Prius Powered Snowplow - Just For Fun

this is a feat of engineering, how can I build my own?

 

I see this as a feat of far better bass-ackwards driving control than I can muster.

 

I love this!! Makes me want to move back north. Best I could do is share the link on Facebook so my friends up north can see it.

Update to add: Already got a "like" from a friend in Switzerland.

 

No offense, but... are you out of you @#%&@!!! mind?

 

Love it. We have to pay thousands of $$ and drive for thousands of miles just to see snow, but never enough to do that with :lol: It is around 40*C to 48*C (120*F) each day here at the moment. not much snow about at those day time temps. It is after mid night at the moment and still 36*C and I'm sweating sitting in a T shirt, shorts and bare feet outside our motorhome. We've been running the air con so hard the poor lithium house battery is crying for mercy now and it's too hot in the bed to sleep. Kinda like the look of that snow just at the moment

T1 Terry

 

Agreed on the fantastic reverse driving!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Is this a Gen 2 Prius that I see before me, its Evil Traction Control permitting controlled amounts of wheel slip, just like the book says?

 

Cost is very high but here is a commercially available receiver hitch plow...

SnowSport 180 Utility Plow | Reversible Van, Truck & SUV Snow Plows

Paul

 

I don't why, but I find that video to be relaxing to watch.
At first, it strikes you as..."This is not a good idea" and you're actually waiting to hear a snap, and see disaster. Then you realize it's working. And not only working, but working well.
I like the directing decision NOT to explain anything upfront. No close ups of the magic board. Let people simply see the end result first. Draws them in.

Restores my confidence in Hardwood and Hardware store innovation. Bravo.
The type of device you can imagine blue-printed in Leonardo da Vinci like pen strokes on parchment next to similar designs for flying machines and submarines or other magical devices that grasp towards the mythic.

By the end, I'm almost disappointed in it's singularity of task. Like I expect a button to be pushed and suddenly it transforms into a device that creates an igloo or fashions a snowman that comes to life and takes the neighborhood kids on an adventure.

But for a nearly 4 minute video of snow being manipulated by the planetary geared transmission of a Hybrid Prius, and planks of wood? I find it to be captivating and in it's specific genre, I would vote for it's Academy Award recognition. Of course it's a genre of one...so not much competition but it's definitely the best homemade Prius attached snowplow video I have ever seen.

 

I enjoyed the video and appreciate the ingenuity in the design of the snowplow.

For me it also confirms that these gen 2 prius are one of the best snow vehicles I have driven provided they are driven sensibly and the snow is below the height of the front bumper.

 

I love it!

I guess the only thing I'm curious about- technically that is just the backboard of a plow. Have you experimented with an actual blade of any kind attached to the bottom edge?

 

we can trade, it's been -35C here at night and -30 during the day for the past month. Today I ran two heaters in the garage for over 5 hours and it still wasn't above freezing inside. Then I had to move the car outside so I opened the door and within 10 seconds all that precious heat was blown outside.

 

Ahh.... no, I'll just sweat it out thanks all the same :lol: We do see a frost about twice a yr back in Mannum South Australia and we think that is cold. Even though it is gone by 7 am you see the locals with heavy ski jackets and gloves and acting like they are in the Antarctic or something, semms conditioning for 48*C days in summer wrecks the ability to handle any thing close to 0*C, so minus 35*C, I can't even get the deep freeze to reach those sort of numbers ....


T1 Terry

 

Probably. But it would also bite down deeper and into firmer snow which will make the drive train work harder and maybe cause more tire slippage. Just thinking "out loud." But if the car handles it OK, it'll be a time saver.

 

Don't you only need to move the non packed snow away? It seemed to be doing that job very well, an edge might make the blade last longer but not sure it's really needed.

T1 Terry

 

well, the blade doesn't need to be Excalibur or anything. Even a fat strip of hard rubber might do a bit better clearing. And with a bit more snow cleared, there's less wheel slip for the next pass.