What's This Blade For?

[x635 4,066]

Today, while shooting this BEAUTIFUL Wellesley, MA Volvo DPW Truck, I noticed this blade underneath (attached to the frame and hydraulics) foward of the rear wheels.

I've never seen anything like this before. I assume it's for clearing snow, but how is it used/deployed? Looks like a secondary plow or scraper to me. Any DPW's around here with similar? I wonder what the advantages are?

[attachmentid=1744]

Edited December 13, 2006 by x635

[27east 19]

I know its a scraper blade....What it does, I'm not as sure of, but I think it gets some of the more compacted snow off the ground.

[TRUCK6018 50]

It's used mainly used for dirt roads. Dirt roads are more costly to maintain due to potholes, washouts, and divots that regularly develop on the road surface. On top of that, dirt roads are more difficult to plow than a paved road because you can't leave the plow floating on dirt before it's frozen or else you will rip it up.

The Town of Bedford Highway Department has several of these mounted on their trucks. With the number of dirt roads to maintain in Bedford it saves on the wear and tare of the heavier equipment such as the Grade-All.

[x635 4,066]

The Town of Bedford Highway Department has several of these mounted on their trucks.  With the number of dirt roads to maintain in Bedford it saves on the wear and tare of the heavier equipment such as the Grade-All.

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Thanks for the info. I never noticed these on BDPW's trucks. Here's a photo of it I got today.

[attachmentid=1766]

[Guest car2267]

When I was in the Navy, stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, the aiport had plows similar to the above pic, and if these operate on the same principle. The operator has a switch in the cab where he can let the suspension on the truck down and put some of the trucks weight on the plow to really clear off whatever snow the front plow doesnt pick up. They used these for cleraing the runways and taxipway at the air base. But on the other hand they never really got much snow down there anyway.

[ja3kfd 34]

Seth,

Truck 6018 is correct we use them on all our dirt roads to maintain them , we use the Grader when we cut ditches and pull leaves and re widen roads. The scraper trucks are also used in winter to plow the snow off until roads are frozen then we can use plows instesd.

I have also used them in the Winter to cut Ice of of roads, I have seen the state use them when they are plowing to cut the ice off of 684.

They work great and are much faster then the grader.

I work for Town of Bedford and I have a plow section that has some dirt roads to take care of,that is one of the trucks I use during the winter season.

[STAT213 332]

Seth,

Truck 6018 is correct we use them on all our dirt roads to maintain them , we use the Grader when we cut ditches and pull leaves and re widen roads. The scraper trucks are also used in winter to plow the snow off until roads are frozen then we can use plows instesd.

I have also used them in the Winter to cut Ice of of roads, I have seen the state use them when they are plowing to cut the ice off of 684.

They work great and are much faster then the grader.

I work for Town of Bedford and I have a plow section that has some dirt roads to take care of,that is one of the trucks I use during the winter season.

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I was out visiting friends in Ann Arbor Michigan once, and that is the only plow blade I saw on their trucks. Oddest thing, you hear a plow coming, but no blade until you look hard.

[medic8074 0]

Seth,

These plows/blades are commonly referred to as Underbody/Underbelly blades. If you vision a normal plow on a Single/Tandem Axle dump truck wether it be a straight/reversible/one-way blade; when you round a corner the blade will swing outwards not clearing the path of the most curbside wheels. For this reason we used the Underbelly blades to ensure a even/clean path cleared around corners @ for example yield lanes off four way intersections.

These blades weren't to bad also for scrapping down to the pavement as other posters had suggested, but by no means/ways does it compare to the down pressure offered from a wheeled grader.

But it was having the Underbelly blades it ensured that the company I worked for got 1st call out on the call-out list by the city due to the job they were capable of doing.

Underbody Blades

Tommy