Semi Tractor Snowblower

Semi Tractor Snowblower SNOWBLOWERS Snowblowers 21-1-17 You've never seen a snowblower like the giant one built by Leo and Rodney Lowe who merged a Kaleur snowblower with a GM Astro cab-over semi-tractor. The Lowes use the big rig to remove big snow drifts from 120 miles of gravel roads that they maintain across 2 1/2 townships in eastern South Dakota. "It lets us clear roads with less expense than we could with standard road graders," says Leo. "Last winter we used it mainly on east-west roads because they have the biggest drifts. Conventional road graders were used on the north-south roads. The blower has three 8-ft. augers and a 3-ft. dia. blower. It can throw snow up to 150 ft." They removed the snowblower's two original engines and installed a Caterpillar 3406 380-hp engine on the rear of the chassis. The engine drives hydrostatic pumps that power the wheels and the blower and augers. They converted the rear axle to a hydrostatic drive steering axle. It provides speeds from a crawl up to 45 mph. The cab has three heaters for operator comfort and to keep the windshield clear. Two sets of headlights mount above the cab, and a spotlight can be directed to cover areas where the headlights can't reach. They added an Oshkosh dash in the cab which has various gauges for the hydrostatic system and engine. A 2-way radio allows con-tact with the home base for emergency messages or directions. "The cab is mounted high and provides a good view of the augers and blower," says Leo. "We mounted the engine in back to improve the traction on the rear steering wheels. We really like the rear steering axle. If the rear end gets too close to the edge of the road and slips off the shoulder, we can steer it to climb back up on the road." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leo Lowe, 25456 485th Ave., Garretson, S. Dak. 57030 (ph 605 594-3726 or Rodney Lowe, 25454 485th Ave., Garretson, S. Dak. 57030 (ph 605 594-6271).).

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