Basics With Brian: Straight Blades

Learn from Brian Thoreson, a seasoned Machine Shop Supervisor with over 35 years of snow plowing expertise, as he shares invaluable insights for mastering snow removal. In this concise guide, we’ll explore essential techniques, benefits, and expert tips to streamline your snow-plowing efforts.

Benefits of Using a Straight Blade

1. Beginner-Friendly: Don’t let snow plowing intimidate you. With user-friendly equipment and expert guidance, even beginners can excel.
2. Versatility: Whether it’s your driveway or a commercial property, a snowplow is versatile enough to handle any cleaning task.
3. Simple Operation: Straight blades have simple controls, just a left, right, up, or down movement. A straight blade is a great plow for beginners.
4. Low Maintenance: With a straight blade you have minimal moving parts so fewer parts to maintain or replace.

Essential Snow Plowing Techniques

1. Windrowing: Angling your blade to push snow efficiently to one edge without leaving a trail. This technique allows you to move as much snow off the lot as possible before going in to clean up those smaller, hard-to-reach areas.
2. Back-Dragging: Clear snow from tight spaces like garages or loading docks. Using the blade to pull the snow away from an area.
3. Scrapemaxx: This feature is now standard on all SnowEx truck plows. This enhancement locks the blade in place to help break through hard pact snow ensuring a clean scrape.
4. Float: Maintain consistent ground contact to prevent damage to both the plow and pavement. This allows your straight blade to maintain contact with the plowable surface while going over bumps, uneven pavement, etc.
5. Snow Piling Strategy: Choose open areas for snow piling while avoiding things like sidewalks, entryways, fire hydrants, garages, etc. Consider melting patterns so when it begins to melt you won’t have huge puddles or muddy grass.

Straight Blade Accessories

These are great accessory options to maximize your straight blade capabilities.

1. Added Wings: Maximize your blade width and carrying capacity with bolt-on wing extensions, reducing the number of passes to cut down job time. This is only available for the Heavy-Duty Straight Blade.
2. Snow Deflector: Enhance snow containment, and prevent it from blowing onto the windshield, with a SnowEx rubber deflector.
3. Back Drag Edge: SnowEx back drag edges deliver cleaner, consistent scraping and back dragging in tight areas.
4. Emergency Parts Bag: Be prepared for unexpected snowplow emergencies!  This kit includes the most common replacement parts, conveniently packaged in a small, durable bag for easy storage behind or under your truck seat.

Top 5 Takeaways:

Items to consider when thinking of adding a straight blade to your snow and ice operation.

1. Snow plowing is accessible and straightforward, even for beginners.
2. Back-dragging ensures efficient clearing of tight spaces like garages or loading docks.
3. Windrowing allows for efficient snow-pushing without leaving a trail.
4. Improve performance with the Scrapemaxx technique, ideal for heavy snow.
5. Enhance efficiency by adding wings to your plow setup.

Ready to tackle winter weather with confidence? We have a wide variety of straight blade options, use our Power Match tool to match you to the best blade for your unique vehicle specifications. Contact your local dealer today to get your straight-blade snow plow and start clearing snow like a pro!

More Articles to Consider:

How to Make More Money as a One-Person Snowplow Operation

How ScrapeMaxx Can Maximize Your Plowing Performance

Which Snowplow is Right for You – Straight, V-Plow, or Winged?