SNOW TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT - TRACTOR-MOUNTED SNOWPLOW TESTS

During the summer season of Deep Freeze 63, tests were made with a tractor-mounted snowplow to determine its suitability for clearing drift in a surface camp on snow and for transporting construction fill snow. The tests were made at the NCEL camp on the Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo Station, Antarcti...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hansen,Robert W.
Other Authors: NAVAL CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB PORT HUENEME CALIF
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1964
Subjects:
(*TRACKED VEHICLES
SNOW REMOVAL)
(*SNOW VEHICLES
TRACTORS)
VEHICLE TRACKS
SLEDS
SNOW
POLAR REGIONS
MILITARY OPERATIONS
CLIMATE
LOAD DISTRIBUTION
MANEUVERABILITY
TERRAIN
WIND
ICE
DEEP FREEZE OPERATION
McMurdo Station
Psi
Ross Ice Shelf
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Shelf
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0442074
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0442074
Description
Summary:During the summer season of Deep Freeze 63, tests were made with a tractor-mounted snowplow to determine its suitability for clearing drift in a surface camp on snow and for transporting construction fill snow. The tests were made at the NCEL camp on the Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, in air temperatures ranging between 15 F and 30 F. Mechanical performance of the tractor-plow unit was satisfactory except for high mortality of the auger shear bolts. The 14 psi track bearing pressure necessitated a hard, firm working surface for the unit. This limited its use for clearing camp drift and hampered its efficiency for transporting fill snow. Even so, it was six times faster than the snow plane used in Deep Freeze 62. A special test where the plow was used to cast freshly windrowed snow from an exttemely hard surface showed that the plow's efficiency should be increased from 20 to 75% if it was properly supported. It was concluded that the investigation on the transport of construction fill snow with a snowplow should be continued using the ski-mounted, towed-type snowplow carrier concept developed during the Deep Freeze 63 tests. (Author)

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