Snow Plowing strain/beatings

[Sregorb]

All,

The idea of plowing snow has always appealed to me (once I move someplace that actually gets some). Ever since I was a kid in Michigan I planned on getting one. So when I bought my 'dream truck' to last for a long, long time of course got the plow prep group. Assuming I ever go someplace that I'll actually need it there is a nagging question that I suppose I need to have answered first.



"Just how much wear/tear and abuse does plowing snow put on the truck???" whether that be the frame/engine/electrical/hydralic systems/etc.....



Is it a "once a plow-truck, always from that point forward a plow-truck"? or just an accessory that can be on/off as the seasons dictate? Is the wear justified for a show/commuter/distance/hauler type truck?



Brian

 

[R.E. Miller]

I vote NO!

I thought that at one time, but look at how you talk of your truck, I don't think you plan on abusing it, that just carries right into how you plow with it. Yes, even with tender, swift, strategic operation, you are going to have to spend money on up keep that will be more then some one with out a plow. Like: front springs, bushings, steering components (poss), trans, rear, anything that works harder to push the snow. But if you just plan to open your drive way and some neighboors, you won't notice much if any difference. If you plan to plow commercially, I can't stress taking your time, and looking at your job before it snows for hazards before plowing before the first snow enough. Don't plow like auto manufacturers drive their vehicles in their commercials, and you'll be just fine



Russell

 

[WDaniels]

your truck will take a beating no matter how gentle you are with it. Your suspension, drive lines, power steering pump, tie rods, frame, bolts where the body hooks to other things all take a wuppen. I have a old 75 power dragon and I've had the 727 transmission out 4 times, redone the transfer case which needs it again, the frame of the plow itself, tires, brakes, lines all have had to be redone. I only plow in 4 low so there isn't any speed if I hit anything. If you value your truck, go get a beater to plow with. My 2 cents worth.

WD

 

[DSteinel]

I agree with all of the above. Plowing is very hard on the entire truck. Biggest problems are the front end. It will sag badly after a couple of years, The universals on the front axle will wear out eventually from the tight turning, Brakes from starting and stopping all night long. Auto transmission if you don't stop before you throw it in reverse. Rear bumper, because you didn't see that pole behind you. If I had the money I would own a older reg. cab gasser, Auto to plow with.

 

[scbrown]

I have plowed with my truck for 3 years, and yes I have had to replace most of my front end, tie rod ends, ball joints, track bar ect.

I do not plow commercially, only my own business, driveway, and neighbors(all).

I also plow the road to my cabin in northern Michigan which is 400 miles round trip, a long way to drive with a plow attached!!

But I remove the plow as soon as I am done with my rounds.

I don't drive around with it on.

As far as the trans. goes, no problems yet. I always come to a complete stop before shifting.

I use a Fisher Minute Mount plow which, as the name implies takes about a minute to put on and remove.

I am offered jobs all the time to plow for money but I cannot commit and also don't really want to put my daily driver through any more abuse, I have 104,000 miles on it now and its a 2000.



Stan

 

[DennyDay]

Cost of Plowing

Many years ago (in the 60's) did a cost analysis for plowing with a light truck. ('67 Dodge W250 Power Wagon) and came up with a figure of each mile of plowing is equal to 54 miles of not plowing. This was figure included not plowing between jobs, but carrying the plow raised.



Don't know if this is still true with the improvement in vehicles and equipment, but I'd bet its close. (didn't have a computer to use then, but did have a adding machine and a slide rule)



Denny

 

[Rosco]

I plow, however I have not managed to keep a truck long enough to warrant any major repairs on them. I do know a guy who plowed 4 seasons with a 95' 2500 cummins before he needed his front end rebuilt and that was moderate plowing with some big lots. If you plan on plowing you will need to do maintenence more often and you will wear out parts. However, if you plan it right you can make some $$$$$ also. Bottom line is you have roughly 1000 pounds hanging off the front axle so as soon as your done unhook the plow. I take mine off asap and it kills me when I see guy's with miute mounts drive around 2 weeks after a storm before they take it off.

 

[illflem]

Talked to an old guy last week who has made his winter living with commercial plowing for 30 years. He said, "These young guys with new trucks that aren't paid for are just losing their shirts in this business. " By new he meant anything newer than '90. Said the best plow trucks are early '80s Jeep pickups with automatics, he runs five. Added that it didn't matter what kind of shape they were in when he bought them, they were going to need repairs after a couple weeks of plowing anyways.

 

[Snow man]

I agree,do not mount up a plow unless you are making good money with it. If you like a truck that is 3 yrs old,and looks new,do not put a plow on it,you will get scratches from heavy branches hanging,and you will get corrosion galore on all brake/fuel lines. exhaust and every bolt,nut under the truck. Baically if you cant pay for it in 3 yrs plowing,dont do it. I have been plowing for 16 yrs now,and it amazes me to see so many guys hanging new plows to do there own driveway,and they end up doing 1/2 the neighborhood for free. My 2000 Ram is in good shape yet,but it defintely isnt as clean as a non plow truck. Ive never dented it plowing,but it has a few light scratches from hitting low branches that are heavy from snow. I dont care much since the truck will be paid for this yr from plowing. I wil ltry to post a pic of my Ram ready to plow if i can figure out how to do it. As for the old jeeps,they may work good,but they do not hod a candle to the haevy stuff in big lots,they are good driveway trucks,I work commerical lots ,where the $$ is. You need a big plow,and a heavy truck,Jeeps just dont cut it. My truck weighs 11600 lbs loaded ready to go,with a 9ft2" plow and a jeep weighs 4500 if you load it with sand bags,and will take a 6. 5 ft plow. It would take 2 jeeps to keep up with my pickup,if they could keep up at all. PM,and staying in open,blacktop lots is the key to long lifr,along with a careful operator.

 

[WDaniels]

Snow Man,

Do you need a permit to take that big of a plow on the road there in N. Y. state? To be legal in AK anything over 8' has to have a permit.

WD

 

[illflem]

Snow Man, guy I spoke to was speaking of Jeep pickups, not the little ones. He had 1500 lbs of weight in the back.

 

[willyslover]

I have a little Toyota FJ40 and plow almost exactly 1 mile of paved steep and twisty private road ... . the rig works very well with the 7'6"Meyers plow ... I drop the plow to the ground when not in use and the FJ40 only plows now. . the plow is on the ground 95% of the time, so the rig doesn't "carry" the weight except to pile the bearm higher and turn around... and there is still a fair amount of wear and tear on it yearly. .



I wish I had a good ol 1st gen to plow with v/s the FJ40. . now that would be the cat's PJ's

 

[Snow man]

WD,the 9'2" is exactly 8ft wide in the scoop or vee position. It is actually easier to manever that an 8 ft straight blade,because the wings are tucked in tight to the truck when transporting. Ive never had a state trooper or any cop even look twice at it,if i kept the blade stright then it looks huge ,I bet i would get a second look,and maybe pulled over then.

 

[THerman]

I will agree with the majority here. The plows will definately wear things out faster particularly in the front end.



But I will say that how you use it will have a major affect on the wear you get. How you end a run, especially deal with berms, will have a lot to do with how long your transmission lasts.



Even in 4-low, if you are heavy on the gas in the berm, than all that torque is on your transmission. After years of plowing, I found less wear on my truck letting my momentum do the work at the end.



You also need to be realistic about what you attemp to do. It will never be a frontloader, or a dumptruck with a plow... .



Keep things reasonable and you will enjoy it.....



Also be prepaired to replace windsheilds at a higher rate... . cold snow hitting a hot windsheild will turn pits into splits very fast!



Good luck...



Tod

 

[Snow man]

Tod is right about the snow banks. I shouldn't press my luck,but I havent had any truck issues with any of the 4 trucks I run,as far as powertrain. I did lose an alternator 2 yrs ago,on my 89 GMC and a lift chain bolt this christmas day on the 91 GMC,,but those are nothing,and I carry spare alternator at the shop and a good selection of bolts/pins in each truck,so no big deal. I havent broke a windshied yet,Im sure i will sooner or later,just not yet. I have a 3yrd loader,when the snow is unmoveable or banks become a problem,I use the loader to open things up. ,this saves a lot of wear on the trucks. I have trans temp guages in all my trucks too,if things get hot,210+ in the hot line, we let them idle in N,for a few minutes,I get out and throw snow at the trans cooler this helps cool things off. We always use low range when the snow is wet or heavy this helsp a lot,and we maintian lots from first flake to end of storm,we pre treat the lots with salt to keep ice from forming,so we aren t spinning the tires like mad,this is not good for the life of axles,and transmissions. You also tend to use momentum too much when traction is a problem,then you cant stop,and hit spomething frozen and break things. I gotta say the Dodge is my favorite plow truck,by far,except for lack of dash space to put plow controllers,salt spreader boxes,and switches for lights/strobes. That aside they are the best . None of my trucks have been down in a storm since i went on my own 4 yrs ago.

 

[RDBuck]

snow plow

I've plowed with my 92 Dodge Cummins for the last 11 years with an 8' Diamond plow. It is the "old" style where the plow frame stays on the truck. I have a 6 mile route for the town with turn arounds and intersections. Four passes are needed on each road so that is 24 miles to complete the route once. Some storms you have to do the route for a day or even two. The truck is a 4x4 manual. The plow controls are mounted on the shift lever so it only takes the flick of a finger. The Getrag transmission made it to 100,020 miles but I don't think its' demise had anything to do with plowing. All the universals have been replaced at least once (145,000) and some in the front-end twice. I never come to a stop plowing under power, the clutch is always disengaged so the snow stops me naturally. If you know where the obstacles are and use common sense you can plow profitably. Don't be under any illulsions though,plowing puts more wear on your running gear than almost any other thing you can do. I do it because I like to be out in a snowstorm and plowing for a town gives me an excuse to drive down the middle of the road and even the police move over and wave. And I must say that this 92 Dodge has outlasted almost everything in the fleet except a 62 International 3 ton.

 

[apkole]

Our company has been plowing snow in metro Grand Rapids, MI since about 1964. This busines really is abusive to the trucks. I've found that most of the damage occurs after a long plow cycle - -everybody gets tired, stressed out, etc. Before you know it you start hitting curbs (you know they are there, but your timing is off with the brake or steering) or you miss shift (forward into reverser before being completely stopped. )



I make sure to get the trucks thawed out after plowing, and then spend time crawling under and around them, doing the lube (amazing how much water comes out of those U joints after just one night of plowing) looking for loose bracket bolts and broken welds.



I found the straps at the front drive shaft u-joint were loose on our 1/2 ton Dodge the other day while greasing and looking things over.



We do install "push bars" on all of our trucks to protect the frame.



Our '91 has plowed for all but the first two years of its life. The 727 trans has been rebuilt twice.



Our 99 has plowed since new. Trans rebuilt at 66k (failed during a summer Sunday afternoon casual drive).



It helps greatly to have a heated shop where you can let the equipment thaw out and warm up. I spend a least as much time doing maintenance as I do moving snow. It is a full time business for us from November through March. We are either moving snow, or working on equipment to be ready to go.



The best vehicle we have found for moving snow off lots is a Caterpillar loader with an 18' Daniels hydroturn blade. Beats using about 3 pickups.



I agree with getting the plow off as soon as done plowing. My front and rear plows hook up in under 7 minutes, so no reason to drive all over the place if no snow.



We only work by the season, but hourly we don't move any of our equipment for less than $130. We are a fully licensed, commercially insured operation. Our customers get 100% commitment during the winter season, and they pay for the same.



Andy



The '93 1/2 ton has had two trannys replaced in 150k miles.