1. Straight ahead2. Angled to the right3. Angled to the leftWhen the combination blade is angled to either side,it throws snow to that side.The combination blade is usually used as a V-plowwhen the first pass is made to open the center of a widepavement. After this, it is angled to throw the snow tothe right or left, depending on the direction the traffictravels on the road. If the pavement is short, it will takelonger to reverse the blade angle than it will to deadheadfor another pass to the right.BlowersAugers on a snowblower (fig. 14-41) feed snow intohigh-speed augers, rotors, or fans that blow the snow agreat distance.The fan and augers are powered by an auxiliaryengine independent of the truck engine. This power istransmitted from the rear (auxiliary) engine to the augersand fan by a drive shaft between the engine clutchassembly and the blower assembly. This has a shear pinthat will break any time the blower assembly gets anobject in it that will not pass through the blower. In someinstances, the fan and each auger have a shear pin insteadof the drive shaft having one.Aircraft chocks, fire extinguishers, and rocks arethree of the items that break many shear pins and causemuch damage to blowers. Movable items should beFigure 14-41.—Snowblower.removed before snowstorms. Once they are coveredwith snow, they can be picked up with the snow andjammed into the blower fan and shear pin and damagethe blower.On the other hand, rocks may not do much damageto the blowers, but when they are blown out of theblower, they may hit aircraft or equipment or evenpeople. If you must blow snow where there are rocks,raise the blower a couple of inches off the ground toprevent picking up too many rocks.Engaging the blower clutch too fast, engaging itwith the rear engine running too fast, or engaging it withthe blower assembly clogged with snow will shear a pin.Remember that the shear pin is a safety device to preventbreaking any other part of the blower. For this reason,you should carry extra shear pins with you whenoperating a blower.The blower is for removing snow that is too deep tobe plowed or that has been plowed into windrows. Thechute on the top in the center above the fan is fordirecting the flow of snow. This chute can be rotated toblow the snow to the right or left. Snow is usually blownto the right. It can also be extended to control the angleand distance that the snow is blown. If you adjust thechute properly, snow can be blown into trucks to behauled away.Blowers are operated by throttling the auxiliaryengine to full-governor speed and by adjusting the truckspeed so the blower operates at full capacity. When thetruck speed is too fast, the blower will clog and shear ashear pin. A foggy discharge will result when the truckspeed is too slow. When the truck speed is just right, thesnow is compressed by the fan and the discharge fromit pulsates. One good way to tell when you are operatingto capacity is by a good even roar, not lugging, but withthe governor letting it work.GradersGraders can be used to remove snow from streets,parking lots, roads, runways, and taxiways tosupplement the other snow removal equipment.A grader is often used during clean-up operationsafter the major snow removal job has been accom-plished. If slush is to be removed with a grader, manytimes the cutting edge is removed from the moldboard.A strip of hard rubber is bolted to the moldboard in placeof the cutting edge. This prevents possible damage tothe pavement surface, thus saving a great amount ofmaintenance work in the spring.14-34
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