[csurane24]

With winter hopefully being over in Chicago I figure it would be a good time to shop for a new snow plow for my new truck. Now I am a plow virgin and have never had one on any of my trucks so I need a little insight on which would be the best bang for my buck.

I've driven many plow trucks before buy now that I'm shopping for myself I'm being a little picky. I'm currently looking into a Boss straight blade with all of the fixings. The truck cam from the factory with the plow harness so that eliminates one expense but I need help with knowing what else I should purchase.

The only issue I am looking at right now is weight. The subdivision that I live in has a 5 ton weight limit and with the truck weighing in at 9500 and having my tools and other stuff in it I'm already at the limit. I'm not to concerned but I would like one that isn't a steel blade.

Any help some more experienced plowers could give would be greatly appreciated. Which brand, style, and accessories?

 

[mtx410]

how do you figure your truck weighs 9500 lbs? do you have a specialty back half that weighs down the truck to the max? are you sure you're not thinking of the maximum gross vehicle weight rating that the truck is rated for... The truck without a payload weighs around 6400 lbs. pay close attention to the weight of the poly plows - they are sometimes even heavier than the steel blades. the reason is that they are not as strong, and therefore need to be thicker to make up for it.

i'm not sure what you mean by "the truck came from the factory with a plow harness". do you mean the snow plow prep package? that's a good start, but it won't just magically plug into the plow. you still need the wiring for the specific plow you decide to buy. as for parts you'll need: blade, frame with hydraulics & lights, wiring harness specific to the plow and also designed to mate to the specific vehicle (so the headlight adapters plug in properly), the mount for the truck, and the control for the hydraulics. call a dealer, they will set you up with everything you need.

as for styles and accessories, it really depends on the type of plowing you are doing. residences....parking lots.... shoes help a lot for dirt/gravel, snow flaps keep the powder down off the windshield...

there are a few snow plow forums out there. you can get all the info you're looking for.

whatever you get, make sure there is a local dealer that's open when the white stuff flies. i've had meyer, western, and buyers... they all break at some point and you'll need parts while it's still coming down!

for "bang for the buck" you might check out SnowDogg by Buyers. Stainless blade, comes complete with everything you need instead of buying it all separate, and the best price you're going to find for a real plow. design looks pretty good too. it's built well from what i can tell. worth a look to see if it will work for you. but make sure there's a local dealer...

 

[2COR517]

mtx pretty well covered it. Avoid and Douglas Dynamics stuff - Fisher, Western, Blizzard. Their quality has really gone downhill over the past few years. Boss is an excellent quality plow, as is Sno-Way. Hiniker and Curtis also look good. Not sure what kind of plowing you plan to do, but a Vee plow is money well spent most of the time.

And yeah, how did you get your truck to 9500 lbs?