Underbody Scraper Blades

Underbody scraper blades are commonly used in the state of Michigan by various agencies engaged in snow & ice removal from roadways. These blades are also used for grading of gravel roads. Essentially, there are two basic designs of underbody scraper blades: A. trailing edge type, commonly referred to as "mop style" and B. folding moldboard type, commonly referred to as "vertical style". Both designs have a place and both have advantages and disadvantages. Mop style with one piece 1" thick moldboard is very rugged and if ordered with heavy duty compression springs, does good job of grading gravel roads as well as snow and ice removal. It has few moving parts so, by design, should require fewer repairs, until, of course, the operator hits an obstacle (like manhole cover). You cannot blame the scraper for that. Disadvantage is: the moldboard is one piece and hinged at one end, which means it raises and lowers in a circular motion (an arch, if you will)causing the "attack angle" between cutting edge and road surface to vary as cutting edge wears. This design of scraper requires use of curved cutting edges for maximum cutting edge life span and aggressiveness. Traditionally, these blades have been poor choice for tungsten inserted cutting edge as these were never available in curved design. But this has changed, you can now purchase curved cutting edges with tungsten inserts. The other criticism of this style underbody scraper is slowness in raising and lowering due to longer stroke of lift cylinders. Is that really an issue, I don't know but could be if you are removing snow from roadway with penetrator. So what about the vertical style blade? It has two piece hinged moldboard and raises vertically, allowing attack angle to stay constant providing the most aggressive attack angle possible which makes it very efficient at snow & ice removal (even hard pack) and excellent candidate for straight carbide inserted cutting edges. This design can provide exceptionally long cutting edge life. It is capable of discharging snow long distances, which can be good (expressway) or can be very bad (towns). It is quick to respond for raising and lowering, lift cylinders have very short stroke. But it does have drawbacks, many moving parts and two hinge points. Not as heavily built as mop style. Too aggressive for grading roads. So you now understand your two choices. Match them to the right application and you will be very satisfied with the performance of either.