Wing Carts

June 16, 2014

The Idea/Innovation

A wing cart that allows easy and quick mounting, and removal of wing plows from CDOT mid-range and tandem-drive-axle trucks. This cart allows for one person to remove a wing in just six minutes without any other equipment. It also eliminates working under a loader bucket to attach the pins and arms, and can be used to store the wing for the summer by using forks to transfer from a maintenance facility to the sand storage facility.

Key Benefits

This innovation allows this job to be done faster, with only one person, and in a safer way. The cart, which was built using fewer than $200 in parts, has reduced the task of mounting and removing wingplows—from an operation requiring two or more employees, two or more hours, and quite likely a front-end loader or overhead crane&mdashlto a task that now requires only one employee and six minutes to complete.

In addition to time and person-power time savings, the operation using this cart is considered much safer and more efficient. The maintenance patrol member is not required to be beneath any heavy equipment using the cart, and wing plows can be stored on the cart, as well, allowing for quick mounting for any emergency or unforeseen purpose.

Idea/Innovation Creator: Tom Fick, who created this new innovation, received the CDOT Annual Statewide Safety Innovation Award in August 2013 for his work.