Box scraper called to duty as snow pusher

In the midst of shopping for a snow blade to use with their new skid loader, Derek Mann says he, his dad, and brothers tapped the brakes when they took a fresh look at a box scraper they'd acquired several years ago.

"We noticed the thing would come apart pretty easily. So one day we started taking it apart, mocking up a mounting plate, and adding extra skids and beams."

• WATCH: Mann Family Farms builds and puts to test the "world's greatest snow pusher"

The result: About a $3,500 savings vs. purchasing a new commercial snow blade.

Materials, such as those for strengthening the back of the scraper, were on hand.

A couple components have to be switched to convert to a snow blade pushed by a skid loader in the winter from a leveling scraper pulled by a tractor the rest of the year.

A favorite use: Cleaning snow from a 70×11-foot farm scale, which once was cleared manually by the Manns with shovels.