My gf likes to have a “farm truck”. Her current truck is a 2004 Dodge Dakota. Although in excellent condition overall, she has a buyer and has found a newer replacement, a 2013 Silverado.
It just so happens the Silverado comes with a plow. I’ve never used a truck mounted plow. Anyone give me an idea how much effort I’ll need to expend to be able to mount/dismount/use the thing? Also, how heavy are they? Will two people be able to move it around or should I find a place it can be dismounted and remounted without moving it?
We’ll likely use it only after massive once every few years snowstorms. Our road is private, and the three families on the road all just brute force through the snow with 4WD.
I’ve been plowing my own drive and sometimes road for nearly 30 years.
I’m gonna guess that the plow is an 8’ steel job. just a straight plow that doesn’t butterfly/bend in the middle.
They can be a bitch, to relatively easy to take on and off. You will want to store it on a nice flat piece of ground. I would not count on two people being able to move the thing. If I absolutely have to move mine, I use a tractor. This is my current plow 412 lbs.
My plows claim to fame is that it’s easy to take on a take off. OK. It’s easier than most, but once I get it on, I leave it on. I also chain up my truck on all 4 wheels in the winter, so It never gets more than a mile or so away from the house.
Do note, that I have very serious winters where I live. Thirty feet of snow a season is not unusual.
I will probably think of more. I’ll be mounting my plow in mid October, then it won’t come off till May.
A friend of mine owns a landscape maintenance company and does plowing in the winter. He says that the best, fastest way to ruin a pickup is to plow snow with it.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t use it for personal use (and it beats most alternatives) but just a casual warning not to commit yourself (or herself) to doing more plowing than necessary.
Yeah, just a straight plow. I have a spot where I can drive up and leave the plow. My gf is worried about it sitting out in the weather; if it were able to be carried by the two of us she would prefer we keep it in the barn.
How about plowing snow off of gravel? our road is gravel that we pay for. Am I going to be able to plow away a foot of snow and leave behind a bit of snow and the gravel beneath it?
Installing or removing it depends entirely on how it’s mounted. My last one “only” involved pulling two pins and backing out. But those two pins were difficult to get to and lining everything back up to put it on could be a bit of a PITA as well. Since it wasn’t a daily driver, the blade stayed on year round. I certainly wasn’t going to take it off just to run to Home Depot.
There are other’s that are even harder, there are new expensive ones that, I believe, can be done totally from inside the truck.
As for moving it, If that’s the plan, I’d go pick up a suitably sized dolly and keep it on that (check Harbor Freight) otherwise, just find a place to drop it and leave it alone for the summer.
As for actually plowing, it’s kinda fun. A few things though. Don’t hesitate to stop and clean the rear window or side mirrors if they need it. You’ll be backing up a lot, you need to see. Similarly, be sure the reverse lights work, that’s all the light you have back there at night.
You can do a lot of damage very quickly with a plow. It’s very, very easy to tear up grass and not even know it. This is common when plowing a friend’s driveway since you don’t know where the grass is as well as you do your own.
You’re welcome to plow everyone’s driveways, just keep in mind that they may not be happy when the snow melts and they find the grass is gone…and once you start, everyone else is going to ask you too.
Yes, there’s no question about that. Between being used very hard all winter and sitting around all summer, they get pretty beat up. Even if you just do your own property, you can probably expect the floors to rot out after a few years and transmission/diff issues not long after that.
The last time we (us and two neighbors) had our road plowed was February 7, 2010. We had a few feet of snow and paid a guy some exorbitant amount of cash to get our road plowed. We may be due for another record breaker, but I won’t be plowing if I can bust through in 4WD.
I already decided not to attempt plowing my parking lot at work. This in spite of how angry I get every winter. Here, plowing is only done on seasonal contract. I cannot call and ask for my lot to be plowed, rather I sign a contract for the season.
It is very common for snow to fall on a Saturday when I am closed. The parking lot gets plowed. By Monday it has warmed up and everything has melted. But I get a $125 bill for plowing.
Gravel should be ok if your plow has feet on it (usually round disks that are below the blade of the plow. Feet rest/slide on the ground keeping the plow just above it. Most of them are adjustable for height. My drive and road are gravel, and I don’t have feet. I do have to be cautious of scraping too much gravel. The way I handle it is to let the snow build and pack before I start the plowing ‘season’. So my drive and road is always hardpacked snow. I’ve thought about getting feet, just never got around to it.
I’m going to amend what I said about gravel. Where you live things are going to freeze and thaw all winter. Gonna probably want feet if the blade doesn’t already have 'em.
It’s not as much an issue for me. When it freezes, that’s pretty much it for 6 months.
The guy we are buying the truck from used it to plow his small parking lot which is gravel. He is an auto mechanic who is retiring. I’ll check out the plow tonight when I drive by (I haven’t seen the truck yet; it’s my gf’s thing.)
My experience has been it’s great to help a neighbor, but don’t take money or put it on your calendar.
We are not on a private road. It is dedicated to the county, and they are responsible for plowing it. We are last on the list though. We are the only full time people living on the road. I try not to plow unless I have to. I don’t want the county thinking I’ll take care of it.
Wife and I do have 4 wheel drives, but if I know we have a good chance of getting stuck I’ll plow the ‘road’. The road really prangs my plow, and is tough on the truck.
I’m going to say that two average people aren’t moving that plow; we have two, and they’re in the 500 lb range, each. My husband plows during the winter, under contract to various clients, and it’s a lot harder work than I would have thought. We have 2 F250s, both diesel, with plow assemblies permanently mounted to the front, so it’s fairly easy to drive up and hook up the plow blades. But again, he does this professionally, and charges as such.
I used to think it would be easy, just drive and push snow. Oh, no, it is not.
Just remember, when you park the pickup put the blade down so it eases the burden on the front suspension. All that weight on the front is really hard on the front suspension parts.
