Best Set-up for plowing, Dream rig

[twinturbo427]

Post up some ideas for a plow rig. I don't know squat about the plows themselves, but would like to learn.

My idea:
Square base model Suburban 3/4 with gas engine, TH400, and bulletproofed systems. Roll up windows and as simple as possible.

Thoughts?

 

[Honky Kong jr]

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[QBuff02]

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I think I need to have this!!

 

[Honky Kong jr]

I think I need to have this!!

No thinking for me I NEED that truck. The transfer case is blown apart........the CL add for it is in the ******** on CL thread. 4K buys it. No title either but not a big deal....

 

[75Monza]

I have two plow trucks myself, a 73 F250 highboy and 82 K20 soon to have the engine back in it. Both are 4 speed with granny low, soon as the K20 is on the road I'm selling the Highboy. It has a 7' plow that was a home-made job, had the blade custom rolled and welded up all the metal till I had a plow, lol. Since the highboy did not have power steering, I put a power steering unit on it from a 2wd, got a dual coil 12vdc hydraulic valve and just a basic tractor ram to get the right lift, just manual angle. Having to plow 2.5 miles of road all winter to get out, I can tell you right now this set up sucks. Best plow truck needs to be at least a 3/4 ton, have good power steering, be automatic not manual, have a long handle floor shifter with the plow controls mounted off the side so you can move it while jumping from drive to reverse in a jam, use fog lights for back up lights so you can see good behind when it's dark and snowing and have lights up high in the front so they don't get packed with snow when plowing, then the plow should have 4 way control, 8' (v plow really works great, but too expensive for me) and across the top of the plow have a 12" high piece of thick belting bolted on to help keep the snow out of your lights, grill and over the hood onto the windshield when plowing.
I found a good used 8' western fully detachable with the extenda-wings on it for $2,500 with a free K20 attached to it. In my area, most used plows like this go for about $3,500, so couldn't pass it up. Don't have time this year since I did the motor to have a good grunt motor, but next year am swapping out to a TH400 with a Hughes XTM converter like my 86 K20, that tranny set up has taken a ton of abuse and keeps asking for more.
Here is the start of FrankenPlow, hope to have the full set-up done by next winter. Another thing is make sure to reinforce the frame on both sides where the plow mounts bolt on by crossmember. I've cracked the crossmember right at the passenger motor mount area clear through before hitting a hidden rock froze in the ground.

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[twinturbo427]

What about differentials? Posi, lockers, open front?

Every now and then, plows show up for sale here in Florida. Always dirt cheap and cash negotiable. The difficult part is finding one off a square because of the age. I saw a plexiglas plow for an S-10 . Not sure about that ****.

There was a snowmobile for sale in Clearwater too. A 1972 Skiroule, the wife wouldn't let me buy it.

 

[shiftpro]

I have two plow trucks myself, a 73 F250 highboy and 82 K20 soon to have the engine back in it. Both are 4 speed with granny low, soon as the K20 is on the road I'm selling the Highboy. It has a 7' plow that was a home-made job, had the blade custom rolled and welded up all the metal till I had a plow, lol. Since the highboy did not have power steering, I put a power steering unit on it from a 2wd, got a dual coil 12vdc hydraulic valve and just a basic tractor ram to get the right lift, just manual angle. Having to plow 2.5 miles of road all winter to get out, I can tell you right now this set up sucks. Best plow truck needs to be at least a 3/4 ton, have good power steering, be automatic not manual, have a long handle floor shifter with the plow controls mounted off the side so you can move it while jumping from drive to reverse in a jam, use fog lights for back up lights so you can see good behind when it's dark and snowing and have lights up high in the front so they don't get packed with snow when plowing, then the plow should have 4 way control, 8' (v plow really works great, but too expensive for me) and across the top of the plow have a 12" high piece of thick belting bolted on to help keep the snow out of your lights, grill and over the hood onto the windshield when plowing.
I found a good used 8' western fully detachable with the extenda-wings on it for $2,500 with a free K20 attached to it. In my area, most used plows like this go for about $3,500, so couldn't pass it up. Don't have time this year since I did the motor to have a good grunt motor, but next year am swapping out to a TH400 with a Hughes XTM converter like my 86 K20, that tranny set up has taken a ton of abuse and keeps asking for more.
Here is the start of FrankenPlow, hope to have the full set-up done by next winter. Another thing is make sure to reinforce the frame on both sides where the plow mounts bolt on by crossmember. I've cracked the crossmember right at the passenger motor mount area clear through before hitting a hidden rock froze in the ground.

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Good post Monzer. I can vouch for all your points, and add a few.
Even better is a one ton with a big block. The extra weight does wonders.

 

[shiftpro]

What about differentials? Posi, lockers, open front?

Every now and then, plows show up for sale here in Florida. Always dirt cheap and cash negotiable. The difficult part is finding one off a square because of the age. I saw a plexiglas plow for an S-10 . Not sure about that ****.

There was a snowmobile for sale in Clearwater too. A 1972 Skiroule, the wife wouldn't let me buy it.

Lockers are awesome BUT they must be able to disconnect. If you have rear locker and ice and even think the word off-camber and your hooped. Front locker...? Well again advanced driving technique only. You can NOT steer with a front locker.

Not too options out there though. There is a Gorilla locker (wrong name) or whatever that is cable operated. There is the Eaton E locker with an electric servo... not very strong.
And the wonderful ARB airlockers. These are the ****. Strong and reliable, just use a brain with more than 70 IQ point to route the airline. Some guys say the airlocker do not work in the winter because the airlines freeze up. Well try tell that to the guys around Kelowna BC with the 50" (tires) snow rigs. They wheel over, under, and through several feet of snow. I don't mean up to your ass snow. I mean your girlfriend (she is skinny right?) sitting on your shoulders up to her ass!

 

[Honky Kong jr]

I've known guys to put Gov locks up front for snow. They lock up at low speed and let go pretty quick. My self I have an Eaton posi in my front rear. That's right front rear. Rear is a thing not a direction in a vehicle.....lol

 

[75Monza]

A good set of snow tires with studs really helps too. I plan on only an Eaton Truetrac in the back for my K20, and maybe chains. On the Ford since it is open diff and can get stuck on flat wet grass in 2wd (had to happen for me to believe it), I run just narrow all-terrains and chains with ice cleats on all 4. I have 3 steep hills to go up that most of the time I have to plow down because I loose traction trying to plow up even with all 4 chained. Getting stopped on one of those hills is something that scares the **** out of me since there tends to be a good 4" of ice/packed snow under the fresh stuff and I don't have a sander. 2 years ago I tried to make that hill in my 99 dodge quad cab cummins with my car trailer and my 91 s10 blazer on back, even hit it at a good speed and had knarly winter tires on, only made it 2/3's of the way up before I spun out...that's when it got scary, it started to slide back while I was still spinning the tires forward, tried standing on the brakes and blew out both front hoses (they were getting time to replace) so brakes were gone, so at that point, just held on and tried to keep the trailer on the road as I went backwards down the hill. I was moving about 30mph when it jackknifed near the bottom, ended up with the trailer off the road wedged against a big pine so when the truck came around, the front lip of the trailer wedged under the back bumper up to my drivers rear tire and stopped with the passenger front hanging in the air over the drop-off on other side of the road. Took 4 hours, 3 trucks and a skidsteer loader to get the whole mess off the hill in the end.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Well that sounds eye opening....

 

[twinturbo427]

75Monza that sounds like an undies-changer!

These new cable and cleat style tire chains look like they would work well. Less wear on the vehicle and lots of surface area for grip.
I have a set for the TDI for the trips West but no longer have the car.
Winter tires have come a long way!

 

[75Monza]

Another thing that is a must to have is highly visible marker rods for seeing where the corners are when you plow close to stuff so you don't rip the plow off on a tree/post/side hill...done that twice, last time completely tore the plow off my highboy and was to the rear tires before I got stopped. Since add these, still not bright enough to see at night in heavy snow though.

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[4WDKC]

Another thing that is a must to have is highly visible marker rods for seeing where the corners are when you plow close to stuff so you don't rip the plow off on a tree/post/side hill...done that twice, last time completely tore the plow off my highboy and was to the rear tires before I got stopped. Since add these, still not bright enough to see at night in heavy snow though.

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Add colored reflective tape to the tops of it, it will reflect from your lights, be a color that wont blend in with the snow and wont blind yourself or others. Also no wiring.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Another thing that is a must to have is highly visible marker rods for seeing where the corners are when you plow close to stuff so you don't rip the plow off on a tree/post/side hill...done that twice, last time completely tore the plow off my highboy and was to the rear tires before I got stopped. Since add these, still not bright enough to see at night in heavy snow though.

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Sucks you live on the other side of the world a friend of mine would buy that Ford in a heart beat.