# Any rotary plow builders out there?



## Cap'nBill (Dec 27, 2008)

I started to build a rotary last year and bogged down, feeling the blade wasn't scale. I see pics of the commercial plows blowing snow but don't see any real closeups of their construction. The full size appear to have basically 2 sections. Any ideas?
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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I just used a blade like the one you have. Guess you could try USA and see if you can get a blade from theirs. Seems a few have made their own, but don't recall who it was.


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## Cap'nBill (Dec 27, 2008)

Found this drawing of, I guess, the design of one plow. Guess it's worth a try to see if USA has parts!
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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Tried to find the one on the "Evil Bay" I saw a couple days ago!! Guess its off or someone took out a loan to buy it!! It was around $795 it was made to attach to a piece of rolling stock wasn't even included. 

And Ifin ya wants a bridge! Here's a good one, thought it must be the Brooklyn bridge (if ya knows what I mean) What you tink???? 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Stainless-Unlim...125541?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2559d81da5


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

The USA blades are plastic and were not designed for real work, just show. Finding an available scale impeller strong enough to really work will be difficult if not impossible.

Grizzly Mountain Engineering is making a rotary kit to be available sometime next year. They have an impeller that is supposed to really work and is scale. Whether or not they will sell the blades separately, I don't know. Here is a link to a thread earlier this month on the GME rotary.


G.M.E. Rotary 

Chuck N 


Here are some pictures of the working parts of my rotary.



















in operation


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## Cap'nBill (Dec 27, 2008)

That's a great looking piece, saw the video. What I'm having trouble grasping is how the blade works, that is, it would appear there is another fan, scoop, or something behind the front blade? I bought some small brass hinges I thought I would try to create the appearance of what you've done. Your drive system is impressive! What kind of RPM's are required? Looks like about a 400 size motor. Bill


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

The blade on my impeller is about 1.75" deep with a small piece of brass angle soldered to the front to cut into the snow. There is no secondary fan or impeller. All I know is that it is a small can motor, I would guess that 400 rpm would be a reasonable estimate.

I think that the snow is thrown more by the velocity of the air going through the fan than actually being picked up and thrown by the force of the fan blades. 


If you saw a video of a rotary working here on MLS, it wasn't mine because I have never downloaded one. I do have a video of it working, but I have only shown it at the Colvin Run show here in Virginia the weekend before Christmas.


Chuck N


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## Cap'nBill (Dec 27, 2008)

My mistake as to the video. I guess I've watched a bunch of 'em, both here and on YouTube trying to get ideas. I guess the one thing that's got me stumped is how to build the hub. I don't have any type of indexing device and getting enough accurate holes to support 8 to 10 blades seems problamatic. Thus far, I've come up with a straight driven, geared motor to run with RC, allowing speed variation. Just not happy with the vacuum blade, though apparently it would work. I saw that eBay $799 job too. I'm old enough to remember when my first car cost $500!


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill:

My blades are soldered to a sleeve that fits over the shaft and is then held in place with a set screw. 

They are not screwed to the shaft. 

Chuck N


PS I didn't build it. It was build by Ken Orme of the Denver Garden Railway Society over 20 years ago.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Bill 

Although the front of the GME rotary has a set of veins that look like the front of the drawing you posted, they are removed if you want to actually throw snow. The impeller on the GME looks a lot like the one that Chuck N posted. The near scale veins would clog with "out of scale" snow. 

Happy New Year


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Axle at Train-Li has some interesting snow plow widgets listed, see link below. 

http://www.train-li-usa.com/store/rolling-stock-c-68.html 

Michael


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Michael,

For anyone lusting for a very nice rotary plow, these products are great! If we HAD snow here in So. Cal., I would be starting one now! Thanks for the link.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

WOW!!! Really cool. 

Only $5k for the model of RhB Xrot in Spur IIm [1:22.6 scale] 

Compare that to the Bemo H0m model ==> http://www.tee-usa.com/store/product31435.html at a paltry $948.54 w/o digital sound 

In volumetric terms, the Train-Li price is a bargain. 

The other rotary, based on a box car, at $1995, is in the [IIRC] price range of a custom assembled GME D&RGW rotary. 

If one is not wedded to a perfect replica of D&RGW stuff, the full plow kit looks very promising. 

Thank goodness Jo Anne is not into serious "plow collecting".


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

I used a blade from a vacume cleaner and it's shaft!

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## Ron Senek (Jan 2, 2008)

In order for these plows to work the snow has to be just right not too heavy or wet or too deep needs to be light and fluffy which is seldom the case.


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