they are almost as big of a pos as the first one.

look around, you can find good meyers, western or fisher plow setups complete for under $1000 in the off season.

i just last month bought 2 8 foot meyers comercial setups for $500 each.

 

Well, my opinion may be a little jaded, as i plow as a side job (subcontracting is decent money around here). Personally, I have a Boss Poly-Vee blade, and its probably the best plow I have ever owned (used to own Westerns). I understand your concern as far as cost goes, since plows are not cheap. However, I would HIGHLY suggest you look around in the classifieds and trade papers first. There are usually dozens of blades available for under $2k. Just be sure to look at more than one, and dont let a fresh coat of paint fool you. make sure the rams are clean, and operable, hoses are good, with no chafing, and the blade itsself is straight.

A couple of concerns with the smaller plows (such as the ones you have shown) are as folows:
1. No lift. it's not much fun trying to plow when you can't lift the plow after each pass (yeah....I've done it before when i blew a solenoid).
2. Power ratio. The SD is a powerful truck, and as stated many times before in this forum, I would be very afraid of wadding up these plows very quickly. If this happens, now what? Now you're out all your money because there is no warranty for something of that nature.
3. Power angle. Believe me, if you have to get out of the truck and fight with a frozen or rusted swivel/pin setup every time you want to angle the thing, you're not going to be too happy.
4. Back-dragging. Many of the smaller plows that have no hydraulic lift have a feature that allows them to "trip" when you back up. If the plow trips in reverse, how do you back drag in front of your garage doors?

In all honesty....I just don't see them as being worth the time and hassle, but that is strictly my opinion. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me at anytime. Good luck with what ever you choose, and have a great New Year!

 

A few years ago bought a two year old 8.5ft Western Pro Plow with backdragger, mount, wiring, and nuts/bolts for $1785. Haven't had a ton of snow in the past few years so it's not been used in two years. So far this year we've gotten a lot of snow but use the atv with plow. That 800 EFI really can push some snow.

Yesterday found a guy selling a Ultra mount base mount and wiring that came off a 02 Excursion for $175. If tt were a Uni mount like the Pro Plow would have bought it.

One thing to consider is a plow on a truck will bring down the value. Yes, when you've got the plow hooked to the truck word gets out and all the sudden you do snow removal! Mine was used only for personal use.

 

how much do they get for that first one? Even if it was just used for a driveway it would be a pita to get out and raise it up and down every pass. I bought a new Boss standard duty plow installed for 3800 this past fall.

 

The snowsport is $1299 for a complete setup, the snowbear is $1500, and the superplow is $2500. There is also another sompany call snoman snowplows that is about $2500. Here are some ads:



http://www.truckaccessoriesworld.com...bear-SB200.htm

http://www.realtruck.com/productline...itqKv_AyCJ848S
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Snowm...spagenameZWD1V

 

Neither of the proposed plows is a good idea for your intended use.

You have three options:

1. Buy a real plow, which will cost you between $4,000 and $8,000 depending on model, size, features, etc. (if you do, I'd vote for a SnoWay,Boss, or Blizzard over a Fisher, Western, or Meyer since they have no gear left on the truck when the plow is removed)

2. Hire someone to do the drive.

3. Go to your local Toro dealer and buy a Snow Commander snow blower. (about $1000)

The issues lurking below the surface of your consideration include wear and tear on the truck; potential insurance issues; storage of the plow; putting it on, and taking it off; Fuel economy; tires; ballast; damage to stuff under the snow (turf, sprinkler heads, driveway, flower garden, etc.) and cost(s).

Where you live, the ROI (Return on Investment) will probably be measured in several seasons, but this is an awful lot of hardware to hang on the nose for a single drive.

 

if my drive was that big, I'd own a small/old/crappy plow truck ..or an atv with a plow, or if i had that kinda land, I'd already have a 4x4 tractor...

or have the cash to pay someone to deal with it

 

Spend $8000 on a Yamaha Grizzly 700 FI with plow. Way more fun all year round. Just add hand and thumb warmers and throw on a pair of nut warmers. FUN!!
You won't even mind plowing all of the neighbors out. Except for that one D*ck Head that everyone has in their neighborhood.

 

I spent around $4500 installed on mine and that's exactly what it's for. If there's any decent amount of snow I do my drive, one of our friends and one or two neighbors who are older and could use the help and they're decent folks. I have three daughters who can handle light stuff with shovels but I'm not going to let them use the blower yet. I remember one year it seemed that we kept getting anywhere from 3-8 inches every three or four days. It got so high that the blower wouldn't throw it up over the stack that was there. I ended up having to shovel off the grass on the side of the driveway so I'd have somewhere to blow the new snow. Today that would put a real hurting on my knees and/or back, so the plow is well worth the peace of mind knowing I can handle just about anything that comes my way.

 

To build on jake00's point "if my drive was that big, I'd own a small/old/crappy plow truck ..or an atv with a plow, or if i had that kinda land, I'd already have a 4x4 tractor... ".

You don't even necessarily need an expensive 4x4 tractor. Not sure what tractor prices are in your region but in my part of the world you can get a good old solid Ford 8 or 9N (and keep it all in the family...) for a few thousand bucks with a working 3 point blade (or add another grand or so with a good front-end loader), throw a couple of hundred in for tractor tire chains and save all the wear and tear on that expensive Superduty. And you can actually repair these things if needed very easily.

For instance: http://denver.craigslist.org/grd/526606089.html

Or check out http://tractorhouse.com, look at "Less than 40 HP" and enter your zip-code to sort for local tractors first.

With a utility tractor you can also do some light duty grading of the drive in the spring/summer, buy a brush-hog for mowing and just in general add to your fleet of utility vehicles and keep the new Superduty for what you need/want it for...

 

your from mass? i'd say check out boston.craigslist.org

 

I have always used a snowblower - 1st on my lawn tractor, then on my small (17hp) compact, then upgraded to a 30hp compact that now has a 66" 2 stage blower - works awesome but is still cold, slow and you have to crank your neck around the whole time.
I also have a 60" plow on my Polaris 700efi - it works great on 10" of snow or less but not on the deep stuff. Sure is fun! Put it in 2wd and spin out on the "icy" spots. But it is still cold, even with the electric handwarmers I installed, and the on & off to turn the blade gets old.

This year I got my first truck plow: 8 1/2' fisher stainless v-plow. WOW!! The thing is amazing! Nothing like staying warm and power turning of the blade. Somehow I don't see the blower being installed on the tractor this year...

Do yourself a favor and skip the junk. If you break it you end up with less than nothing (no plow and no money), Buy a real plow and it will last longer than your truck - you can put it on the next one. "Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten."

 

[QUOTE=redford]This might be a better choice for a homeowner.

http://www.superplow.com/homeowners.php


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I have been looking very carefully at my options of a "real" front mounted plow, the snowsport utilty plow, the snowbear plow, the superplow pull plow, and a snowman pull plow. All seem better then the next and all have their purpose. but I have to agree that any plow other than a "real" plow on the fron of my truck would be a waste. I can not afford a "real" plow, and for what I will use it for does not seem worth the expense. However I have really taken an interest in the pull plows. I have seen them on the road being used with a front plow, but the idea of just being able to use only a rear mounted pull plow is great. The videos and comments on these plows from other site forums have me convinced this is the way to go. I never wanted to mount a "real" plow because of the damage they do to a truck. But a pull plow is a great alternative. I like the superplow because you can plow forward and reverse. But the down fall is no trip mechanism. While the SNOWMAN pull plow can not plow in reverse, it does have a trip mechanism.


http://www.superplow.com/
http://www.snowmanplows.com/

 

The owner of my company has one of those on the front of his Jeep, and it's decent for small jobs, but for anything substantial, he asks me to do it..

It's also a PITA, because it doesn't have a lot of flexibility with pulling in and dragging snow OUT.

Save up and buy a real setup