Take me to the Steps

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Every man needs a Remote Control Snowblower. You shouldn’t have to go outside to clear your driveway every time it snows. Sure, you could buy one for $5,000 — or you could make one for under $1,000. With the right parts list and a simple plan, you can have this built in just eight hours. But wait, there’s more! This can be easily converted into a remote control lawn mower, cooler, candy crusader, or Power Wheels Jeep for your kids!

Here’s a link to the snowblower in action.

This build inspired by the Lawnbot400, featured in MAKE Volume 22.

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Project Steps

Build a Base

Keep it Simple — Build a rectangle to fit the snowblower in the front and carry the batteries in the back. I used 3″ x 1.5″ for the main supports. I used 1.5″ x 1.5″ to encase the batteries. Everything bolts together with the custom fittings. The beams cut easily with a carbide-tipped blade.

Mount the Motors and Wheels

Wheelchair Motors — Make a simple bracket that bolts onto the existing mounts and drill two mounting holes to bolt onto the extruded aluminum. Also, install washers on the hub to space the tire away from the frame so the chains have clearance from the frame. This would be a good time to install the chains …

Swivel Wheels — Bolt the front swivel wheels from the wheelchair directly to the frame of the extruded aluminum.

Install the Snowblower

Front — Drill through the housing on each front corner and attach bolts. Mount two brackets on each corner of the extruded aluminum. From here, drill mounting holes for the snowblower housing bolts and attach the blower with two lock nuts.

Back — Use a simple hose clamp to anchor the handle to the frame to keep the back from kicking up when plowing the snow.

Handle — Engage the blade by tying back the handle with a simple zip tie. If anything goes wrong, it’s easy to stop the blades by sliding off the zip tie.

Batteries

Mount them in the back (they help give more weight to the wheels) and wire them in series, creating 24 volts of power.

Control System

Sabertooth 2X25 Motor Controller — Wire the receiver, batteries, and the motors to the controller per the instructions on Dimension Engineering’s website. Configure the switches per their DIP Switch Wizard Tool.

Enclosure — Mount the Motor Controller, Receiver, Power Switch, and Antenna in a neat arrangement. Attach the enclosure to the frame.

Radio Communication — Bind the receiver to the transmitter and test the direction of rotation for each motor. Position the two antennas 90 degrees to each other.

Accessory Functions — If you want to expand further, add a BattleSwitch! This works well on the gear channel.

Enjoy

Enjoy clearing your driveway from the comfort of your own home! Be careful not to burn your tongue on the hot chocolate!