Snow plow blades edges come in many different sizes and varieties; sorting through them to find out what is best for your operation can be difficult. This series of posts will serve as a beginner’s reference to better understand the different choices of snow plow blades; so you can choose the best blade to bring progress. First we take a look at steel snow plow blades.
Steel snow plow cutting edges are widely used today. Mainly because they were the first design and they are the cheapest option. Steel edges are used on the front, underbody, and wing of the snow plow. Steel snow plow cutting edges can be carbon steel (sometimes called butter blades) or heat treated steel. Heat treated will offer considerably better wear life compared to carbon and is more than worth the extra cost per foot.
Steel snow plow blades range from 3’ to 12’ pieces. Shorter lengths are typically preferred to make changing easier. The blade itself; is flat, non curved, with a square edge. However, underbody blades do require a beveled top edge, similar to a motor grader cutting edge. Typical dimensions for a steel snow plow blade are 3/4” x 6” for front mount, 3/4 x 8” for wing, and 7/8×5” for an underbody with a hole pattern of 3”-3”-12”. While steel snow plow blades are the lowest cost per foot they also provide the lowest wear life. When using steel edges in high usage operations; all costs associated with changing cutting edges should be greatly considered. In our opinion steel snow plow blades are a cost effective plow option for low usage situations. Better alternatives such as carbide snow plow blades and rubber encased JOMA Style Blades will be discussed in other posts. Take a look at our snow plow cutting edge options here: https://dmcwearparts.com/snow-plow-blades/
