10 Ford Trucks Doing Hard Winter Work

1. Snow Plow Prepped 2015 Ford F-150

With the new F-150 in 2015, Ford introduced the option of factory snow plow prep. Order it on your 5.0-liter equipped 4x4 and you get a truck pre-wired with a relay to the snow plow, with a dedicated mode that shuts down a lot of the accessories so you can send more power to the plow. Ford is the only company offering this from the factory. Properly equipped (even without the factory plow package, but with 4WD) the F-150 is made to handle plows weighing up to about 500 lbs. Getting a Mr. Plow jacket is up to you.

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2. Ford Raptor for Playing and Plowing

Did you buy a first generation Ford Raptor off-road plaything, and now regret it every time you make a monthly payment or fill up with gas? Well, you'll have to check with your accountant, but if you start making money plowing driveways in the winter you can probably write off a nice chunk of the cost on your taxes. Western Plows has a mount setup that replaces the tow hooks, with just a little bumper trimming required, that will allow you to clear plenty of driveways.

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3. Old Brick Nose Still Hard at Work

Even if you can't afford a Raptor, or any new truck, that doesn't mean you can't get the job done. The life of a plow truck is a hard one, and they are exposed to a lot of bad weather, moisture and, in many places, salt. It has been more than 20 years, but this brick nose Ford is still getting the job done. The steel used in these trucks was thick, and the rust proofing was much better than back in the 1970s and earlier, so hopefully we'll still have trucks from the late '80s for decades to come.

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4. 1952 Ford F6 is Two Tons of Terrific

This 1952 Ford F6 two-ton truck is from the first generation of the F-series, the granddaddy of them all. Ironically, this truck clears the snow without the aid of fancy traction control, a limited slip differential, or even four-wheel-drive. Just latch up the four sets of chains on the dual rear wheels, dump 1,000 lbs of sand in the bed, and go to town. These trucks typically had really low rear end gears to be able to haul heavy loads, and it may need them to push all that white stuff out of the way with a flathead V8 motor, or maybe this has a Lincoln Y-block like some of the F7 trucks.

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5. Raptor to the Rescue

A Raptor is actually just as capable in the snow and mud as it is in the desert it was made for. Now, you can't deduct being a good samaritan on your taxes, but if you have a Raptor you should still take pity on those with lesser vehicles and help them when they get stuck, like this poor Toyota FJ Cruiser owner. The FJ may look like a real off-road vehicle, but we all know it is just a chopped up Tacoma on stilts.

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6. Ford 8N Tractor Plows Fields and Snow

Henry Ford was a man from the heartland and was producing agricultural equipment almost as long as he was making cars. In 1947 the Ford 8N tractor was introduced and became a best seller, and, like all farm equipment, could be outfitted to do just about any job. Plowing fields was the Ford 8N's job description, but plowing the snow was easily accomplished as well. Not only could you add a (mostly) enclosed cab to keep you warm, but also convert the rear wheels to tracks for extra traction.

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7. Little Ford Still Built Tough

This little Ford self-propelled snow blower was made back in the 1980s, through the Ford/New Holland agricultural equipment division. While it may look like the type you buy at Home Depot, it is much more heavy duty than that. These were designed for constant winter use by municipalities to clear sidewalks at schools and public buildings. Many are still used today.

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8. 1946 Ford Sno-Go Snow Blower

Technically, this old Ford Sno-Go snow blower, built with Marmon Herrington four-wheel-drive, and probably on a two-ton truck chassis, is no longer working. But this is a classic ran-when-parked barn find, having sat in storage for at least 25 years, and it is amazingly complete and intact. In 2014 a local man bought it from the Southhold, NY (out on Long Island) highway department, and has plans to restore it to all of its terrifying, whirring, bladed glory. If you have one of these, then you know you are going to attract attention at the local car show. You can read more about it in the Suffolk Times newspaper story.

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9. Self-Contained 302 Powered Snow Blower

So you've got a F-250 or F-350 without a power take off to run a snow blower? Well, why not strap on this snow blower unit with its own 302 Ford V8, battery, and fuel supply? You probably don't need the 300 or so horsepower that motor can put out just to move the snow, but a 4-cylinder just wouldn't sound the same bellowing through those stacks. This came up for sale a few years ago out of Wisconsin, where they know a lot about snow, and BangShift was good enough to grab the whole ad and the pictures and post them here. The 1977 F-350 it was attached to was not for sale.

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10. Track Converted F-550 Super Duty

If you have a company that does a lot of work up north, like in Minnesota, you can't take three months of the year off. Mattracks is also in the snow belt, and they have devised track conversions for just about any vehicle you can get with four-wheel-drive. Yes, they have kits for the F-150 (and even the Ranger), but they also make heavy duty kits to fit utility trucks and the like built on the heavier F-450, F-550, and up chassis. Now, if the power goes out near rural Bemidji, you can send out a cherry picker to fix the line without worrying about them getting stuck in a ditch somewhere.

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If you need to make sure your truck survives and thrives in winter weather, use the How-to section of Ford-Trucks.com for pointers on repair and maintenance.