Best Gas motor in a 3/4-1 ton plow truck.
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Ha Good luck with this discussion.. Chevy 2500 6.0l is the most popular and I believe the most reliable gas motor and trans for plowing. 66% of people on here or more would gladly disagree. But nonetheless my 2c
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Oh boy. So many variables. I'm a believer in there is no substitute for cubic inches. Now I would go with a Ford V10. But if I could I would have a Ford 460, carbureted, with an Allison transmission. With 4:56 rears.
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372 Posts
Thank you I don't know a lot about the chevy so this helps me out. Kinda like the pre 05 ford and having leaf spring up front and the 4r100 and less power.
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1,839 Posts
I vote # 7..8.1 l 496cu/ 4.10 rear/ mpg 8-9 ? Towed 2 sleds to Maine got 11.5 mpg. But a lot of power! to push/tow 
lowblue: Although light use.
Not to mention a 37 gal. gas tank... She passes every thing but a Gas Station !! 
lowblue: Although light use.
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For a back up, I wouldn't even let mpg be put into the equation.
This will not be your daily driver, but you will want to drive it on a consistent basis and not let it just rot. That being the case, assume it will only be used for plowing and hauling your trailers. How heavy are your trailers? Would a v10 benefit you? They all have proven track records pushing snow, so I'd look at what else you'll possibly use it for.
IMO, I would just find the best deal, on the best truck, and go with it regardless of the motor. With trucks as old as what you're looking at (I drive one as a daily driver also) you have to just know going into it that you will eventually have to throw money at it. That being said, look at what is involved with engine work (ie ford v10 has to have cab removed to work on a lot of things with the motor).
Like I said though, find a good deal, and don't look back. Make money with it, and send it to pasture when it's life is finished.
This will not be your daily driver, but you will want to drive it on a consistent basis and not let it just rot. That being the case, assume it will only be used for plowing and hauling your trailers. How heavy are your trailers? Would a v10 benefit you? They all have proven track records pushing snow, so I'd look at what else you'll possibly use it for.
IMO, I would just find the best deal, on the best truck, and go with it regardless of the motor. With trucks as old as what you're looking at (I drive one as a daily driver also) you have to just know going into it that you will eventually have to throw money at it. That being said, look at what is involved with engine work (ie ford v10 has to have cab removed to work on a lot of things with the motor).
Like I said though, find a good deal, and don't look back. Make money with it, and send it to pasture when it's life is finished.
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372 Posts
Your responses always seem so logical. I would say 8k would be what it would be pulling. Its hard for me to pull the trigger I know I have to have a back up for plowing I have taken on way to much to not have one. As far as mowing goes for next year I will be needing to start thinking about a second crew but if I can hold off one more year I would like to do so.
The ideal situation is, in my opinion, is find a 6.2 for a good price but this is proving to be harder then I thought. So then it brings me to the 5.4 which I feel like would be fine for snow but would not like pulling 8-10k.
So that makes me say well a V10 has more power and its probably close on fuel mileage between the 2. Shoot I don't know.
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I would stay away from well used 5.4 Ford's unless you know for certain the truck was properly maintained over the course of it's life. Lots of cam phaser issues, as well as hyd chain tensioner issues for timing chain. Many occurrences of these issues, but not all ,are attributed to improper engine oil/oil change intervals
.I have a 2011 5.4 with 110k on it in my wife's Expedition that we bought new, and has been maintained by me for it's entire life. It has been trouble free. It gets a Motorcraft FL 820s oil filter and 5w30 Mobil One one every 6k, and has since new. It's still as quiet and noise free as the day we drove it off of the lot. Proper oil change Intervals and good oil is key on a vvt 5.4. At a minimum the Motorcraft syn blend is required..
I've seen and worked on alot of 5.4 Ford's that maintenance was neglected on, and self destructed.
.I have a 2011 5.4 with 110k on it in my wife's Expedition that we bought new, and has been maintained by me for it's entire life. It has been trouble free. It gets a Motorcraft FL 820s oil filter and 5w30 Mobil One one every 6k, and has since new. It's still as quiet and noise free as the day we drove it off of the lot. Proper oil change Intervals and good oil is key on a vvt 5.4. At a minimum the Motorcraft syn blend is required..
I've seen and worked on alot of 5.4 Ford's that maintenance was neglected on, and self destructed.
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Don't let me fool you!:laugh:
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I personally have never run out of “power” while plowing snow.
Traction... yep, but power... no.
That being said, I would worry more about what is coupled to said motor to get the power to the ground that the power plant.
If I had to make a choice on those, I would go with the 8.1, not due to the motor, but due to the fact that is backed with an Allision.
Traction... yep, but power... no.
That being said, I would worry more about what is coupled to said motor to get the power to the ground that the power plant.
If I had to make a choice on those, I would go with the 8.1, not due to the motor, but due to the fact that is backed with an Allision.
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I've plowed in pre 05 5.4 and 05+ 5.4 never had any issues with either and never ran out of power on either. This year I added a 11 6.2 that should be beastly. Like I've been reading on here. Look for the best bang for your buck find a good deal and pull the trigger.
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3,506 Posts
We run all Fords (no particular reason other than get good deals on them) but one is a 6.0L, one is a 5.4L and the other two have 6.2L and never had any issues with the gas motors or trannys. The 17 is a F350 with 430 gearing and the fuel mileage is crazy bad, last year they averaged 4-5mpg and the 16 is a F250 (I drive) with 373 gearing and averaged right around 7mpg. Both of those always have weight in them from a V box and salt and the 5.4L truck has a dump bed insert and about 500lbs of ballast All the gassers are always between 1/4 and 1/2 tank by the end of the night, the diesel is usually still 3/4 full and it does a lot more plowing and driving. Hope this helps.
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Do you notice any difference in plowing capability with the 430s?
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What's the fuel mileage empty, do you know?
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I've only plowed in that truck a couple times. It's a F350 1 ton dump with a 9.6 XV2 and compare to my truck (F250 with XLS) just seems to suck down more fuel. I know towing with the 430's are night and day compare to the 373's in my truck.
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The dump is rarely empty, it's either towing or hauling but towing our trailer around town it gets 6.2-7mpg and the newer F250 gets around 11mpg and when we tow our travel trailer (37ft 9klbs) we get right around 7-8mpg
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