Prototype 1 of the Civic Snow Plow worked but with some significant limitations, as discussed in the first post. Prototype 2 set out to remedy those limitations.

To that end I made the following changes:

  • Added angled extensions to the top and bottom.
  • Added a rubber cutting edge to the bottom.
  • Faced the plow with roofing metal.

Snowplow

Here are the angled extensions. The bottom of the blade is to the right. The bottom extension serves primarily to angle the cutting edge. The top extension makes the plow slightly taller and is designed to kick snow forward off the blade, so it doesn’t spill over the top.

Snowplow

Next the rubber cutting edge. I had planned to use the tread of a car tire but cutting one with a circular saw proved too loud and smokey. For the sake of my neighbors I opted to use part of an old rubber mat that I could cut with a utility knife. After cutting 2” strips I screwed them onto the plow face, protruding about 1/2” below the bottom edge.

Snowplow

Once the rubber edge was installed I clad the face of the plow with roofing metal. Any hard smooth material would have worked, but I had spare roofing metal leftover from another job.

These improvements made a marked difference. The cutting edge does a much better job of cutting through packed snow, and the smooth metal clears snow off to the side. Here’s a video of prototype 2 in action.

Sadly later that night I broke the hitch tongue. Connecting the plow to the trailer hitch with a wooden tongue was simple and easy but clearly not strong enough to withstand the rigors of plowing. Broken hitch

Prototype #3 is in the works, now with upgraded chain hooks and a better hitch tongue.