If you live on a piece of property where you are plowing your own driveway and you get significant snowfall in your area there are some things that you can do to setup your truck for the best experience.
First is the selection of your truck. A lot of people want to buy a beat up used truck that will sit unused for 80% of the year for plowing snow and that is fine but whether you are buying new or the cheapest one you can find you have to pick a heavy duty model of truck. Buying a 4 cylinder ranger or Toyota just isn’t going to cut it unless you get very little snow.
What most people who have never plowed snow don’t understand is that the front suspension on the truck goes through a lot of wear. Even just lifting the plow and driving with it puts a lot of load on your front suspension. When you are actually plowing you are putting your truck’s suspension under loads that it wasn’t designed to handle. Your Truck isn’t a bulldozer but it is taking a lot of load from the front.
Next is your drive line and you don’t want to plow snow with a 2 wheel drive truck. You will need a 4 wheel drive truck and you will need chains on all four wheels. This is especially true if you are in a rural area with driveways as long as some roads.
Speaking about getting stuck its important that you have an appropriately sized winch on your truck. Along with the winch you want nylon straps for attaching to a tree and a very long tow strap might also be useful. Whatever you might think you might need you will probably need it and a second winch on the rear of the truck might also be a good idea if you can. You will be rescuing yourself so plan well.
Preparing A Used Truck For Snow Plowing
One of the first things you want to do when preparing a truck for snow plowing is probably the last thing most people will do. Since they are one of the highest points of failure and the cost is not that high it is important that you change out all of your U Joints on your axles and drive shafts. Don’t even think about it just do it because they are one of the worst things to fail while you are out plowing.
Next you should perform a fluid change of all of your fluids. Change your engine oil and filter, transmission and filter, power steering fluid and radiator fluid. I would also suggest that you buy a couple quarts of brake fluid and flush all of your lines until they run clear. Finally you want to make sure your differential fluid is filled up. You can change it if you want but normally you don’t need to.
Inspect the frame of your truck and along with rust you want look for any cracks at the weld points. If you have any rusted out sections you will need to weld on plates. You might also want to weld on plates to box in your bumpers and beef up your frame. This is up to you and your ability.
If you have access to plate steel and the tools to work it you can also build your own bumper that will out perform the original. This is a big job and they do make aftermarket bumpers. The main thing is if you ever need to replace a bumper you don’t really want a stock one.
Installing Lighting On Your Snow Plow
Lighting on your truck is going to make so much difference when you are working that most people that have been in the business or have plowed for some time say that there is never enough light that you can add to your truck.
The important thing about lighting is that it be up high and weatherproof.
At this point technology has LED Lights as the best solution. First they place less of a load on your battery and alternator allowing you to install and use more lights. The second thing is that LED isn’t effected by the cold so you know that the lights you set up in the Fall are going to output the same level of light in the winter.
One thing you don’t want to forget is lighting on the side of your truck. You know that you need a lot of light to the front and rear of your truck but you should also have a good amount of light on the side area of your truck that you can use as necessary. Side and rear lighting should be easy to turn off and on and the switches for all of your lights should be very heavy duty so they don’t wear throughout the season. Front lighting will also need to be turned off when there are other vehicles around you or while you are traveling.
Plow Blade Selection
For most of us selecting a new plow blade won’t be something we do. Normally because of cost it is easy enough to pickup a truck with a blade or pick up a used blade separately.
If you have to buy a blade on your own you have a wide range of price. Anywhere from about $1000 for the most basic to over $6000 for a professional system. The differences are pretty big but if you are doing this for a living you will need a system that has lighting and hydraulics. Another good feature is the hitch and run setups that allow you to attach and detach the blade relatively quickly.
One of the most important features of the higher end models for practical use is the top of the blade deflector. This deflector will stop snow from exiting over the top of the blade and on to your truck. This improves visibility and even if your blade doesn’t have one you should fit it with one.
Most blades except the most cheapest will come with a remote control to lift and lower it but the more expensive models come with electric or hydraulic systems to position the blade. Without this you will have to manually change the blade angle of attack if necessary.
Final Note
There are a ton of options when selecting the right truck and blade for plowing and there are many more options that you will need to add to your truck to have an easy time of removing snow. The most important things are safety a maintenance. Although you might be buying a beater truck that you only use to plow a private road or a long driveway you still need to make sure it is in good enough condition so you don’t get yourself stuck or end up destroying it in the first couple snows.
Remember if this is the vehicle thats suppose to be clearing the road and you get stuck then no one else is going to be able to come and help you.
Plow early and often during a snow and it will make your job that much easier. Plowing 6 inches of snow while it is coming down is a heck of a lot easier than plowing 20 inches after the snow has stopped. This is one of the worst mistakes people make and if you are smart its one you won’t make twice.