Time to name the newest member of our Fab 4

By Ryan Overton

One of the toughest decisions many of us will face is naming something. Whether it be a pet, a child, perhaps you may even name your own vehicle (my wife's Nissan Xterra was named Ruby), or like my kids, a stuffed animal. It's a big responsibility!

But it's a responsibility we trust you with. With our first three Tow Plows – Plowie McPlow Plow, The Big Leplowski and Sir Plows-A-Lot – we've left the naming up to you, the public, and you've come through! So the ball is again in your hands.

Our fleet of three Tow Plows – Plowie McPlow Plow, The Big Leplowski and Sir Plows-A-Lot –
will soon have a fourth member of their squad.

So starting today, Friday, March 11 through Friday, March 18, we are going to be asking for your suggestions to name the state's fourth Tow Plow! Send your suggestions to Ryan.Overton@wsdot.wa.gov (we'll also be collecting ideas on our social media platforms).

From there, a group of us will go through the names suggested and filter out any duplicate or inappropriate names. Then we will start a March Madness style voting contest through our @WSDOT_East Twitter account and our Facebook page! There will be four polls with four names in a Sweet 16 the first week starting Monday, March 21, through Friday, March 25, for the first round of voting. The winner of each of the first four polls, will move on to a final four starting Monday, March 28, to decide a winner on Friday, April 1!

Plowie McPlow Plow was chosen as the name of our first Tow Plow.

What is a Tow Plow?

The Tow Plow is a towable trailer that attaches to the back of a snowplow truck. The driver of a snowplow truck can then operate the Tow Plow by using a hydraulic wheel system to slide the Tow Plow out to the right side of the truck at an angle of roughly 60 degrees. Once extended out to the side of the truck, a 26-foot plow blade attached to the Tow Plow can be lowered onto the road to clear snow and ice from a second lane of travel at the same time as the plow truck. The Tow Plow is also fitted with a granular hopper with a small liquid tank to dispense deicing material onto the road.

The Tow Plow is an attachment that goes on the back of a plow truck and can extend out to clear two lanes with one vehicle.

Benefits of a Tow Plow

The biggest benefit is allowing one driver to clear two lanes of travel during snow and ice at the same time. Before the Tow Plow, two drivers and two trucks would have to work in tandem to clear the same amount of roadway. By adding the Tow Plow to our fleet, we can use the second truck and operator on a different route that would have taken longer in the past to be plowed or treated. Or a single truck would have had to make multiple passes of one route which would have taken a significant amount of time and resources.

Using Tow Plows allows our crews to clear multiple lanes using just one truck,
helping us deploy other plows to other areas to cover more ground.

Current Tow Plow Fleet

There are four in the fleet located mainly in Spokane. The locations were chosen where there are two travel lanes in the same direction to maximize the Tow Plow's efficiency. Sir Plows-A-Lot is staged at the Wandermere maintenance facility in North Spokane and covers US 2, US 395 and the North Spokane Corridor. Plowie McPlow Plow lives at our Geiger shed in west Spokane that covers I-90 west to roughly the Fishtrap interchange. The Big Leplowski is the main dude at our maintenance facility off SR 27/Pines Road in Spokane Valley and covers I-90 in the Valley to the Idaho State line. The newest member of our now-fantastic foursome will be headed to Ritzville where it will serve I-90 and US 395.

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