturers used to operate their plows.

Sno-Way then became the first to allow you to remove the plow from the truck so the truck had the original factory look. This was better for the plow, as it gave the customer the ability to easily remove the plow for storage, reducing wear and potential damage. It also allowed the truck to be freed from the plow for use for other projects or for normal use.

MOVING MORE SNOW BETTER

Fast forward a few years, Sno-Way® introduced reactive Down Pressure® to the market. The innovation allows you with a touch of a button to put additional hydraulic force on the snow plow cutting edge. Just engage the system and it monitors itself, maintaining the scraping pressure on the cutting edge until you decide to turn it off. This system allows you to scrape surfaces cleaner, move more snow, and reduce the time spent plowing by about 30 percent.

This innovation also helps the vehicle to be more fuel efficient and reduces wear and tear. This additional pressure reduces the force on the front axle, reducing potential breakage and suspension issues. The Down Pressure system provides a cleaner scrape, subsequently minimizing the amount of salt and fuel that need to be used.

INNOVATIONS IN SNOW PLOW CONTROL

More innovation followed when we introduced wired and wireless microprocessor-based cab controls.  This allows you to have a single controller to operate every style of snow plow that Sno-Way® manufactures. You get complete flexibility to move plows from truck to truck during a storm without any wasted time. We also included programs in our patented PROCONTROL™ 2 PLUS allowing you to train your plow to do multiple functions with one push of a single button. You can move a raised plow down and right all at once with a one-and-done click of a single button.  This saves you time and keeps your focus on the snow and not the control.

The same control you use to control the plow will also control the Tailgate spreader on the back of the truck.  This brings you down to only one control for all your work and reduces the amount of wire that is brought into the cab compartment. Decluttering your cab and keeping one control hand saves you a lot of headaches over operating two separate controls.

INNOVATIONS IN SNOW PLOW LIGHTING

Another innovation that we introduced is our patented ESS® Smart System™ to control the snow plow and truck lights. This system does not interface with your vehicle’s computer system. Your Sno-Way® snow plow will not need special adaptors and you will not need to cut into its lighting system. There are no relays needed!

Other systems depend on relays to control the truck and plow lights. The first problem with mechanical relays is that they are difficult to install. Additionally, they wear out and corrode if not properly maintained. When the relays fail you either lose your truck lights, plow lights, or both. Replacing relays is expensive. Once the relay has failed you are finished for the night and will lose valuable time. With the Sno-Way® ESS system, you will still be up and running for your customers!

The innovation didn’t stop there! Recognizing the need for additional lighting for your snow plow on those particularly dark nights, we created our Smart Sight® lighting kit. This kit allows you to add more light to your rig to illuminate your work! To create a safer work environment, we also developed our Sno-Way® Smart Flash® kit. Smart Flash allows you to flash your plow signal lights and auxiliary lights to draw attention to your vehicle’s movement.

INNOVATION IN SPREADERS

In addition to our plow innovations, we have focused much time on innovations for ice management. Our Revolution™ V-Box Spreader line-up has just the spreader you will need with the innovation you have come to expect! These spreaders do it all, with our combination of our patented inverted vee system and our patented RS Control that makes this system truly revolutionary.

We designed a dual-control auger drive system that will dispense any materials you need to spread to melt ice. The patented system gives you the flexibility to adjust the system to match the material that you need to spread. Our patented inverted vee system can be raised, lowered, have sections opened up, or completely remove sections to maximize the amount of material that will flow.

ISSUES WITH AUGERS

With controllers from other manufacturers, you need to reduce the voltage to the electric motor in order to decrease the speed of the auger. The problem with reducing the voltage is that it also reduces the torque the motor has to turn the auger. The resulting loss of torque means the auger cannot handle the load of material and will stop moving the auger. This terminates the material flow at low flow, which means you have to shovel out the material from the spreader to reduce the load on the auger. This is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.

When you combine the inverted vee system with the RS Control, you have an unbeatable match. The control monitors the auger system to maintain the speed, balancing the amount of power needed.

GIVING YOU BACK CONTROL

The RS Control works like the cruise control on your truck.  If you are going up a hill and you need more power, the truck automatically downshifts and increases the throttle.  When you get to the top of the hill it upshifts and reduces the throttle so you maintain your speed.  The RS Control basically does the same thing.  The control will monitor the auger and the load changes on the auger.  It will increase or decrease the power to maintain the speed of the auger you have set.

The control also monitors the vibrator or vibrators in the system. When you put the system in auto mode, it will automatically turn the vibrator or vibrators on and off as needed. We developed this feature because the vibrator can benefit you unless it is left on too long or not long enough.  If left on too long, the vibrator can pack the material so tight that the material stops flowing into the auger.  This creates an empty cavity just above the auger, which means the spreader stops spreading.

If the vibrator or vibrators are not left on long enough, the material does not break up.  Then you lack enough flow of material to the auger and you end up with the same problem, material not getting to the auger.  This will result in the spreader stopping spreading. With the system in auto mode, the vibrator or vibrators operate on their own.  This allows your driver concentrates on driving the truck, not on operating the vibrator system.

INNOVATION IN AUTOMATION

Additionally, in auto mode, you can also operate the wetting system. When you increase or decrease the auger speed, the wetting system output increases or decreases automatically. This maintains the salt-wetting ratio of the material. This way you are not over-wetting and wasting material or under-wetting and not achieving your desired results. This control has even many more features built into it and you can get more information from our website where we show you the RVB Spreaders and the RS Control.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. We hope you found it informative and understand that we will continue to be THE market leader in innovation. For more information on all of our products see our website www. snoway.com.  Better yet contact one of our dealers.