Just Starting and Looking for Some Equipment Advice Please

[statman]

I just retired from my "regular" job of 31 years and am getting ready to add snow removal to my "part-time" 20-year-old landscape business. I I have been looking at plows for my 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 (ya, I know it's not perfect) and am hearing Snoway plows are very good due to the fact they can apply down-pressure. I'm not going for big commercial jobs, mainly residential and light commercial.

Can you guys please provide some input from your experience? Thanks in advance!

[Lucfw]

Make sure that you have good dealer support in your area for what ever plow. that is important incase of a brake down in storms ect. Becuase its a haft ton and used for resis i would put like a 7 1/2 foot plow on it. nothing to big. Snoways are pretty light and with the down pressure its a good setup for what you would be doing with it. Also you could consider timbrens for the front end to help out with the plow weight. Hope this helps. oh and welcome to plowsite!!!

[RLM]

The above advise is solid, dealer support is first. Then look at what type of accounts your looking at even in residential a v plow my be a valid option, especially in more rural type areas that get heavy snows.

[CAT 245ME]

Boss is my first choice. Just about all plow manufacturers recommend ether a 7' or 7'6 straight blade for your truck. That said, the fella that sells Boss plows around here runs an 8'2" poly VXT on his 2011 1500 Ram, although I wouldn't my self.

[mercer_me]

I voted for Fisher because I own one but, Boss is just as good if not better.

[rtreads]

I have a 2010 F150 (I already had the truck prior to plowing so I had to use it) and have a BOSS 7'6 standard duty blade (2 spring 1/2 ton version) on it. I installed the new blade for last season. They truck carried the plow really well with only the 2" leveling kit which I put on the truck a long time ago. Even though it was ok, I wanted to make sure it was working correctly. So, I contacted http://coilsprings.com/ because I heard they make custom springs. They did just that for me. They take into account your factory spring rate, what weight and model of plow, and your specific needs as far as how much time the blade will spend on the truck. They set me up with a set of coils with the 2" leveling kit factored in and an increased spring rate. The springs ride GREAT!! Not much noticeable over stock and it carries the plow really well too! I also have a 2000 Chev 2500 with a 7'6 Meyer (much smaller in size even tough its a 3 spring plow). The ford Boss combo drives better than the chev meyer combo. Oh, and the BOSS plow is BAD A.. compared to the Meyer unit.

[Dogplow Dodge]

Personally I've always used western plows.... so I can't say anything bad about any other brand. I had them back in the late 80's when I worked for someone else, and my first plow, working for myself is a western Unimount.

I like it, as it's simple, as I rebuilt it from top to bottom, myself, including the pump, and it's easy to service. I have a 3 spring pro plow 8-6", but I have a 3/4 ton truck with front leafs, so it's no problem with the weight. Truck pushes through just about anything.

You're going to find out that if you start using it a lot, and you get rough with it, you might just start breaking parts of your truck. 1/2 ton pickups are ok for occasional residential use, but the reality is, if you're going to be plowing a lot..... you should upgrade your truck to a 3/4 or 1 ton frame, and worry less about breakage.


Good luck with the new venture.... and don't forget your slip and fall snow plowing insurance. It's inevitable that we will all get sued at some point or another..... especially if you do commercial lots.