# Snow depot machines



## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

In larger Canadian cities like here in Montreal, the streets are cleared by large city snowblowers that put the snow in dump trucks, which then bring their load to snow depots. These are large vacant lots where the snow is then piled high and allowed to melt well into the summer months. Some of these piles are over 100 feet high. To pile it that high, there are special high power snowblowers designed for that purpose. They are designed as attachments to a loader and have their own engines. The spec sheet for the Larue D-97 in the pic below mentions that it has over 1000 hp and can throw snow up to 180 feet away. These beasts are built in Quebec city.

A D-87 in action:


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

I wonder how fast the impeller spins to be able to throw the snow 180ft with that short chute (short in relation to the impeller size).
But most importantly what is the impeller tip speed and its diameter? :blush:


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## thool (Jul 25, 2016)

Impressive! Imagine that thing consuming a shopping cart or deer carcass.


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## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

The spec sheet doesn't mention impeller speed, but here is the full page on it:

Loader mounted snowblower D97 - - - J.A. Larue

Hmm, I could just picture one of these in a Mad Max movie someday... like a couple of bad guys on motorcycles meet their fate in that bucket.


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

*Features*

*Performance*



 Capacity: up to 8,500 metric tons / hour
 Throwing distance: up to 55 m (180 ft.)
 *Dimension*



 Approximate length from hitch plate: 3.7 m (144 in.)
 Overall width: 3.2 m (126 in)
 Overall height:
 Working height: 1.9 m (75 in.)
 Weight: 12,250 kg (27,000 lbs.)
 *Engine*



 Power: 783-858 kW (1050-1150 HP)
 Filtration with pre-filter
 Caterpillar C27
 *Impeller*



 Impeller casting: 90° total cast angle: Vertical to left, horizontal to right from the ground
 Diameter: 1.8 m (70 in.)
 Number of blades: 6
 *Impeller Casing*



 One piece shotgun-type with output resistant to abrasion of up to 500 Brinell Hardness
 *Options*



 Female quick coupler
 Right hydraulic side rudder
 Residential-type muffler


_70" impeller diameter.......!!! and weighs only 13-1/2 tons......!!! :blush:
_


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## stromr (Jul 20, 2016)

A number of early snowblowers had that design, no auger just a large impeller, wonder why they abandoned it?


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

stromr said:


> A number of early snowblowers had that design, no auger just a large impeller, wonder why they abandoned it?


You mean like this... :blush:










Homko and Craftsman are the two I know were like that, although I think I saw somewhere an Ariens very early snowblower design kind of like it.... :blush: 

But if you browse at the following link, You'll find more makers of the "fan only" style blowers.
The Gilson Snowblower Shop's Vintage Machine Showcase

My guess for the change in design perhaps was safety regulations..... and/or efficiency..... :blush:


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

hsblowersfan said:


> Homko and Craftsman are the two I know were like that, although I think I saw somewhere an Ariens very early snowblower design kind of like it.... :blush:


Ariens:
The Ariens 1960's and 1970's Sno-Thro info site.

Scot


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

This is what I saw for an early Ariens......

*Ariens Snow Blowers

*








The Great Depression had only been underway for a few years when an idea was sparked in 1933. Henry Ariens’s company, Brillion Iron Works, the one he had spent 40 years building, was gone in an instant. But instead of giving up and rolling over, Ariens and his three sons turned their focus elsewhere.
Using a $1,500 loan borrowed against his life insurance policy and another $1,500 raised by selling stock shares, the four Ariens built what would eventually become one of America’s premier snow blower companies, starting with America’s first man-made rotary tiller.
And now, 80 years later, winter weather dwellers everywhere are as familiar with an Ariens snow blower as they are with the season itself. *

Here is the link

https://www.snowblowersource.com/promotions/history-of-snow-blowers/


*


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## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

hsblowersfan said:


> My guess for the change in design perhaps was safety regulations..... and/or efficiency..... :blush:


Or how about the limited width that can be cleared without needing a huge impeller? Railroads don't need to clear a huge swath and they still do use the rotary design:


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

guyl said:


> Or how about the limited width that can be cleared without needing a huge impeller?


Good point.
That thought did come to my mind, but I thought it would be covered by "inefficient".

If one was made with two impellers that would turn in apossite directions and and use a single chute, that would be more efficient :blush:


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## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

Another issue is getting a large (thus heavy) impeller to spin at high speed requires a lot of power, easily slowed down by getting bogged down into thicker snow. Having much slower, geared down augers allows for greater torque in breaking up the snow (especially if it's been plowed and packed) and then bring the snow to a smaller impeller makes for a lower power engine still able to throw the snow at a good distance.


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

guyl said:


> Another issue is getting a large (thus heavy) impeller to spin at high speed requires a lot of power, easily slowed down by getting bogged down into thicker snow. Having much slower, geared down augers allows for greater torque in breaking up the snow (especially if it's been plowed and packed) and then bring the snow to a smaller impeller makes for a lower power engine still able to throw the snow at a good distance.


Makes sense :blush:


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

This is what I have seen (on videos) for very deep snow removal (this one is in Japan) :blush:


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## Clutch Cargo (Dec 27, 2015)

RE: Fan Only Snow Throwers
We had an old Eska "Sno-Flyr" that my Dad bought from W.T. Grant and I don't remember the engine being excessively loud, but the drivetrain to get that auger to spin fast was. I could be wrong but I think it spun all the time and you didn't want to get anywhere near the front of that thing.


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## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

Came across this article about Montreal's snow depots this morning. They will be renting some of those 1000 hp blowers to pile it higher.

It's in French but I thought you might at least find the photo interesting:

Montréal loue des souffleuses surpuissantes | Pierre-André Normandin | Grand Montréal


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

thool said:


> Impressive! Imagine that thing consuming a shopping cart or deer carcass.


Well there is this one eating a car. :smiley-whacky017:


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

YSHSfan said:


> Good point. That thought did come to my mind, but I thought it would be covered by "inefficient".
> 
> If one was made with two impellers that would turn in oppossite directions and and use a single chute, that would be more efficient :blush:


They have made them. This one has been for sale for some time now. It's too big for my little tractor but I thought it looked cool. https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/grd/d/8-ft-snow-blower-for-3pt-hitch/6450302912.html


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

The Leslie rotary plows in Europe have been replaced by the self propelled Beilhack snow clearers and a few Zaugg self propelled units.

A few leslie type machines are still in railway museums and there are a few working unit in Eastern Europe. 

The Beilhack railway snow clearers can clear over 22000 tons per hour of snow pack with the new larger engines.


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> They have made them. This one has been for sale for some time now. It's too big for my little tractor but I thought it looked cool. https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/grd/d/8-ft-snow-blower-for-3pt-hitch/6450302912.html


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That is a Volvo Boxer snow thrower if my memory is right


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

guyl said:


> Came across this article about Montreal's snow depots this morning. They will be renting some of those 1000 hp blowers to pile it higher.
> 
> It's in French but I thought you might at least find the photo interesting:
> 
> Montréal loue des souffleuses surpuissantes | Pierre-André Normandin | Grand Montréal


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Oswego, NY has several snow stockpiles in the city limits every year. The last couple of years they have melted back to the ground and they have not had to push the pile back to have room for more snow in the summer months to have more room when the fuzzy stuff starts flying.

Northern Japan has many snow stock piles and they have at least one snow melting station and foolishly l I did not save the URL for the Video. 

The snow melting station/pit is wide enough for five of there small dump trucks to dump at once and the melt water in the melting pit is so hot it is steaming at all times quickly melting each truck load of snow.

Perhaps Yanmar Ronin San knows which one I am thinking about??


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## gibbs296 (Jun 22, 2014)

Something Mpls tried a few years back...https://www.planetforward.org/idea/mn2020-the-incredible-snow-melting-machine


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