# Kid's Snow Plow



## Too Stroked

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I came across these while sorting through some family pictures. After my son took his first ride in a plow truck (a Ford F-350 of course), he asked me if we could put a plow on his truck. Being reasonably handy, I built the plow you see below. Yes, it actually raises and lowers using the manual lever you see on the left side of the truck. There is a working Star strobe light on the roll bar and there's even a working trip edge on the plow. The biggest problem is a lack of traction. (I drew the line at building a four wheel drive system.) As you can see though, with the right snow and driving technique, he pushed up a pretty good pile!

The truck gave my son and I some great moments. The best one was when he was using it on a local fishing pier one summer to plow sand from the beach into a pile. He gathered quite the admiring crowd. If anybody near Rochester, NY needs a miniature plow truck, this one sits unused in my basement. The driver in the pictures is now old enough to drive the real thing.


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## DCC

That is cool!


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## toby4492

Sweet Thumbs Up


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## 350 STROKER

my son josh is 4 and loves to plow with me... he would blow a gasket for something like that.. that is awesome.


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## ken643

AWESOME!!, Thats great he is in training


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## BUFF

Projects with the kids are cherished moments you can't but any dollar value on. As parents we need to take every opportunity to be there for them before they think we're morons.........


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## S-205

Ahaha, us kids don't think you guys are morons!


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## BUFF

SmokeyBacon;1202879 said:


> Ahaha, us kids don't think you guys are morons!


Well I'd have to say your one of the few like my two.


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## pitrack

Very cool! Nice story


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## J&R Landscaping

Wish I had something like that when I was growing up!!


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## 350 STROKER

ken643;1202710 said:


> AWESOME!!, Thats great he is in training


you know it.. when we are plowing our driveway he gets to lower it, check that demands to lower it before i strap him in.. lol


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## Jumanji

That's really cool. My brother and I are both gearheads would have loved to having something like that.


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## MassHighway23

i wish i had something like that when i was younger!


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## Too Stroked

Yea, when I was growing up, my father built me, um, a shovel. wesport


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## KMBertog

really awesome! i would have had so much fun with that if i had one when i was young!


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## BMAN1

Im here, my son is three. Lets talk.


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## Too Stroked

Shoot me a PM.


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## Pushin 2 Please

J&R Landscaping;1203807 said:


> Wish I had something like that when I was growing up!!


Right? Love it!


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## BMAN1

You got it. He loves my truck so I know he will be into it.


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## Leisure Time LC

That is awesome


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## basher

Thanks for sharing. Great pictures.Thumbs Up

Make sure you save that picture to show his girlfriends, they will love (though he might not LOL)


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## Dave T

Too Stroked;1202254 said:


> I wasn't sure where to post this, but I came across these while sorting through some family pictures. After my son took his first ride in a plow truck (a Ford F-350 of course), he asked me if we could put a plow on his truck. Being reasonably handy, I built the plow you see below. Yes, it actually raises and lowers using the manual lever you see on the left side of the truck. There is a working Star strobe light on the roll bar and there's even a working trip edge on the plow. The biggest problem is a lack of traction. (I drew the line at building a four wheel drive system.) As you can see though, with the right snow and driving technique, he pushed up a pretty good pile!
> 
> The truck gave my son and I some great moments. The best one was when he was using it on a local fishing pier one summer to plow sand from the beach into a pile. He gathered quite the admiring crowd. If anybody near Rochester, NY needs a miniature plow truck, this one sits unused in my basement. The driver in the pictures is now old enough to drive the real thing.


Hey Tom... that you buddy? I thought your son was all grown up and studing to be a mechanic.
Anyhow, great pics of the little guy plowing the driveway... bet it's a little small for him now. :laughing:

Now, have him get the PC out and buff that rig to a nice shine! :laughing:

Dave


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## GTL Inc.

*Plow*

That is so Rad.............................Nice work.................ussmileyflag


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## jjklongisland

I cant even plow my driveway with my plow truck cause my son wants to do it with me on the tractor... I have to continuously be out in the snow during the storm before it gets more than 6 inches its difficult... Its worth it thought to see his enjoyment...


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## Too Stroked

Dave T;1207451 said:


> Hey Tom... that you buddy? I thought your son was all grown up and studing to be a mechanic.
> Anyhow, great pics of the little guy plowing the driveway... bet it's a little small for him now. :laughing:
> 
> Now, have him get the PC out and buff that rig to a nice shine! :laughing:
> 
> Dave


Yea Dave, it's me - and that's my little guy - who isn't so little anymore. I still remember the night I pulled the tarp off that bad boy. The smile it brought to his face was priceless. And, as you can see in the pics of him operating it, the grins lasted until he flat grew out of it. Man, I'm feeling old!


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## Too Stroked

jjklongisland;1207557 said:


> I cant even plow my driveway with my plow truck cause my son wants to do it with me on the tractor... I have to continuously be out in the snow during the storm before it gets more than 6 inches its difficult... Its worth it thought to see his enjoyment...


Yea, that would be another priceless smile!


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## JayD2

Man.......the competition just keeps getting younger and younger LOL...:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## andyslawns

if you want to improve the traction on it take some sheet metal screws and screw them in various places on the hard plastic wheels, it will greatly improve the traction. Kinda makes them studded tires.

looks good, have fun


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## Too Stroked

Yea, I thought of that, but never ended up doing it. Oddly enough, the fact that the driver in the pictures is 18 now and weighs 175 pounds probably would help the traction situation all by itself!


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## JayD2

Too Stroked;1212920 said:


> Yea, I thought of that, but never ended up doing it. Oddly enough, the fact that the driver in the pictures is 18 now and weighs 175 pounds probably would help the traction situation all by itself!


Can you put him back in it so we can see how much he has grown....:laughing:


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## STIHL GUY

looks like he is having a great time with his plow in those pictures.. good training as well


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## Too Stroked

A number of you have asked how I built the kid's snow plow shown in this post. So, I figured I'd drag it out to get some pictures, then post them up so more of you could experience the fun my son and I had with this particular truck. There are two things you have to keep in mind though. First, I built it almost 15 years ago and it's been sitting for probably the last 12 years. Second, I built this thing with 100% parts lying around my basement workshop. Had I actually gone out and bought stuff, I would have changed a few things. Oh well, on with the pictures.

First, here's the plow itself - a simple painted piece of plywood. I ran a piece of plastic edging along the bottom to make it slide a little easier on the pavement. Remember, these things weren't designed to push a plow! I also built a bit of a trip edge into the mounting system to allow the plow to trip if my son really nailed something. You can see the springs behind the brackets, secured with Nylock nuts. When tripped, the upper springs compress and the lower ones release.










When I got all finished, I found that the plow was a little heavy for the lift lever. (Again, if I did this over I'd probably just use a plastic "pusher" style snow shovel for the mold board.) I fixed this using a couple of simple tension springs. It also sort of added the look of a real plow frame.










Underneath the truck is where the real fabrication began. I decided to run the two aluminum angles all the way back to the area under the seat. This game me a solid area that I could actually get to for attachment. (You think a full sized truck is a pain to work on!) I took two pieces of wood and "plated" the plastic floor top and bottom for strength. The only hinges I had lying around weren't perfect, but you can see how I angled them to make them work.










Moving forward, you can see the aluminum angle running forward. I needed something to keep the two pieces from moving laterally though. So, I fabricated this little bad boy to keep things in check - and to keep the plow from dropping too far down and flipping the truck. This support frame also includes two pieces of plastic on the inside edges to reduce friction. (Yea, I know its overkill, but I'm an Engineer!)


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## Too Stroked

Next, I needed a way to raise the plow. I took some ¼" steel rod and built what basically amounts to a crank arm. I used some brackets I had lying around for pivots and simply cross drilled the rod for some cotter pins with washers to hold it in place. I then used zip ties to lock it to the two long arms.










Next came the lever that is used to actually raise and lower the blade. I simply took some square tube steel I had that fit perfectly over the end of the ¼" rod. Again, I cross drilled and used cotter pins to hold it onto the rod. I did add a ton of electrical tape over the end of the lever to prevent anybody from falling on it and poking their eye out.










To hold the plow up, I used another little bracket with a bolt sticking out a bit. (This one had to be adjustable to get it right.) With a little trial and error, I found the right setting. The operator simply moves the lever out and around the bolt to raise the plow, then lets it down against the bolt to drive around / back up.










Finally, since I'm a lighting nut, I had to add a real warning light. My friends at Star Warning Systems sold me this simple strobe light for the roll bar. There's also an amber marker light in the hood scoop with a flasher unit in line.










The lighting is controlled from a lighted switch I added to the dash. Everything is fused under the hood where I tapped into the main electrical harness. And yes, I couldn't resist adding the F150 badge. I had one of these lying around too and you want to bring them up right!

Well, I hope that helps a few of you get some ideas on how to build one of these for your kids. As you can see in those original pictures of my son driving it, the hard work was well worth it. Oh, and if any of you build a better one, post pics!

Tom


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## njsnowremoval

Dude thats sweet i wish my dad was that inovative when i was running around on one of those. Now if you can explain how to conver it to a 4wd that woulld be awsome.


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## BMAN1

The GATOR project begins......... EST completion date winter 11/12 (only because its buried in the shed)


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## njsnowremoval

Hey B man whats the compleation date? HAHA looks like almost a year? As you do it would you mind taking a who bunch of pics so if we wanted to build our own we could get an idea? thanks


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## Too Stroked

njsnowremoval;1226969 said:


> Hey B man whats the compleation date? HAHA looks like almost a year? As you do it would you mind taking a who bunch of pics so if we wanted to build our own we could get an idea? thanks


NJS,

Didn't you see all the pics I posted on how I built the original?


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## juan91

that beats the hell out of what i built. i used a radio fyler wagon and mounted a plastic try on the front of the handle mount.i put nylon rope to the middle of the side and allowed me to angle it. I then kneeled on one half and pushed with my leg to move it, it worked good till i broke the tray. then i junked it haha, i was what 5?


now i got a real plow and am 19


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## njsnowremoval

I did see the pics. Btw i wish my dad was that inovative when i was younger. i was hoping he would do a build thred so that we can get a better idea of how to do this. also how would you go about converting the 4wd?


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