A snow roller pulled by horses owned by John Hamilton. The driver is Albert White.

A road roller was an improvement over a snowplow because it packed down the snow on the roads to make a wide, hard, smooth surface. In a snow storm, banks made from plowing a road trapped the blowing snow and the road would drift in.

The road roller did not make large snow banks. Rolled roads also were wider than plowed ones, allowing cars to more easily pass one another and did not confine teams of horses or upset sleighs, pungs or sleds.

A road roller was made from planks bolted to a drum-like frame.