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Older Sno-Way Plow Wiring question

2K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  ledzilla 
#1 ·
Hello. Greetings from the outer burbs of Chicago. I've been interested in plowing for a long time, but never got around to installing a plow on my old truck. But recently I purchased an older Bronco that came with a plow. The plow was not attached and was trailered home separately from the Bronco, and the seller wasn't all that certain about how the wiring connected (was selling for someone else). I was hoping to get some kind of documentation for the plow, if possible. It's a Sno-Way plow, and the only identification for the plow I could find is a small sticker with the serial number and what looks like a part number of 97100904A. I can add some photos to the post if that would help. For what it's worth, it seems like the control wiring should not be any trouble, it's really the wiring added in for the plow's lights.
 
#3 ·
Yeah, their website only seems to be showcasing their current models, I haven't been able to find anything about their older products unfortunately. This plow isn't wireless, there are definitely controller connectors under the dash, and the controller is currently sitting elsewhere since at present I can't actually lock up the Bronco, so I'm not leaving anything of value inside. I took some photos and attached them.
 

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#6 ·
Thanks!

I have looked through Sno-Way's manuals library, but I couldn't find anything that matched the plow's model number. I was hoping someone could help identify the model series since some of the manual listings only indicate the series name as opposed to a model number or model range.
 
#7 ·
I thought I'd add a photo of the only thing I could find that identifies the plow, since I realized that it shows up nowhere in any of the other photos.

Edit: I'm starting to wonder if maybe that model # is for the sticker and not the plow, because I found numbers like that on some of the other stickers.
 

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#10 ·
This helps quite a bit. I guess I'll need to go back out and do some additional inspecting/measuring. But based on the spring loaded cam mounting pins with black handles and the the black two-way power harness, I'm thinking it might be a 29 series plow. The "9629" at the beginning of there serial I have found also seems a bit of an indicator to that end (96", 29 series perhaps?). Would there possibly be additional info underneath the hydraulics cover? Such as, would there be something to maybe help identify which hydraulics?
 
#13 ·
Yeah, I'm planning to check the hydraulics under the cover when I can. It started raining yesterday before I could take a look, and I might have to wait until the weekend. Gotta grab a ratchet to loosen/remove the bolts holding the cover on, and don't want my tools sitting out in the rain if I can avoid it. Ruined a 1/2" ratchet that way once on accident. So far, though, I think perhaps the serial I have found already is for the blade, so it'll definitely help to get the serial from the hydraulics. Based on that one section of identifying the plow on page 4, I've been able to at least answer those bulleted questions:

2 spring-loaded cam handles
black rubber power connector with one male and one female connection
the controller looks to be a wired ProControl II (maybe ProControl II Plus)
the light connectors are bullet style
I also was able to do a quick measure of the blade height and confirmed it at 29", which would suggest it to be from the 29 series in some way.

To that end, I'm crossing my fingers that my plan to get the plow unloaded from the trailer with my engine hoist this weekend works as I envision.
 
#14 ·
Well, I don't think I found the correct tag with the other serial number, but I did take some photos of what I have found. So, it has Monarch hydraulics, and the wiring schematic says it has downpressure. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow, so I'll try looking again. I was trying to check things out without wearing gloves due to issues with grip and my hands got too cold to keep looking. Didn't help that everything is still partially covered in snow from last night. But, from what I've found so far, when I find that last serial tag, I'm willing to venture a guess that the serial will start with something like "29D". When I get it unloaded off of the trailer, I think I might want to go through checking all of the wires around the hydraulics, making sure they're all in good shape and properly connected.
 

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#15 ·
So I went back and re-read your original post. Cause I even forgot what the actual question was. I see you found the schematic for the plow wiring hyd control functions. However, you are looking for the light wiring. If you do not have that with your bundle, the best thing to do is build your own with relays and a simple toggle switch. DPDT. Pretty sure there are schematics here or online. That is what I did when I did my plow set up on my MM1 and built my own harness for the fenner pump and the lights. Super simple.
 
#18 ·
Thought that I'd share the fruits of my labors so far. Got the plow unloaded and mounted, and it works quite nicely. I think I'm going to need to siphon out the remaining amount of hydraulic fluid to I can clean and better seal the reservoir as it looks like it's been leaking.



Coming back to this, I did already install a separate headlight relay harness. I've been doing this on most of my cars to get better power to the headlights, starting with my '03 Marauder. Ford kinda dropped the ball on the headlight circuitry with them, causing somewhat dim headlights. I'm thinking I'll build my own plow light harness and pull the old harness out. I have a few H4 style connector kits laying around from repair work I've done on my '78 LTD wagon and my '79 Marquis coupe. Figure I can just order up some WeatherPak connectors for interfacing with the plow and make something to connect between the new relay harness and the headlights. Not sure what happened to the original plow lights, but I'm also looking to just buy some post-mount lamps for the parking lights and turn signals and create fresh light harnesses on the plow itself. Maybe down the line I'll order up some nice new lamp assemblies, but for now I just want everything to work without spending too much money.
 

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#16 ·
Yeah, I dug in and found a little more info that this may be the EIS setup where when not connected to the plow, the harness ends can be connected to use the truck lights instead of the plow lights. But I also have been noticing that the plow lights are just small LED light bars poorly spliced with bullet connectors. I think I might be better off trying to find some new plow lights and seeing how well I can hook it all up to the existing harness. I might also need to splice in my own WeatherPack connectors for the whole thing, too, so it all connects since I'm certain the connectors will be different.
 
#17 ·
Well, I got the plow unloaded from my trailer and mounted back on the Bronco. All hooked up and works just fine. Looks like it could use some more hydraulic fluid, though.

Anyway, I started poking at the lighting wire harness and found that it does indeed have a relay. Attached a photo of it. But, when all hooked up again, the headlights don't turn on. Does anyone know which pin on the relay connects where? I haven't been able to find any documentation on the lighting wire harness. All of the manuals just say to consult the manual that came with the lighting package, but any lighting package manuals I find only show a parts diagram.
 

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#19 ·
I think I finally found what I was looking for:


This matches the plow harness and has a table showing what wire is for what circuit. And now I think I also fully understand how this harness operates. I'm going to repair the headlight connectors on the harness, since they all look damaged/corroded. Then I'll try testing out the relay once I'm certain that power is actually reaching it. If the relay isn't working, I think I should be able to replace it with a pair of standard 30A 5-pin relays. I have a bunch on hand along with sockets, so it shouldn't be any trouble.
 
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