# USA trains Rotary coversion



## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

I know the USAT rotary is not equipped with enough power or torque to actually do any plowing, but could you simply gut the inside of it and put in a drill motor? is the blade itself/housing usable for plowing?


Nate


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## Fred Mills (Nov 24, 2008)

Basically ... NO. The blade would not stand up to the wear that average snow would put on it. The rest of the "Blower" housing wouldn't last too long either.
Some people may disagree, and prove me wrong... Speaking from limited experience, here in Ottawa Canada; generally our snow is not suitable for "Blowing"...it is the wrong scale to start with.
The guys around here tried it a few times with a scratch built "Rotary", but soon lost interest. They dislike the idea of freezing their butts, out in the cold, to just watch the thing go around in circles. They much prefer true railroad operations, but NOT out in the cold.
Fred Mills


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Fred is right, the blade is not suitable, the strength and the geometry. 

Go on youtube and look up "g scale rotary snow" and you will see lots of working systems, most use the impeller from a home vacuum and often a drill motor with it's geared reduction.

Greg - 648


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

The USA rotary blower is plastic blades.
I have a friend that used a battery driven metal blade that blows snow like the real thing.
Myself I just use the Aristo plow and push it with a pair of SD-45's.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)




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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

The Image above is one Jerry Barnes built here is a link to the build with more pics,http://thescrr.com/projects2.html

Dick


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