Part 3! We fabricate a swivel mount for the plow and craft cutting edges from HDPE
If you want to start from the beginning or jump to a certain part, here is an index of the snow plow build process:
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 1 – lifting frame and winch
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 2 – Completion of lifting frame
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 3 – Building Plow pivot and cutting edge
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 4 – Complete plow frame and assembly (First time plowing snow!)
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 5 – Build blade angle adjuster
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – In Action! – Action pics and final thoughts
We left off part 2 with a mostly completed plow lift group. I just had one thing left to do which was cut the winch hook off so I could connect the winch cable directly to the shackle under the winch.
PS, check out those cool new picture watermarks! Slick huh?
Snow Plow Swivel
Now we need to build a swivel for the snow plow so it can rotate from side to side for ‘windrowing’ snow to one side. Probably unnecessary for a Honda accord plow, but we left the realm of necessary a LONG time ago with this project.
I seriously spent way too long thinking about this before I came up with the design. I wanted it to be as simple as possible.
Now I need to center punch and drill a 5/8″ hole through both pieces of tubing to make the pivot point.
Seriously, don’t be lazy. Just center punch your holes before drilling them so you don’t either ruin the piece you are working on or have to waste time welding the hole back up so you can try again. They are cheap, buy a 5 pack like the ones below so you always have one when you need it.
I used my sliding T bevel to make sure the angle was the same going both directions. Mine is a good ol’ wood version but for a couple of bucks more you can get a fancy digital one.
Now I need to cut the sides from the 2.5″ square tubing so the 2″ tubing can slide into it. You can see where I wrote cut on one side and fold on the other. Initially I was going to try to cut three sides to make a flap on each side where I could fold the tabs in and re-weld them but upon trying it I decided it was too hard to do and just cut the holes out instead.
Don’t fret! All these cuts and holes will make sense in a bit. The next step is to drill holes for a hitch pin in either side of the 2×2. Once again while drilling large holes, I step up in drill bit size 2-3 times before reaching my final hole size.
Finally, I get to assemble and install the snow plow swivel / angle mechanism.
So why did I drill holes in both sides of the 2×2 tubing? Remember back to part 1 where I declared that I wanted to be able to push OR pull snow. Building from this snow plow swivel I will be able to unpin the plow, turn it around, and pin it back on so I can push or pull snow.
Cutting Edge
The cutting edge and base edge (the part the cutting edge bolts to) are going to be a little different than normal plows. Typically snow plows use steel cutting edges. This won’t work for my project because it can scratch the driveway, is heavy, and is a lot harder on the vehicle. In the last decade or so there have been a lot of advances in synthetic materials which has many contractors switching to rubber or plastic cutting edges.
My cutting edge will be made of a 1/2″ thick piece of HDPE which stands for High Density Polyethylene. I chose 1/2″ thick because it is what I had laying around the shop from another project, if I had to buy new material for this project I would probably go with 3/4″ or 1″ thick HDPE for some extra durability. This is a relatively new material that is super durable, corrosion resistant, and self lubricating.
It has become pretty common now and can be ordered in many different sizes on Amazon:
Once cut, I stacked all three cutting edges and marked for drilling.
Not sure if this is how they are supposed to be used, but I use a sliding square seen in the picture above to mark most of my projects. I like how I can slide it to where I want and lock down the adjuster then repeat the measurement as many times as I need to.
Next step is to drill the cutting edge. No need to step drill the HDPE since it drills easily similar to wood.
Well, we are out of time again. Check out part 4 we will make a steel frame and get to plowing!!!!!
If you want to start from the beginning or jump to a certain part, here is an index of the snow plow build process:
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 1 – lifting frame and winch
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 2 – Completion of lifting frame
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 3 – Building Plow pivot and cutting edge
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 4 – Complete plow frame and assembly (First time plowing snow!)
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – Part 5 – Build blade angle adjuster
DIY Receiver Hitch Snow Plow – In Action! – Action pics and final thoughts