Two days after the summer solstice, the first official day of summer, I thought that it was pretty funny that the section of the 1952 Willys-Overland Industrial Equipment binder that I come to next was the snow plow section. On a steamy hot early summer day, I bring to you the memories of that far away time of winter and snowstorms. Of the many jobs that the jeep was suited to do, perhaps one of the best it was suited to was as a four wheel drive snow plow. Though as many of us can attest to, the relative light weight of the jeep makes for a very jarring plowing experience, though there is something very liberating about slamming into and moving a big pile of snow!
From the beginning of the 19th century horse drawn plows to the eventual complete mechanization of snow removal the emphasis was on getting it done faster and more efficiently. This culminated in larger and larger snow removal devices, particularly by the time that the roads were becoming more and more filled with vehicular traffic by the 1920’s. It needed to be done at a faster pace. With the growing urbanization as well as the later suburbanization the call for private lots like shopping centers to be cleared of a winter’s storm grew. This led also to the sale of smaller units such as the jeeps of the 1950’s utilized. I don’t know how many snow plow companies have existed that marketed themselves to the smaller four by fours like the jeep, but three are represented in the 1952 binder, K and K of Denver, Colorado which boasted the ‘Minute Snow Blade’ capable of being removed in one minute, Scheneker Iron Works Inc. of Buffalo, NY (of which both cities are notorious for their snow fall...) and the only one remaining in business, Meyer of Cleveland, Ohio.
Meyer may have had a foot up on the other two companies as they are well represented in early jeep advertising and were a local to Toledo company. The Meyer’s insert shows not only testing by an early civilian CJ-2 Agrijeep but an MB and a pre-production Willys MA model! Pretty neat details!
I tried looking the two companies who are no longer out there up to see what I could find. Of K & K I could find nothing immediately. The address Google Maps lists 1134 Broadway in Denver is shown as some sort of remote ‘City Hall’ location, but at least it may still be the original building?
Sadly the location of Scheneker Iron Works in Buffalo has gone the way of many an upstate New York business- abandoned and/or torn down. The 350 Sycamore Street location in Buffalo shows an empty and depressing lot. I couldn’t find much about them online either except for a mention by someone online looking for more info on a Scheneker plow setup they bought... ten years ago, a century ago in the world wide web . Come back next week for the next installment of the Equipment binder and check out what is in the album here!
In need of an all-jeep forum in your life where all of the members are friendly? Want to meet other jeep lovers who get excited about an old jeep? Curious about a new project? Have a tech question? Want to meet someone just like yourself? Then check us out!
In need of an all-jeep forum in your life where all of the members are friendly? Want to meet other jeep lovers who get excited about an old jeep? Curious about a new project? Have a tech question? Want to meet someone just like yourself? Then check us out!
