Honda Civic snow plow. Prototype 3.

Prototype 1 Prototype 2

Protype 2 worked reasonable well but with two noteable problems:

1. Sometimes when the plow hits a bump on one side the extra tension on the opposite side chain would bend the hook that attaches the chain to the plow blade.
2. Eventually the hitch broke.

For prototype 3 I’ve replaced the flimsy hooks with much stronger screw eyes, and added quick links (visible above) to easily attach the chains to the plow.

Replacing the hitch was a bit more involved. I sketched out a handful of designs but eventually decided to try a commercial hitch. Here’s the result:

I started with an $18 hitch from walmart, then welded angle brackets onto three sides to bolt it to the plow blade. Because the hitch is pushing, instead of pulling, there’s a unique challenge that ball hitches don’t handle. When pushing there’s nothing to keep the plow from rotating underneath the car (which is exactly what broke the original wooden hitch). To resolve that problem I welded angle iron onto the sides of the hitch, extending forward past the ball. Then welded two more lengths of angle iron on top running perpendicular to the hitch. If the plow gets caught on a road crack and starts to rotate under the car those lengths of angle iron will press into the ball mount and hopefully keep the hitch from destroying itself.

There’s no snow in the forecast here in Fort Collins, but I’ll post a video of the plow in action as soon as I can.