Smarter Snow Plows Through Innovation

Don’t you want the smartest snow plow possible?  We all want the smartest of everything.  We want our houses to allow us the ability to change the temperature from across town or across the country.  We want cameras to help us protect our homes and businesses.  We want our cars to show us where we are going when we are backing up.  We want our vehicles to give us up-to-date information about the engine, our tires, and even the environment around us.

We get so caught up in “smart” technology that we forget how much the design of the tools we use can provide us with a “smarter” solution.  At Sno-Way we are constantly looking for ways to innovate our products to make them work smarter and harder for us!

Sno-Way has this badge on all of our literature, STRONGER, SMARTER, BETTER THROUGH INNOVATION.  It is at the core of what we do every day.  It starts with our snow plow and salt spreader concepts. As those concepts move into our design and engineering, that desire for innovation grows stronger. Even through the fabrication and manufacturing process, we are looking diligently for ways to refine and improve our products.

Our products work SMARTER because of the way they are conceived, designed, and manufactured. We didn’t settle for “good enough”. We wanted our products to make us proud by out-performing in every way possible. They are SMARTER because they are Sno-Way products!

One example is our direct lift linkage. We use a Lift Bar Bell Crank System to lift our snow plows once they are connected to your vehicle. This system provides some advantages that a chain lift system does not offer. Let’s cover a few examples of the benefits.

An advantage this system provides is a smoother transport ride because the plow does not bounce as you travel on the road. This helps protect the suspension on your truck. The Lift Bar Bell Crank System also provides higher stacking capability and a positive stop for the snow plow. This transfers the stack loads across the total structure of the plow, rather than into the truck frame. Additionally, we have a mechanical lift advantage with the Lift Bar Bell Crank System so we draw less power from the vehicle’s electrical system when you are lifting the snow plow. Your vehicle’s electrical system will last longer because it is not being overtaxed. It will allow the operator to stay out longer in the field moving more snow.

Here’s another example of a SMARTER design that basically goes unnoticed. In our a-frame and swing frame weldments, we are using structural tubing to increase strength, decrease weight, and increase flexible strength. By using the structural tubing we develop a much stronger cross-sectional strength. This method is much smarter than using the traditional method of welding plate metal to angled iron to imitate a tube.

By using structural tubing we also gain flexible strength that allows this area to flex when they are in load conditions. This stops the parts from taking a set, cracking, and then failing. This SMARTER design keeps you working on your jobs and reduces your overall maintenance cost over the life of the product.

To look at another example of SMARTER let’s look at our 29VHD Plow. This plow is a full trip plow with double-acting cylinders and an easy mounting system. This versatile plow comes in an 8′-6″ and a 9′-6″ configuration. It also gives you the option of powder-coat black or stainless steel. Standing at 29″ at the center, the v-plow wings flare out to a 38″ height on the ends. These plows come standard with another smart technology used in our other snow plow lines: our patented Down Pressure® hydraulic system. More about that in a minute.

What sets this V-plow apart from all the other V-plows in the market is the MaxADJUST™ System. This system allows you to adjust and level the plow to match the truck with which you are plowing. It gives you the best chance of scrapping the surface clean with a V-plow. If you need to transfer another manufacturer’s V-plow from one truck to another, you need to make a major adjustment to re-level the plow. You will need to take it to the shop to disassemble and move the a-frame to another mounting hole, this can take two to three hours just to get it back to level for a different truck.

Then consider that, as the truck suspension changes or the wear strips wear unevenly, you normally have no available adjustment. With the Sno-Way MaxADJUST™ system, a simple adjustment will bring it level again. You just use a single wrench to turn it, watching the head rotate until you have it level with the surface. Talk about time savings! You are now plowing with a blade that is level and cleaning down to the surface, which reduces your plowing time and makes you more money!

If you pair it with our Down Pressure® Hydraulics system, you have an even more powerful snow plow! This patented system gives you 250 lbs of downward force without the added weight on the plow itself. This makes your scrapes up to 30% more efficient! It also relieves pressure from your vehicle’s suspension, reducing wear and tear on the truck. That is definitely SMARTER!

Our latest development is really revolutionary! Our latest addition to our snow plow line-up combines our popular v-plow with our powerful Revolution plow: the Flared 29RVHD V-Plow. We originally designed a family of plows that had a wing on each side of the blade and called it what it was, a Revolution. The wings are attached to a hinge which rotates around the end of the blade. The advantage of this hinge system is that you have full control from zero to 90 degrees. This gives you the option to make this plow into a full box plow or have one wing open and one wing closed for windrowing. This is especially helpful when you are plowing a parking lot and vehicles are already parked there, you won’t be moving snow behind and underneath the vehicles because you control the wings and therefore where the snow is moved.

With the Flared 29RVHD, we have brought even more versatility to the Revolution series. It is the only flared-wing v-plow with independent hydraulic wings. This allows you to have a v-wing configuration and in seconds change it to a box plow with the touch of a button. How’s that for SMARTER?! Our patented Ground Hugger™ blade uses geometry to make our snow plow even SMARTER. With an aggressive 65-degree angle you will be able to have a far cleaner scrape than with other manufacturers.

You can see now that we not only live the word SMARTER, we provide you with SMARTER plowing solutions.

We are supported by the best dealers in the business.  Find the closest dealer to your location by checking out our handy DEALER LOCATOR.  They will be able to help you determine the best Sno-Way snow plow for your truck.  They can also help you find the right accessories and ice management system to fit your needs and vehicle.