Is there such a thing as a HO DCC powered snow plow?
mkepler954Is there such a thing as a HO DCC powered snow plow?
Seriously: most plows might have features that are DCC controlled, for example to make a plow blade rotate or for lights and sound, but they won't contain their own 'self' power -- they would be pushed by some form of DCC decoder-equipped motive power, just as in the original, and the "DCC power" (as opposed to control signals received by a separate decoder in the plow) would be provided by the locomotives.
I believe that there are only DC models of rotary snowplows which are powered but it could be an interesting project since you could add lights as well as control the spinning blade.
I have the Walthers Rotary and added my own economical DCC decoder.
Rotary crew by Edmund, on Flickr
I don't recall seeing it available with a decoder already installed. Presumably Con-Cor was going to produce a DCC rotary but I don't know if it ever got off the ground?
http://crusaderrail.com/con-cor.html
Regards, Ed
Hello All,
Are you talking about the plow itself or the pusher unit?
Most prototypical snow plows were not self-propelled, they required some external form of propulsion.
Athearn produced a plow and F7B set a few years back.
I got one and converted the plow to DCC for the propeller and lights along with powering the F7B dummy unit.
Athearn is now re-releasing an upgraded set; due September 2023. Rotary Snowplow & F7B Locomotive under the "Athearn" line.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Hi mkepler954,
Athearn made three versions of a rotary plow with an operating blade. On the first version, the blade was powered by rubber bands. A second version had the blade powered by an electric motor and it came with a tender but no locomotive. The third version had the blade also powered with an electric motor and it included an F7B pusher locomotive but no tender. The second and third versions were DC but the third was equipped with a 21 pin decoder socket. It is currently on backorder. There are several of the second version plows on eBay right now.
Walthers also made a rubber band drive rotary plow
The cheapest option might be to do some kitbashing of an earlier rubber band powered Athearn or Walthers plow. I put a motor in an Athearn plow a while ago but I haven't done anything with it since. The motor installation looks like this. I used a silicone tube to connect the motor and the rotary blade shaft:
What remains to be done is to add power pickup to the trucks, a decoder, and lights. You will want to replace the front truck wheels/axles because they have rather large drums on them that were designed to run the rubber bands, and you will need metal wheels on both trucks for reliable power pick up.
Motors are cheap on eBay. You don't need anything fancy but a flat can motor might be your best bet because it will be easy to line it up with the rotary blade shaft.
I know things are never as simple as I am making it sound, but it would be a great place to develop your kit bashing skills. If you want more specific advice, please ask!
By the way, the "enormously long" thread on scratchbuilding a rotary plow that Overmod referred to is mine. It is here if you haven't seen it. Start at the end. It is wayyyyy too long to read all the way through:
https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/291158.aspx
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I suppose that an enterprising model engineer could adapt the wings of a wedge plow to extend and retract using micro servos and DCC decoder. Most plows have headlights and now a days strobe lights. Movable wings and flangers would be neat.
Scale snow would be problematic though. I can imagine someone grinding up white packing peanuts. But what a mess that would be.
Pete.
Hi again mkepler954,
Just to clarify, are you looking for a rotary snow plow or a wedge snow plow. I had assumed that you were interested in a rotary plow. As was mentioned however, you could power the folding wings on a wedge plow
The plow itself.
mkepler954The plow itself.
I think you misunderstood my question. Do you want to model a rotary snow plow or a fixed wing plow?
Not a plough, but there is this -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401922944332?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338365712&toolid=20006&customid=EB115896587&
Trevor
no, there is no such thing as a DCC powered snowplow, the voltage is [usually] run through a bridge rectifier, and a smoothening capacitor to give you DC voltage ... however it is common to control a snowplow using DCC
I decided to motorize my rotary plow with DCC. Thanks everyone!