Should place some 1" cleats across the roller to bite into the snow and force rotation so it doesn't pile snow in front of it. Something like 1"x1" L bar. A length bolted every 6 inches or so. Alternatively, could use some sheet metal to build a skid plate so it forces the roller to go over the snow instead of pulling through it.
Bigger diameter roller and more weight, to compress snow instead of pushing it. If the compression is not that important he could have added some skis to the thing, to help lift the roller a little bit and let the snow pass under it with less compression as a result.
Have loved this idea since the beginning... Am a snowmobile trail maintainer myself. Anything to get it done faster and easier is a blessing. To make trail and cut branches at same time is epic.
If you put a 'comb' about four feet ahead of the roller, with skids on the teeth, that might flatten the snow enough to allow the roller to make its path.
Andrew, make a "V" plow on the front of the frame but not all the way to the ground to knock the top snow down, snow might not pack up so much in front. You got some great ideas my friend love your video's.
I believe you need weight on that. Even when you were using it to trim branches you needed weight .Weight on the frame will force the wheel to turn in all snow. It will also keep it upright. If you look closely when you were going over that tree earlier when you were turning around when you could not fit between two trees , You can see that track was having a problem.
Have you considered that your tow point is too low, if you raise the tow ball height, it will make it easier for the trailer to clear itself over lite pack snow.
The military pintel hitches had a sprung pivoting lintel that took some of the sloppy twist out of the articulation out of the hitches, greater movement with more control
Mexican Borrito Metal. I just made that up. ;-) Hey! Have you done a "Two Stroke" load of laundry yet? I don't know why that was the first to come to mind. You've had some really sick machines! I like your wrenches. I'll try and get one when I can. :-) Hi, Andrew!!
Hell yeah a blizzard is always fun to deal with. I live a hundred or two miles south of AC but I made a hefty sum off of the last snow storm. I can only hope we get more
I love your "I can fix that" attitude when it comes to broken stuff. Putting cutter blades on the top cross bar may help trim off some more low hanging branches. Just a thought.
have you considered a low friction plastic v shaped hull under the frame? it would be good to extend to the height of the culvert axle in the centre. then in light snow it should have some buoyancy to help the culbert float over the snow. it should also reduce snow buildup by plowing it outwand. i think it would be cool to put a screw thread on the top and bottom frames so that you could widen or narrow the trailer depending on the needs of the train. you could trim a foot off the culvert wheel and have that fixed the the tailer but the box fram and bracing would screw in and out.
another one of your videos brought back lots of memories for me up in the Catskill mountains with our 80s snowmobiles and an antique Snow Cat which i had to do engine work on to get it working. i miss the NYS mountains...great video kiddo
I'd think a sled right in front of the pipe/roller would make it perform 10x better in powder. Maybe put the sled on a couple of trailer jacks too, so you can adjust the height relative to the roller.
I was thinking Andrew should have made the roller float rather then hard mounted. But he is the genius one. Great video Andrew. Thanks for sharing your videos.
Yes the larger diameter culvert is the charm! It seems to roll over the snow as opposed to trying to plow it. Once the snow height is more than the diameter of the culvert or close to it the culvert will have a tendency to plow rather than roll over the snow. A damn good video. Your dog is a runner!
Really great work including good music selection (as usual) and editing. Overall, this channel is a study in forward momentum. Let's move on to the next job indeed.
That was an interesting video Andrew! The concept was brilliant by itself but adding more weight with extra rollers etc. will render your device useless because it won't be able to go uphill. (unless the tow vehicle is a bull dozer)The answer I'd suggest is teamwork. During summer have a team go up the trails with chainsaws and cut down the stumps and trees to create a 14 foot wide path for the winter team. The winter team would start with the snow cat plow shown in the video and clear the deeper snow off your trail and you follow with your invention to clear off the branches and groom the trail. Thanks for the video and cheers from Canada.
As much as these adventures are enjoyable, I miss seeing all the videos on general and road construction, snow plowing customer's driveways and other property maintenance you were doing for people. Could you please bring those back into the mix?
I'm wondering if the epic snowstorm in that area dumped tons of snow on Andrew's club trails. Can you imagine being up at the homebase camp with 4 times the snow?
Andrew, I know this is an older video, but have you considered adding a wedge to the underside before the roller to prepack very think snow? this way it gets to push down on the snow and keep it from ruining over the top / into the middle of the roller. also a bar from the hitch area to each side would allow you to just drive up to trees and have it push to the side.
The first think I had thought of when I saw the snow build up was the wide ski wheels on a Alaskan bush plane. or a skid plate to prevent the snow dam.
Maybe you should also include on the top horizontal bar the same cutting blade setup you have on the verticals. And as a possible solution to the roller being dragged, maybe some of those snow studs will help with the traction.
I'm very interested in your project, being a member of a 4 wheeler club. I'd really love to rest my back, pulling the bush cutter behind my wheeler. Great idea, keep them coming.
Andrew on the trail trimmer try mounting 2 old snow boards under tires with straps with a hard mount on front of snow board . just leave tires on . kinda like bush planes in alaska . anyway love what ya do keep it up
That snowcat sure tows the wide groomer nicely as the tracks pre-pack the snow somewhat. Seems like your next set of tracks for the UTV could be wider. Great work as always
"There ought to be a motorized way to do this." I believe I've seen a lathe in your shop before. That would have been the perfect tool to size down those stubs.
Could have sworn you were gonna put it on a sled or skis for the winter version, but definitely seems like more of a summertime activity. Man Cody's like the Energizer Bunny! 🦮
You need a lathe in your shop . With the amount of welding , fabricating and metal working you do I think it would pay it self off very quickly. Keep the great videos coming they are awesome to watch . Great work !
Sweet. Seems like the more popular our friend Andrew gets the more people want to be in his videos. I remember the good old days where he would lead us step by step in whatever he was into. Then accomplish great things on his own. Oh well times change I guess.
you are quite nice ladies of Italy. I have been watching for a long time and with my son. today he is 14 years old and he is eager to watch. because you get liked and you are very gifted,
Nice set up, maybe think about a 4" high long metal tray box to hold some adjustable weights to fasten over the wheel? You have the ideal shop, with all the tools, to handle anything. Good video, bet Cody slept well after that run.
I'm a mechanical design engineer. Make the roller a larger diameter & with spikes that force it to roll instead of slide. The diameter should be 3+ the depth of the snow. I can see how to fix it, but I wouldnt have invented it. Kudos to you, my Edison. Making the roller heavier would also help.
I agree with @Code 3 News below, the roller needs grousers like dozer tracks to make it roll over the snow and not plow the snow. Eight pieces of 1" x 1" x 3/16" angle mounted axially across the roller should make it grip wet snow. To sand a piece of round stock, tack weld a 1/2" bolt head to the end of the stock, chuck the bolt shank in a drill and spin the round stock against the sandpaper.
Great engineering Andrew! Maybe if you put a hinge at the base of the vertical cutters so you can fold it down in winter then you would be able to clear some of your obstacles.
It was good to see "Smiley" . . . that is our nickname for your friend. Looks like you haven't had as much snow this year.--Sheila McDade, Chattanooga, TN
