From MN/DoT:



"ST. PAUL, Minn.—When the winter storm predicted for this weekend hits, the Minnesota Department of Transportation will strike back with its arsenal of snow-fighting tools, including three revolutionary tow plows.

The tow plows can clear a huge swath through fallen and drifted snow. They combine conventional left- and front-mounted plow blades with a blade 26 feet wide that swings out from behind the truck like a scorpion’s tail. When fully configured, a tow plow can clear two and half highway lanes or two lanes and part of the shoulder. Mn/DOT first used the tow plow on freeways in the Twin Cities including the heavily traveled Interstate 94 corridor last winter.

The innovative new plow proved so effective that the department purchased four more, said Mark Fischbach, clear roads superintendent with Mn/DOT’s Metro District. “They make our work much more efficient and flexible,” Fischbach said. “Each tow plow can clear more traffic lanes, freeing another plow to work on another route or respond to emergency situations.” Mn/DOT now has three of the plows operating from stations in St. Cloud, Monticello and Maple Grove. Two more tow plows are now being readied for service."

Those look interesting.

- Chris

yeah thats cool.....the sterling truck part of the equation is the same as I mentioned to chuck....with the exception of a different sander, and plow/wing setup....

GH

You're not running over the snow with this...

Here's a link to a news article w/ video of it in action...

http://wcco.com/specialreports/snow.tow.plow.2.630304.html

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- Andy

Mo DOT has one here in St Louis and it is really cool. It was a local creation by a MODOT employee about 3-4 years ago.

Just watched the video, and there is a really god clip of the St. Louis one in action. I could really see these catching on for interstate clearing. The saving on fuel and wear and tear on trucks alone has got to make it worth it.

I want to see what it will do in some real snow and in real conditions. Add some ice, freezing drizzle, a 30-40 mph side wind, actual snow drifts, a wet heavy snow and with real traffic breathing down his back. What do they do when the sensors freeze up ? I want to see how that truck handles snagging a piece of broken concrete sticking up at 35-40 mph. That truck will need a fair sized load of sand (for weight) to pull that thing, not to mention extra fuel for the added power it will take to pull it and the constant sidedraft from that weighted tank on the trailer added to the truck frame and axles. I can see a nightmare in the making and only limited use in a controled situation.

I don't know about anywhere else, but the tow plow operates as part of the gang plow group here. The dump with the tow plow has a full load of salt for weight. MODOT and the City of St. Louis have been getting a lot of wing plows as well, and they are used on the regular traffic lanes. For not being in the snowbelt, St. Louis has a very good fleet of snow removal equipment. We've had almost constant light snow and freezing drizzle the past several days with temps in the teens during the day, so the trucks have been out constantly spreading salt on the roadways to keep them from freezing up. Not exactly plowing weather for the most part, but it is always nice to see the snow equipment out on the roadways.

I hope they put a sign on the back, along with warnings along the hiway that say "DONT PASS SNOWPLOW ON RIGHT" (they have em in Idaho)
I would really hate to see some yuppie skum, bleeding heart R-Tard get hurt trying to rush to a Starbucks for that "gotta have" cup of 6 dollar coffee!
Jason

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Are you an enviromentist, or do you work for a living?