This is my 1st post here. I joined the forum because I hope I can get an accurate understanding of a problem from you.

I have read many posts here saying an F150 won't do, and some saying it will work as a good light duty driveway plow truck. I live on a significant hill, with a common drive that runs 7/10 mile up. It's steep in a couple of parts, has a hair pin, and needs to remain wide enough for a fire truck, oil truck, and resident access in a New England winter. We use a commercial outfit to plow and sand right now.

A neighbor (who has no plow experience yet) is buying an 03 F150 4x4, Triton V8 and wants to put a 7 1/2 or 8 foot plow plus a sander on it to plow some driveways and also to take over plowing the road.
Beyond the issues to discuss with the road association, my real questions are:

Can he be successful with a steep winding road or is this truck setup really out of the league of those that plow roads all winter? (He live's 1/2 way up so that would be the start point for plowing too.)

Is anyone here successfully using a sander and plow on their F150 , or has anyone tried it that can say how well it went?

Thank you if you reply,
Barbara

 

Hi Barbara.. welcome and talk about opening up a hornets nest with this topic.

First off, I do not have a plow nor have I ever plowed. There are various answers that you will recieve from this question. Some will be 'no problem' and others will be 'is the guy nuts???'

Personally I feel that a 150 of that year would be okay to plow a driveway and the occassional extra one. But with the description that you gave along with the heavy wet snow storms that the New England area does get, which I get my share of heavy wet lake effect snow here in NY, I would say no.

Part of the situation is that he lives halfway up the road. That is fine because it is easier to push snow down hill than to move it uphill, so going down should be easy. Now if you have a Nor'easter that dumps a foot or more on you, that 150 would have a tough time clearing things out either way.

Just for reference, what does the plow company use that currently does the plowing ?
Most of the professionals that are in this area use at minimum a F250, but mostly F350's because they are built to handle the abuse that plowing creates on a vehicle.

Hope that this helps.

 

the truck would plow it but beware, plowing beats the sh** out of a truck. new f150's arnt really built to be tough for say. there built for creature comfort. if your gunna plow, get an old truck with a solid front axle or a beater jeep or something. it will destroy that truck.

 

Been a long time since I've plowed and I've never sanded, but I gotta say no way. I'd be surprised if the truck made it through one winter. A light duty plow can work on an F150 for things like driveways, but plowing a steep rugged road with the weight of a sander and a load of wet sand in the back. Recipe for disaster.

 

The commercial guys we have, use F250 or F350 Diesels and have separate trucks just with a sander following the plow when it's a bad storm. I don't think it's comparable, I just don't want to be stranded not able to get in my street or out of it because the truck can't do the job.

Thanks, Barbara

 

ide recomend an older chevy or ford 3/4 ton. go on craiglist and find one that runs and drives but has the body rotten off it for a few hundred bucks. it will pay itself off really quick. considering how much stuff your gunna break on that f150. just my opinion if it matters, im from PA so i now about plowing. been doing since i was 12 on the farm.

 

I would have to say I disagree with most of the posts above. I have a '97 F150 and I have a commercial plow on it and it works great. Depending on the truck set-up your buddy is looking at it will do an awesome job with the plow and a small sander in the back.

I have owned this truck since new a little over 13 years now as I ordered it in March 2006. The dealer told me that Ford didn't support putting a commercial plow on the front of a F150 from this era. A lot of people also told me that the Chev's of this era were much better for carrying a plow. Some people said that the cab would twist and the doors would not close after a season of plowing. Others said the new A-arm and CV front suspension wouldn't take this. Well they were all full of hot air!

My truck is a regular cab F150 4x4 Flareside with the off-road package. So it has a nice short strong frame, good clearance and good weight distribution front to rear.

I had an 8 foot Arctic commercial plow installed. The plow dealer was a bit skeptical, but after he put it on his quote was that the truck held a plow better than any other he had worked on recently. All of the recent Dodges and Chevs he had installed plows on to that point had required air bags in the front (even the 2500s), but mine didn't. The plow and harness weighs 688 pounds, so the front end does dip a bit when the plow is lifted, but there is still lots of spring travel left. The only concern I had was that with the 97 re-design Ford got rid of the space for a second battery, so you either have to put one in the cab behind the seat, or live with some draw down as you operate the pump. I decided on the latter and it has been fine, I just upgraded to a very heavy duty battery.

The other upgrade I did is ditch the factory Goodyear A/Ts and put on a set of Kelly Safaris. My truck has been an awesome driveway and small lane plow truck ever since. I am actually the one that my other buddies call to come and pull them out when they get their plow trucks stuck and that happens a few times a winter.

And before someone says you must live where there is no snow. Check again, I live in Northern Ontario, Canada. We get lots of snow here, often the banks are higher than the truck roof 1/2 way through the winter.

As for wear and tear on the truck. Like I said, it is 13+ years old now, but looks great. The doors still fit as tight and well aligned as when it left the factory. There is no misalignment between the box and cab, and the suspension is not cracked or broken. The body is great too as I have it treated every year. Also, it still has good tight steering and can go straight down the road with both hands off the wheel if you want it to. I have had to replace the ball joints once so far since the truck was new and I just did one front hub bearing. All maintenance at my Ford dealer and I always tell them to do whatever is needed and check everything out well. Still that is all it has required in front end work.

I just annouced to my friends I was looking at selling the truck as my family has grown and I need a bigger cab and I honestly had people lined up on the first night to be the first to buy it. I have a buyer waiting now for me to decide if I will part with it and they didn't even question my asking price (they were the first to arrive on the night I said people could come look at it).

Of course the problem is I still am having a hard time parting with such a great plow truck and I may just keep it forever if I had the room.

True sometimes in deep wet snow I have to skim a layer off first then come back to clean-up, but it never gets stuck. Also, I don't abuse the truck by ramming snow banks at full speed like some fools.

This is by far the best truck I have ever owned and all my buddies envy it too for its abilities and great service record.

So... if your buddy looks at a 4x4 short-box it will do it just fine.

 

Thank you, there's good, balanced answers here. My neighbor didn't get the F150 and seems to be skipping the idea for now, but I'll share this with him if he ends up going that route agian.

-barbara

 

Thank you for the detailed information HwyF150. I just finished installing an 8' SnowDogg Commercial plow on my 2003 F150. I am having some draw problems. Did you simply upgrade your one battery and not do anything else?

Thanks,

Andy