Rolling Snow Shovel

2007 - Volume #31, Issue #1, Page #20

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Rolling Snow Shovel

Using recycled bicycle parts, an Alberta man found a way to make snow scraping much easier on the back.
    Rod McFarlane of Westlock, Alberta says his "wheeled snow pusher" requires no lifting.
    "You just push it using your legs and not your back," he says. "It's designed to be used on paved surfaces."
    To make the unit, McFarlane cut an old bicycle all apart.
     He made the horizontal section of the "rolling shovel" frame by using the bicycle piece that went from the pedals to the back wheel. The vertical part of the snow pusher's frame is made from the bike support that ran from the back of the wheel, up to the seat.
    With a pivot pin, he sets the blade straight across, and then drills a hole two inches back from the pivot pin hole, through the blade anchor's upper and lower plate and the blade mount.
    McFarlane sets the blade at the angle he prefers for use, and uses the 1/4-in. hole in the upper plate as a guide to drill another hole through the blade mount. He follows the same procedure for the opposite angle.
    To attach a shovel blade, McFarlane first removes the handle, and then welds a 2 by 1/8-in. piece of flat iron to the bottom of the blade. Next, he cuts the handle mount at an angle, near the top of the blade, before welding a piece of 1/4 by 1 1/2 by 6-in. flat iron to the blade's handle mount. Then McFarlane cuts a piece of 1 by 2-in. flat iron diagonally, and welds it to each side of the blade mount, to form a triangle.
    "Also, I weld a piece of 1/8 by 2 by 4-in. flat iron to the front of the horizontal frame and use a small piece of 1/4 by 1 by 2-in. flat iron as a spacer at the wheel-end of the of the horizontal frame," he explains. "Next, I take a piece of flat iron that's 1/8-in thick by 2-in. wide, and this becomes the upper anchor for the blade angle."
    McFarlane then drills 1/4-in holes in the end of the horizontal frame and the blade mount, (all the way through where the pedals were originally mounted). This is for the snow blade's pivot pin.
    "I've made a few for friends for $50 each, but I don't want to go into business," he says.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rod McFarlane, 10404 103 St., Westlock, Alberta, Canada T7P 1L1 (ph 780 349-5178; revmcfarlane@shaw.ca).

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Rolling Snow Shovel FARM HOME Miscellaneous Using recycled bicycle parts an Alberta man found a way to make snow scraping much easier on the back Rod McFarlane of Westlock Alberta says his wheeled snow pusher requires no lifting You just push it using your legs and not your back he says It s designed to be used on paved surfaces To make the unit McFarlane cut an old bicycle all apart He made the horizontal section of the rolling shovel frame by using the bicycle piece that went from the pedals to the back wheel The vertical part of the snow pusher s frame is made from the bike support that ran from the back of the wheel up to the seat With a pivot pin he sets the blade straight across and then drills a hole two inches back from the pivot pin hole through the blade anchor s upper and lower plate and the blade mount McFarlane sets the blade at the angle he prefers for use and uses the 1/4-in hole in the upper plate as a guide to drill another hole through the blade mount He follows the same procedure for the opposite angle To attach a shovel blade McFarlane first removes the handle and then welds a 2 by 1/8-in piece of flat iron to the bottom of the blade Next he cuts the handle mount at an angle near the top of the blade before welding a piece of 1/4 by 1 1/2 by 6-in flat iron to the blade s handle mount Then McFarlane cuts a piece of 1 by 2-in flat iron diagonally and welds it to each side of the blade mount to form a triangle Also I weld a piece of 1/8 by 2 by 4-in flat iron to the front of the horizontal frame and use a small piece of 1/4 by 1 by 2-in flat iron as a spacer at the wheel-end of the of the horizontal frame he explains Next I take a piece of flat iron that s 1/8-in thick by 2-in wide and this becomes the upper anchor for the blade angle McFarlane then drills 1/4-in holes in the end of the horizontal frame and the blade mount all the way through where the pedals were originally mounted This is for the snow blade s pivot pin I ve made a few for friends for $50 each but I don t want to go into business he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Rod McFarlane 10404 103 St Westlock Alberta Canada T7P 1L1 ph 780 349-5178; revmcfarlane@shaw ca

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