Snow Flies Off Glass-Lined “Harvestore” Snowplow

Snow Flies Off Glass-Lined “Harvestore” Snowplow LIVESTOCK Horses/Mules A panel from a Harvestore silo does a great job keeping Jesse Fisher’s driveway cleared of snow Whether pulled by 2 or 4 horses it scoops up snow fast and dumps it where he wants Snow slides easily off the glass-fused steel “Our driveway is on a hill and the snow makes it difficult for the milkman to back up to the milk house ” explains Fisher The blade is self-dumping He devised a tow chain system that pulls the scraper blade through the snow with a team of horses “I took my plans to a neighbor with welding and metalworking equipment ” says Fisher “He helped with the design and building it I couldn’t have done it without him ” When they were finished they had a scraper that works like a charm Once the blade is filled with snow Fisher releases the chain and the panel tips forward over the gathered snow The operator’s platform rides up over the back of the panel as half circle plates attached to the front of the blade act as runners “After the snow dumps I stop and back the horses up ” says Fisher “The scraper rocks back on its edge the platform slides back to the rear and I can reattach the tow chain ” To get the runner plates he needed they cut 2-ft radius half circles from the edge of a Harvestore panel and welded a 3-in steel band to each circle to act as runners Fisher made room for the tongue which had to pass through the blade to the operator’s platform by cutting an additional 8-in deep notch out of the blade “I used angle iron to mount the 2 half circles to the blade leaving about 4 1/2 ft between them ” says Fisher He also used angle iron to mount sections of Harvestore panels at either end of the blade as wings to catch snow He also added a 9-ft length of angle iron to the back of the cutting edge This reinforces the edge but also helps it skim the road surface “We raised the ends a bit so they don’t catch on the lawn ” explains Fisher The operator stands on a 16 by 52-in platform made from diamond plate steel Fisher says the scraper which cost about $600 has worked great He recommends it to anyone who keeps draft horses He says his horses seem to enjoy the winter job as they are full of energy with limited work to do through the winter “We pile the snow up and the horses just walk through and over with each dump ” says Fisher “We can get piles 6 to 7-ft high It is fun work and kind of exciting ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jesse Fisher 347 School Lane Rd Gap Penn 17527 ph 717 442-8958

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