May-June-2022 - 39

PRODUCT PROFILE
like a big squeegee. That, for a rubber
or polyurethane blade, might be the
perfect storm.
" Snow and slush really reduce the
friction coefficient of any snowplow
cutting edge, " Willis said.
But what happens when the
pavement has dry areas or the snow
isn't so slushy? When the rubber or
polyurethane is gripping the surface
and there's nothing to help glide it
along, Willis said, " you have this very
violent 'chattering.' "
By incorporating wear materials
such as hardened polyurethane inside
the rubber, he said that lessens the drag
on the blade and increases the wear life
of the rubber. The blades are allowed to
glide, even over a dry surface because
of the wear materials embedded within
the rubber. As a result, vibration and
noise also are reduced.
" You can actually put a lot more
weight on the front plow because
the blades won't wear as quickly and
they're going to do a much better job
of cleaning the snow, " Willis said.
Even on an airport runway, he
said, " there's no truly flat surface to
clean. " They might seem quite flat to
the naked eye, but Willis said there are
" various little undulations all throughout
that airfield. " A rubber edge he said
will conform to those little oddities in
the surface of the road and the tarmac.
The GK5 POLY is designed to
be used over in-pavement lights and
through the flexibility of the edge,
enable better cleaning. However,
product materials say the airport's
in-pavement light mounting and operation
must comply with FAA Advisory
Circular 150/5345-46 Specification for
Runway and Taxiway Light Fixtures
03/02/2016 in order to use Kueper
plow blades.
" If the lights are mounted properly,
there should be no issues with our
cutting edges, " Willis said.
But because he has found many
lights are not mounted properly and
because no two airports are alike (their
equipment and surfaces are different),
Willis said Kueper asks each airport
what issues they're dealing with and
how Kueper can help, then they test the
blades over the in-pavement lighting
at the airport.
" No two in-pavement lights are the
same - mounted the same or adjusted
the same, they all seem to be different, "
he said. Ideally, he said a blade will be
tested for a whole season, then use of
the blade can be expanded.
GK5 POLY blades are 16 or 17
pounds per foot and they come in 3- or
4-foot sections. A landside blade might
be 12 feet wide, while an airside blade
might be 24 feet. Whether they're
installed on trucks on the landside or
specialty trucks and equipment on the
airfield side, the blades, which have a
steel fastening neck (to keep the blade
from flipping under the plow), are
mounted with a " Standard Highway
Punch " (bolt holes 12 inches on center).
" Once you've mounted them, you
never adjust them, " Willis said. " You
simply run them til they wear out. "
How long will a blade last?
" It all depends on how far down
they'll actually run the blade, " he said.
That's one factor.
Other factors he said include the
ferocity of the winter and the geographic
location of the airport. An
airport in North Carolina, for example,
that maintains snow removal equipment
might not need to change or
adjust their blades for several years.
Both the number of storms and the
type of storm make a difference. Ice
storms can wear the blades quickly.
" There are just a lot of factors that
go into blade wear (and the need to
change blades), " Willis said. " It may
seem uncomplicated, but it really isn't. "
From the mechanic's standpoint,
he said, " no one enjoys changing or
adjusting snowplow cutting edges
during a storm. It's a dirty job. There
are a lot of safety issues associated with
it and most importantly, you're taking
that really special piece of equipment -
that needs to be out doing its job - out
of service. "
PRODUCT:
GK5 POLY
SNOWPLOW
BLADE
MANUFACTURER:
Kueper Blades
WHAT DOES IT DO?
Removes snow
WHAT IT'S MADE
OF? Rubber with hardened
polyurethane inserts
WIDTH: Standard sections are
3 and 4 feet.
HEIGHT: About 7.5 inches.
WEIGHT: About 16.5 lbs.
WHERE'S IT USED? Airside
or landside
WHY IS IT BENEFICIAL?
Protects surfaces including inpavement
lights and markings
WHAT'S MOST
IMPRESSIVE? Rubber blade
doesn't " jump " when used on
dry surfaces.
But, he said, " If you use blades such
as ours, you're keeping the equipment
out longer, operating during the storm,
where it should be, doing its job. " And,
he said, downtime and associated maintenance
costs are reduced.
While Kueper blades cost more
upfront, he said, " They last much
longer, they clean much better, and
reduce the overall maintenance costs
associated with normal blade changes. "
Snowplow cutting edges may seem
like a small part of a winter maintenance
program, but, as Willis said,
" You know they are a pretty vital part
of it at the same time because it's how
the snowplow does its job. " 
The GK5 Poly is
a long-lasting and
abrasion-resistant rubberpolyurethane
blade.
MAY/JUNE 2022 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 39
http://www.AVIATIONPROS.COM
May-June-2022

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