While snow plows are indispensable in areas hard-hit by winter, their steel blades can damage surfaces like driveway transitions and cobblestone.
To give plows a softer touch, consider Interstate Plastics popular ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE or UHMW) plow blades and scraper edges.
“UHMW is virtually unbreakable, significantly more wear-resistant than steel, and is unaffected by freezing winter temperatures,” Interstate Plastics states in its press release.
Interstate Plastics’ most popular UHMW grades for snow and ice wear applications include its cost-effective UHMW reprocessed sheet and IPX 2000 UHMW advanced wear technology low friction, abrasion resistant, and UV stabilized sheet. Interstate Plastics customers also use UHMW for scraper edge, vat scraper, bucket lip, skid shoe, skid plate, skid loader (skidsteers), running board, as well as plow blade and wing manufacturing.
For snow and ice wear applications, Interstate Plastics cuts UHMW sheet to the customer’s specified dimensions. UHMW’s desirable machining properties allow customers to drill bolt-holes and mount edges with ease and without the need for specialized hardware.
UHMW is also an ideal solution for farm and residential applications, allowing for easy replacement of worn scraping blades on aftermarket pushframes and plows fitted to trucks and UTV/ATVs. Interstate Plastics reports that most customers have found that a material thickness of 3/16- to 1-inch is most effective in these applications, with most opting for a half -inch width. Thicker material produces better results and adds to the life of the wear strip along the blade edge, but is heavier and requires longer and larger bolting holes.
Some customers have reported that relief cuts near the middle of the material help prevent a rippling effect created from the repeated scraping of uneven surfaces in certain applications.