Customer case

Tenco’s Hardox® 500 Tuf wide-wing snow removal system doubles efficiency, safety

July 13, 2023 6 min read

Cross Country tips scales with light strong side dump

Case details

Product Hardox® 500 Tuf

Country Canada

Company Tenco, Inc.

Industry Raw material handling

The challenge issued, accepted and delivered beyond expectations: Norm Porterfield, the fleet manager at Emcon, a major contractor to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), took Tenco, Inc. to task to develop a faster, safer way to plow snow. As a result, they delivered double with the Wide Wing System (WWS) built using Hardox® 500 Tuf.

Case details

Product Hardox® 500 Tuf

Country Canada

Company Tenco, Inc.

Industry Raw material handling

Side dump trailers move massive loads of aggressive material and offer safe stability for offloading.

The innovative WWS plow design outfitted to a single truck allows safe, single-pass snow and ice clearing across two traffic lanes, including the shoulder up to 27 feet wide – something that normally requires two trucks to do the same job. Not only do everyday drivers get back on the roads faster, snow removal contractors enjoy a long list of benefits like lower capital investments along with reduced costs in terms of maintenance, overall operations, labor and fuel consumption. Plus, by using less fuel, CO₂ emissions drop.

As with many snow-removal companies, finding and hiring well-qualified drivers for snow plow trucks is more and more difficult. Not only making the entire job safer and easier, Tenco’s WWS takes an extra truck off the road.

When Emcon issued the challenge, comparable solutions were not only unsafe, but required special driver’s training and a special license to operate. According to Tenco’s Engineering Director, Charles Lessard and VP Sales & Marketing, Jean-Philippe Bourque, the toughest criteria to meet for an easy-to-use snow plow, which could simultaneously clear two lanes and safely in a single pass, was the part about doing so without the operator needing any special driver’s license.

“We weren’t reinventing the wheel, but instead keeping it simple while doing more with it,” Bourque says. “Our main goal was to make this easy and safe for a single operator – an operator who has never driven a snow plow before. With the joystick, it’s a feel-good operation.”

Quebec’s Sherbrooke airport successfully tested the wide wing system after a heavy snow storm, and another set of drivers cleared a snow-packed road after months of closure in the Alberta Rocky Mountains national park.

Necessity is still the mother of invention

“For years, I’ve spoken with Tenco about arriving at a user-friendly solution for plowing,” Porterfield explains. “They bounced ideas off the team at Emcon, drew plans and now have an innovative, awesome product.”

The first proof-of-concept prototype came from transitioning a board of 50W 3/16” mild steel to one made of Hardox^® 450 3/16”. Operators at Quebec’s Sherbrooke airport successfully tested it after a heavy snow storm, and another set of drivers put it to the test clearing a snow-packed road after months of closure in the Alberta Rocky Mountains national park.

“To see Emcon commit so quickly to the WWS for the next two years, and to have the MTO on board is a big win-win,” Bourque said.

Emcon Services tested it for the remainder of the winter in the Dryden Northern Ontario area, and liked it so much they bought it. Emcon also is responsible for clearing a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway in addition to many roads in the Northwestern Ontario region that bears the brunt of winter’s wrath for five straight months each year.

Go from good to great with hard and tough

Following the rigorous testing, the design team evaluated the system’s initial weight of 8,700 lbs. (3,946 kg) and determined it needed to be lighter.

In the end, Tenco designers not only specified the Hardox^® 500 Tuf, they also used some Strenx^® high strength steel components to reduce the total weight down to 8,000 lbs. (3,629 kg ) for a 700 lbs. (317 kg) weight savings.

The company exhibited its hard and tough Wide Wing System at the APWS Snow & Ice Conference. Jean-Philippe Bourque points out that it was voted the show’s 2022 Best New Product.

Tenco exhibited its hard and tough Wide Wing system at the APWS Snow & Ice Conference. Jean-Philippe Bourque points out that it was voted the show’s 2022 Best New Product.

“We conducted a simulation using the SSAB WearCalc application. It showed we could reduce the board weight by 225 lbs. (102 kg), while increasing the wear life by 73% going to one made of Hardox® 500 Tuf 1/8 (3.2 mm).”

Explains Charles Lessard - Tenco’s Engineering Director

Calculate my wear in the app

WearCalc calculator app or desktop version for calculating equipment wear and service life.

Plow heaps of operational and environmental savings

By adopting the lighter weight dual-wing option, companies can plow in heaps of operational and environmental savings. Highway snow removal contractors using Tenco’s WWS snow plow require half the number of trucks to complete annual work. Taking trucks off the highway reduces capital investments, lowers labor and maintenance costs.

Plus, they slash fuel costs and CO₂ emissions by using half the number of trucks to clear the roads at twice the speed. Using the SSAB EcoUpgraded application, Tenco also calculates the upgraded WWS plow will reduce an additional 500 US gallons (1,880 liters) of fuel and 6.5 tons of CO₂ emissions over the lifetime of the WWS snow plow, making it one of the most eco-friendly plows on the market.

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