Thinking about a Plow
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From: Isanti, MN
Thinking about a Plow
I've been thinking a lot lately about getting a plow for my truck.
I just moved to Wisconsin a few months ago from Ohio and bought a house with a driveway that's over 150 feet long and I'm simply not going to shovel that much this winter!
At the state fair last weekend I found a snow plow dealer that has pretty decent pricing on Boss snow plows. They would sell me an 8.5' straight plow installed for less than $4500, which seems to be a great deal to me.
I never have done much with a plow before and I know very little about the business, but if I were to get a plow I would like to be able to at least recoup my investment in the plow inside of a year or two by doing small jobs such as driveways and small businesses. I work another job full time so I wouldn't have a huge amount of time to devote to this, but I was thinking that if I did it as a small side business I might come out okay.
Is it worth it? Or should I just find a decent snow blower?
I just moved to Wisconsin a few months ago from Ohio and bought a house with a driveway that's over 150 feet long and I'm simply not going to shovel that much this winter!
At the state fair last weekend I found a snow plow dealer that has pretty decent pricing on Boss snow plows. They would sell me an 8.5' straight plow installed for less than $4500, which seems to be a great deal to me.
I never have done much with a plow before and I know very little about the business, but if I were to get a plow I would like to be able to at least recoup my investment in the plow inside of a year or two by doing small jobs such as driveways and small businesses. I work another job full time so I wouldn't have a huge amount of time to devote to this, but I was thinking that if I did it as a small side business I might come out okay.
Is it worth it? Or should I just find a decent snow blower?
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Ohio
Some things to think about.
Most plowers plow at night. I dont know what your hours are at your full time job. Another thing to think about is tires. I know your rigs new. What kind of tires did it come with? I had the stock contis on my SD and there absolutly terrible in the snow. I wouldnt plow with them lol
Most plowers plow at night. I dont know what your hours are at your full time job. Another thing to think about is tires. I know your rigs new. What kind of tires did it come with? I had the stock contis on my SD and there absolutly terrible in the snow. I wouldnt plow with them lol
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Get a big ol' blower. If you aren't serious about it, don't have the time to commit to it, know nothing about it, don't do it. Do you even know what your front GAWR is, or if you even have the snow plow prep package? If you do want to do it, let's talk.
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From: Isanti, MN
Most plowers plow at night. I dont know what your hours are at your full time job. Another thing to think about is tires. I know your rigs new. What kind of tires did it come with? I had the stock contis on my SD and there absolutly terrible in the snow. I wouldnt plow with them lol
Originally Posted by ken kenmnedy
get a good blower
pinky demon]Get a big ol' blower. If you aren't serious about it, don't have the time to commit to it, know nothing about it, don't do it. Do you even know what your front GAWR is, or if you even have the snow plow prep package?
Post Fiend
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From: Ohio
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Depending on the layout of your driveway a Super Duty can be a pain in the backside to plow with, if you're cramped for room in alot of areas I'd go with the snowblower or a quad with a snowplow on it.
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I have 245/75R17 all-season(minivan!) tires. Not sure how they're going to be in snow. I also work 9-5 for the moment. I would have some time to plow but probably not more than an hour or two a day on week days.
That's my plan if I don't get a plow.
Front axle is the standard-issue Dana 60 with a GAWR of 6,000 lbs. Springs are only rated at 5,600 lbs though, I have the heavy service suspension package but not the snow plow prep package. Would need to either upgrade to the 6,000 lb springs or buy airbags for the front axle. The not having a lot of time to commit to it is the biggest reason I haven't already bought one! Thanks for your input!
That's my plan if I don't get a plow.
Front axle is the standard-issue Dana 60 with a GAWR of 6,000 lbs. Springs are only rated at 5,600 lbs though, I have the heavy service suspension package but not the snow plow prep package. Would need to either upgrade to the 6,000 lb springs or buy airbags for the front axle. The not having a lot of time to commit to it is the biggest reason I haven't already bought one! Thanks for your input!
That said, you also need to remember that if you use your truck for daily driving and work commuting, unless you quickly drop the plow, (which is easy as hell to do on a Boss), you will have to lug all 600+ lbs. with you. Most plow manufacturers do not recommend doing highways. In fact, I think Boss recommends no more than 40 or 45 mph. Another thing is too, you will have the undercarriage mounted on your truck year round, in which case, if you do any offroading, it could create problems.
EDIT: Plugged your numbers in on a 2010 as they didn't have 2011 configurations up yet, and it said with the 5600 pack, you can go up to an 8' 6" straight blade, and only a 7', 6" V blade, which is too small for that truck anyway.
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From: Frederick, MD
Don't know about the 11's but on the 08-10's you would need to ensure you have the right fan clutch for plowing snow.
So don't know if that applies here. Plus the heavier springs up front (6K). I think a good snow blower would be the better investment.
Where i live you see mostly landscaping companies that do the snow plowing.
So don't know if that applies here. Plus the heavier springs up front (6K). I think a good snow blower would be the better investment.
Where i live you see mostly landscaping companies that do the snow plowing.
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From: Isanti, MN
Originally Posted by senix
Don't know about the 11's but on the 08-10's you would need to ensure you have the right fan clutch for plowing snow.
So don't know if that applies here. Plus the heavier springs up front (6K). I think a good snow blower would be the better investment.
Where i live you see mostly landscaping companies that do the snow plowing.
So don't know if that applies here. Plus the heavier springs up front (6K). I think a good snow blower would be the better investment.
Where i live you see mostly landscaping companies that do the snow plowing.
Strange though, as I have the "heavy duty service suspension" package but I still only have a 5,600 lb front axle weight rating.
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Anchorage, Alaska
Pushing around a snow blower can get real old, real fast. Depending upon the amount of snow and the size of the area, the arctic lawn mower can be more hassle than it's worth. Granted, a big Super Duty may not be the optimal vehicle for a plow in close quarters. But like everything else, its a compromise. If I were willing to keep a separate vehicle sitting around all year to use as just a plow, then yea I'd get something with a short wheelbase like an old Bronco. But I also use my SD as a regular truck/hauler in the summer, so I just get by with the extra length during the winter.
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From: muskegon mi.
if you are just gonna do your drive way maybe a cupell other folks thats not to bad....but if you take on a pro job then you gotta do it and your day job gets harder...I did this for 12 years 6 to8hrs everytime it snowed and 9 1/2hrs a day big winter really sucked
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From: Sunny, Snowy, CO
If you go the ATV route, you could probably do some of your neighbors driveways, and make some $$$ off of it. Unless they have them too. There's a few people on my street who have them, and I've seen them doing the sidewalks and driveways with them when we get a bad storm. See what everyone else is using up there.