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Arctic Army Roll Call! The Arctic design and manufacturing team!
803 Plays1 month ago
The guys sit down with Blake Strait, Nick Stewart, and Jeff Sexton for this Arctic Army Roll Call Episode #4. The guys will discuss the development of the Razorback Full Kit, as well as take us through their process for developing the game changing snow products Arctic is famous for!
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Transcript
Introduction and Team Introduction
00:00:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Here we go, Snow Jobs Nation, coming to you with another episode of the Arctic Army Roll Call on the Snow Jobs Podcast.
00:00:33
Arctic Factory
Thank
00:00:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
As always, I'm Steve. That's right. You know who's with me? The most interesting man in snow, Taylor Swift of snow, Chuck Norris of snow. He's got a lot of them, but the there's only one Rick James.
00:00:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeremy Lindstrom here is always with me. What's up, Jay?
00:01:02
RICK JAMES
Hey, what's shaking?
00:01:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
How we doing?
00:01:03
RICK JAMES
Not much happening here in Fargo. Pretty, I've already told you, pretty uneventful. Nothing new here. Pretty boring.
00:01:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Boring. Nothing going on, man.
00:01:10
Arctic Factory
Thank
00:01:10
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah. No, nothing in the forecast.
00:01:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Snow gods are not cooperating, huh?
00:01:13
RICK JAMES
it's ah They don't like us this year again, so oh well.
00:01:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
What are you going to do, bro? What are you going to You can't control the weathermen, right?
00:01:22
RICK JAMES
Nope. Sure can.
00:01:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:01:27
RICK JAMES
How about you? do Nothing your way?
00:01:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
I know. It's... No, no. Weatherman had a bunch of stuff on ah on the calendar and kind of just disappeared. But you know they don't like being called Weatherman.
00:01:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Oh.
00:01:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
That never gets old.
00:01:45
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Doctor.
00:01:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah You pumped for this one today?
00:01:49
RICK JAMES
That'll be another good one. Arctic boys are always fun to be with.
00:01:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's
00:01:52
RICK JAMES
So.
00:01:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. Arctic Army roll call in progress. Today is going to be another good one, as Jeremy said. Today, guys, we get to sit down with the guys who make the industry-changing, revolutionary snow product ideas come to life at Arctic, all right?
00:02:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
These are the guys who take the wild ideas, the sketches on cocktail the cocktail napkins, the dreams they have in their sleep after bad Chinese food, all that stuff, and they turn them into reality for snow pros.
00:02:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
And most of us, if not all of us, you know, it changes our business. If you use Arctic products, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The section will just change the game for a lot of guys out there. And they make our businesses better. So can't can't say enough about that. So we're not going to beat around
Innovative Snow Products Discussion
00:02:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
the bush. We're just going to welcome in Blake Strait, who is the chief engineer and co-owner at Arctic Snow and Ice Products.
00:02:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
We got Nick Stewart, who is the COO, and Jeff Sexton, who is the director of plant operations. Boys, how are we?
00:02:49
Arctic Factory
Doing good. How are you doing? Good.
00:02:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very good.
00:02:50
Arctic Factory
you Yeah, I don't know.
00:02:51
RICK JAMES
Real good.
00:02:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Glad to have you guys.
00:02:53
Arctic Factory
why I think we got even less snow than you guys do.
00:02:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah. Well, we got a lot this year.
00:02:58
RICK JAMES
Yeah, well.
00:02:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're doing good in New York. I don't know. Fargo's down, but New York's been good, both in events and snow.
00:03:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah. We're at 19.
00:03:06
Arctic Factory
So we like here.
00:03:06
RICK JAMES
We're at 19. Huh.
00:03:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Who's got less? nineteen Can you beat 19? Dramatic pause.
00:03:13
Arctic Factory
No, no. I think that's about our biggest.
00:03:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
No.
00:03:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
but dramatic pause no
00:03:16
Arctic Factory
Yeah. No, we were.
00:03:18
RICK JAMES
so
00:03:19
Arctic Factory
We were out plowing a couple weeks ago, and I think John was joking but serious that at that point before the storm, Florida had a higher total than we did by us. Yep.
00:03:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
they They might have.
00:03:27
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:03:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Florida and New Orleans got a little better.
00:03:30
Arctic Factory
Yeah. That kind of sucked. I think we're we beat them out finally, so we could beat feel we could feel accomplished there.
00:03:38
RICK JAMES
ah which
00:03:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah We got Florida beat.
00:03:41
RICK JAMES
midwest before
Roles and Backgrounds of Arctic Team
00:03:42
RICK JAMES
Midwest beat Florida. fun all That's pretty terrible.
00:03:43
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:44
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:03:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, my gosh. That's so bad.
00:03:47
Arctic Factory
Well, in the past three years, we finally got to win, right?
00:03:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
so bad. Oh, yeah yeah.
00:03:50
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:03:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, you know, you can't control the weather. That's ah the one thing we can't control. And it always seems to work out that way, especially when you got new products you're looking to test and try out and put to work. You can pretty much guarantee Mother Nature ain't going to cooperate that year.
00:04:04
Arctic Factory
Yeah, got to be creative, that's for sure.
00:04:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. So, Jay, you want to get right into with these guys? I don't want to waste their time. You know, they're busy boys.
00:04:12
RICK JAMES
Well, I thought we'd want to introduce them all and what they're doing. mean, tell us little bit about each other.
00:04:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure. Take us around the table, boys.
00:04:18
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:04:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
um um Tell them what you do. 30 years.
00:04:21
RICK JAMES
Go ahead, Blake.
00:04:21
Arctic Factory
I'll start Blake straight. One of the three sons of Randy straight. We all run the business together, own it together. um I'm 30 years old, been doing this for 30 years. So family owned business. Right.
00:04:36
Arctic Factory
But I've been in this role.
00:04:36
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:04:38
Arctic Factory
Yeah, I've been in the engineering and role since I was 17. So 13 years now doing this and just learn every day and just try to you know'll make it better and just build a good team.
00:04:51
Arctic Factory
Let's keep it going.
00:04:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. And you went to school for engineering, correct?
00:04:55
Arctic Factory
Yeah, I went to school and and for engineering from 2014 to 2018 for mechanical engineering.
00:04:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice. Very cool. Very cool. What about you, Nick?
00:05:06
Arctic Factory
Yeah, so next door, um i actually went to college with Blake. So we both went to Bradley. um And I was a transfer student, though.
00:05:18
Arctic Factory
So being a car guy, one of the first things I picked out on campus was the dude driving around with the loud Subaru that made all sorts of turbo noises. And I was like, oh, I got to figure out who that kid is.
00:05:27
RICK JAMES
Ha, ha.
00:05:30
Arctic Factory
Because I didn't have any friends. I had transferred in. was like And we pretty rapidly became friends. And I think Blake and I got to learn a lot about each other during our senior year. We were both on, um they call it your senior project. But basically, we both had to make.
00:05:46
Arctic Factory
two very different kinds of cars to compete in competitions at the end of the year. And Blake's team actually made a carbon fiber car completely from scratch that got like 800 miles per gallon.
00:05:58
Arctic Factory
And my team, we made a car that was like an off-road buggy kind of thing.
00:05:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:06:02
Arctic Factory
We went to competition and we beat out a bunch of schools with budgets like 10 times ours. But yeah, Blake was always the kid in the design lab at like 3 a.m.
00:06:09
RICK JAMES
Please.
00:06:11
Arctic Factory
m with like seven Mountain Dew code reds in the trash can just Just making it happen.
00:06:15
RICK JAMES
ah
00:06:16
Arctic Factory
Oh, yeah.
00:06:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
800 miles to the gallon. That is pretty impressive. I'm surprised you're still alive. The big oil didn't come looking for you. Silence that idea right off the bat.
00:06:25
Arctic Factory
Yeah, well, just a small car weighed 100 pounds and ran on a weed whacker engine. It was just super aerodynamic and 816 miles per gallon.
00:06:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. Wow.
00:06:36
Arctic Factory
Yep.
00:06:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's phenomenal.
00:06:37
Arctic Factory
It was pretty decent for a budget of about $3,000, Yeah. Yep.
00:06:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:06:42
RICK JAMES
Peace.
00:06:42
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:06:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
And how did your car do, Nick, the buggy?
00:06:45
Arctic Factory
Oh, we actually, uh, we had a lot of fun. Our competition was in Kansas. So you get a little, uh, it's a 10 horsepower Briggs and Stratton motor. And then they give you like an
Development of Razorback Snowplow
00:06:54
Arctic Factory
81 page guide on how you have to build the roll cage just so it's safe.
00:06:58
Arctic Factory
And, uh, we ended up going to competition. It was in Kansas with that thick, thick clay. And, uh, it actually got, i think we had six inches of rain over two days.
00:07:09
Arctic Factory
And, uh, like, uh, University of Michigan is like one of the real big schools. Their budget's like 400 grand. And they always place like in the top 10. And it was the most beautiful feeling ever. My little six-person team and $5,000 budget cruised right past them in the endurance race. Their car fell apart because it couldn't hold the weight.
00:07:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:07:29
Arctic Factory
It was freaking awesome.
00:07:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool.
00:07:30
Arctic Factory
it was It was hell. I mean, we all put in crazy hours. And the week of the competition, two of my teammates had mono. One of them was coughing up blood. And we only had six people, so we we had to make it happen.
00:07:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Had to make it work.
00:07:44
Arctic Factory
And so, yeah, that's that's really where Blake and I's relationship started. And when we graduated, I actually went worked for a different place for a short period of time. And thankful these guys picked me up because it's kind of been a blur ever since, but we've done some pretty cool shit.
00:07:59
Arctic Factory
We've released all sorts of new product lines.
00:07:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:08:00
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:02
Arctic Factory
We've really helped, you know, brought some really awesome equipment into the factory. And think we've got a great, great, great future.
00:08:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:08:11
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I agree.
00:08:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
And the most important guy, I'm told nothing moves in that plant without Jeff.
00:08:16
Arctic Factory
ah
00:08:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
So tell us about yourself, Jeff.
00:08:17
Arctic Factory
I guess it depends on how you talk to you, that's next
00:08:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what big daddy said. Your big daddy, you know, he says, oh, nothing moves in that plant without Jeff.
00:08:27
Arctic Factory
Well, if Big Daddy said it, and must be right.
00:08:30
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:31
Arctic Factory
one hundred percent 100%. I'm Jeff Sexton. I've been here for the last 22, gone 23 Started out with Randy way back in the day before we even started introducing him to the public and Since then, been trying to control the factory and make things happen and grow this the way that we have tremendously massively and continue to move forward every day.
00:08:49
Arctic Factory
so Yeah, Jeff started in a hangar.
00:08:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. You guys are killing it
00:08:51
RICK JAMES
It's awesome.
00:08:54
Arctic Factory
Well, actually, the back of a shop. Yeah. Making how many plows a year? Was less than 50 at that point in time. Way less than 50 at that point in time. i Doing everything by hand. Yeah, just for the fleet in-house. And then slowly started to move on from there.
00:09:08
Arctic Factory
Yeah, our current ah meeting room that we use up north for the service side is our old paint room. So there's just layers and layers of yellow everywhere. Yeah. there That's where we used to paint everything.
00:09:20
Arctic Factory
Yeah, I think in 08, my dad had the crazy idea um right after a financial crisis to open a factory.
00:09:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
As one does.
00:09:28
Arctic Factory
um He'd be like, hey, build me a factory. And that's where we've been ever since now.
00:09:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's great.
00:09:35
RICK JAMES
awesome.
00:09:36
Arctic Factory
What?
00:09:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah You guys are killing it.
00:09:37
RICK JAMES
What are you guys pumping out?
00:09:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's a great story.
00:09:37
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:09:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
It really is.
00:09:39
Arctic Factory
threw you the keys to the factory, and you had a ah plasma cutter and a hanger, right? you had to figure out how to get installed. Yeah, we already had that set in for year. was already in works with things before we even got the building here. Yeah, for sure.
00:09:52
RICK JAMES
Jesus.
00:09:53
Arctic Factory
your ah Your Lego puzzle didn't really come with instructions. It did not. It did not. I feel like we're still building it. yeah That's a guarantee.
00:09:59
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:09:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
so So,
00:09:59
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
Product Improvements and User Feedback
00:10:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeff, back in the day, if I can just ask you this.
00:10:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
So back in the day when when you were doing this out of an ah out of a hangar or garage, was that what Randy was talking about when he would come up with a design for the sectional? And just are you the guy that he was saying, I just told the guy build it.
00:10:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, here it is. We're going to add here.
00:10:17
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:10:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're going to tweak there.
00:10:19
Arctic Factory
100% me and john stark and randy would you guys made that uh comment earlier about the cocktail napkins and that's exactly how things would go down or he would text or email or even call at two three in the morning with some wild crazy ass idea wasn't he yeah he was the fax king right
00:10:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes.
00:10:38
Arctic Factory
Didn't you have like a fax machine you had to like stand next to all the time? Yes, back in the fax machine constantly from wherever he was to getting these crazy-ass drawings sent over to us and making it happen. It's all
00:10:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, yeah, those were all direct quotes from, from Randy, the cocktail napkins, the, the dreams he had in the middle of the night after bad Chinese food.
00:10:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:10:52
Arctic Factory
true. It's all true. 100% true.
00:10:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like that was all direct stuff that Randy said.
00:10:56
Arctic Factory
Thanks for having us. one hundred percent true
00:10:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:11:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's phenomenal. Oh, man.
00:11:03
RICK JAMES
It's also...
00:11:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, it's good to have you guys on. Thanks for coming on with us. I think we're going to get into some stuff.
00:11:07
Arctic Factory
thanks for having
00:11:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeremy, you got some stuff to ask these guys, right?
00:11:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah. You bet. So what are all you guys working on at Arctic right now? What do you guys, I know the Razorbacks big, the full kit, but is that what, what's the main thing you guys are going after right now?
00:11:22
Arctic Factory
I'd say mostly just trying to organize. We're just growing rapidly, so we're just managing that, just becoming more efficient with our space. And then, yeah, the Razorback's a big thing we're tackling this year, is getting that thing just signed off for production, getting suppliers lined up, getting our floor ready, you know, fixturing assembly processes, getting just quality control nailed down, making sure that we just nail it right out of the gate.
00:11:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
how How awesome is it to actually have your your full kit now? Like, this is Arctic from the ground up. Everything is designed by you guys. Like, versus when you guys released last year, if I'm not mistaken, it was just the blade, right?
00:12:01
Arctic Factory
Yeah, just the retrofit. It's, it's a really good feeling. It's been something we've been talking about forever. And you get that, you know, the first time we put on a truck and now it's all of our parts who are running it and we're, you get that few moments of bliss and excitement, like, Hey, we're finally here. Like we're going to make it work and it's working great.
00:12:17
Arctic Factory
And then you have that unbearable stress of, oh shit, now we have to make 499 million things. And that's where the real work comes in.
00:12:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank you.
00:12:26
Arctic Factory
You can make one of them really well, really, you know, pretty easily.
00:12:27
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:12:31
Arctic Factory
I think like, okay, now you got a gear for mass production, which is just a totally different animal. It doesn't matter what you're making. It's just mass production is, it's, uh, it's definitely a lot of work, lot stress.
00:12:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, I'm sure. I can't even imagine. You know, it's pretty funny. you guys You guys, one of my guys that's been with me the longest, he looked at the Razorback when it came in on the pallet the other day, and of course he opened up the ah the guts there. and And he you don't realize how big a compliment this actually is because he doesn't say much, but he looked at the ah the guts. He's like, he saw something like, oh, well, that ain't dumb.
00:13:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
for For him, like, yeah because we're used to Westerns and stuff, and the the Westerns have been great for us, but he's always he's always saying, like, why would they do this?
00:13:04
Arctic Factory
Uh-huh.
00:13:05
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:13:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
They could have done that so much easier. And he looked over the Razorback. I said, so what do you think? You know, because he'd never seen it before. He's like, Yeah, they they know their shit.
00:13:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, they they thought of a lot of things that to make this design streamline and and to have less issues long-term. he ah yeah know Ed knows what he's talking about. He's like, yeah, that ain't dumb. That ain't dumb at all.
00:13:34
Arctic Factory
I mean, that's great to hear.
00:13:35
RICK JAMES
is
00:13:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's That's huge praise from him, if you know him.
00:13:36
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah. You know, like one of the, one of the things with the snow industry, especially i feel like now we've had, you know, post COVID all this inflation and stuff.
00:13:46
Arctic Factory
It's real easy to lose money in snow, right?
00:13:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:13:49
Arctic Factory
So if you can spend a couple extra bucks on a plow that you can open up and fix with your own two eyeballs and an adjustable wrench versus saving a few bucks on a cheaper plow that takes you out for a whole event,
00:13:52
RICK JAMES
Thank
00:14:02
Arctic Factory
I mean, now more than ever, it's like, man, yeah, make that investment. It's it's just an investment in the business.
00:14:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
hundred percent
00:14:08
Arctic Factory
um But yeah, for me, I think the Razorback, the seeing the full kit, the first one we built was pretty special. But it really set in. The first time I got to use it, when we had um everything figured out, the electronics and the hydraulics for the down pressure, oh we we were like little schoolgirls. like it It was actually, we just tickled pink.
00:14:31
Arctic Factory
It was a amazing.
00:14:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's got to be a super proud moment. I mean, that's got to just be awesome to see what you actually designed come to life and work how you intended it to work.
00:14:33
Arctic Factory
Yeah, it yeah. Yeah,
00:14:39
Arctic Factory
because I'm designing it, you know, a little bit here, a little bit there my head. Got ideas for years. And then, you know I really started cranking at it about a year ago this time. Putting all the things we've tested, everything together into one package.
00:14:52
Arctic Factory
Right. And it's super, super rewarding to see it working. um And something like the comment of, you know, this isn't done. That's great to hear because...
00:15:00
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:15:00
Arctic Factory
i I think were we'll give ourselves praise.
00:15:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
it's
00:15:02
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:15:03
Arctic Factory
We're working on this stuff ourselves. So like if we have something break, we have to go work on it. And i don't know about you, but I hate working on, you know, metal components when it's zero degrees outside.
00:15:14
Arctic Factory
So I try to make it easy.
00:15:15
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:15:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, forget it.
00:15:17
Arctic Factory
So like the way we position everything for the plow and how you work on it and how easy it is to get in there get tools in there is all because I've been there before. And I know that that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet, but that sells a product sometimes when you ah you have to make it.
00:15:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
100%. 100%.
00:15:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah, that's weird.
00:15:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know you know what we're going through.
00:15:33
RICK JAMES
That's weird for and and then an engineer.
00:15:35
Arctic Factory
Yeah, because I've been there and I'm the one out there testing it too. My team's out there testing it. um Not even just losing money, but time and just sleep and nerve endings on the end of your finger.
00:15:46
Arctic Factory
okay so
00:15:46
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:15:48
Arctic Factory
yeah, just anything you could do to just make it, you know, you don't want it to fail, but you know, yeah, someday someone's probably to to open up this box and see what the hell's wrong it.
00:15:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:15:55
Arctic Factory
And I'm not going to pretend like that never happens.
00:15:55
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:15:57
Arctic Factory
I mean, at one point, you're going to pop the hood on a Mercedes. I don't know. A couple months.
00:16:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, absolutely.
00:16:03
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:16:03
Arctic Factory
Right? So it's a pretty good car, but it's going to happen. So the hood opens. Congratulations. So they'll do the same thing.
00:16:08
RICK JAMES
I
00:16:10
Arctic Factory
Try to make it easy to work on.
00:16:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. you have something, Jay? Yeah.
00:16:15
RICK JAMES
was going to say an engineer actually planning ahead for something has, you know, what do you, what do you, what do you hear about most time when you're working that shit?
00:16:18
Arctic Factory
Yeah, it's on auto business. yeah
00:16:22
RICK JAMES
Just yeah all you do is cuss out the engineer or did this or that, you know, like, what was he thinking?
00:16:24
Arctic Factory
Oh, yeah. Engineers typically are trained to design for throughput through factory. So you're like, why does the solar filter sit here?
00:16:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:16:31
Arctic Factory
Well, because it's really easy to assemble and then the dealership gets to charge a fuck ton to work on it.
00:16:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
it There it is.
00:16:37
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:16:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is exactly it.
00:16:38
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:16:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:16:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Most engineers of snow products, I would venture to say, are not actually guys that are pushing snow as well their whole life.
00:16:40
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:16:46
Arctic Factory
It's something you can't teach. You just got to learn it the hard way.
00:16:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:16:49
RICK JAMES
So you, you.
00:16:50
Arctic Factory
No. And there's something about as all you guys know, being out, you know, eight hours, 12 hours, 18 hours deep into a storm and then something breaks. Your brain's got that little bit extra energy in it that I never, ever, ever want to fix this again.
00:17:06
Arctic Factory
Your problem solving skills get really good at that point when you, hey, I'm stuck here with a plow strap to my truck and I have no way to get home four hours away.
00:17:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, 100%.
00:17:07
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:17:16
Arctic Factory
Like you start figuring stuff out really fast and then you figure out how to keep that from happening again really fast.
00:17:19
RICK JAMES
yeah Right.
00:17:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ye olde ratchet strap.
00:17:23
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:17:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:24
Arctic Factory
yeah Everyone took
00:17:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:17:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'll always have one. Oh, man.
00:17:28
RICK JAMES
So you started designing this in what? 2017, 18 think it was Blake? Didn't you say that? 2018, yep.
00:17:34
Arctic Factory
it here. Cool. 2018. have a picture actually of the first Razorback on Lucas's dually. And that was a, yeah, it was green.
00:17:40
RICK JAMES
Is that green one?
00:17:43
Arctic Factory
Yeah, back then we were doing green.
00:17:43
RICK JAMES
Is the one laying on the back pile back there?
00:17:45
Arctic Factory
yeah Yeah, it's actually,
Design Philosophy and Real-World Testing
00:17:46
Arctic Factory
yeah, it's one in the archive file.
00:17:46
RICK JAMES
Yeah. I saw that when I was there.
00:17:49
Arctic Factory
The green was kind of my dad's color. He he went through a green phase. Everything was going be green. So that's why it ended up being green. And then when it came in time for production, like we cannot sell a green snowclaw.
00:18:00
RICK JAMES
no
00:18:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
but ah
00:18:02
Arctic Factory
It looks like they're green for something. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah, i was yeah it was like the Grinch color, that's for sure.
00:18:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's great.
00:18:07
RICK JAMES
it was that yeah
00:18:07
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:18:08
Arctic Factory
Yeah, that's the first one and we broke it. Actually, it's kind of a funny story. We're very hyped up and excited to have it run in. And it was a Western retrofit at that point. And my brother was taking a trailer off of his truck.
00:18:20
Arctic Factory
And we were honestly just so jacked up and excited that he forgot to put his tailgate down. on his gooseneck and he ripped the tailgate off of his super duty abs were pulling out of the lot to like go plow so he had to deal with that but still had overwhelming excitement about the plow and we well don't know four hours in blew a wing off the fucking thing hitting a curb and like okay well it needs trip edges on the wings and went right back to the drawing board and did it again and did it again and did it again and then yeah went to the retrofit that we released in 23
00:18:31
RICK JAMES
but
00:18:35
RICK JAMES
ah
00:18:54
Arctic Factory
twenty three was something that we felt was pretty production ready and looked almost nothing like the green one from 2018. Yeah.
00:19:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, and that's probably for for me and I think a lot of snow guys, that's probably the most absolutely frustrating thing about Arctic is you hear about these products.
00:19:02
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:19:09
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:19:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like I remember hearing about the snow wing like five years before you actually saw any snow wings.
00:19:16
Arctic Factory
ah yeah
00:19:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
they're building a hydraulic wing Arctic. like, oh, that's awesome. I'll take two. Yeah, they're not ready yet. They went back to the drawing board.
00:19:23
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:19:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
like
00:19:24
RICK JAMES
no
00:19:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's next year for sure. No, they're tweaking. They're still tweaking.
00:19:28
Arctic Factory
yeah Yeah, we do.
00:19:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
And it's like you guys test everything for years and years and years before you bring it to market. It's awesome. It's just frustrating for me. like But when it finally comes, I'm confident with it.
00:19:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, all right, they're not releasing something.
00:19:41
RICK JAMES
right
00:19:41
Arctic Factory
We do like to, we like to talk to people about what we're doing and we get instant feedback, you know, hey, is this a good idea? it's going to take a couple of years. So it's good too. But also we do test and it's crazy with all the testing you could do like, and then you start selling hundreds of them.
00:19:55
Arctic Factory
You're still never going to weed out all the problems, but
00:19:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
hundred percent
00:19:58
RICK JAMES
no
00:19:58
Arctic Factory
Part of it, part of it's what you're doing and what you have set up in place to take care of people and fix problems once you've had production and people have in their fleet.
00:20:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:20:06
Arctic Factory
Right. So you always, you're living a pipe dream. If you think you're going to release something and you're going to just, it's going to sit on autopilot and you're never going to do anything.
00:20:15
RICK JAMES
How many, how many you guys planning on putting out this year on your first year?
00:20:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:20:18
RICK JAMES
Any idea? What's your production? What are you guys thinking?
00:20:21
Arctic Factory
we're aiming around 500. Uh, most of them are actually sold.
00:20:23
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:20:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:20:26
RICK JAMES
That's a good, that's a good problem.
00:20:26
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:20:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good problem to have.
00:20:27
Arctic Factory
ah Good news south for a production client is good news. But yeah, that was our that was our estimate. And we're getting some pretty good feedback from our sales team. um And now it's all about just line up suppliers and production and gearing up for it and just doing it the right way.
00:20:42
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:20:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
And you guys are awesome at, like like you said, you use them.
00:20:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then once you get them out there and start producing them, the you know people have problems. And it's not necessarily because it's the product is wrong. You guys are building a product how you would use it. And then once it gets out into the wild, you know guys have different ways of doing stuff. And they they use it differently than maybe you guys have. And I think Lucas actually said it on his episode was that,
00:21:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, that's actually it's it sucks, but it's great because it makes us think of things we never looked at before. Like, we never thought that anybody would want to use it like this. So now we're going to bring it back in. We're going to tweak it and we're going to make it work for that and handle that. And you guys are constantly tweaking, improving, updating things.
00:21:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
existing products like even the sectional if i'm not mistaken you guys but changed the frame on them a couple years ago you beefed up the frame on them so like you guys are constantly tweaking tried and true products which i think is awesome you're not just resting oh it's out there it's great you know it's it's good enough you guys are always trying to make stuff better which i think is as an end user i think that's phenomenal
00:21:30
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:30
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:21:39
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:21:43
Arctic Factory
Yeah, always trying to make it better, make it just more consistent for us to build, um but also um make it reverse compatible. So, or backwards compatible. So, you know, our newer frames were probably three generations in now on some of them all work backwards up until some of our first plows.
00:22:01
Arctic Factory
So that's something we try to strive for, which is always a hard requirement. um But we don't want to fuck over the people that have, I mean, we have 21,000 of these plows, LDs and HDs in the field.
00:22:05
RICK JAMES
So
00:22:12
Arctic Factory
We can't mess with that, right?
00:22:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, that's awesome.
00:22:13
RICK JAMES
hey
00:22:14
Arctic Factory
ah we're somewhat stuck to design, but we have some limitations, but we're still trying to improve it as much as possible.
00:22:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. Good for you guys doing it that way.
00:22:22
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:22:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're not just leaving guys hanging saying, oh, no, we're not producing that product anymore. We're not even you know supporting the product with parts. you know You're going to have to buy the newest version.
Production Scaling and Automation
00:22:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
that That's awesome that you guys do it like that.
00:22:32
RICK JAMES
so
00:22:33
Arctic Factory
Yeah. we We don't play like that. i mean I mean, Jeff, since we have you, what is the most messed up sectional you've ever seen?
00:22:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:22:41
Arctic Factory
Because I know you've seen a few. We can go into all types of stories when it comes to that. You got any one come to mind? doesn't, honestly. Unfortunately, there's so many different crazy things that have taken place over the years that, yeah.
00:22:53
Arctic Factory
Not just one sticks out. not Not just the guy that bought the light duty said he was putting on his grandma's skid steer and it ended up on 200,000 pound wheel loader. yeah maybe
00:23:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, sure.
00:23:03
RICK JAMES
Geez, that should hold up.
00:23:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man.
00:23:07
RICK JAMES
So, so while talking to Jeff, how's the production rate going to affect the plant? then if you're going to do 500 of the Razorbacks and the rest of the other lines already cause that kind of, I'm sure that puts a lot of weight on you to get everything done.
00:23:22
Arctic Factory
A lot of planning, lot, a lot of planning. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly what you just seen there with the, the pat on the back. It's kind of one of those situations.
00:23:30
RICK JAMES
Figure it out, figure out, get it done.
00:23:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Get moving.
00:23:32
Arctic Factory
that figured out also knows it needs to happen. It needs to happen an ASAP, but we'll definitely make it happen. We've been in a lot of planning on that. Um, knowing that we have the new product lines coming in, knowing that we have everything that we already had, you know, that we were producing or producing well.
00:23:46
Arctic Factory
So we're doing a really great job at that. Actually a lot of automations coming into play with that being said. I don't know if you guys have toured the factory lately, but we have a whole hell a lot of automation happening. So yeah, yeah we just had a couple of robotic welders and, uh,
00:23:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:23:56
RICK JAMES
yeah hum How many you like?
00:24:02
Arctic Factory
We did our automated powder coat line. now That was a few years back now, but I mean, that was a tremendous help because, I mean, Jeff, that wet paint line, it had a beautiful finish, but man, that was, you got a lot of time in that, didn't you?
00:24:15
Arctic Factory
Yeah, we do about the same production rate in about two weeks time now. Yeah, exactly. A world of difference.
00:24:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:24:20
RICK JAMES
Wow. How many are you guys pumping out a year or there, Jeff?
00:24:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's phenomenal.
00:24:26
RICK JAMES
Just irregular plows.
00:24:26
Arctic Factory
So, right. Just pusher-wise on the pusher side of things, I would say close to $2,000 if we put everything together there. Yeah, we'll be over that some years or just under.
00:24:37
Arctic Factory
I mean, little bit weather-oriented, right?
00:24:38
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:24:41
Arctic Factory
But that's kind of our standard production.
00:24:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:24:41
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:24:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Have you guys updated or changed anything as far as the existing product line over the last year that you want to talk about?
00:24:50
Arctic Factory
Yeah, we're actually obsoleting all of our products. It's just a lot you.
00:24:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:24:54
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:24:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
You heard it here.
00:24:55
RICK JAMES
Blake's out.
00:24:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, nice.
00:24:57
RICK JAMES
hello
00:24:59
Arctic Factory
ah It's been like, I mean, we've updated the light duty power angle.
00:24:59
RICK JAMES
those blas out
00:25:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
okay
00:25:05
Arctic Factory
So it'll be coming out soon. It looks more like the snow wing, just more modular, little bit just longer lasting, more greasable, stuff like that.
00:25:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah nice
00:25:14
Arctic Factory
um The pushers. Heavy duty segmented. for Yeah. Heavy duty 19, 22 and 27 come with some very beefy segmented frames. ah That's because we can't run anything longer than 19 feet through our power oven.
00:25:29
Arctic Factory
um
00:25:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:25:30
Arctic Factory
That's all. And those are very, those are 10 inch deep tubes. So no more bracing on the back. It's just the right size tube for the job. So, you know, people are putting 50, 60, 70,000 pound loaders behind these things and now it's much better.
00:25:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:25:44
Arctic Factory
So
00:25:45
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:25:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:25:47
RICK JAMES
Aren't you your hook, like your ld LD plates, aren't they beefed up from what they used to be too because all the compact loaders running?
00:25:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, definitely.
00:25:54
Arctic Factory
Yeah, we beefed them up. We put our cross price across the bottom a couple years ago, and then we made a standard 3-inch. And then now last year, the top plate for the universal skisser plate is actually bolted on. It's a form piece. So if you have you have a little bit of wiggle room there, we have some customers with Bobcats that never fit the isocoupler.
00:26:14
Arctic Factory
Yeah, cough, cough. Yeah, they can loosen it and give it some height and then retighten it, and then it'll fit.
00:26:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:26:21
Arctic Factory
Just stuff like that, just trying to make it you know a little bit less welding for us, but also on the end user side, little bit easier for them to use
00:26:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:26:21
RICK JAMES
Gotcha.
00:26:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
I got all cases, so I know whatever Arctic's pumping out of that factory is going to fit on whatever I got.
00:26:34
Arctic Factory
to use.
00:26:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
that so
00:26:34
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yep,
00:26:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
All my machines are coming from them anyway.
00:26:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man.
00:26:40
RICK JAMES
about that
00:26:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
What else?
00:26:40
RICK JAMES
How about the double downs? What's going on with those?
00:26:43
Arctic Factory
you Crazy production. We're gearing up for a lot of those to be built. We've just been... just kind of dialing it in, little things here, little things there, just tweaking them.
00:26:54
Arctic Factory
You know, I take it very personally when I have to go on a service call or fix it because I want it to work 100% all the time. So we're really just, any small issues we have with those, we're just trying to remedy those instantly and just get it into production and approved as quickly as possible.
00:27:09
RICK JAMES
I heard you can't even get anything in your own fleet because everyone you make is sold already.
00:27:14
Arctic Factory
Yeah, I mean, yeah we're already gearing up for production and it's going to be for us again, probably double last year's numbers for double downs.
00:27:14
RICK JAMES
that true?
00:27:23
Arctic Factory
And that's not even including what Arctic service wants to buy.
00:27:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
wow
00:27:26
Arctic Factory
And it's crazy. I was kind of getting on John Sterrick's ass a little bit because I was up there taking care of our, one of our customers doubled on fleets. And I looked at ours I'm like, what the fuck? You know, all of our shit is 2018, 2019 old.
00:27:39
Arctic Factory
I'm like, we need to rejuvenate this. like, we have our customers running the best and the greatest, and we have first-gen stuff. So we're actually going to be swapping those out for some new units for him. But it still seems like we're going to to squeeze that into production here um because it's really getting off the ground and gaining popularity.
00:27:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:27:57
RICK JAMES
oh Looks like Jeff got busier.
00:27:59
Arctic Factory
Yeah. yeah That happens quite a bit. We don't really have an off-season here at the factory, honestly.
00:28:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
in
00:28:04
RICK JAMES
hu
00:28:06
Arctic Factory
Yeah, thank you.
00:28:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah He looks super chill, though, so that's good. He looks relaxed and chill, so not much.
00:28:09
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:28:11
Arctic Factory
ah so bold
00:28:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man, that's great.
00:28:17
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:28:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
What else you got for these guys, Jay? Anything else?
00:28:21
RICK JAMES
um We were up there doing the storm chasing with you guys.
Storm Chasing and Product Testing
00:28:25
RICK JAMES
um How'd you guys enjoy that? Anything? go yes and Because I was...
00:28:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah. Couldn't make that one.
00:28:30
RICK JAMES
we Yeah, we were ku asking, like, do you guys come plow a lot? I'm like, no, we don't plow a lot. It's breezy not plowing.
00:28:36
Arctic Factory
yeah Yeah. I mean, once we finally found a, a little bit of snow, you know, I was thankful we at least got some, some good snow to push there, but, uh,
00:28:40
RICK JAMES
How was it?
00:28:46
Arctic Factory
Yeah, it was it was awesome to have Jeff join us out there because, you know, every once in a while, big snow here usually means that our customers are also in need. and You know, he he stays back to hold down the fort a lot. So it was really awesome to have him out there. I mean, Jeff, what did you think?
00:29:01
Arctic Factory
For me, it was – Really awesome. That was actually the first time that I got to run our newest Razorback line with a Razorback line period. um For myself, you know, starting with Randy straight, I've always plowed with a front end loader or skid steer, pick up trucks. We quickly made a thing of the past, you know, and and now that we're starting to get back into that and getting behind the wheel, it took me, I'm not going to lie to you.
00:29:24
Arctic Factory
For the first few hours, I was all thumbs. I probably looked like I didn't know what the fuck I was doing in any way, shape or form. But we quickly got a hold of that. And by the end of the night, that plow is it's phenomenal. It's absolutely phenomenal. not just saying that because I'm the guy that makes it. We're the company that ah portion it it is it.
00:29:41
Arctic Factory
It's completely different than anything else I've ever used in the past. so
00:29:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:29:46
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:29:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. These guys, when storm chasing was out there and Jeremy and Steve Smythe were out there, they were calling me and that when they were plowing and I called Steve and he was running the, the Razorback and I'm like, Hey, how's a, what do you think?
00:29:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
How's the Razorback? And you, that smile was literally earlobe to earlobe. He's like, dude, this thing is insane.
00:30:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:30:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
he goes, I love it. I don't want to give it back. like So now we call him Arctic Steve.
00:30:11
RICK JAMES
Yeah. yeah
00:30:12
Arctic Factory
That's awesome.
00:30:12
RICK JAMES
That's his name on the phone. arctics Yeah. ah
00:30:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, they had nothing but great things to say about it. They had a great time out there. you guys ah run a first-class operation, and thanks for having Storm Chasing. That was ah that was awesome. and
00:30:25
Arctic Factory
that was It was a great experience, the whole team we worked with. It was great. We went out to eat a couple times, waiting for snow. We just got to know each other and shot the shit, and it was a really fun time. And I would say he didn't give the snow pile back.
00:30:35
RICK JAMES
it was yeah
00:30:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
00:30:37
Arctic Factory
He still has it.
00:30:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
He didn't.
00:30:38
RICK JAMES
No, he did.
00:30:38
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:30:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
00:30:38
RICK JAMES
He did.
00:30:39
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:30:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:30:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:30:41
RICK JAMES
we're We're like leaving and Blake comes up to, yeah, Steve, just keep this one. We'll send Andy a different one. And Steve's like, really?
00:30:46
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:30:47
RICK JAMES
like I was like, Steve, you're calling Andy.
00:30:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like a,
00:30:50
RICK JAMES
You can tell Andy's not getting this.
00:30:51
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:30:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:30:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah like a kid at Christmas, but yeah, no, he was very impressed with it.
00:30:55
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:30:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
um And yeah, just nothing but great things to say about everybody there. And in that whole experience, the the the crew, ah ghost dog media said you guys are all phenomenal to them.
00:31:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
So we thank you for that. And we're glad we could showcase Arctic. You know, i mean, if you're doing a, you're doing episodes of about plowing snow in the United States. I mean, how is Arctic not going to be at the top of that list to follow?
00:31:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
So glad you guys finally found some snow and could, ah could get them out there to, to film that. It's great.
00:31:23
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah. And we appreciate you guys having us on the show and, you know considering us one of those top tier companies. That's great.
00:31:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, I don't know how you wouldn't.
00:31:32
Arctic Factory
Yeah. I think, I think Jeremy might've noticed ah when we were finishing up at the mall, it was mostly cleaned up and I obviously had the Razorback on the front of the truck and and they needed like a half hour to do some stuff.
00:31:32
RICK JAMES
it's going to be great. Go ahead. Go ahead, Nick.
00:31:44
Arctic Factory
And I was like, Well, I got the plow on the front of the truck. I might as well see if I could break it. So I pulled the wings all the way back and just started driving figure eights in the Coles parking lot, hitting these two different manhole covers until I got dizzy. Well, I could smell axle grease first and then I got really dizzy.
00:32:00
Arctic Factory
but was It was definitely more than 15 minutes, but plow held up great. but
00:32:06
RICK JAMES
Yeah, definitely.
00:32:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome Yeah Yeah Yeah
00:32:07
Arctic Factory
We've been working on ah transport mode. Plown in transport mode was our biggest criticism. That's one of the things we learned. We're like, who the hell would not put the wings out right or you know but we learn you know certain situations where you have to so we just try to make it work like that and we tell people still you know try to plow straight try to plow slow because that way you have the angle sloners to relieve because that wing it'll in transport mode it'll kind of dig in it's not really designed to work that way but we actually added some stuff to the cutting edge on it to help it skid over the ground when you're in transport mode and
00:32:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm
00:32:39
Arctic Factory
Haven't had any really issues yet. Now it's not going to slam into a six inch curb the same way, but ah we haven't had any issues, you know, plowing straight or backwards anything transport mode. So I think we fixed most of that issue for people.
00:32:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome That's great, good for you guys Phenomenal What else you got
00:32:56
RICK JAMES
And I would say with that plow being Steve bringing that plow back to Storm Academy, mean, think they got a couple things planned next week, next two weeks. So there's going to be a lot more eyes on it because we're going it on their pickup there and they're making snow.
00:33:10
RICK JAMES
So no one else getting snow.
00:33:11
Arctic Factory
All right.
00:33:12
RICK JAMES
The Academy, that's a good place for that plow to be because, to be honest, we were driving to Chicago when he was bringing me to the airport. think we got stopped by three different people asking us about the plow on the front.
00:33:22
Arctic Factory
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.
00:33:23
RICK JAMES
So yeah, and then he's had nonstop people talking to him about it and stuff. So I mean, that's what's great about the Storm Academy. He can get it over there and they can make snow and people and can come actually use it and see it. you know to You don't have to wait for an event. You can actually go there. So it's pretty, it's gonna be pretty exciting. Sound like they got a few events coming up there. Hopefully if the weather gets cold enough where they can make snow, it's going to be used quite a bit yet this year so.
00:33:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
think they got some sectionals out there too.
00:33:47
Arctic Factory
That's awesome.
00:33:49
RICK JAMES
Yeah, they got, yeah, arctic Arctic hooked them up this year with sectionals and think a couple loaders and yeah, they ah yeah hooked them up out there, so.
00:33:57
Arctic Factory
Yeah, he's got a pretty cool thing out there. It'd be cool to just go out there and kind of see how it works and, you know, plow in warmer weather.
00:33:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:04
Arctic Factory
That'd be fun.
00:34:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
You guys should.
00:34:05
RICK JAMES
Yeah, exactly.
00:34:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
If you're not getting snow, you should.
00:34:07
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:34:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I think they're kind of busy.
00:34:08
Arctic Factory
So yeah, pretty much all the time. yeah
00:34:11
RICK JAMES
I think they're busy.
00:34:11
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:34:11
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:34:12
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah, the Steve has a a third batch plow so it's pretty much production ready so I'd like to hear as much feedback as possible from everyone yeah I'm sure I'm sure I'll hear some might not hear any more of the that's not so dumb but I might just hear that is dumb but I'll take
00:34:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, you will. You definitely will. From a lot of different guys.
00:34:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:34:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Because they...
00:34:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh man.
00:34:37
RICK JAMES
ah
00:34:37
Arctic Factory
take it yeah this is the time for feedback that's what tell everyone
00:34:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Oh, man. Yeah, that was just so funny when he looked over that plow. He's like, yeah, that ain't
User Feedback and Product Development
00:34:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
dumb. Like, that's high praise from Ed.
00:34:47
Arctic Factory
I'm going to quote that one on the wall.
00:34:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow, look at that. That ain't dumb. Yeah.
00:34:52
RICK JAMES
No, I mean, like we were, we were, ah we had to put some hydraulic fluid in the one that we were using. and Blake just loosens up the, the hose clamp that goes around the tank, you know, and just, you can rotate the tank and, you know, you can dump your, mean, just simple things like that.
00:35:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
So simple.
00:35:07
RICK JAMES
You can do that.
00:35:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
So simple.
00:35:08
RICK JAMES
This makes it so, you know, easy.
00:35:10
Arctic Factory
Well, and the tank's clear. You can see how much food you have.
00:35:12
RICK JAMES
yeah, you can, yeah.
00:35:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:35:13
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:35:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:35:15
Arctic Factory
The other guys don't like clear tanks.
00:35:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:35:16
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:35:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:35:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're not guessing.
00:35:17
RICK JAMES
You don't feel it. Oh, oh, it's coming out. I think I got enough now.
00:35:21
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:35:21
RICK JAMES
Let's go.
00:35:21
Arctic Factory
With
00:35:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
An LED d headlight standard. Like what a crazy concept to be able to see while you're plowing.
00:35:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:35:28
Arctic Factory
heated lenses, right?
00:35:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:35:29
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:35:30
Arctic Factory
Seriously. Yeah.
00:35:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:35:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
I still don't i don't understand that in 2024, 2025, why any plow manufacturer is still putting plows out with halogen headlights.
00:35:41
Arctic Factory
Cost.
00:35:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's just ridiculous, though.
00:35:43
Arctic Factory
Yeah. They could just take a nickel and dime a customer where we know what people want out the gate.
00:35:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
hundred percent
00:35:48
Arctic Factory
Our cloud's coming here with everything on it, and we just know what people want.
00:35:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
100%. I love it.
00:35:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah of That's absolutely right.
00:35:53
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:35:53
Arctic Factory
Oh.
00:35:53
RICK JAMES
I
00:35:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
I love it. It's great.
00:35:56
RICK JAMES
mean, the hydraulic pins, quick on and off with the hydraulic pins and everything.
00:35:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, I mean, yeah. Yeah.
00:35:59
RICK JAMES
It's just, that's, did you get yours on yet, Steve?
00:36:00
Arctic Factory
Oh, the lift unlock the sunwalk.
00:36:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, no, they're doing it actually.
00:36:03
RICK JAMES
No.
00:36:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
What's today? Today's Friday. They they should be doing it right now, actually. But they I think they were supposed to do it yesterday.
00:36:07
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:36:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then when the snow disappeared, they're like, ah you know, it's raining. We can do it tomorrow.
00:36:13
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
like we We can do it tomorrow.
00:36:15
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:36:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
We got some time now that they killed all the snow for us.
00:36:19
Arctic Factory
in week. Yeah.
00:36:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:36:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's all good. They were loving that. They were loving the break. they're like, this is awesome.
00:36:25
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:36:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like four days without snow. This is great.
Upcoming Innovations and Testing Processes
00:36:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Been pretty busy here this winter. um I got to ask, though. I mean, i everybody wants to know, and and they'd probably be mad if we didn't ask this.
00:36:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
You guys got anything? Can you tell us anything coming down the pike from Arctic? Like anything new product-wise that we can expect in the next couple years?
00:36:46
Arctic Factory
um Well, if you ask my dad,
00:36:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:36:50
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:36:51
Arctic Factory
he's probably got a whole laundry list of things. um I'd say we got a few things that we're lining up here to start working on pretty heavily.
00:37:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:37:02
Arctic Factory
Nothing that I want to be caught saying, but we got a lot of really good and interesting stuff.
00:37:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right.
00:37:04
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:37:06
Arctic Factory
Some of it branches off the Razorback line. Some of it grows that. Some of it takes it to different things and some of it... is more double down related and whatnot, but we have a lot of, we definitely keep ourselves busy here for sure. And it's all things that pretty much no one's doing. So
00:37:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool. All right.
00:37:23
RICK JAMES
ah about the pusher with the extended sides? is that that's What do you calling that, I guess? or what's what's are Because you're making those too, right?
00:37:33
Arctic Factory
what do we call it? Yeah. So there it's, it's the extended wing plow yeah is with what we call it. um And that is, that is available. That is something that the dealers can order now.
00:37:44
Arctic Factory
Maybe we should do a little better job marketing it. But we know there were those few customers that were like, man, I don't need anything fancy. I just need to hold snow. So I believe the the the most that we put out there, we put out, I think it was seven or eight of them. They're 11 foot wide, but they hold the same amount of snow pretty much as like a 17 foot HD plow.
00:38:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:38:06
Arctic Factory
And it is one of the coolest things to use. You know, when we made it here at the factory, were a little worried because, you know, that that whole side panel, is it's just half-inch steel. It's all weight. And I went to Blake, and I was like, you know, you got to make sure these things aren't going to rip off. And we got all this containment, sure, but if a guy goes around a curve or even just having to plow in the air.
00:38:29
Arctic Factory
So we made a call to our old buddy Lucas and said, what's the biggest wheel loader in the area you can get your hands on? And i think it was not more than like six hours later, we were driving through the parking lot with the most potholes in town, trying to see if we could slam the thing apart.
00:38:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
I love those videos.
00:38:45
Arctic Factory
Yeah, yeah that was the plot was just roading it. The wing's bouncing up and down. A lot people can have issues. So we actually designed some bracing and like a polyblock damper for it that'll absorb the weight of that wing.
00:38:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:38:59
Arctic Factory
Because it's as big as you can fit on a truck. I'd love to say did that on purpose. But it's like pretty much 8'6 front to back. And we put it on the first truck.
00:39:09
RICK JAMES
Holy shit.
00:39:09
Arctic Factory
We're like, oh shit, we nailed that one on accident.
00:39:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:39:11
Arctic Factory
Yeah, I think the the wing with the shoe, everything combined is like just around 1,000 pounds dangling on the end of each end of the plow. So you've got 2,000 pounds between the two ends of the plow.
00:39:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:39:23
RICK JAMES
Jesus.
00:39:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
And what's that called? If guys want to experience that, what what are you calling it? Extended wing plow.
00:39:30
Arctic Factory
I think it's any of the HD pushers you can order as an extended wing version. ye
00:39:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:39:35
Arctic Factory
um But it's something as simple as that.
00:39:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Awesome. I didn't even know about that.
00:39:37
Arctic Factory
yeah Something as simple as making the wing two feet longer. you could Their time and thought goes into it. to make sure that's going to last.
00:39:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, I'm sure.
00:39:44
Arctic Factory
And yeah, you're pushing the center of gravity to those wings out they're put a lot more moment and force on those pins because, you know, all of our stuff is slotted. So if moves down, it can bang.
00:39:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:39:54
Arctic Factory
So it's just making sure that that holds up and that we're not going to find out the hard way when an end the user has an issue. You know, we're going to put the work in first to make sure that, you know, doing FEA simulations, force calculations, we're doing actual testing, we're putting loader. We actually had on a loader Nick left out that it was on a bucket mount.
00:40:14
Arctic Factory
So to get the most swing out of it, we chained it to a bucket mount.
00:40:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:40:17
Arctic Factory
We actually, while testing it, ripped the welds on the hooks for the bucket and ripped the plow off the bucket.
00:40:18
RICK JAMES
Jesus.
00:40:23
Arctic Factory
were trying to bang this thing around so hard.
00:40:25
RICK JAMES
oh
00:40:26
Arctic Factory
oh
00:40:26
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:40:26
Arctic Factory
That was the conclusion of our test. so
00:40:30
RICK JAMES
well,
00:40:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Test complete.
00:40:32
RICK JAMES
so
00:40:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, that's great.
00:40:33
Arctic Factory
but And actually, the one of the things that actually came out of that is our our revised wear shoe design. That is probably one of the things, you know, we should have answered your question, new stuff coming down the pipeline.
00:40:45
Arctic Factory
You know, the wear shoes on our plows are obviously one of the biggest points of contention for our customers. You got to wear item, you got to replace somehow. um We, we moved the thickest part of the shoe.
00:40:57
Arctic Factory
It used to be on the the front and sorry, I shouldn't say thickest. I should say widest. Widest part of the shoe was always on the front side of the shoe, but it would always wear out at the back. And, uh,
00:41:08
Arctic Factory
You know that was one of those things where it was like, man, it's so simple, but it's like, all right, hang on, what are we missing here? But no, we put the time and effort in, we moved the material to the back of the shoe. So, I mean, we basically just based off the square inches on the back about tripled the wear life of that shoe.
00:41:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really?
00:41:25
Arctic Factory
And we even reduced the cost to the customers. So, you know, we've been getting phone calls here and there. Hey, you guys are building the shoes wrong. This thing done bolt up we go, no, no, flip it around. Yeah. It won't light up and it'll last three times longer and you pay less.
00:41:36
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:41:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
but You're looking at it upside down. Sure.
00:41:40
Arctic Factory
I think Jeff is going to turn off his phone. If he gets one more call, explain to someone that the shoe is on the wrong side and that it is correct.
00:41:46
RICK JAMES
ah
00:41:48
Arctic Factory
But like that boils down to like even the shoe making the heel wider. A lot of people think maybe that's simple, but we have to look into how does it nest on our sheets? What's the cut time?
00:41:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
sure
00:41:57
Arctic Factory
Can we still cut it with two torches at the same time? Um, can the guy running the bed, the brake press, bending it, can he now switch his brain and bend the wide side like this and the narrow side like this? Can he follow that? Can the guys walk tacking it?
00:42:10
Arctic Factory
Uh, does it mess with our fixturing on the robot? Cause all of that's robot welded, you know, is that all going to, so it's, it starts to finish something as simple as well. We're going make this narrow and this thick and, you know, It's start to finish as a whole process that has to go through a whole kind of checklist and making it work. And then also getting into inventory, making sure that end users aware of it. Dealers are aware of it Dealers and end users of are aware of the differences when they get it. Like, hey, this looks backwards. Like, nope, it's correct. Right. It's just something as simple as that could really throw a wrench in a process.
00:42:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:42:44
Arctic Factory
But yeah, think about all of it.
00:42:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, that's awesome. That is awesome. I didn't realize that much went into it. That's crazy. How does your dad, your dad's kind of old school.
00:42:53
RICK JAMES
Well.
00:42:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like how does your dad interface with all the computers and stuff? Like, does he understand?
00:42:59
Arctic Factory
i
00:42:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
like
00:43:00
Arctic Factory
Frustration? um yeah what
00:43:03
RICK JAMES
Frustration.
00:43:03
Arctic Factory
He thinks, I can't explain it. He thinks we're a little slow. Slow school, right?
00:43:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:43:08
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:43:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
I can see that. I can see because Randy is very much a let's get this done now yesterday.
00:43:10
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah. He's like, why can't you just get it done? I'm like, well, like I said, we can build one, Dad, but you know we got to build a lot more. It's a little bit complicated.
00:43:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. That's awesome.
00:43:21
Arctic Factory
He gets the big picture once it's done and everything's working, but he does definitely push us to
00:43:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:43:27
Arctic Factory
speed things up, but you gotta, you gotta get all the details. That was in the details is what I always say.
00:43:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:43:32
Arctic Factory
You know, you can have one, everything's like a critical component.
00:43:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's great.
00:43:35
Arctic Factory
If you have one bolt phone or product and the thing falls off the truck or something, or the headlight falls down or the locking pin doesn't work or a poly block snaps, like everything becomes something that shuts you down.
00:43:47
Arctic Factory
So you gotta worry about every single detail, even,
00:43:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:43:51
Arctic Factory
Jeremy, Paul, you guys had one of the hose fittings loosened. And like, that was one of the things that we ran into often with the wing moving so much that the hose fittings would loosen, that shuts someone down. So you got to come up with remedies that the customer is not going have to worry about keeping wrenches with them and get in there and tighten that. And what if they don't notice and they're going to notice how they're out of fluid and now they can't even lift it down anymore, right? So um just stuff like that. Anything could kill you. So you got to worry about all the details and just fixing it before it gets to the customer.
00:44:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:44:19
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:44:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. Good for you guys. Got it dialed in. That's for sure. ah You guys feel like we got a couple of listener questions, if you guys don't mind. You guys feel like taking a couple listener questions?
00:44:29
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah. so
00:44:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right.
00:44:31
Arctic Factory
Yeah. we got
00:44:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, BEC Contracting wants to know who created the headgear for the new Razorback full kit. Whose idea was that? Design was that?
00:44:39
Arctic Factory
ah That was mine.
00:44:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:44:41
Arctic Factory
um From pretty much the A-frame back is that's what he's talking about, right? The hookup system.
00:44:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:44:48
Arctic Factory
Yep.
00:44:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:44:49
Arctic Factory
So it hooks up. It's like a boss style geometry where you'll hook up to a boss mount um with like the hook and pinhole.
00:44:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:44:57
Arctic Factory
but then how it locks on and then the hydraulic locking pins is all my my design. And the aluminum part above that that holds the hydraulics and the headlights and all that was my design.
00:45:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. ah Nate Scardo wants know. going to try and get this right. He wants to know, as far as the modules and lighting connections on the Razorback, are they more similar to a Western or a Boss?
00:45:22
Arctic Factory
I think Nicky could probably speak on that. Yeah, so um I don't know exactly what he's after, but I mean, it it actually shares a little bit of both.
00:45:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
Product Features and Compatibility
00:45:30
Arctic Factory
So the headlight adapter styles that we went with were more more boss-like, where you intercept the plug that goes into the back of the headlight.
00:45:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:45:40
Arctic Factory
But there is a bit of a Western element in that we've got a we do have a little computer, one under the hood of the truck and one in the plow. We're very thankful to have an awesome partner that's been in the industry for a super long time.
00:45:54
Arctic Factory
And when we came to them with the Razorback, they said, hey, you know, and we've been doing this for 35 years and and we think we've got the best mousetrap on the market. But the other guys, for one reason, another cost or complexity, think it's, you know, they don't want it. And we said, well, no, let's let's take a look at it. And it turns out this thing's like the best thing since sliced bread.
00:46:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:46:14
Arctic Factory
So, I mean, we've got, we've got the, actually the ah ability is Blake kind of hinted at to add some extra features that you you haven't seen in any other commercially available snow plow. So little excitement down the road, but yeah. So basically there's a small module about the size of your cell phone. It'll be under the hood in the truck.
00:46:33
Arctic Factory
There's one in the plow. You intercept your headlight plugs to get your signals for that. And then other than that, it's just simple power on ground and shovel wire through the firewall for your controller.
00:46:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's awesome.
00:46:43
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah.
00:46:44
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:46:44
Arctic Factory
it's all can bus system or multiplexing. So, uh, pretty much got power ground and signal wires. So you don't have, you know, a nine or 12 pin plug ramming through the firewall, you know?
00:46:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah. I told you, Steve, it was easy.
00:46:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Man, that's going to...
00:46:58
RICK JAMES
I told you it simple.
00:46:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's going to be tough for guys that are nostalgic and just love that putting a plow on means destroying the whole front end of their truck. Yeah.
00:47:05
Arctic Factory
yeah And honestly, yeah.
00:47:06
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:47:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
00:47:08
Arctic Factory
And what we've noticed too, um, Jeremy, i think when we installed it with you, was relatively easy. i mean, other than Spencer forgetting how to put a med flap up about an hour.
00:47:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah, that was like that was the longest part.
00:47:18
Arctic Factory
Yeah, that was funny. But, um, yeah.
00:47:19
RICK JAMES
We got to take a shot at Spencer. yeah
00:47:21
Arctic Factory
yeah that was funny but um
00:47:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
I only saw the sticker. That's all I saw. Spencer. They they had a video of Spencer putting this the decal on.
00:47:28
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:47:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
who
00:47:29
Arctic Factory
But um it went pretty well. And so far, everyone struck in our program that we've outfitted have left their original wiring. So if they're running a Western already or boss already, we're working alongside those systems without so getting rid of them.
00:47:44
Arctic Factory
So the people that are running a Western, Mountain, Western, they still run that. They run our plow. um They're not really getting rid of their fleet. you know kind of like the backwards compatibility thing. I don't want to switch up everyone's truck. That's not going to happen.
00:47:56
Arctic Factory
You know, Boston, Western or Douglas dynamics are so established um that we really want to make sure that we kind of play nice with everyone's trucks and make sure that it worked because that's what we're dealing with.
00:48:08
Arctic Factory
That's our customer. You know, when you come buy a pusher for me,
00:48:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:48:12
Arctic Factory
we have a whole catalog of couplers that we make to work with your loader or your skister because that's what's out there and kind of same the trucks. You know, we saw that the most common is your Western slash Snow X mount and then your boss mount.
00:48:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's awesome.
00:48:26
Arctic Factory
So we had to make sure that we could accommodate those because that's what people have. And we don't want to make you go put some one-off frame mount on that might change up or you can't get parts for um or your trucks don't have. So, you know, our fleet at our facility was always Western and we could,
00:48:41
Arctic Factory
work perfectly with that don't to change anything and that's if it works for us it's going to work for other people yeah and i think one of the most exciting parts is the the troubleshooting that's built in so those two little computers for ours uh they got a few different leds on them and it's going to be like kind of old school obd car diagnostics where it'll flash different error codes at you so you know if if you're having an issue with it you at least get uh get an idea of where to start whereas um
00:48:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. Love it. Absolutely.
00:49:08
Arctic Factory
I've troubleshooted a few of the other ones, and sometimes youve really got get your thinking cap on.
00:49:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, absolutely you do.
00:49:13
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:49:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it's like Morse code from the controller.
00:49:16
Arctic Factory
Yeah. It could be something as painful as the harness was made wrong up to, like, oh, you're using the wrong ground. You never think of it, but the ground wasn't correct, you know, and it works.
00:49:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:49:27
Arctic Factory
So, you know, we could get back codes to help people diagnose, too.
00:49:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:49:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. Good for you guys. We got one more. ah GHS Industrial up in Canada. They want to know if you will please make a snow wing that is tractor mountable.
00:49:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah He's tired of his metal pluses breaking, and he says he'll take five of them right now.
00:49:46
Arctic Factory
Deal. ah um what
00:49:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Deal.
00:49:48
RICK JAMES
um so
00:49:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Fun.
00:49:49
RICK JAMES
I guess.
00:49:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sold.
00:49:51
Arctic Factory
Yeah, it depends on the weight of the machine. and If an LD snowwing will work, you know well we put those on mini loaders in that. Probably a 20,000 pound machine will handle that.
00:50:02
Arctic Factory
Anything over that, you're looking into something that we're going to be working on near future, which would be the snowwing.
00:50:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh
00:50:07
RICK JAMES
well
00:50:08
Arctic Factory
We have a HD snowwing Luke and I have been cooking up for a while conceptually.
00:50:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh
00:50:08
RICK JAMES
Tidbit there, if you didn't catch it.
00:50:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
all
00:50:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:50:13
Arctic Factory
That thing's going to be pretty cool.
00:50:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:50:16
Arctic Factory
Yeah, a lot of things people haven't seen before and lot of cool concepts.
00:50:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right.
00:50:17
RICK JAMES
put me down
00:50:21
Arctic Factory
It's been a while, but I think it's going to be a good seller.
00:50:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:50:26
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah, mean, we always encourage our customers if you've got a you know, if there's a demand and ah a unique mounting system that we don't offer, I mean, I think, Jeff, you could speak to that a little bit. How many different mounts have you reverse engineered over the years? We'll back to that bulb thing.
00:50:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
check
00:50:43
Arctic Factory
We've definitely seen a bulb.
00:50:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeff's like, don't tell people to call me with any other crazy mounts.
00:50:45
Arctic Factory
Right? Well, we've definitely seen them all and we're definitely here in order to help the end users out make sure that everybody's working well. So, yeah.
00:50:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sweet.
00:50:56
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:50:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes. If you got anything crazy, they'll work with you. That's what it sounds like.
00:51:00
Arctic Factory
Oh, yeah.
00:51:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
um I got one more question for Jeff. Jeff, have you, ah since you run the plant there, have you happened to see any black jet black sectionals maybe working their way down the assembly line?
00:51:10
Arctic Factory
but Oh, what is this all about? Yes. Yeah.
00:51:15
RICK JAMES
oh
00:51:16
Arctic Factory
There might be something. There may be something in the works. that is the degree Yeah, we were looking at samples this morning.
00:51:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sweet.
00:51:21
RICK JAMES
He'd be the guy to know.
00:51:23
Arctic Factory
There definitely wasn't some choice words shared at the powder booth yesterday evening after a few things got done.
00:51:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Is that a big pain in the ass? Like, is that a huge pain in the ass to change colors?
00:51:32
Arctic Factory
Um... Jeff, it's not really. I mean, with the, with what we've installed and what we have in line right now, we can actually change colors within about a half an hour to 45 minutes.
00:51:44
Arctic Factory
It's just doing the quantity of parts, right? So that's where we're at. We'll do customized colors, but the quantities have to be there for us.
00:51:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:51:50
Arctic Factory
Yep.
00:51:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:51:52
Arctic Factory
Yeah, because we've got a purge.
00:51:52
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:51:53
Arctic Factory
We've got, oh, my God, I think it's like 60 feet of line per gun, and there's 12 guns, right?
00:51:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, Jesus.
00:52:02
Arctic Factory
And i end up the powder, dude, that powder ain't cheap. So, you know, we've got to make it worth our while, and then also, you know, getting it through the guys that are running the machine, making sure it's like, hey, you know, line's got to be fully bled because we send something out there half pink, half purple, you know, and it's supposed to be a yellow section.
00:52:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:52:18
Arctic Factory
We've got to make sure.
00:52:20
RICK JAMES
oh I had to...
00:52:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Dude, I don't care. I was just going to say, I don't care.
00:52:23
RICK JAMES
Go ahead. ahead, Steve. Go ahead. good
00:52:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, I remember Mike Garrard calling me. It's got to be six, seven years ago now. He's like, hey, ah I got a deal for you. They did an overrun. They had an order for these light blue sectionals, tens, and they did an overrun of like, there's 10 or 20 of them.
00:52:38
Arctic Factory
ah and
00:52:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
He goes, I can make you a really good deal if you want to buy multiples. I'm like, Dude, I don't give a shit if it's pink camouflage.
00:52:50
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:52:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
I don't care what color it is. if If they're cheaper, yes, send me a bunch. I bought a couple of them. Yes, I'll take them.
00:52:57
RICK JAMES
Great.
00:52:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Don't even ask. if you if they have overruns on colors, don't even ask. Yes, I'll take them.
00:53:03
Arctic Factory
But, yeah, Steve, to answer your question, i we're mixing up a pretty cool color, I think.
00:53:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was pretty.
00:53:09
Arctic Factory
You guys are love it.
00:53:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sweet. It's going to great.
00:53:12
RICK JAMES
they
00:53:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's going to look so badass. What'd you have, Jay?
00:53:15
RICK JAMES
Oh, I was on a plant the other day.
00:53:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
You were, going to say
00:53:17
RICK JAMES
i had i had to Jeff, I had to go talk to your guy that puts those springs on the outside springs.
00:53:22
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:53:23
RICK JAMES
Because I've asked Lucas over. He was like, how the fuck do you guys do that on all these? you know Do we use like two two bars?
00:53:26
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:53:28
RICK JAMES
is there Is there a trick that I'm missing that we don't? He's like, nope. So I went and talked to the gentleman, put him in. I'm like, is there a better way to do this? And he's like, oh, no, I just go like this. I'm like, whoa, shit.
00:53:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you make it look easy.
00:53:39
Arctic Factory
Yeah, made it look easy as though.
00:53:40
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:53:41
Arctic Factory
Yeah.
00:53:41
RICK JAMES
was like, he's like, well, like nine years ago, it used to be pain in the ass, but these new ones, it's just boom, boom.
00:53:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. When you've,
00:53:46
RICK JAMES
He goes, I'm like, oh, it doesn't usually go that way for us. So, but that's the only, those are the only ones that we have issues with, those little outside, i mean, all everything else is easy, but man, those outside ones, we take like pipe on either side and we're just a lot of cussing and hammers and we get it done.
00:53:50
Arctic Factory
you can
00:54:03
RICK JAMES
But I thought I had to go talk to the guy that does and see if there's something I'm missing, but and don't know.
00:54:03
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:54:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man. ah You guys.
00:54:09
Arctic Factory
What's the secret, right?
00:54:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, absolutely.
00:54:11
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:54:12
Arctic Factory
usually as As long as you're a good swing, usually it's a bigger hammer, but...
00:54:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:54:15
Arctic Factory
Right. Yeah.
00:54:16
RICK JAMES
Yeah, that's usually what we do Yeah. yeah
00:54:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:54:18
Arctic Factory
yeah
00:54:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, you guys are great. I mean, it's no secret. Anybody that's ever listened to our show, you know, where me and Jeremy lie as far as product wise. I mean, Arctic is tops for both of us. And, you know, the fact that you guys are expanding the product line and bringing just more game changing stuff. I mean, everybody thought like the sectional was the end. Like, oh, this is the best thing ever.
00:54:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
And since then you've just dropped more stuff, the snow wing, the razorback, the double down. I'm excited to see what the future holds for you guys, bringing more stuff. with Like, like I said earlier, you guys are a snow company, so you're finding the needs. How is it going to help our snow company to develop this next product?
00:54:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
If you need it, we're going to need it. So it just makes sense. You know, so I thank you guys for developing these things and getting them out and making our lives easier out there. We appreciate it Definitely. like
00:55:10
Arctic Factory
Greatly appreciate you guys.
00:55:10
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah. it's
00:55:11
Arctic Factory
we Greatly appreciate the end user base for sure. yeah
00:55:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
phenomenal.
00:55:16
RICK JAMES
It's definitely a top notch operation.
00:55:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's phenomenal.
00:55:19
RICK JAMES
The factory is top notch, but I mean, the people there are even better, you know, what make it roll. So you guys got it all going on right there. That's for sure. You guys are, you guys are all, I mean, just, you just, i mean, know I just met a few you guys and you guys like we've known each other for a while, you know, it's pretty cool.
00:55:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I got to get out there. I got to go do the factory tour.
00:55:34
RICK JAMES
It's, I like it. Just great to know you guys and get to know you guys even better. So,
00:55:39
Arctic Factory
Yeah, thank you guys.
00:55:39
RICK JAMES
Nothing but good things to say.
00:55:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
No problem.
00:55:41
Arctic Factory
and and And same goes to you guys. you know it's It seems like there's definitely this level of camaraderie against us snow fighters that you know like we all at the end of the day know that our industry is pretty good at weeding out the kind of people that like to go home when the going gets tough.
00:55:56
Arctic Factory
so
00:55:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, all 100%. hundred percent 100%. Oh, man. Well, we appreciate everything you guys do. You guys got anything else you want to talk about? Anything you got for us?
00:56:08
Arctic Factory
I don't think so.
00:56:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
As we know, it's Friday afternoon.
00:56:09
Arctic Factory
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:56:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
I you know you guys are busy, so we want to let you guys go if you want.
00:56:12
Arctic Factory
Yeah. yeah
00:56:14
RICK JAMES
Sure, Jeff's got to work all weekend, so 24-7.
00:56:17
Arctic Factory
You already know.
00:56:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep, Jeff's got to get back to the plant.
00:56:18
Arctic Factory
You
00:56:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:56:19
RICK JAMES
twenty four seven
00:56:21
Arctic Factory
already know. you are in
00:56:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
and All right, cool. All right. Well, if that's all we got, then well I guess we'll wrap it there. So thanks very much, boys. We appreciate you coming on.
Conclusion and Future Episodes
00:56:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
um That's it, guys.
00:56:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Arctic Army Roll Call, Episode 4 in the books. So we want to definitely thank Blake, Nick, and Jeff you know so much for the time. They are extremely busy, as we said you know earlier.
00:56:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
jeff is They allowed Jeff to come out of the factory just to do this, so that was great.
00:56:48
Arctic Factory
ah
00:56:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
good the Good that he could make the time for us.
00:56:52
Arctic Factory
We actually ambushed him.
00:56:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
and um
00:56:53
Arctic Factory
We're in his office. Yeah. They are.
00:56:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah but Now you can't leave
00:56:55
Arctic Factory
They are. they are yeah ah
00:56:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah. Well, it's ah it's great having you guys. Everybody's loving these Arctic episodes, hearing what Arctic's up to. And, ah you know, we're going to keep going with them. So stay tuned for these. They're going to be coming at you every month.
00:57:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
We'll be back on schedule now that we're going to come out of the snow season. So they will be every month on the, ah I think, the third week, Blake wants. I'm sorry. Spencer wants them the third week of the month, usually.
00:57:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
So everybody, have a great weekend. Thanks again to Arctic. And we'll see everybody next week.