All about rotary snow blowers

Snow blockages are common in Russian winters. In this regard, snow removal equipment, both autonomous and mounted, is gaining more and more popularity. What types of snowblowing equipment exist today and how to choose a manual model of a snowplow for yourself, we will consider below.

The main division of snow blowers is carried out according to the type of work cycle:

• single-stage, with a combined working cycle, that is, both the breakdown of snow masses and their transfer is carried out by the same unit;
• two-stage, with a split cycle of work - the snowplow has two separate working mechanisms responsible for the development of snow debris and their clearing by throwing the snow mass.

Advantages of one-stage snow blowers:

• compactness and increased maneuverability of the apparatus;
• higher travel speed.

The disadvantage of such machines is their relatively low performance.

The single-stage type of snowblowers includes plow-rotary and milling snowplows. The former are usually used to clear roads from snow drifts. In cities, they can be used to clean sidewalks and small streets. With an increased density of snow debris, they are considered ineffective.

Milling or milling-plow snow throwers were popular in the sixties of the XX century. The principle of their operation was slightly different from the plow-rotary counterparts: the throwing rotor was replaced by a milling cutter, which, thanks to the torque moment, cut the snow mass and transmitted it to the bell. But numerous shortcomings of this type of technology quickly reduced the popularity of such machines and they "went out of the way."

The two-stage type of snowplow includes auger and rotary milling units. The main difference between them lies in the design of the feeding mechanism, which is engaged in cutting the snow mass and feeding it into the snow thrower.

Rotary auger snow blowers are currently very popular in Russia. They are hung on cars and trucks, tractors and special chassis. They are designed for shoveling snow shafts left by other types of snow plows and loading the snow mass into trucks using a special chute. They are used to clear snow both within the city, and on highways, and on the runways of airports and airfields.

Advantages of rotary snow blowers:

• high efficiency when working with deep and dense snow cover;
• large throwing distance of treated snow.

But this type has its disadvantages:

• high price;
• large dimensions and weight;
• slow movement;
• operation only in winter seasons.

Rotary auger snow blowers are divided into single-engine and twin-engine. In single-engine models, both travel and operation of the snow blower attachments are powered by a single engine. In the second case, an additional motor is installed to power the snowplow.

The main disadvantages of the twin-engine design of auger snow blowers include the following points.

• Irrational use of the main chassis motor power.When used as intended, the efficiency is less than 10%, for a long time the speed is less than the nominal. This leads to clogging of the combustion chamber, injectors and valves with the products of combustion of the fuel mixture, which, in turn, leads to excessive consumption of fuel and accelerated wear of the engine.
• Cross arrangement of motor drives. The motor that drives the snow blower mechanism in front of the cab is located at the rear of the machine, and the main motor that drives the equipment is at the front.
• Significant loads on the front axle in travel mode. This can lead to a breakdown of the bridge, to prevent such malfunctions for auger rotor machines, a speed limit of up to 40 km / h is set.

The purpose of rotary-milling snow removal devices does not differ from that of auger-driven machines - they are able to remove compacted masses of snow with their subsequent throwing them up to 50 m to the side or loading them into freight transport. Rotary milling snow removal units can be both mounted and autonomous.

Rotary cutter snow blowers are able to remove snow drifts up to 3 m high. Such snow removal equipment can be installed on various types of transport: a tractor, loader, car or special chassis, as well as on the boom of a loader.

There are a huge number of different snow removal equipment on the market today.

For example, model Impulse SR1730 produced in Russia has a working width of snow cover of 173 cm, with a mass of 243 kg. And Impulse SR1850 is capable of cleaning a strip 185 cm wide at approximately 200 m3 / h, the weight of the device is already 330 kg. The mounted rotary milling unit SFR-360 captures a width of 285 cm with a capacity of up to 3500 m3 / h and is capable of throwing the processed snow mass at a distance of up to 50 m.

If you take a screw-rotor mechanism made in Slovakia KOVACO brands, then the cleaning width varies from 180 to 240 cm. The weight of the unit is from 410 to 750 kg, depending on the configuration. Spent snow throwing distance - up to 15 m.

Rotary cutter KFS 1250 has a weight of 2,700-2,900 kg, while the snow capture width varies from 270 to 300 cm. It is capable of throwing snow at a distance of up to 50 m.

GF Gordini TN and GF Gordini TNX clearing an area with a width of 125 and 210 cm, respectively, snow is thrown at a distance of 12/18 m.

Rotary milling mechanism "SU-2.1" produced in Belarus is capable of processing up to 600 cubic meters of snow per hour, while the width of the working strip is 210 cm. The throwing distance ranges from 2 to 25 m, as well as the cleaning speed - from 1.9 to 25.3 km / h.

Italian snow blower F90STi also belongs to the rotary milling type, the weight of the apparatus is 13 tons. Differs in high productivity - up to 5 thousand cubic meters per hour with cleaning speed up to 40 km / h. The width of the processing strip is 250 cm. It is used for clearing the runways of airfields.

Belarusian snowplow "SNT-2500" weighs 490 kg, is capable of handling up to 200 cubic meters of snow mass per hour with a working width of 2.5 m.The spent snow is thrown at a distance of up to 25 m.

Snow blower model LARUE D25 also applies to high-performance devices - it is capable of processing up to 1100 m3 / h with a width of the working area of ​​251 cm.The weight of the device is 1750 kg, the snow throwing distance is adjustable from 1 to 23 m.

These technical characteristics are for informational purposes only, and at any time can be changed at the request of the manufacturer, therefore, when choosing a model of a snow blower, carefully read the instructions and technical characteristics of the intended purchase.

For an ATV, you can pick up two types of mounted snow removal equipment: rotary or with a blade. The first type is capable not only of developing snow deposits, but also throwing snow aside at a distance of 3-15 m, depending on the model.

It can also be noted that rotary snow blowers for ATVs are generally more powerful than models with a blade, they are able to develop snow blockages with a height of 0.5-1 m.

As for snow blowers with dumps, the following points can be highlighted.

• Blades are single-section and two-section - for throwing the snow mass in one or two sides, non-rotating - with a fixed angle of snow capture, and rotary - with the ability to adjust the angle of capture.
• On models for fast snowplowing, the top edge of the blade is very curled.
• The frame and fastening system can be either removable or permanent. The most modern models are equipped with a "floating blade" - when a solid obstacle is detected under the snow, the blade automatically retracts and lifts.
• For models intended for installation on an ATV, minimal mechanization is characteristic, that is, the blade level is usually set manually.

How the two-stage snow blower works can be seen in the following video.