those of you that have a large residential route do you use pull plows to help offset time ? thinking of expanding into this area but most drives in the area are not push backs.
I have a SnoWay, so I just use the Down-Pressure to back drag. I have a mixed account list though, about half of them are push-backs, and the other half are back-drags or parking lots. So buying a pull-plow probably wouldn't be the best choice for me. But, I have heard that they work great, and do save quite a bit of time.
FWIW When back dragging with my alternative material cutting edge, I have really good results. Almost as good as a back drag plow. I spoke with a customer I sold one to in Minnisota, and one of the benifits of the new edge that he likes is its ability to back drag. So one option maybe to try one of these, instead of buying a 3k rear plow. Dino
I case your wondering Dino is talking about urethane,and he can get you one.Just thought I 'd help out topic is far more tense than It sould be. Dino I like that "alternative material",but thats alot more to write,and if you can spent 300 to save 3000 I say Yahoo go for it. Oh a by the way for you Boss owners they are now available with locking cylinders now so they can backdrag with best of them.
Gee I wonder why boss has a retro kit available for their plows????? Could it be WESTERN/FISHER kicked their but when they came out with their v plow? AHHHHHHHH MAYBE
Hello again .... by adding a pull plow to your current investment of $20,000 or $35,000 you can double to triple your productivity with a $2,500 Snowman pull plow. Another way to look at it, if I was plowing for $100 per hour, I just went to $200 to $300 per hour(without investing in another truck or driver). Money well spent. In addition to the productivity increase, with pull plow down pressure you can move deep snow in a single pass, and scrape the surface cleaner. No front plow and/or front plow attachment alone will be near as effective. They might work on 2" but a Snowman pull plow will work in deep snow or high drifts because of the Snowman high lift design. Ed 1-888-766-6267 http://www.snowmansnowplow.com
Plowking35, Just trying to understand your back draging comment with your cutting edge. Are you saying that the blade does not ride up on the snow as quickly? I am just curious how the cutting edge can increase the back draging use on your plow since this is something I wish to increase on the effective use on mine. Not being a smarty, really looking for info that might help me with my plowing.
Let me get this straight Dino are saying that Boss is copying Western and Fisher,thats a live one, seems to me that Western had to quit making their V plow because they basicly copied Boss' and Boss won a patent infringement law suit.Never said boss was perfect, companies are always improving their product based on what their competetors are doing, Western just tried to steal the whole product.As for me not one of my eight Boss' have the new cylinders,don't need them I have tractors specificly for draging spaces and apt garage doors.And if Western and Fisher kicked Boss' butt when they came out with their V plow its because they had a customer base already buying their junk,back when straight blades was basicly the only blade available I used mostly the heavy Northman plows,but I did have one western and one meyer, and they should have been sold with a complementary welder.Boss on the other hand built their customer base basicly from scratch trough durability and innovation not NAME and theft.
i actually already bought a pull plow ed(70+sc,wings) and started to secound guess my self and was unsure if i should load up on some residential accts, i mostly do commercial plowing but see many companies (thanks to sima) that do excellent in a homeowner market saw one guy last year running around with one on and it looked good,up close the snow man plow seems well built but was curious how many people have used them extensively fir the same purpose i will use it for
Digger: Maybe I am not living in the real world and running a real biz in your mind. However I would Like to know how you classify Fisher as Junk. I Have no experience with western, but I wouldn't say they are junk. After Diamond I think Fisher makes the next heavy duty plow out there. Then again I guess me and my fords and diamonds and fisher are all in La La land. Geoff
No geoff you are not in LALA land as i have Fords and prefer the western to Fisher but only for 1 reason.We presently have a 9ft Fisher and that thing is biult like a tank and it scares me because when the plow hits something it jumps up.If you are not use to it itll wake you up quick.I fear if somebody hits something just at typical plowing speed it will hammmer the Ford F350 its on.
We have been over this before, boss wasnt the first one to make a v plow, that was done in the 20's or 30's. However they were the first to make one usable for the light truck market(diamond doesnt count, as their v plow was more designed for a half track to carry it). Anyway they did a great job and had the market cornered. When their patent expired, many companies jumped in, I think by many of the comments out there, that western/fisher did the best job in competing with boss in that market. Western/fisher both did a very good job designing and testing their v plows before sending them to the masses.One thing that they designed into the plow were two way cylinders, that do not fold forward when back dragging. One complaint that I heard time and again from boss v plow owners was just that. So low and behold the next year boss has retro cylinders available to keep the blades from folding forward. So what can we learn, that the western fisher v plow design drove boss to change something they let slide for 10 yrs. When talking to one of boss's engineers I asked him why a full trip on a v plow. He said that boss uses full trip one the rest of the line of plows and it was easier to keep it that way on the v's. And that the lack of tripping ability in v and scoop was a design flaw, but that the customers have to live with it. Maybe with the western fisher plow now out there and performing well, they may change their mind as well. So we can also decern that competition breeds better products for all of us. Dino
Dino you are right about the some what poor tripping ability in full V although the will do it,but when they don't, the wing just folds backand the blade trips like a strait blade.So thats why I have neverhad a problem with Boss.Still funny to me that when Boss uses a marketing idea of Western's its looked on as copying,but Western was business savey when the tried to ride Boss' wave,this sounds like the reasoning Democrats use. As I drove around my accounts this year I was surprised at all the drainage inverts where the curbs taper from six to eight inches, and obstructions that exceed the 6" so thats why I'll be sticking with my full trip Bosses,and its brilliant design flaw Geoff,my bad I did group Fisher in with Western,I have very little experience with fisher due to a poor dealership network.It was not my intention to berate them because I have no first had knowlage about their quality,matter of fact I don't think I've ever seen one well,so please accept my apology for my misquote
For the record, the western and fisher v plows are basically the same. They are made at the same factory in Maine, and then go down the paint line, one into red the other into yellow, that is why group the v plows together. The straight plows share some components, mostly in wiring and elctro hydro systems. Did douglas synamics copy boss, I dont know. In fact there are few things that are made today that are truly original. We have patent laws in this country, and when they expire I guess it is fair game on the idea. I never said boss copied western fisher, but because of wetsern fisher boss made a better plow. Dino
Patents have protection for 17 years from date of issuance. They DO need to be renewed periodically. It appears Boss chose not to renew after 11 years. Dino wrote: The Boss engineer said "boss uses full trip on(e) the rest of the line of plows and it was easier to keep it that way." What a bunch of BS! They introduced the V-plow in 1988 and didn't even MAKE a straight blade plow until 1992.
Personal Use Would appreciate the help of you pro's. I have a 70 yard long curving uphill paved drive with curbs and a retaining wall near the garages. The driveway ends smack up against the garage doors. Also have a complicated gravel drive with some parking areas and a horse barn with garage doors. Don't need the gravel drive done very well but need access to the garage doors of the horse barn. Have not had good luck with dependable commercial plowers; good guys but I'm a small complicated (my driveways that is!) customer and they get to me late and sure move a lot of gravel and lawn. I'm located about 50 miles NW of Chicago so sometimes we have no snow and other times we get buried. I have been looking at rear blades to use with my 2000 Yukon;I don't like the idea of a commercial quality front blade because it is overkill for my needs and the Yukon is my primary transportion. I also looked at a light duty front blade (Snowbear) which has an electric lift and manual angle change. I don't mind spending the time to do it carefully so as to minimize the damage to garage door, curbs and landscape. Would appreciate it if you guys could tell me how well a rear blade(Snowman Snowplow and Superplow) would work with the Yukon in my situation. Also, do any of you have any opinion about the Snowbear light duty front blade? I'm not too impressed with its usefulness. Thanks much AJGIBB
not to beat a dead horse on the fisher/western/ boss v-plow issue but did anyone see or get a chance to use the new straight blade with trip edge boss came out with?
If you'd like a lighter weight front plow, look at Snoway. The "snowbear" is/was sold at Canadian Tire up here, and that says it all for me. Commercial-quality snow equipment will not be found at Canadian Tire. Don't bother with a rear-plow, you can do a fine enough job with just the Snoway. Especially since you're willing to spend an inordinate amount of time to do so.
Hi, I'm replying under my husbands login. Being a non-snowplow operator until 6 days ago, this is my experience with hooking up to a 7 1/2' Model 75LDA Snowman pull plow and doing my first snow removal job. We received 10-14" of snow here last Monday. I usually do the dispatching for our snow removal business-making sure everyone is happy!! As John Alan puts it, it's the hardest job in the business. Anyway, I had a customer that I promised would have her drive cleaned by 9:00 am. She was not on any of my drivers normal routes and I generally won't ask a driver to go off his route unless it's an urgent situation. I decided rather than let the customer down, I would take my Dodge Durango with a 71/2' pull plow on it and clean her drive. First of all pulling out of my garage I dropped the blade and cleaned up my drive on the way out. That was easy enough so my confidence is building up. I got to the customers drive, backed up to her garage door, dropped the blade and drove out angling the snow to one side. When I got to the street, I didn't have to turn around and push - I just angled it along the street onto her yard. If she would have had to keep the snow along her drive, I could have turned around and brought the snow back in her drive and angled it along the drive. I then backed up, made one more pass angling the snow the other way and I was done! It was fun and easy to do. I'm thinking of giving up my dispatching job and becoming a plow jocky?? Here are some benefits of using a Snowman angling pull plow on your SUV or light truck: 1. No mounting brackets - goes into your 2" square receiver so you can also use it on multiple vehicles. 2. No stress on the light front axle weight capacity vehicles (Won't void your warranty) 3. Patented spring trip to protect the plow and your vehicle when encountering hidden objects 4. Patented high lift to get over the drifts next to your garage. 5. Exclusive down pressure springs - these work great for uneven roads or changing grades. It contours with the surface. I have this one on video! After Ed found out I was out plowing snow he gave me and another employee the job of shooting some videos. He sent me to what is known by all the drivers as the "hardest drive" in town! It has a VERY steep incline. I'm will to sell the unedited version of this to the highest bidder!!! Or if you would like a FREE copy of our edited video just mention that you saw this on the lawn site and we'll send you one-no charge. If you want dealer locations visit our web site at http://www.snowmansnowplow.com or give us a call at 1-888-766-6267! Best Wishes, Lori
