Blowin' snow with a Chinook.

Chris Kuchline and Kerry Snare had an idea. Instead of just pushing snow with a plow, why not blow it out of the way like the "big boys?" So they designed and built a pickup-truck-mounted snow-blower - one that's fully operational from inside the cab.

The prototype worked well and received so much local attention that they decided to make more. Now, after almost two year's worth of R & D, the two men are in the snow-blower business. Five Chinook snow-blowers have been sold - three in Alaska and two to dealers in the Lower 48.

The units will mount on most pickups. But most important: They are made "Alaska Tough." Both bucket and auger are built of three-sixteenths inch gauge steel that scoops snow into a fan built with three-eighths inch gauge steel. All systems, including the hydraulic pumps, operate off of an industrial-grade engine mounted in the truck bed.

Depending on customer needs, these engines range from a 63-horsepower unit that blows 300 tons of snow per hour, to a 150-horsepower unit that's rated at 900 tons per hour. The unique design throws the snow upwards of 35 feet in any direction.

Chinook's invention also has a key advantage over a snow-plow blade. "The host pickup doesn't have to bear the heavy toll that's unavoidable on a plow-blade unit," says Snare. Instead of pushing snow with the truck's engine, the snow-blower pulls the truck through snow with its hydraulic auger. The auger, and the fan, are powered by a separate engine - the unit mounted in the truckbed. In addition, skidding and traction difficulties don't ever enter the picture.

Kerry Snare, an Anchorage building contractor for 17 years, is now a man with a mission. Convinced that Chinook Manufacturing can provide high-paying jobs for Alaskans, he says, "We need to do something besides continue to build homes for each other. There's a limit to how long that will last. I want the kids to have something viable to do. And one way we can do that is to diversify. It's good for the Alaska economy. I believe it's a necessity."

The company, formally Chinook Manufacturing, Inc., started in a fab shop off of International Airport Way. The seven bright red and blue blowers lined up in back were veritable trophies in an otherwise a grim ambiance of cold steel and hot slag. But today the fab shop is too small. Chinook manufactures other products besides the snow-blowers. They simply don't have room to work on projects like their snow-cat emergency vehicle that's attracting so much attention from Bush communities. Plans are afoot to move operations to a 5,000 square foot facility. According to Snare, it's an immediate need the company will fulfill as soon as they find the right location.

Kirk Studebaker, Chinook's sales manager says, "The key to success is proving that blowing snow is a much more efficient way to move snow than pushing it. The more people see Chinook snow-blowers at work, the faster Chinook Manufacturing will grow. And that means selling our other products, and creating jobs for Alaskans."