Let’s talk snow pushers. Whether they mount to a skid steer, wheel loader or tractor, all snow pushers serve virtually the same purpose. To move large quantities of snow. But not all snow pushers are created equal.
Today we’ll talk about 6 key areas that set top-level pushers apart from the toys.
- Cutting Edges
- Side Panels
- Shoes or Skids
- Trip
- Float Options
- & Angling Capabilities
Your basic snow pusher generally has a rubber cutting edge, fixed side panels, steel shoes, no trip function, no float and no angling capabilities.
So how does this affect plowing?
Rubber Cutting Edges
The main reason most snow pushers feature rubber cutting edges is to offer some sort of give to avoid damage if they were to come into contact with irregularities – like manhole covers – in the plowing surface.
The problem with the rubber cutting edges is they don’t scrape nearly as well as harder materials, such as steel, especially on packed or icy surfaces.
Fixed Side Panels
The side panels are in place for snow containment.
Fixed side panels are often welded on, which can create issues of their own.
The rigid design requires perfect positioning of the pusher to get a proper scrape and snow containment. Tip it too far forward and your cutting edge doesn’t hit the ground. Tip it too far back and snow spills out under the sides. Both cause uneven wear of heel and toe of the shoes or skids.
Plus, if you hit and object and break the side panels, they can interfere with the plowing process and require special equipment to fix them.
Steel Shoes
Most snow pushers also feature steel shoes on the bottom of the side panels. These shoes are in place to allow the pusher to “skid” across the substrate without the side panels trying to dig in. They may also be slanted in the front to allow them to “hop” elevated surfaces instead of stopping the plow and machine in their tracks.
The problem with steel skids, is they too can be hard on the infrastructure. Sliding across concrete or pavement, the steel leaves residue behind that rusts and leaves streaks on the surface. Hit a curb poorly with the steel shoes and you’ve got bigger problems. – Cracks, chips and chunks of damage to curb – and potentially a face through a windshield!
Trip
Most modern snow plows now offer some sort of trip function – whether it is a trip moldboard or a trip edge. Many snow pushers, however, don’t offer this feature. The trip function is designed to prevent damage to the plow, machine and operator when the plow comes in contact with immovable objects. With immovable side panels, neither the moldboard nor the cutting edge is allowed to trip, leaving potential for serious damage and injury. (Remember that windshield comment?)
Float
Float serves several purposes – mostly surrounding adjusting to changing surfaces and safety functions. Don’t expect to find float in most entry level snow pushers, however.
Angling
Here we’re talking about the angling of your plow to the side. This is most common for straight blade plows for windrowing where you want to push snow off to the side. For snow pushers, it’s more commonly used for pushing piles around corners. While the angle function is becoming more common with snow pushers, there are still many that do not angle.
What makes a better snow pusher?
All KAGE front plows offer can be used as snow pushers, whether it’s one of the original 2-in-1 systems, a BLAST floating snow pusher, or a wing plow.
KAGE snow pushers have all of the benefits of standard pushers and add features that not only address the drawbacks of the traditional snow pusher, but actually turn them into benefits, making them the better way to move snow. And almost all of these tie back to various float features.
Now let’s take a look at this on the SnowFire 2-in-1 System and the SnowFire BLAST. KAGE’s SnowFire line of snow pushers is designed for compact and – and in some cases – mini equipment.
Side Panels
In this case, we’re going to start with the side panels. Remember how we talked about the fixed, welded side panels of basic snow pushers causing so many problems with scrape, snow containment, wear and repair. Well… all of KAGE’s snow pushers offer a degree of movement or float in the side panel – just in different ways.
Our 2-in-1 systems, like this SnowFire, have removable side panels (or boxes). While they do attach securely, they are designed to move around a little – for easy attachment and to allow the cutting edge to always stay in contact with the ground. These floating side panels, allow for more cutting edge options and functions as well.
They are also bolted together for the most part, allowing for quick fixes in the field in the rare occasion that it should become damaged. If you don’t have the time or tools to fix the side panels on the spot, simply detach from them and using the snow blade alone.
While KAGE BLAST pushers are technically fixed-side pushers, you still get the benefit of a floating box – and then some – through the use of floating skids. These spring-loaded skids offer about 6 inches of vertical travel.
Cutting Edges
As previously mentioned, with the floating side panels, it opens the door for more cutting edge options – including Polyurethane, High Carbon Steel, Hardox Steel and Carbide Cutting edges – all of which scrape better than rubber edges.
If you need to stay on the gentle side, polyurethane is the way to go as it is still a flexible material that won’t leave rust marks.
But if you want to get more aggressive at an affordable entry point, high carbon steel is a great option. You can find these cutting edges anywhere for KAGE snow pushers as KAGE uses a standard DOT punch bolt patterns for its cutting edges.
For an even better scrape and longer cutting edge lifespan, KAGE offers its AdvantEDGE sectional cutting edge with either Hardox Steel or Carbide sections. Both material options are harder and more abrasion resistant than rubber, poly and high carbon steel with the carbide sections giving by far the longest lifespan – up to 20 times that of high carbon steel.
Part of that is because each AdvantEdge section is spring loaded, allowing it to float vertically and oscillate. That means the cutting edge can contour to irregularities in the substrate, like crowns, wheel depressions and manhole covers. It also means that you don’t get the hot spots from areas of excess pressure that cause uneven wear in the cutting edge.
If and when you do wear out part of the cutting edge, you only need to replace that 18-inch or 24-inch section – not a full 8-, 10- or 12-foot edge.
The AdvantEdge will accommodate manhole covers due to the floating sections… but traditional snow pushers didn’t use hard cutting edges like steel because of things like manhole covers. So how can KAGE still use non-floating steel cutting edges on its snow pushers?
The answer is trip edges.
Trip Edges
All Kage snow pushers utilize trip edges, no matter what type or material of cutting edge is mounted to the plow. The SnowFire line of pushers offers the least amount of trip of all of the KAGE plows, allowing the bottom 8 inches of the blade to fold back just shy of 70 degrees – more than enough to clear even a curb. And it does so without losing your load of snow!
The trip edges are also spring loaded through the use of large, long-lasting compression springs on the back of the moldboard that return the cutting edge to its original optimal 65-degree attack angle once you’ve cleared the pressure of your obstacle.
Poly Skids
Now let’s back up a second. You’re probably thinking. Did he just say “clear a curb” with the cutting edge? How did he even get to the curb with those side panels in place?
Remember those floating skids on the SnowFire BLAST have 6 inches of vertical travel. Those skids allow the operator to drive right up and over the curb without losing contact between the cutting edge and the street or gutter. KAGE offers that same type of floating skid on its new SnowFire Xtreme 2-in-1 system – along with the AdvantEdge sectional cutting edge.
Surely that kind of impact has to damage the curb though, right? Actually, no. That’s why KAGE uses Polyurethane skids. The flexibility and non-abrasiveness of that poly material prevents damage to the curb – unlike the steel shoes on traditional snow pushers.
Even if you don’t have floating skids, like on the standard SnowFire 2-in-1 system, you can still take advantage of the polyurethane skids for protecting the curb. Those poly skids are super helpful for running the curbs as you can essentially use them as feelers to get right up to the curb without worrying about damaging your skids, side panels or the curb. The poly material will flex and slide along the curb very well — and remember, it’s not steel – so no gouging or rust marks left behind.
Float
We’ve talked about the floating skids, floating box and floating cutting edges on the KAGE snow pushers, but the float features don’t stop there. KAGE also offers float for some of its pushers closer to where the plow attaches to the machine. This float is what we’ll call “tipping travel,” so if you’re driving up an incline or down a decline, the plow can maintain proper pressure on the substrate.
This is especially important when using wheel loaders as all of the steering is done with the front tires, meaning they need to stay on the ground to control your machine.
Our LBK SnowFire systems offer float in the pivot frame. For the larger KAGE pushers, you’ll find it in the wheel loader quick attaches. And in the SnowFire BLAST, you’ll find it just in front of the universal skid steer attachment plate.
All KAGE pushers also offer 12 degrees of oscillation, which is the ability of the blade to tip side to side. This is another critical component for keeping your blade in constant and consistent contact with the pavement, and the key to doing this right is the oscillation pivot point, which is located just above the cutting edge on KAGE pushers.
If you’ve ever tried to plow with a loader bucket on a side slope, you’ve probably experienced where one side of the bucket’s cutting edge digs in while the other side doesn’t even touch the ground. This is what oscillation avoids. It even works when angling your pusher!
Angling
On the subject of angling. KAGE snow pushers with hydraulics lead the industry in power angling capabilities. Its SnowFire systems for machines up to 15,000 pounds angle 35 degrees left and right while the larger SnowStorm systems for 15-to-30,000-pound machines angle 36 degrees. Kage’s largest series, the SnowDozer, angles 34 degrees left and right, allowing you to make sharp turns with your pushers.
BLAST pushers are your entry-level KAGE snow pusher and are designed so you don’t need hydraulics. This eliminates the option for power angling.
As you can see, snow pushers have come a long way over the years and KAGE Innovation is constantly pushing the industry forward in creating the better way of moving snow!
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