Gents,

I live in the land of suicidal deer. Whats the best looking truly heavy duty cow catcher for my 16 f350? I do have a boss plow but don't think it would interfere.

 

This will largely be personal preference. There are many styles and funtions. Do you need a winch, or lights, or keep factory tow hooks? Do you want bumper or full brush guard.

Ranch Hand is one that's been around a long time. I personally like the look, but I already have two light bars in my grill. So, I have to make sure those don't get blocked. Frontier is another that I've seen good reviews and after wreck pictures of.

 

Weight is something to consider too. RH's are heavy. Frontier is lighter. I know some go with frontier to go easier on their mpg's but I don't know how much of a difference it really makes.

 

Not sure if a 100# cow catcher will save fuel vs. a 200# unit, on a truck that weighs over 8,000#. If mileage is a concern, you got the wrong vehicle IMHO. Just sayin.

 

I'm going to agree here, the SD trucks air around 8,800# , mine pushes closer 8,900# with tools loaded, adding a nudge bar and bumper will put her at or near 9,000#, plus add that these trucks are aerodynamic like bricks, mpg isn't going to be great, if you really need mpg your better off with a car or motorcycle

 

You do not want to see what happens with a deer/motorcycle collision. Happens 2-3 times a year here in Wisconsin. It usually doesn't have a favorable outcome.

 

I almost bought a Truck Defender aluminum bumper, I think they look pretty good and are light weight. For steel bumpers I've always liked the looks of the Buck Stop bumpers.

a lot of guys run Ranch Hands but I really don't care for the diamond plate look and after a few winters all the Ranch Hands I see are rusted.

 

Obviously a Ranch Hand Legend is best. Because that's what I have, so I say so




The only rust I have is in a few of the spot welds, basically any one that was welded in a 4F, 2G or 4G position, where the coating didn't get down into the exposed top part the best. A little WD-40 (in this case used in the original intent as water displacement) or Fluid Film really goes a long way in those. Mine is black and happy after 7 years still. I've hit it with Rustoleom on the few surface areas I scraped the coating off of by hitting things, but it's really held together well. Zero complaints overall. Haven't hit a deer (with the truck, but I did in the Hyundai in the garage!), but I hit an Altima once. No damage for me, just took a Brillo pad and wiped his paint off the upright.

I will honestly say I think it costs 1mpg. But that's probably more the airflow under the truck, because it does remove the lower valance. Maybe some of the general drag with all those pipes up in the airflow. Weight difference is negligible, it actually smoothed out my ride considerably on 6k# snowplow package springs.

 

I'll echo Bryan's sentiments above.

I'll add that if you're looking to guard against deer, a mere brush guard will do more harm than good.

You need a full front bumper replacement if you want to keep deer strike damage to a minimum. A mere brush guard will simply spread the damage around further.

-blaine

 

I used to use State Farm but now I use All State to protect from deer hits. It actually improves the mpg as the wallet is much lighter!

 

Ali Arc Industries

These guys make some pretty nice bumpers.
I know a guy that runs them on all his tractor trailers based in Montana and they stand up well against elk and moose.

 

I went with a Buckstop winch bumper on my '12 F250. Specifically, I went for the Outback model. Had it now about a year. Quality seems great.

BUCKSTOP Truckware - Heavy-Duty Winch Bumpers for Ford Trucks, Vans and SUVs