# DR Snow blade for car



## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

The thought of clearing my driveway of snow from the comfort of my car or truck has some appeal. However, I am very skeptical of this product despite the fact that, in general, I think DR markets good products.

http://www.drpower.com/chpcontent/email/20111207-CAT4-web.html?&src=HL73386XO31C0000&utm_source=DR+Power+Equipment&utm_campaign=878ee1c214-20111207_CAT2_Redi-Plow1_B&utm_medium=email

Does anyone have any familiarity with this product and any comment on how well it works?

Does anyone know if using this product would jeopardize the warranty on the drive train of your car or truck?

Does anyone know what this thing costs (I don't want to call them without knowing, in advance, what the cost is)?

As an FYI - My truck is only rear wheel drive and my car (Subaru) is all wheel drive. For that reason, I would be more inclined to put this on my car.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

I'm a bit skeptical too. I don't understand how the blade mounts to the wheels without tools. When DR says 1/2 the price of a mid-sized snowblower, I'd estimate it at $1000. Be careful about contacting DR. I was considering a brush hog and they pester me constantly.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

My gut tells me that snowplows are reserved for 3/4 ton trucks and above. Also keep in mind that you could get a used Gravely walk behind with a snow blade for very little money. With the double wheels, they are absolute animals. I like the L series but it's a bit too fast for my comfort. Just don't buy any that I'm looking at!  A snowblade for a lawn tractor retails for $300 or thereabouts.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

I think that skepticism is the correct reaction to this. This page shows the price at $999:
http://www.drpower.com/widecontent.aspx?page=redi-plow-model-detail

Now if this were developed by Red Green, I might have more confidence in it.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I am beyond skeptical! Moving very much snow very far takes a lot of power. This may be overkill, but a friend of mine told me about a fellow in Alaska who cleared pariking lots with 4×4 pickups in the 70s. He would bend a Chevy frame beyond use in a season. 4×4xFord would last a few years.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

^check out that anti-Chevy lick from Topa!  Well played, good Sir. I'm a Chevy guy myself because that particular day, the Chevy was cheaper than the Ford. Dang, I'm good at guessing prices. I nailed that one! lol

Like I usually do, I recommend the UniMog



























I want one so bad I can't stand it.


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## danr (Sep 5, 2009)

This DR product would work great for me. Where I live we average about 2 inches of snow every 5 years. When it snows where I live, we all act like the circus has come to town. Its a big deal.

If you live in real snow country I would be skeptical but I don't know anything about the product outside of what is on the web site.


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## Viking (Aug 26, 2009)

Oh Yeah! ........................... Now I remember why I live in S. Texas *and not Nebraska!*

Ha!


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

I'm with Cr on the frame business. I also think it would be extremely hard on a cars' transmission.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

I would love to see the ol' family sedan with one of these strapped on the front slam into the massive rock-like sand-filled mountain that the town plows deposits at the end of my driveway. If anyone tries this, please video-record it!


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

That one with the walker is a hoot!! My mother used to shovel snow when she was 96. I think the snow shovel served as her walker!!

If that DR plow is hooked the front wheels and it comes off under a load, it could do some serious damage to the front fenders and may hit the windshield. I would not put a dime into such a gimmick!

If you want to push light snow, make a wide snow pusher. I made one 38" wide by heating and bending a sheet of plastic with a propane torch. I fashioned a mount for the handle and I have been using it for 10-15 years now.
My son in law just came over with a 48" wide sheet of Lexan and we made one out of it. He may find that it gets a bit heavy..but he is a young marine and can handle it!!


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

When I lived in the north my idea of snow removal was July 4th!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I'm in Oregon you don't shovel rain )


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I sort of knew this was a bad idea, but I am glad I posted this. It made for some interesting conversation.

We're hosting a big party on December 28th and I will have a clean driveway for that. After that, I trust my Subaru to drive through or over anything. Eventually, spring will remove all built up snow and ice.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Rich…my ex fatherinlaw was a rural mail carrier with a 88 mile long route. He bought a new Subaru 4 years in a row. I don't know how much snow you get but in south eastern Ohio the "burru" never failed to "go in the snow". We used to use it them to tow the sledders back to the top of the hills.
Just some worthless info I thought you might be interested in.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

We're going way off-topic from a topic that, from the beginning, was not woodworking oriented.

Nonetheless - - I have been fortunate to own several very nice and very expensive cars that I was able to buy new. The list included 2 Mercedes, 2 BMWs and several top-of-the-line domestic cars. I claim that my (less than 30K) Subaru is a better car than any other car I have ever owned, regardless of price.

There is one, and only one, feature I miss from some of these other cars, a memory for the car seat and mirror settings. My wife and I are of different dimensions and, since she drives this car a lot, I have to be constantly returning the seat and mirrors to my setting. Other cars automatically returned to your settings as soon as you unlocked the car with your remote. As soon as Subaru offers that feature, I will declare it the perfect car.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Don't forget that when you steer in either direction, the front wheels are no longer parallel. This is due to the steering geometry, and the fact that the 'inside' wheel has a tighter radius to turn when going around the corner. How will this unit stay attached if, say, you have curves in your driveway?


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

Being a bonafide card carrying Alaskan, let me tell you how it goes. Most pickups can wield a snow plow, they are all over the steets in Anchorage in the winter, but there are limits to what they can do….......you can plow with most anything, but heavy high snow should be left to the big trucks….....

........I had a plow on a 70's Cherokee Chief when I lived in Fairbanks. Worked fine, and the vehicle definitely was bred for it, but it was a pain to put the plow on and off….......

So when I got a Gravely riding tractor, I got a snow blower attachment…..direct drive on the Gravely, no belts, and it would throw snow about 20 or 30 yards…......now that was fun. Of course back in the 70's that tractor was right close to $5000 and the blower attachment was about $500. The blower was all welded plate steel, and weighed a ton, but you just drove up to it, hooked it up and there it stayed for the season.

But having tried all the macho stuff, let me tell you the best and most macho Alaskan trick of all…..

........try a heated driveway, solves all your problems….............

I beat my chest and make Yeti sounds every fall when I flip the switch, and the sensor in the driveway starts talking to the computerize control unit so it knows when it snows, turns itself off and on…...and every morning I know that I will have the cleanest drive on the block….

Now that's a real Alaskan…........(-:


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

We now return to our regular programing.


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## greasemonkeyredneck (Aug 14, 2010)

I would like to point out something else. You mentioned a reason being that the truck was two wheel drive while the car was all wheel drive. In theory this sounds like a no-brainer. The problem is that the all wheel system on the subara is not equal to the four wheel drive system on a four wheel drive truck. 
On these all wheel drive cars, they are designed with safety in mind. While they do have all wheel drive abilities, they are only to keep all four wheels getting traction, nothing more, nothing less. They are not designed to be an assist to towing or pushing anything. 
On the other hand, four wheel drive trucks are built with the knowledge that an owner will abuse it by pulling and pushing things. They have beefier frames, beefier suspension, and more importantly, beefier engine and drivetrain components. 
And by the way, I have seen snow plows mounted on a couple of cars as "test vehicles". The results were not pretty. There were bend frames, ruined transmissions, blown engines, bent steering components, and the worst one of all, one that broke the front tie rod end, lost control of steering, and was driven into a guys living room.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

*Al*: when I was younger, and naive, I liked the pedestrian Unimog, too.

But … as I got older, and acquired a tad more wisdom …...

CLICK ME !

Fractional ownership ???


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Most cars have no frame these days, just unibody construction; ie, sheet metal.


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## mtenterprises (Jan 10, 2011)

Just another fun picture. Took me a while to find it amongst my saved pictures but only a Ural owner would save it

MIKE


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## bunkie (Oct 13, 2009)

I just *knew* there had to be a Ural with a plow on it somewhere!


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Neil, can you say timeshare. I think from now on, I'm only getting vehicles with radar, lol.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

Thanks Jim -
My sister and I were going to have a heated driveway put in for my folks in Anchorage.

In the end they moved to Oregon when their health is failing, and cannot drive any more..


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

The bike reminds me of some earth moving attachments that were made for 4×4 quads. I was looking at them, but they seemed a bit flimsy. Decided to buy a real tractor instead ;-)

The is a heated highway in Ladd Canyon outside of LaGrande, OR. When they built I-80, the locals told the engineers they would never be able to keep it open in the winter and to go around through Union. Of course, the engineers knew better than the locals ;-))


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

*Dr Dirt and Topo*
Heating entrance ways at big buildings such as hospitals here, is common place. And in fact we are not the only ones with a heated driveway in our culdesac. I live in a very eclectic neighborhood, mostly blue collar, but a bunch of white collar and professionals as well. Physicians like the subdivision because it is in the middle of town, and very near to the hospitals. That's why I live here. My back does not take well to shoveling anymore, and Sherie hated the poor service we would get from the snow removal people, so the heated drive solved a family problem.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Jim, no other physicians live in my "holler" lol. If I had a heated driveway, it would probably be the first in my county, if not my state. That being said, I want one badly. I've got the snow blade for my JD tractor but it's pretty wimpy. I want one that latches to a quad.

Funny story, if y'all will permit: when I first moved to WV, all my neighbors were whizzing around on ATVs. I figured I needed one to fit in. I went down the street to the motorcycle shop and started picking out my accessories. I thought they cost a couple thousand at most. By the end of my order, I had a $13,000 machine, lol. I didn't buy it, fearing the fiance. I had NO IDEA those things were so expensive.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Last time I visited a friend, in Aspen (Colorado), on an early morning walk … after bitter cold nighttime temps and a big snowfall … it was pretty amazing to see the heated drives/sidewalks on so many of the houses.

Not a speck on them. Period.

I hate to think what it costs to operate. I wonder if a "simple" geothermal unit will produce enough heat, but … even still … you'd lose all the heat that was headed for your house.

*Al*: my thoughts, exactly. I also think every vehicle should have beverage heaters/coolers and a steam table within the driver's ready reach !


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

I am not sure if the heated driveways are all built like mine, but there is a sensor set in the concrete when it is poured. It detects snow. If there is snow, and it is below 35 deg, and above -15 degrees, then the unit heats up, otherwise, it sits on idle. It costs money, but it is not outlandish, mostly because the electronics are set for efficiency. Meaning, it won't turn on if the snow will melt by itself since it is too warm, and it won't turn on if it is just too cold to melt the snow. Of course, when it is very cold, it doesn't snow. But it won't fight to melt a small amount of snow that got sprayed or fell off the vehicle tires when it is too cold to work efficiently.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Yer' 'xacly right, *Jim*. For any who care, I found this:

"The cost of operating a heated driveway is dependent upon the spacing in which the heating cables were installed. Closer rows (less than 4 inches apart) will consume higher wattage than rows with greater spacing. However, the greater the intervals in which the rows are spaced, the longer your system will take to heat the concrete and melt the snow. At the recommended spacing of 4 inches, the average operational cost is approximately $.28 per 100-square feet per hour. This is based on a 35-watts per square foot snow melting system, with a kilowatt hour rate of $0.08 per hour."

There are clearly quite a few variables in there-some easy to pin down, some not so easy-but you could take a flier at the operating costs, if you were bored, had built everything your spouse wanted, were finished with all your Xmas shopping, and … are a big coffee drinker ;-)


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

Jim,

I am curious. Do you know how the snow is detected?

Our electricity provider is so unreliable that almost any time there is snow on the driveway, there is no power. I hate to think what it would cost to melt the snow with my generator!


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## TechRedneck (Jul 30, 2010)

Rich

I have a big DR hog and a chipper attachment. They have already paid for themselves. I also have the DR driveway groomer. The groomer actually works great and has paid for itself since gravel for a almost a quarter mile is expensive.

That plow however looks pretty wimpy coming from DR. I would be wary of that. When I moved to the mountains I went to tractor supply and got a snow bear plow. They sell kits for most trucks and suv,s. Took half a day to put the thing together and comes with casters so you can wheel it around the garage. All I do in the winter is pull it out, run the plow into the front of the truck, connect two pins and the electric lift. And off I go.

I paid around a thousand at the time. Thing weighs a lot and is heavy steel with springs to absorb shocks. I am SOO glad I did not go with the 4 wheeler and plow. One swipe down and one back is all it takes for the most part.

With a two wheel drive truck I would add weight to the bed with chains. I have 4 wheel drive and run chains on the front wheels, I have a nice hill to plow up and down. I bought a snow blower last year to get the top of the drive where it is hard to swing a truck and plow around.


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## jbertelson (Sep 26, 2009)

*Neil*
Suppose we ought to amortize the costs of installing the system…...although we were pouring new concrete in any case, so the concrete wouldn't be included in the cost. The driveway is not very long, so that improves the efficiency. We have more concrete next to it and a motorhome pad, but they are not heated.

Frankly…......I don't thing I want to know what it costs…........(-:
You understand….......(-:

*Chuck*
There is a sensor exposed in the concrete with alternating metal and insulator concentric rings. I suspect it is just simple conduction of electricity. In fact I know it is, come to think about it.

Our power is under ground, and does not go out easily in bad weather. I understand your situation, been there before…......Fairbanks.


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