Lets Talk Snowplows

I need to put a plow rig on my truck. I have been looking at the MM2 plows from fisher. I was looking at a medium duty 7.5 foot plow.

Anyone have any knowledge or insight in to modern plow rigs.

Oh another thing. I have always had the plow control joystic mounted up to the left of the steering wheel. Lately I have been seeing the hand held units. I have never used one of those. Anyone used both and have any comments on them?

I have a Fisher Homesteader that uses the Minute Mount system and the hand held Fishstick.

The MM is fantastic. It takes more than a minute to completely mount or dismount the plow, but it probably doesn't take five.

I've never had a dash mounted controller, but the Fishstick is pretty good. I've used it with both an automatic with dash mounted 4 hi/lo switch in my Tacoma, and in my old Jeep with a 5 speed and hi/lo floor shift. I shift with it in my hand but often drop it in my lap or on the passenger seat to steer. I like that it can be removed when I'm not using it. I wouldn't want a dash mounted control stick in my daily driver all year round.

At work we've got a few Suburbans with minute mounts and hand held remotes. Considering some of us are not the handiest of people and none of us are pro snow plowers they seem good. They go on and off easy enough and the rest of the year you can stuff the remote under the dash out of the way.

That is good info. I always hated the joystick sitting there but it was easy to use.

My remote plugs into a pigtail that I have coming out of the dash, so I remove it completely when I'm not using it.

In reply to Woody:

I believe ours can too but they'd probably get lost if they didn't stay in the trucks so they just get tucked out of the way.

In reply to Wall-e:

Last winter, the news did a story on how people are breaking into trucks with plows and stealing the handheld controllers. They said that they're worth $300. Of course, the only people who need new controllers are the guys who've had theirs stolen.

So now that the local junkies know how much my plow controller is worth, I remove it, even when I go into the grocery store.

I think that is a good reason to hard mount it

Will a 7 1/2 foot plow be wider than the truck when angled all the way?

Even when I had a "small" full sized truck (1990 GMC 2500 reg cab), the 8' fisher wasn't much wider than the truck if angled all the way to one side.

I do driveways and it is basically a strait push. At full tilt the 7.5 is barly wider than the track of my truck but I have found that most driveways are less than 8 feet wide so using an 8 foot blade can tear things up. Most of the time I have to make two passes anyway so I like working with a slightly narrower blade.

Mine is only 6'8" because I bought it for a four cylinder TJ Wrangler. Even when I moved it to my Tacoma, the width was never an issue.

Remember: A wider plow is more likely to get you stuck when you are trying to back out, especially if you slide sideways.

Woody wrote: Remember: A wider plow is more likely to get you stuck when you are trying to back out, especially if you slide sideways.

This!!! I could tell you stories. I am actually excited to try the Quadra steer on my new truck. I am hoping it makes things easier.

I don't plow as a regular thing. In fact I just fill in for two friends of mine when they get overwhelmed. The $$$ is decent for what it is. It will easily pay for my plow setup this year. And since my business in the winter slows down a bit so it allows me to do it. It is not a bad side gig.

As a recent homeowner, I too need my own plow instead of dropping $55 a plow. Given everything is so heavy, doesn't seem like there's much info/vendors online for parts. What components are needed? Push plates, plow setup, wiring? Only older setups require adding a hydraulic pump to accessory belts, right?

I am planning on using my 2001 gmc Yukon (Suburban) but having ability to transfer to girlfriends 2003 Tacoma would be nice. Find a plow setup that fits both and get push plates for each chassis? I guess I will keep watching Craigslist.... Maybe set up alert for Minute Mount setup?

Woody.... Any local vendors in CT you'd recommend? I assume I can diy install.

crxmike wrote: Woody.... Any local vendors in CT you'd recommend? I assume I can diy install.

Yes! http://www.universal-body.com/ They are very close to you (I think). That's where I bought mine about ten years ago. They had a bunch of new O&G trucks on the lot, which I took as a very good sign.

Not DIY, but it sounds like a Fisher Homesteader or a Western Suburbanite would be a good choice for your two vehicles. They are the same plow, but the Fisher is yellow and the Western is red. I'd suggest paying a plow guy for the rest of the season and then shopping for a used one in the summer. I saw one locally last year for $1200. Most of the system is contained on the plow frame. The frame adapters for each vehicle are $200 new.

Woody wrote: Remember: A wider plow is more likely to get you stuck when you are trying to back out, especially if you slide sideways.

Ours are a bit too big. Even on an 8 lug suburban they are awkward and feel like they are picking the back of the truck up. It's easy to get a pile of snow to big to push so in deep snow I end up taking the snow down in layers.

The adjustable/variable V plows are the big thing now.

So is the cost.

Funny, I got my CJ, with a meyer stuck on the edge of my deck backing up. What a pain in the arse that was.

Anyone here plow as a side gig to their regular 9-5 FT job? Always thought that might be a nice way to have a beater-ish truck pay for itself, pick up a few (like <6 or so) customers and maybe make enough to at least cover a year's worth of maintenance and insurance on the truck. My best friend/next door neighbor's dad growing up used to plow and would often take the two of us along to shovel sidewalks and stuff. We always had a blast riding along and I'd like to think I've retained enough from observing him to have a general idea of what I'm doing. Just something that's been on the back of my mind the last few winters.

In reply to Furious_E:

Snow Removal Contractor's insurance in Pennsylvania costs multiples of this year's Challenge limit, last I saw. ( today )

My one friend has somthing like 30 driveways and gets $75-100 per pass. Some storms can mean 3 or 4 passes. It is darn good money if you want to hussle and not sleep four a couple days. He and his wife split plow driving so one can sleep while the other is plowing. He does all the night plowing and his wife will then take over for a couple hours on the morning. After a couple hours sleep he gets back in the truck and his wife then goes and opens there other business.

In reply to etifosi:

Meh, that's several multiples of what I'd be willing to put into it . Snow isn't plentiful enough here for me to make that kind of buy in worthwhile.

In reply to dean1484:

That's kind of what I pictured, though on a smaller scale; stay up half the night plowing and go in to work. Not sure I could make it worthwhile at that scale and in this climate, though. We average around 30" of snow here each season, so maybe 6-8 events.

Say you get six storms and hit each driveway three times. If you have 10 driveways and they were only $50 each that is $9000.

Around here $50 driveway is basically a one pass thirty foot drive. Most driveways around here are more like two or three passes and can be 75 or 100 feet long or more. Much more. And add a couple parking spaces and a two car garage limiting where you can push to. Or I have to back down the driveway and push the snow out. Then turn around and drive in and drag the area and push that out. That is a $100 to $150 driveway.

Granted I live in an affluent area where people will pay a premium to get there AWD Porsche or Mercedes out of there heated garage.

Oh and nothing scares me more than plowing a driveway that I have never seen with out snow over it. And better yet add to it no driveway markers. I just go slow and pray that I don't hit somthing and damage my plow or the truck.

Nothing sucks more than hitting somthing and comming to a instant stop. Especially if you just got a cup of hot coffee.