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Truck plows

B

bczoom

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Most of the trucks around here that have plows are 3/4 ton and larger. Rarily see any 1/2 ton.

How much abuse/strain would a plow put on a 1/2 ton truck?

As a follow-up question, are the new (non-steel moldboard) plows any good? I see them made out of plastics that can bend and flex but are they any good?
 
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert!

I have reciently bought an '89 Chevy 1/2 ton short box with a Hiniker plow on it. (350, 700R4, NVG 242, 10 bolt axles) It has plowed, as a full time shop truck, for my wife's 3rd cousin (or some such shirt-tail relative) since it was new. It is (mostly) none the worse for wear.

I was told: Keep fresh oil in the tranny (change yearly), watch the temps (oil, tranny, coolant) and take care not to hit big, unmovable stuff with it and it will serve my 1/2 mile driveway for many years. It needs tires and an oil pan gasket but runs and operates like any other 150k mile truck would.

For what a plastic plow cost, I bought this entire rig. ($2500) Now I have a good "Farm Truck" too. Now I don't have to abuse my Dodge/Cummins with a plow.
 
Plastic plows make nice toys, but are not for the person that isn't going to baby it and even then they crack and fall apart. A 1/2 ton truck can handle a 7' plow with out any problem. The larger the plow, the more truck you need behind it. If you tackle heavy deep snow, almost any plow is going to have a hard time of it. The idea about plowing is to plow with the storm and then to keep ahead of the build up. I have a 3/4 ton 1979 Ford F-250 with a 8' plow. I also have the bed filled with steel for weight and use studded tires for the plowing. More than once I have had problems where I would need to back up to take a second bite to break up the snow mound that can form in front of the blade. I fully angle to push as much to the side as possible. It sometimes will become so heavy that I can't push the pile any further. Then I have to split the pile to finish up the job. I don't plow with the storm because I don't like to plow in the night time. If the snow is extremely heavy, I use 4 wheel drive in low range with the transmission in 1st gear. Very slow moving, but the truck will handle anything in front of it. Since I have paved the driveway, it has been a lot easier to plow. After plowing, I snow blow the edges to make room for the next storm. This year I might be snow blowing the entire driveway since I blew out a brake line and I am being lazy about fixing it. I don't like to work on any vehicle when the temperature drops below 65 degrees.
 
I have plwoed with 1/2 ton Jeep trucks in the past. All of them held up fine. I do not know about the newer ones though. I have a 7' steel meyers on the truck now.

I know my neighbor is looking at a new lighter composite plow. He said it would shed alot of extra weight. I'll ask him what he found out about durability when I see him.

As I side note I have heard stoies of guys getting out of the plow business since the repairs cost more than the income. It is kinda a crap shoot if your trying to make money. In fact I am going to sell the truck soon and just your the tractor this year. That is what I bought the chains for. Need to cut down on the fleet anyway.

Ok I just digressed.
 
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