pickup truck plow purchasing helpful hints needed

[diesel lover]

My dad is concidering purchasing a plow for his pickup. I have operated plenty but have never owned one or had the desire to. Currently he is using uncabed tractors to clear the snow. He has a 5 foot snow blower and 6 foot blade both rear mount. The tractors are 2wd. It has been down to -30F in Michigan and the drive way is 1/4 mile in distance with two hills and a loop at the top.

Truck is a 2000 GMC sierra 1500 4 WD automatic, 4.8 liter v8 short bed. Personally I prefer plowing with a 3/4 ton truck vs a half ton for the heavier suspension as well as other reasons but I figure a half ton will work.

I have heard western plows cost 1800$ or so. Ouch! Cutting edges are expensive as well. What can my dad get away with? The driveway is gravel/ sand. He would not need a contractor duty blade but wants something perfectly worth the money. Its his choice so I don't blame him for wanting something heated and 4 WD. I personally prefer a 4wd Cut with a fel and good tires for moving snow, but I can agree with them they do cost a lot just for snow removal.

Just wanting to see what his options are for a better price. Hate to see how tough this winter is for them. This afternoon my mothers 4 WD ford escape could not make it up the driveway! They ended up walking up the driveway! The front bumper was pushing snow up hill. He will be snow blowing around it to "rescue" it tomorrow.

I am more comfortable with a pay loader or a cut due to several reasons including wearing out a truck and getting stuck. Tractors are very sterdy and will handle snow well. They can unstick them shelved well even in deep snow. My neighbors have helped plow with their trucks. One has a 78' ford bronco that does exceptionally well. Another has a 2003 GMC 2500. It has been years since a winter this heavy. Years ago when our ford tractor was down I had to call my neighbors with a cattle ranch for help. They came over and helped. One was in the GMC 4wd 2500 and one was in a 4040 john deere with a cab. I can say any tractor no matter what the brand that large is tough!! The tractor had a high quality blade on the rear and was pushing huge snow drifts. The truck was working on it but needed several pushes to make it through. The pushes were done on the Reese hitch of the truck so no harm done. Quite amazing that even a machine that large and heavy was being slowed down by tall snow.

Another friend also helped with a newer 4510 john Deere with industrial tires. The tractor got stuck after driving through the driveway and stopping... oops he shouldn't have stopped. It was not horribly end of the world stuck but I was able to use the ford tractor at the time, a 20 foot chain and a high gear to pull him out! Our tractor had chains on the tires.

Their driveway some years gets blown shut badly due to snow moving accros the fields. My dad will drive through the field and clear a path so the slow will fill that void before our drive way.

What are the ranges of cost and what's the differences between machines?

Thanks!
Trent

 

[Fred P]

How about a soft cab for one of his tractors? I have a Berco on my Yanmar, it makes all the diff.in the world when blowing snow.


Fred

 

[diesel lover]

What is the price for a soft cab? It would probably be for his cockshutt 40 due to wheel weights and 50 horse power to be able to snow blow effectively with

 

[Katahdin]

New truck plows are expensive, think $1800x2 for the starting price of a new model.

I plowed my 400 foot driveway with 2-Door Yukon half ton for about 8 years, its has about the same wheelbase as a short bed. For the extra front-end load I had Timbren hollow rubber springs installed. It helped with the carrying the plow and didn't affect the ride when the plow was off the truck. I switched to using an open station tractor last year and enjoy it, but who's to say when I get to be your Dad's age that I don't want to go back to a heated cab.

As plow makes and models go, I first went to a Fisher dealer. I had seen Fisher plows all my life, I was in scouts with the Fisher dealer's son, the dealership owner was the committee chairman of my Boy Scout troop, etc. With my connections I was going to get a really good deal on a Fisher plow!.....HOWEVER.... because my half ton only had a 2800lb or so front end rating, the mechanics at the Fisher dealer refused to put a plow on my half ton. I then had the timbren springs installed, and the spring shop assured me this would increase my front end carrying capacity by about 1000lbs, but the Fisher dealer mechanics still refused to install the plow. I was at a dead end with Fisher and had to look at other options.

After doing some research I decided on a Meyer plow and drove over the dealer to take the plunge. The Meyer dealer in turn recommended a Boss plow! Bosses were new to my area and the dealer had just started selling them. They said it was really easy to take on/off and they were right. Aside from me not properly retracting the drop stand and having to replace that part, the plow has been 100% reliable for 10 years. The RT3/Smart Hitch2 system, which hydraulically lifts the plow onto the truck's push beam, has also been proven over the last 10 years and remains largely unchanged. Since this system has been in place for so long, maybe you can find a deal on a used setup. Even my friends who have Fisher plows today, agree that that the Boss plow system is easier and quicker to use then the Fisher Minute-Mount-2 types.

I don't know much about Western plows, but I believe Fisher and Western are the same company now. I'm sure there a lot of great options out there, but definitely get someone to show you the Boss smart hitch 2 system and let your Dad decide which one he likes.

On the issue of blade types, because your Dad has a half ton, you'll probably want the lightest one you can get. I went with the Boss 7.5 foot standard duty steel blade. Poly plows were new at the time and the frames they had actually made them heavier then the standard duty steel blades. Full-trip blades will be lighter then trip edge plows, so the dealer recommended the full trip. As far as the cutting edge goes, I also have a gravel driveway and the cutting edge is hardly worn after almost 10 years of use. A coworker who has a paved driveway has worn his cutting edge down to the nubs. Last year I added a 2 inch steel pipe to the bottom of my cutting edge and it does an excellent job of not ripping up soft gravel.

So in summary: You can beef up the half ton's front end with timbren springs and get the easiest to mount, lightest 7.5' blade you can afford and Boss plows are great in my book. Hope this helps!

 

[diesel lover]

Katadan what is the minimal cost for the set up and strings you are referring to?

 

[Rustyiron]

I'm pretty sure that they (the Timbren) are just basically rubber bumpers that will take the load off the trucks suspension, but will not increase the rated capacity of the trucks front end. It's been years since I have bought a truck plow, but they have chanced a great deal and so has the cost. If your dad's one of those guy's that just likes to do it himself, I'd look at all of the plows on their web sites for recomendations & weights as well as dealer locations.
Or just talk him into hiring a guy for this or other tough winters. $2500 (and related costs) or more will pay for "the plow guy" showing up at 4am automatically for a whole bunch of snows.

 

[jdzaya]

New truck plows are expensive, think $1800x2 for the starting price of a new model.

I plowed my 400 foot driveway with 2-Door Yukon half ton for about 8 years, its has about the same wheelbase as a short bed. For the extra front-end load I had Timbren hollow rubber springs installed. It helped with the carrying the plow and didn't affect the ride when the plow was off the truck. I switched to using an open station tractor last year and enjoy it, but who's to say when I get to be your Dad's age that I don't want to go back to a heated cab.

As plow makes and models go, I first went to a Fisher dealer. I had seen Fisher plows all my life, I was in scouts with the Fisher dealer's son, the dealership owner was the committee chairman of my Boy Scout troop, etc. With my connections I was going to get a really good deal on a Fisher plow!.....HOWEVER.... because my half ton only had a 2800lb or so front end rating, the mechanics at the Fisher dealer refused to put a plow on my half ton. I then had the timbren springs installed, and the spring shop assured me this would increase my front end carrying capacity by about 1000lbs, but the Fisher dealer mechanics still refused to install the plow. I was at a dead end with Fisher and had to look at other options.

After doing some research I decided on a Meyer plow and drove over the dealer to take the plunge. The Meyer dealer in turn recommended a Boss plow! Bosses were new to my area and the dealer had just started selling them. They said it was really easy to take on/off and they were right. Aside from me not properly retracting the drop stand and having to replace that part, the plow has been 100% reliable for 10 years. The RT3/Smart Hitch2 system, which hydraulically lifts the plow onto the truck's push beam, has also been proven over the last 10 years and remains largely unchanged. Since this system has been in place for so long, maybe you can find a deal on a used setup. Even my friends who have Fisher plows today, agree that that the Boss plow system is easier and quicker to use then the Fisher Minute-Mount-2 types.

I don't know much about Western plows, but I believe Fisher and Western are the same company now. I'm sure there a lot of great options out there, but definitely get someone to show you the Boss smart hitch 2 system and let your Dad decide which one he likes.

On the issue of blade types, because your Dad has a half ton, you'll probably want the lightest one you can get. I went with the Boss 7.5 foot standard duty steel blade. Poly plows were new at the time and the frames they had actually made them heavier then the standard duty steel blades. Full-trip blades will be lighter then trip edge plows, so the dealer recommended the full trip. As far as the cutting edge goes, I also have a gravel driveway and the cutting edge is hardly worn after almost 10 years of use. A coworker who has a paved driveway has worn his cutting edge down to the nubs. Last year I added a 2 inch steel pipe to the bottom of my cutting edge and it does an excellent job of not ripping up soft gravel.

So in summary: You can beef up the half ton's front end with timbren springs and get the easiest to mount, lightest 7.5' blade you can afford and Boss plows are great in my book. Hope this helps!

I had a polycarbonate Sno-Way plow on a 2002 F-250. It was very light, didn't even know it was on the truck! However the truck turned out to be too much for the plow as one winter in very heavy and chunky snow I broke the poly sleeve on the plow. Too much truck, not enough plow! It would be a perfect plow for the truck you were talking about. I bought the plow at a garage sale but it didn't have the mounting bracket for my truck or the wiring and controller. It cost a total of $2300.00 to get it all hooked up to my truck. I've since bought a F-350 Diesel and put a Boss Power V on it. I love the way the Boss plow hooks and unhooks! I can literally put the plow down, move two hinges, unplug and be back in the warm cab of my truck in 45 seconds, not even rushing! The plow cost me around $4500.00 all hooked up and ready to go. If your budget allows, go with the Boss

 

[Katahdin]

This is the cheapest price I could find for the front axle Timbren kit that'll fit your Dad's Sierra:

Timbren GMFK15A Front Suspension Enhancement System for GM : Amazon.com : Automotive

You can verify and look up kit/part numbers at timbren.com

 

[diesel lover]

2500$ would not be a bad price. I'm afraid my dad may hit the roof when he sees a price like that. With the quarter mile driveway and the first hill from the hill being long and a decent climb, my dad was thinking about billing out someone to plow his driveway. Unfortunately I'm affrad that would cost thousands of dollars to bill out on a bad winter.

Over the years he may decide that a 4 WD tractor with an fel is for him but that may take time. It would be a good buy concidering he takes care of 17.5 acres between brush hogging, gardening, and other task he would use less fuel with a diesel CUT tractor like that. His cockshutt 40 uses 2 gallons to 3 gallons per hour of run time. It does well on a 5 foot snowblower due to the horse power, weight and of course wheel weights.

Once he sees a plow new for his truck will cost 3 to 5000$ he will either bill out the work or buy a used cut 4wd with a fel. He has unfortunately never had a tractor with a fel. His newest tractor is a 1965. It may take time but he could decide with today's technology a used 4wd cut will last him the rest of his life. The tractor would be for a lot more than snow blowing

 

[GManBart]

Don't know if your dad is still looking, but I went through a similar selection process in 2009. I wanted a plow for my Tundra CrewMax, and they were just starting to come out with plows designed for 1/2 ton trucks. I liked the models from Western, Boss, and SnowDogg, but the SD has a stainless blade, and was nearly $1K less, so I went with it. As I recall, the Western, and Boss were in the ballpark of $4500 installed, and I paid $3600 for the SD. I think the Boss system makes for a bit easier on/off, but the SD system works fine. I can mount it in just a couple of minutes, and I haven't had a single problem with the unit so far. I'm only clearing my two 100-150yd driveways, around my barn, and sometimes my neighbors driveway and barn area (much bigger than all of mine combined), but the cutting edge still looks good, and I expect it's going to last a long, long time.