1. Straight ahead
2. Angled to the right
3. Angled to the left
When the combination blade is angled to either side,
it throws snow to that side.
The combination blade is usually used as a V-plow
when the first pass is made to open the center of a wide
pavement. After this, it is angled to throw the snow to
the right or left, depending on the direction the traffic
travels on the road. If the pavement is short, it will take
longer to reverse the blade angle than it will to deadhead
for another pass to the right.
Blowers
Augers on a snowblower (fig. 14-41) feed snow into
high-speed augers, rotors, or fans that blow the snow a
great distance.
The fan and augers are powered by an auxiliary
engine independent of the truck engine. This power is
transmitted from the rear (auxiliary) engine to the augers
and fan by a drive shaft between the engine clutch
assembly and the blower assembly. This has a shear pin
that will break any time the blower assembly gets an
object in it that will not pass through the blower. In some
instances, the fan and each auger have a shear pin instead
of the drive shaft having one.
Aircraft chocks, fire extinguishers, and rocks are
three of the items that break many shear pins and cause
much damage to blowers. Movable items should be
Figure 14-41.—Snowblower.
removed before snowstorms. Once they are covered
with snow, they can be picked up with the snow and
jammed into the blower fan and shear pin and damage
the blower.
On the other hand, rocks may not do much damage
to the blowers, but when they are blown out of the
blower, they may hit aircraft or equipment or even
people. If you must blow snow where there are rocks,
raise the blower a couple of inches off the ground to
prevent picking up too many rocks.
Engaging the blower clutch too fast, engaging it
with the rear engine running too fast, or engaging it with
the blower assembly clogged with snow will shear a pin.
Remember that the shear pin is a safety device to prevent
breaking any other part of the blower. For this reason,
you should carry extra shear pins with you when
operating a blower.
The blower is for removing snow that is too deep to
be plowed or that has been plowed into windrows. The
chute on the top in the center above the fan is for
directing the flow of snow. This chute can be rotated to
blow the snow to the right or left. Snow is usually blown
to the right. It can also be extended to control the angle
and distance that the snow is blown. If you adjust the
chute properly, snow can be blown into trucks to be
hauled away.
Blowers are operated by throttling the auxiliary
engine to full-governor speed and by adjusting the truck
speed so the blower operates at full capacity. When the
truck speed is too fast, the blower will clog and shear a
shear pin. A foggy discharge will result when the truck
speed is too slow. When the truck speed is just right, the
snow is compressed by the fan and the discharge from
it pulsates. One good way to tell when you are operating
to capacity is by a good even roar, not lugging, but with
the governor letting it work.
Graders
Graders can be used to remove snow from streets,
parking lots, roads, runways, and taxiways to
supplement the other snow removal equipment.
A grader is often used during clean-up operations
after the major snow removal job has been accom-
plished. If slush is to be removed with a grader, many
times the cutting edge is removed from the moldboard.
A strip of hard rubber is bolted to the moldboard in place
of the cutting edge. This prevents possible damage to
the pavement surface, thus saving a great amount of
maintenance work in the spring.
14-34
