Many of you know how unhappy I am with my Fisher XtremeV I purchased two years ago. I have had numerous issues with the plow, but this thread will focus on the center pin/wing hinge. My dealer has done a great job getting my problems taken care of. I had my third hinge pin installed this fall.
At the very end of the first season 07/08, around April, I broke the original center pin in half. The pin was replaced, along with the drivers side wing. I had been expecting it, in fact I was in the shop in February, they looked it over and ordered parts.
Plowed all last season, no issues. For reference, I did about 2/3 the plowing as the 07/08 season. Dropped the plow off at the dealer in April to take care of a few minor things. They looked it all over, I needed a new T-frame, passenger side wing, and a new pin. Again. Picked the plow up this fall, all ready to go. I had been assured by the dealer and Fisher that the new pin, stamped BM HT, has been hardened even more than the second pin, quality control had been improved, and there shouldn't be any more trouble.
I have done very little plowing so far this year. Two storms. One was three inches of powder, and I only plowed half my route. My route is smaller than last year. And because it's early in the season, I plowed very slowly, and no stacking.
Today I installed a new set of cutting edges. I decided to take the pin out to see how it looked. I was very disappointed. It is already bent. The first two pics show the bend. The bottom end is bent close to an eighth inch. In addition, on the third pic you can see radial scratching on the pin. This pin is supposed to be hardened, but is already showing severe scratching from the wings pivoting back and forth.
Disclaimer - my "dimensions" for Boss hinges are estimates based on me eyeballing the plows a couple times this summer. If I am incorrect, please let me know.
The fourth pic shows the entire hinge section, and the first half of the problem. The green arrow is the drivers side wing. The distance from the upper to lower bearing surfaces against the pin is about 8 inches. The wing is 51 inches long. This is a tremendous amount of leverage. If you compare this to a Boss hinge for example, the distance from the highest to lowest bearing surface is at least double. That reduces the pressure against the pin by half.
The fifth pic is a detail of the upper hinge connection, and shows the second half of the problem. The blue arrow is the section where the pass side wing connects with the pin. The blue arrow is a little better than an inch. If you look inside the red oval, you can see a weld. That connection between wing and pin is actually made of two separate pieces of steel. The lower piece is welded to the wing, the upper piece - the yellow arrow - is welded to the lower piece. The bore of the lower section is bigger than the top section. So the top section is the only area that wears against the pin. It's about a half inch. If you compare this to the Boss hinge, again, you will see that where the Boss hinge sections connect to the center pin, there is at least an inch and a half, if not two inches, of contact with the pin. This reduces the pressure by at least 2/3.
So - I feel this continual pin issue is simply due to a poor design. Combining the short distance between bearing surfaces, and the smaller bearing surfaces, the contact pressure on the pin is easily six times greater than the Boss. It's actually much greater than that, because the Boss uses a continuous piano hinge design, spreading the weight and force of the wing over the entire pin. In addition, the Boss hinge is drilled to be greased, the Fisher hinge is not designed to be lubricated.
I understand I bought a brand new plow design. And I also understand that what looks good on an engineer's calculator may not work so well in the "real world". What I do not understand is why Fisher will not take responsibility for the problem, and redesign the hinge.
At this point, I feel my only option is to pull the pin after each storm, and replace it if it is bent.
Thanks for tuning in
At the very end of the first season 07/08, around April, I broke the original center pin in half. The pin was replaced, along with the drivers side wing. I had been expecting it, in fact I was in the shop in February, they looked it over and ordered parts.
Plowed all last season, no issues. For reference, I did about 2/3 the plowing as the 07/08 season. Dropped the plow off at the dealer in April to take care of a few minor things. They looked it all over, I needed a new T-frame, passenger side wing, and a new pin. Again. Picked the plow up this fall, all ready to go. I had been assured by the dealer and Fisher that the new pin, stamped BM HT, has been hardened even more than the second pin, quality control had been improved, and there shouldn't be any more trouble.
I have done very little plowing so far this year. Two storms. One was three inches of powder, and I only plowed half my route. My route is smaller than last year. And because it's early in the season, I plowed very slowly, and no stacking.
Today I installed a new set of cutting edges. I decided to take the pin out to see how it looked. I was very disappointed. It is already bent. The first two pics show the bend. The bottom end is bent close to an eighth inch. In addition, on the third pic you can see radial scratching on the pin. This pin is supposed to be hardened, but is already showing severe scratching from the wings pivoting back and forth.
Disclaimer - my "dimensions" for Boss hinges are estimates based on me eyeballing the plows a couple times this summer. If I am incorrect, please let me know.
The fourth pic shows the entire hinge section, and the first half of the problem. The green arrow is the drivers side wing. The distance from the upper to lower bearing surfaces against the pin is about 8 inches. The wing is 51 inches long. This is a tremendous amount of leverage. If you compare this to a Boss hinge for example, the distance from the highest to lowest bearing surface is at least double. That reduces the pressure against the pin by half.
The fifth pic is a detail of the upper hinge connection, and shows the second half of the problem. The blue arrow is the section where the pass side wing connects with the pin. The blue arrow is a little better than an inch. If you look inside the red oval, you can see a weld. That connection between wing and pin is actually made of two separate pieces of steel. The lower piece is welded to the wing, the upper piece - the yellow arrow - is welded to the lower piece. The bore of the lower section is bigger than the top section. So the top section is the only area that wears against the pin. It's about a half inch. If you compare this to the Boss hinge, again, you will see that where the Boss hinge sections connect to the center pin, there is at least an inch and a half, if not two inches, of contact with the pin. This reduces the pressure by at least 2/3.
So - I feel this continual pin issue is simply due to a poor design. Combining the short distance between bearing surfaces, and the smaller bearing surfaces, the contact pressure on the pin is easily six times greater than the Boss. It's actually much greater than that, because the Boss uses a continuous piano hinge design, spreading the weight and force of the wing over the entire pin. In addition, the Boss hinge is drilled to be greased, the Fisher hinge is not designed to be lubricated.
I understand I bought a brand new plow design. And I also understand that what looks good on an engineer's calculator may not work so well in the "real world". What I do not understand is why Fisher will not take responsibility for the problem, and redesign the hinge.
At this point, I feel my only option is to pull the pin after each storm, and replace it if it is bent.
Thanks for tuning in