Put Your Skid-Steer to Work This Winter With a Straight Blade or Winged Snow Plow
Created March 3, 2021
Transition your skid-steer from part-time to full-time by attaching a snow plow to your lineup this winter. Skid-steer plows offer many advantages during winter storm cleanup, here are just a few.
Easy Skid-Steer Maneuverability Improves Plowing Efficiency
Although a skid-steer is a little slower than a truck, the added gains in maneuverability make it hard to compete against. Skid-steers have zero-turn capabilities and can easily spin around without needing much room and can plow in both directions, making it extremely efficient. Unlike a plow truck that is great for long passes, but needs to reverse in order to make the next pass. A skid-steer can also quickly clear snow in tight spaces or high traffic areas that a truck wouldn’t be able to access.
Stack Snow Higher With Skid-Steer Boom Arms
Unlike truck plows that can only stack snow a little higher than the blade—a skid-steer can stack snow way higher, making this an ideal addition to your fleet. The skid-steer boom arms rise up much higher than the plow typically goes to improve accessibility at gas stations or apartment complexes where there’s often not a ton of space to pile the snow.
Increased Versatility for Year-Round Cleanup
Plow attachments allow skid-steers to work all year round. The STORM BOXX™, XRS™, HDX™, and HD2™ skid-steer snow plows from FISHER® offer fast and easy hook up, adding versatility to your snow-clearing arsenal. FISHER’s design uses the skid-steer loader bucket hydraulics to lift and lower the blade for a more intuitive operator experience. Skid-steers can travel over different surfaces and terrain quickly to clear snow from sidewalks, backdrag snow away from buildings, and quickly maneuver through cars in busy parking lots like big box retail stores and hospitals.
When there’s nowhere else for the snow to go, a skid-steer can easily switch to the loader bucket to lift and load snow for offsite transportation. This can be a huge benefit for the Snow Belt states with heavy storms that leave residential properties and businesses buried.
The XRS™, a Winged Plow Designed for Skid-Steer Use
An adjustable-wing plow maximizes your capabilities and enables you to move snow faster, especially on larger job sites. FISHER designed the XRS for versatility and simplicity, essentially getting three blades in one (straight blade, scoop, and windrow) to make it even more adaptable for various applications. Since the wings automatically adjust for their intended use (whether windrow, scoop, or pinning the wings back for straight blade configuration), the XRS gives a user hinged blade efficiency with straight blade ease of use. The controls are simple up/down, left/right so skid-steer native hydraulics run the plow with no additional hookups needed.
Added Down Pressure Creates a Cleaner Scrape
A truck relies on the plow weight for down pressure whereas a skid-steer has the weight of the plow, plus the front of the machine to help give an incredibly clean scrape. This can be great for hard pack or backdragging when you need more friction and force to get the job done.
Wheels Versus Tracks for Snow Removal
Although wheeled skid-steers are more popular, it all comes down to which one has the best traction for snow removal. Tracks are usually recommended if summer use justifies the cost of ownership, otherwise you can purchase a separate snow-specific track just for winter use. A skid-steer track has thicker rubber and tread patterns meant for icy, slippery surfaces that get maximum traction when moving snow.
Make your winter storm cleanup more efficient by adding a skid-steer plow to your current lineup. A simple attachment can quickly turn your skid-steer into a winter work horse. Visit the FISHER dealer locator to find out more about skid-steer plow availability from your local dealer.
Go big with snow removal and get the equipment that’s going to get the job done all season long. The award-winning STORM BOXX™ pusher plows with TRACE edge technology move massive amounts of snow, so you can get more jobs done faster and better.
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