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'97 Ford F-250 7.3l/ 7.5' western with wing FOR SALE
'02 Ford F-250 5.4l/ 8' western
Scag
Lesco
Toro
STHIL
Shindawia
Billy Goat
Tomahawk
Minnesota certified pesticide applicator NOT MY PRESIDENT!
Im a 7.3 fan myself but the price of diesel compared to gas doesnt always matter, I have a 96 F350 dump 4x4, 9 foot fisher and a 2 yard flink sander in the back(not loaded with sand) and while plowing a Shaws strip mall and another strip mall across the street with 2 friends of mine who own a 02 chevy 2500 and a chevy blazer both with curtis plows they were filling up almost 3 times to my once on fuel. They might have been going a little faster because of backing up with the sander and what not but it was definately atleast 2 fill ups to my one.
Never seen a gas engine with 500k-1.5k miles on it......
You cant buy a transmission for a gas engine that holds a 500k mile warranty....
When you buy a diesel, it's a commitment, it's going to be with you for life..
My powerstroke is 500+ horsepower
My Duramax has watched many gas plow trucks come and go thoughout the fleet
Had a cummins Mega Cab, Best truck i ever owned, it was totaled..
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06 F250 Diesel..600HP Crew Cab New Boss 9'2 V
07 Chevy 2500 Gas Boss 8.2 V, Byers Bulk Spreader
02 GMC Diesel Crew Meyer SOLD..TBD, Tailgate Spreader
00 F450 Crew 7.3 Diesel, 9ft Western, Buyers Bulk Spreader
97 GMC 7500 60ft Bucket/Dump, Big Carlton Chipper
Mustang Track Loader Blade, Bucket
Toro Dingo
Honda Snow Blowers
Few Other Misc. Trucks & Toys
For your budget, I would look at a K5 Blazer. If you dont mind a non-turboed diesel, look into the military ones. They are very plain but the come with dual batteries, heavier suspension (3 leaf front not the usual 2 leaf) posi rear, etc. The maneuverability is unbeatable and the mileage is double a similar gas truck. There are a few minor preventive things to take care of when you get them but if you do your homework and dont mind a very basic interior, they are a great value.
well i didnt get a plow truck over the summer like i wanted because i expect them to be cheaper in the summer and i had someyone in the buisness who was gonna come with me to check some out but that never worked so now im looking at some trucks before the season and ill probably post some potential buys on here later with pics
you guys are mostly crazy, for 10,000 you can pick up an f350 7.3 all day long that is clean with a plow....and have the money left over to register it, buy a new snow blower and get some liability insurance and pay for the winter season at once. i bought my truck for 3500, then went back 5 months later and bought the plow for 300, then bought the head light harness the plow needed for 138 from fisher and installed it and was ready to rock and roll. and my truck is still clean for the mileage, even trucks with 100,000 less miles then mine aren't as clean. and i'm almost at 270k.....and over the summer on craigslist, i saw clean f350 powerstroke 7.3 turbo diesel 4x4 trucks with under 160,000 with fisher mm plows in good shape listed for under 4000....with everything in good working order, and needing no major work. if that's too much or not a good enough, maybe plowing isn't for you. and if chevy's are your truck those are right around the same money, dodges too. sure they aren't new trucks, but they will make you the same money, probably more when you factor in the cost of insurance plus the truck payment plus the added interest and taxes and so on.
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Rsk Property maintenance
1996 f-350 reg. cab 4x4. 270,000 miles 7.3 diesel fisher 8ft mm
if you go with a newer diesel 2007.5 and newer, you are going to have to remove all the dpfs, defs, egrs, etc so it can last even 100k without any problems. like for example when ford had the 08-10 6.4s and the dpf system cleaned itself every couple days or so, it would shut down one of the glow plugs inorder for that cylinder to get flushed with diesel to get it into the tailpipe into the dpf filter so it would clean at 1800+ degs, you didn't even want to park it when it was cleaning so u had to drive for 15mins to finish.
it was such a awful system, that raw diesel always made its way into the engine oil, I tested my oil every oil change and my fuel in oil levels were so elevated I would never trust that motor to get anywhere near 500k, let alone 150k. (a cummins doesn't clean the dpf this way, but has a 7th injector in the exhaust itself)
only way I would trust a newer diesel motor is if you bought it new, threw away and tuned out all that emissions junk.
Also the upkeep is religious on the newer ones, if you have too much water in your fuel from a bad gas station, you might be looking at a $12,000 bill because you ruined your entire fuel system, seen this happen half a dozen times, even at 30k miles ford would void the warranty.
also diesels like to tow and go long distances. plowing is not that fast and that newer diesel motor will not get much use and put stress on the turbo(s). a gas motor will plow just fine for most guys. Now if you need torque to haul your trailers for landscaping and need good MPG on the highway a diesel wins.
IMO, a diesel does last much longer, but the initial upfront cost, the extra maintenance of fuel filters, big $ oil changes, emission deleting etc etc, does add up to a lot and with the cost of diesel being more than gas, I don't think a diesel will be cheaper at 350k (when most people rebuild, not many make it to 500k) vs a gasser with 350k that might have had 2 engines and 2-3 transmissions.
I wouldn't mind a 7.3 ford but a 5.9 cummins is easiest to maintain and work on.
if you go with a newer diesel 2007.5 and newer, you are going to have to remove all the dpfs, defs, egrs, etc so it can last even 100k without any problems. like for example when ford had the 08-10 6.4s and the dpf system cleaned itself every couple days or so, it would shut down one of the glow plugs inorder for that cylinder to get flushed with diesel to get it into the tailpipe into the dpf filter so it would clean at 1800+ degs, you didn't even want to park it when it was cleaning so u had to drive for 15mins to finish.
it was such a awful system, that raw diesel always made its way into the engine oil, I tested my oil every oil change and my fuel in oil levels were so elevated I would never trust that motor to get anywhere near 500k, let alone 150k. (a cummins doesn't clean the dpf this way, but has a 7th injector in the exhaust itself)
only way I would trust a newer diesel motor is if you bought it new, threw away and tuned out all that emissions junk.
Also the upkeep is religious on the newer ones, if you have too much water in your fuel from a bad gas station, you might be looking at a $12,000 bill because you ruined your entire fuel system, seen this happen half a dozen times, even at 30k miles ford would void the warranty.
also diesels like to tow and go long distances. plowing is not that fast and that newer diesel motor will not get much use and put stress on the turbo(s). a gas motor will plow just fine for most guys. Now if you need torque to haul your trailers for landscaping and need good MPG on the highway a diesel wins.
IMO, a diesel does last much longer, but the initial upfront cost, the extra maintenance of fuel filters, big $ oil changes, emission deleting etc etc, does add up to a lot and with the cost of diesel being more than gas, I don't think a diesel will be cheaper at 350k (when most people rebuild, not many make it to 500k) vs a gasser with 350k that might have had 2 engines and 2-3 transmissions.
I wouldn't mind a 7.3 ford but a 5.9 cummins is easiest to maintain and work on.
I agree with the emissions stuff being annoying. That seems to be where the industry is headed though, so aftermarket it is. The 6.4 system doesn't "turn off a glow plug." The system only runs when the engine is hot. The glowplugs do not run when the engine is hot.
I can't agree on the benefit only being realized on highways though. Snowplowing is a lot of load for a truck, and the diesels don't even notice the difference. Even powerful gas engines have to work in order to push. They simply don't make the off-idle torque that a diesel does. The initial costs, repairs, and maintainance are expensive, but I find them relative to the amount of work accomplished.
i'm in the same boat right now. looking to spend around $12k for a truck (w/o plow setup) to do some light plowing and being used as a DD.
just wondering how old vs. mileage vs. brand should i go. i'm seeing a lot of 2004/2005 f-150s with 100k+ miles for around this price. chevys/gmc are a bit higher, dodges are a little lower (if stats are the same, year/mileage).
NOT MY PRESIDENT! 
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