Boss Plow Quick-Attach Adapter

[Katahdin]

Has anyone mounted a Boss RT3 Push Beam to a skid-steer type quick-attach plate? This is what I'm planning to do to phase out my 93' GMC plow truck. I'd like to keep the plow stock as I bought it new and have kept it in excellent condition over last 8 years. I plan to use the Boss 12V pump and controls to operate the hydraulics, maybe mount a second battery to take the load off the Yanmar's battery.

Seems straight forward, some cutting, welding, and maybe put a few grade 8 bolts through the push beam for extra hold strength, and reinforce the plate with angle iron as necessary. I picked up a push beam yesterday that I can hack on while leaving the one on the plow truck intact. Just curious if there's any other setups like this out there, I've been through the entire snow weapons thread and didn't see anything like it.

 

[cschulz]

Pictures would be good. I have a Boss plow and can just about picture this. But pics would help for sure.


Chris

 

[Katahdin]

Here's a quick diagram of the modifications I'm thinking of making to the Boss Rt3 Push Beam. Certainly I can post pics of my progress. :thumbsup:

I also plan to reinforce the plate that the bolts attach to with angle iron, and weld in a Reese trailer hitch receiver tube and D-ring to make the adapter a little more versatile.

 

[cschulz]

Now I get it. Simple and clean design. I might suggest that you go with a nice thick QA plate to help spread the load for your tractor arms and I very much suggest a second battery. What size alt. does the tractor have? Keep me posted.


Chris

 

[Katahdin]

Good question about the alternator, its a paltry Denso 40amp model. Looks like a second battery and throttling up the RPMs will be a must. FYI, for my purposes I'm just doing one 400 ft driveway. I can keep the extra battery topped off with a charger in the garage and put in a switch to isolate it from the starter battery.

 

[cschulz]

40 amps is small. Denso's are great pieces. Will you be doing a lot of angle changes? As for the lift that will come from the FEL right? Also keep in mind if you are plowing at night and need extra light. I would for sure go with LED's for less draw.
My truck has 2 batteries and a 140 amp alt. Never had a problem even doing drives with a lot of angle changes.

Chris

 

[Katahdin]

Not sure if I do a lot of angling or not, I don't have anything else to compare it too. I think with the tractor I'll be using the electric pump less, I plan to use a box blade to pull snow away the buildings and from the pile at end of the driveway that the town plow leaves. I'll also use the box blade to push into back-in spots where I turn around, which I'd normally need to make by plowing from the front.

On my GMC I've never had more than the stock 100 amp alternator and one battery, I've used both yellow and red optimas without any problems. The first year or two that I had the plow, and before switching to optimas, the dashboard low battery light would come on when operating the plow pump, but it was an older battery that I started with.

Typically my truck plowing is low-rpm and I never leave the driveway. I think the output of the 40amp alt, with throttle set to a higher RPM, would put out a comparable output to the lower operating rpms of the GMC alternator. I've never measured alternator amps before, this project would be an excuse to get out the multimeter and take some readings to compare the two alts and record the battery voltages before and after plowing. I don't plan to go too wild on the lighting, I think the front tractor beams would be fine and add on one or two 55 Watt halogens for the rear. I'll probably take the light bar off the plow once I retire the GMC--19 years and 310,000 miles, its had a long life.

I should also note my Boss plow is a full-trip standard duty plow, its weighs a little less than the heavier duty trip-edge plows.

 

[cschulz]

Everythings sounds good. Im with you in thinking the alt. and battery will be fine with the rpm's up. Good luck and post up some pics during build and try out.


Chris

 

[catdozer]

Sorry for not seeing this sooner. We used to have a boss v-plow VXT on a Bobcat T190. We had the RT3 bracket to the plate and it worked very well. ONLY THING don't weld the bracket directly to the plate!!!! Reinforce the plate!! We did a 2inch square tubing frame around the plate and directly down the center horizontal. Now for the RT3 bracket do cut the back plates off and weld it on the plate, place it up against the square tubing. For the control we had quick connects on the plow hoses that had a T. and 7 pin attachment control kit that We mounted to the plate. We drove up, hooked up to the plow and hooked up 2 hoses one for each side. When used on the bobcat we did use a chain for the lift cylinder on the plow but it was not needed. So we could still use the plow on a pickup with out heavily modifying it. We didn't get much use out of it any more. I sold it the plate on Craigslist for $700 as you could hook up any plow to it. I had about $400 in it. Sorry no pictures as I never thought it would be needed

 

[Katahdin]

Thanks for the info catdozer, I'm glad your adapter worked out well!

Yes, I think we're all in agreement the QA plate needs to be reinforced. I'm thinking angle-iron on the rear because I have a bunch of 3/16" scrap on hand. I imagine if I had square tubing lying around instead that I'd want to go that route.

Here's a pic of what I'm thinking with the angle iron, just imagine the QA plate is sandwiched between the Rt3 Push Beam and the Angle Iron. The QA plate I've ordered is 5/16" and the angle iron is 3/16", so the total thickness of the four reinforced areas would be 1/2 inch. For comparison, the two hooks being inserted into the plow frame are 1/2" thick.