Written by: Terry Wendorff, President of Sno-Way®, Intl.
Sno-Way® has this badge on all of its literature, STRONGER, SMARTER, BETTER THROUGH INNOVATION. I would like to explain to you what this means to us at Sno-Way® and how we live it every day.
We talk about STRONGER because Sno-Way® products are stronger, even though we are much lighter than our competitor’s products. We started in the mid 1990’s to use high strength low alloy steels, what this accomplished is that we get more strength using half the thickness of the steel, which translates into less over all weight in the product. We realized way back then that the front axle ratings on trucks were going to get lighter and softer so we would have car like rides in our trucks. We also knew that it just made much more sense for the truck and the suspension, that it would last longer and have lower maintenance cost if the plow is lighter. People know if we carry less weight on our bodies our joints such as hips, knees and feet last longer. No different for trucks, if the front end does not have to carry as much weight it is easier on the suspension, ball joints and tires therefore less maintenance cost and down time. The lighter product requires less power from your electrical system when you are functioning the plow, even with two batteries and a strong charging system with all the other electronic gadgets that we use today electrical systems are taxed to the max and by using less power you can operate longer without running the batteries out of power.
Another area our design utilizes high strength low alloy steel is in the blade frame. We use a formed channel on the bottom of the blade, which gives the blade structure extra torsional strength without the use of additional gussets or tubes so that the blade does not bend. By using high strength low alloy steel we are able to use thinner gauge steel and eliminate the extra parts needed for strength, combined with high strength low alloy steel ribs we take that extra load off the front of your truck without sacrificing strength.
Let’s examine the paint process that we use to give you a STRONGER paint job. First we pickle the parts which in essence is an acid etch to remove any weld varnish or mill scale from the surface of the material for better paint adhesion. Then we wash the parts with RO water (Reverse Osmosis) this means we take the city water and take all the impurities out of the water so we are washing the parts with pure water. We all know that if the base metal is not cleaned properly the paint will not adhere to the metal. Then we coat the material with a zinc phosphate wash for an extra layer of rust protection, this treatment is what makes the paint to adhere to the metal. Then we prime the parts with a liquid e coat for another layer of rust protection. Finally we paint with ultra violet stable powder paint for final top coat. What you end up with is a triple coat coating that provides the best salt spray hours in the industry. So you end up with the strongest paint quality in all the industry. If we take this kind of care in designing and painting our products you know you are getting the best that anyone has to offer.
