(Words and photos by Greg Rourke) – So I was on my way to my local Rural King store for a bag of Larry The Cable Guy brand Biscuits and Gravy flavored potato chips, along with a few other things that make life worth living, when I spotted this monster. A Sicard Junior Snowmaster snow blower, a machine that clearly didn’t fool around when it came to moving a little snow.
Arthur Sicard was a Canadian inventor who came up with the snowblower in 1925, and sold the first commercial machine in 1927. It was on a four wheel drive truck chassis, with one engine powering the snowblower, and one proving ground drive. They could throw a crap ton (In Canada, a Metric crap ton) of snow over 90 feet. They quickly found favor in Quebec, where they were manufactured, and then everywhere else it snowed.
They continued with snowblowers, later manufacturing their own tractors to mount them on. One could also get a blower to mount on other trucks or tractors, in addition to street cleaners, garbage trucks, semi tractors, and crane carrier chassis. The company is still around. Canada even issued a stamp honoring Sicard machines.
The unit we spotted is a Sicard Junior Snowmaster. From my five minutes of research, it appears to be from the mid-50’s. It’s powered by a six cylinder Hercules gas engine to move snow, and a four cylinder Hercules gasser to provide ground drive. It wears a City Of Chicago decal, and the baby blue paint under the hot rod red primer would seem to indicate it once removed snow from what was once the worlds busiest airport, O’Hare Field.
As a side note, this murderer of the English language is attempting to convince a young lady to relocate from South Florida to Northern Illinois. One would think with cool stuff like this beautifying the local landscape I wouldn’t be having such a difficult time.
SEE MORE OF THE SNOW EATING BEAST BELOW –
Roads
Oh yes baby!
Fire this mother up and run riot at a Chevy owners club event – the hills are alive with rending metal, hideous screaming and my maniacal laughter!