Abstract: The blade lifting mechanism includes a counterbalance offsetting the weight of the snowplow blade assembly and enabling the double-acting actuator to position the blade much more easily. IN a first embodiment, heavy duty download pressure springs in conjunction with a toggle link enable the downward force on the blade to be varied between a value which is a fraction of the weight of the blade to an amount which is several multiples of the magnitude of the weight of the blade assembly. In a second embodiment, the toggle link is replaced by a linear slide link.