If you're only doing your own driveway and the neighbors', might consider a commercial grade walk behind snow blower. Might cost the same or less.

 

You are not wrong. But having tried the std snow blower, then a plow on an ATV, I gave in to a 7.5' Western straight plow. Why?
1. Blessed/cursed with a large patch of blacktop such that blowing the snow required about three passes to keep the final passes from being too deep to move... i.e. had to start at the edge to clear that snow, then blow the next passes into that cleared area, then one more to clear the area again. Ugh. Big blowers were all way spendy and it was a matter of being out "in the weather" for the whole project. Not a big deal but DW said I wasn't getting any younger.
2. The ATV plow was much faster once I got the optimal procedure figured out, but deep snow required two passes and it just wouldn't stack very high. And I was breaking things.
3. The plow hitched and lifted still leaves about a half inch of spring travel before the bump stops, the hitch-unhitch is about a minute, and this rig stacks and moves much more snow much faster that before. I don't travel with the plow on the truck. And DW rides along holding the hot coffee thermos for fun.

 

In all do respect I plowed for 21 years with a dually with a 8' blade, which I took off SRW truck when I sold it, plowed my rental properties couple neighbors and my own and its a PIA. If I didn't have the plow I would have gone a 9'er. When you got it cut all the way you got one wheel cutting a new path over unplowed snow and the other over the plowed wind row.

 

Something else to consider is that you are looking at the weight of the plow alone, hanging that out front also transfers weight from behind back axle onto front. My plow is about 1100 and adds approx. 1300 to front axle. you can add ballast to back to counter that. My truck is at 6700 on front without any ballast. 2020 F350 SC CC with utility body. I can dig out actual scale numbers if you really want them but don't sweat 50 lbs over rating.

 

Partially off-topic, but connected:
1) The only difference in the front axle between with and without plow prep is the springs. Changing springs does not change the axle rating, so I would mount a plow and see what happened before I would change the springs.
​​​​​1a) You can remove weight from the front axle by using counterweight. Place weight behind the rear axle.
2) The issue people ran into with the rafio cutting out is typically from lighter-load plow operation, such as angling. It is actually from the alternator putting out too much power, once the plow operation stops. When the current draw suddenly stops, and before the alternator cuts production, because there is not enough amperage draw the output shifts to voltage. The voltage spike causes some modules to shut down, to protect themselves from high voltage.
This doesn't happen as often when lifting the plow, because that actually drains the battery, which gives the alternator a place for the current to go.
Yhis was an issue the big three all experienced.

 

True, it won't change the sticker (OP doesn't care) but since the Front GAWR is based off of the spring rate, not the actual axle rating itself, he is effectively increasing the GAWR by upping the spring rate.

 

You wouldn't say that if you saw my lay out and knew what the winter conditions were like here in AK. After 12 years of using my four wheeler, Im moving up in size and comfort. I've borrowed my employers crewcab F350 in the past and it wasn't an issue.

 

So just to bring this to a conclusion, here's what I've decided. I am going with the 7K coils. $250 is worth the piece of mind. I will them get either the Western Prodigy (9') or the Western Wide Out (9'), or another brand of similar design. Weight over the rear axle, or lack thereof is easy to resolve. If it proves to be an issue, Ill just get one of my employers soon to be discarded 400 gallon totes. It can stay frozen all winter long on the back of my rig for all I care. That will easily balance things back out. This setup will tank care my large Alaskan driveway easily and if I ever decide to do a little plowing on the side, then Ill be set up for it.

 

I have a prodigy, I love it. You can pin it open and it's almost 10' which can be handy at times.

 

Have been doing my own "neighborhood" for 15 years in my dentside. Don't think I could do it in anything longer than the FSB I have.
For purely once in a while residential, I'd go buy a cheap FSB with a plow already.




Maneuverability in tight residential driveways is unmatched by anything stout enough to handle a plow, but still be
this short (even new 4 Dr Bronco cannot use ANY plow). Especially if you take first swipe "in", like I do many times,
and you have to turn around near house garage and/or people parked up near house.

I've done a little over a foot in one pass, with a front lunchbox locker. Maybe broke one hub in 15 years.
I did add 2" front springs, a 3G alt, and a second battery.

 

I can understand your point of view. You gotta match the tool to the situation. It's hard for me to imagine the OP's situation where a diesel dually weighing over 11,000 (truck, water, and plow) for 3-4 months just to plow the home drive is the best method but I'm not wearing the OP's shoes. (Sounds like the plow will stay on and it'd be tough unloading a 400 gallon ice cube). It'd be tough to use the truck for anything except transporting people during the winter. I'm sure it makes more sense to be there and see it.

Sounds like the OP has the solution...get heavier front springs.

 

There is a lot more to this than what I have posted. We get snow 5-6 months outta the year and more often than not, its wet and heavy. My driveway has morphed into something much bigger than I could have ever envisioned, due to kids getting there own vehicles, etc. The 4 wheeler just plain cant handle the amount of work. Sometimes it takes me upwards of four hours to plow it. I don't have the desire or time to buy an additional smaller vehicle to deal with this and maintain and insure it. Besides that, one year I paid a neighbor with a Ford Ranger and that truck just couldn't move the snow. My driveway quickly shrank to the size of a small pool. Periodically, our road doesn't get plowed for days, and if need be Ill be able to clear some of it so that my kids with cars can still get to the main road. There's also the potential I may need it while going thru mountain passes. I want to be able to have options when I find myself in a situation. As far as the truck goes, I bought it to serve a bigger purpose. Being able to put a plow on it is just a bonus. I have ways to load or unload my "400 gallon ice cube" throughout the winter for various projects if needed. I've used setups similar to what I'm after and it has worked well. So now, the only difference is that I will own the equipment. In addition, unlike most people, I work for 14 days straight, then 14 off. When we get dumped on, I need to be able to run home right after shift and quickly push snow around before getting back to work to get some sleep in between shifts. Thanks for the input, rest assured it will work out well.

 

I understand everything the OP has stated. I'm not referring to anyone specifically, but the op doesn't live in a HOA people. There is a whole other world out there to you peoples 30' long driveway in your subdivision.

 

I have a set of 7,000 springs off of a 2006. Bought the truck new took them off along with the rear helper springs, only on the truck a few thousand miles. Been sitting in my garage ever since. Free if someone would like to have them. Located near Belair Maryland.

 

Those are some nice set ups from Western, spendy bits of hardware but really nice.

Like I said, I have my old 2005 Pro Plus 8.5'. Simple straight blade but matches very well with the truck and I find it very ergonomic.