[tom h]

I was wondering how much weight to put in a snow plow, i have the weight i took out of a dash-9, would that be too much,  not enough, or fine. I was wondering what anyone has done in the past. forgot to ask 1 other question, would i put weight towards front, or in middle, or doesnt it matter.

thanks for the help

tom h

 

[suleski]

I've used 1/2" brass scrap pieces.  One over the front (because of space)and two in the center.  that works well for me.  How much they weigh I'm not exactly sure. 

In one of my other plows I put the extra weight from a Dash-9 and it just wasn't enough for heavy snow.  Two worked out OK.

Scott

 

[tom h]

Thanks Scott, i was hoping you would chime in because i have been following your threads on your snowplows, thanks for the info

tom h

 

[Richard Weatherby]

I use a full size brick in the Aristo plow. Just a couple of days ago while plowing it went off of a trestle, about 3 and one half feet. Needless to say the weight did some damge. It basically sheared the stake pockets off and broke a truck. I don't know what the effect would be if the weight was attached.

 

[Dan Pierce]

I alos use a brick on my Aristo plow. For icey rails, I push it with a paired of MU'd SD-45's.

 

[Tom Lapointe]

I've used an assortment of lead fishing weights in the gondola section of my Aristo plow; they sit low enough in it that I can bury/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif them in a bit of snow for "photo purposes"./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif

- In addition, they are NOT glued or fastened down in any way (so in the event of any derailment that caused the plow to overturn/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif, they'd just spill out).  So far at least, the latter hasn't happened; I'm usually watching for possible derailments while plowing at least the first "lap" around the main, especially if there's an icy crust/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/plain.gif on the snow.  (Plow derailments have so far been limited to the front truck derailing occaisionally, pretty much the same as happens with prototype wedge plows!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif).                                                                                          Tom

 

[markoles]

I also use a brick.  Be advised that the aristo snowplow is equipped with ball bearing wheels so that weights don't affect the journals.


Since its fun to post pictures...

 

[Paul Burch]

I have mine weighted to about eight pounds, but also put ballbeaings in the trucks to help carry the extra weight. If you don't the plastic bushings will eventually get egged shaped. I then glued the truck bolster so the springs would not compress from all the weight. 

 

[Doug C]

10 lbs  was mentioned by the manufacturer (AC)  for the gon'plow  yrs back !

You should notice that  pushed when lite seems to have some resistance  but you have the 10lbs in the gon' it seems to glide down the track soooo much easier !   AND slices thru the snow  . . . . .


nite, 
doug c

 

[Big65Dude]

I've got about ten pounds of lead buckshot in this puppy - half is right inside the blade over the front truck and the other half in a "shot locker" over the rear truck. I have yet to plow any snow with it (no track - nor snow, for that matter) so I can't tell you how effective it is, but I bet it'll stay on the track as it bulls through those drifts.

Plow No. 5 is bashed from a 1:29 scale Aristocraft snowplow gon to 1:20.3.
If you're interested, you can see more shots of it if you click on my name be-
low and go to "Half-bashed Snowplow" in the Rolling Stock drop-down menu.

 

[David Rose]

  If it's just a little snow you always have the option of going it alone so to speak...

www.fortwildernessrr.com/gscale/KJ-28snowMovie.wmv

 

[Richard Weatherby]

Beautiful!!! I love watching those rods cranking. The snow makes its own plow. The steam looks great in the cold.

 

[llynrice]

I enjoyed your K28 plowing video, David.  I won't be able to match you with my K28 as my tracks are burried in one-to-two feet of packed snow.  Even if I could get my loco to go around, it would be metal mole progressing along out of sight.

Llyn

 

[David Rose]

Thanks guys. The funny thing is I actually have a pilot plow for the K-28, but I had failed to install it at the time of the snow.... errr I mean, The engine was called into service right away and there was no time to install the Plow... LOL

Of course the video shows I didn't really need it...

 

[Skip]

There are three 2.5lb lead bricks in this one. It stays on pretty well. Snow heavy enough to knock it off the track is usually bad enough to damage the train in any case, so at some point "God's shovel" has to be invoked.

 

[Clive Elesmore]

Great to see the videos and the stills. I think I will get myself a plow BUT I dont want any of that white stuff. Nosirree no.

 

[W3NZL]

One little Caveat about using ball-bearing wheels in a "wet" environment folks, most of these BBs and
BB wheelsets aren't really waterproof or made of stainless either, so they will rust internally.... Suggest 
U use bronze bushings on those heavy cars if U feel the need... Personally, I don't think the average 
snowplow would ever see enough use to wear the plastic bushings out anyway...
Paul R...

 

[markoles]

Paul,

From my experience in loading up my 100 ton hoppers with ballast, I imagine that similar loading for the snowplow would cause more problems than rust building up on the ball bearings. That rust will break off and the wheel will roll.  In my experience, the loaded hoppers will not roll freely.  If I take the load out of my snowplow, the car does not roll very well, so it appears that your comments are valid.  The extra weight, however, seems to really help, and adds little in the way of rolling resistance.  Which means that all the momentum gained is transferred in to pushing snow out of the way. 

Mark