igot a used 550 this summer that came with afisher 9ft mc plow i also keep my 8.5 fisher v.I cant make up my mind on witch one to use i would like to make the v to a 9.5ft but it is 1650.00 for the new wing or i could make extentions my self.2nd though is to take the 9ft mc and make box ends for it like a pusher box that i could remave if needed.I see the hiniker has box ends on the c plow & avalanch makes a pusher box for trucks.What do you guys think! thanks
Ok first question. Do you have two trucks or one. I remember ya bought a pull plow last year too. So i don't know how many trucks you have. Only i would put a v-box in the F 550. This is what i would do. If you have two trucks, keep the v-plow and the pull plow on the first truck ya bought. Then i would set up the f 550 with a v-box. Now i agree a v-plow is faster and quicker. However depending on your cash situation. I would either keep the 9' mc, till ya plow a few times, then go out and get a 9.5 v' plow for the f 550. Or if ya got the money right now get the 9.5'v. I wouldn't however try to extended your 8.5' v to a 9.5' v. There is a major frame difference between the 8.5 and 9.5 give me some more information, and maybe i can help more. Geoff
As far as a pusher box on the front of a truck.... I'd never do it. Plows have failure points so that the plow will fail before the truck frame does. They are made that way.... Now.. pusher boxes are built tough. Real tough. A loader will take the hit because they are built for it. Pro-Tech's pusher boxes are built with failure points in them, but Avalanche isn't. Avalanche advertises that their pushers don't fail. My question would be, if the pusher doesn't have failure points built in - where do you think the failure point will be if you hit something (like an imperfection in the pavement or a manhole cover). The failure has to happen somewhere if the hit is hard enough. Much, much cheaper to fix anything on a pusher box than the frame of your truck. Which would you prefer ?? Thus, my arguement that having a pusher on a truck might be a way send some business to a truck frame straightening shop..... The idea is nice, but in practice..... I don't know about that.......
Geoff, Right now i only have the 550. Looking at a mid 80's chevy short bed to add but dont know if that will happen.most of my acc. are small to med size comm.and a few res.If i get the chevy i willput the v on that if i hire a sub i would like to make the 8.5 to a9.5 you can buy the wings and aframe for $1650every thing else is the same so iam told?It will get a vbox if i can find a good used 2.5 yard also dump box is comming of and dump flat is going on to help see John, Idont whant a pusherbox per say only to put box ends on the 9ft mc to act like a box but still have trip. thanks
Ok, my advice. Keep your 8.5 and your pull plow. Just let them set till you can get another truck. As for the F 550, just keep the 9' mc plow, and add a set of pro wings for 200 bucks. They work, their cheap, and they will help you where you need a v plow. I would keep the dump body on the truck, once you add a v-box, your visiblity won't be improved that much. Geoff
John, Where is the failure point on the Pro-Techs? I don't see where ours is anyway. Because it's a Fisher plow, the idea would work. You need a cutter-edge trip system for that.
sanders hey trucut- i found these two ads while search : SANDER, 2 yard, stainless, needs little work, $1500. (203) 756-3736 . Waterbury SANDER, for snow plowing, 2-3 yards, extended chute, asking $1100. (203) 426-1928 (4X) . Newtown <a href="http://www.bargainnews.com">bargainnews</a>, it's a connecticut publication. a good one from ny is <a href="http://www.wantaddigest.com">wantaddigest</a>. i saw a sander under the misc truck parts that was 2yd, but hydraulic. Leave the 9' plow on the truck like everyone said. I didn't see where it said you had a pull plow, but who knows. you might want to look into an electric undertailgate spreader. downeaster makes one for 2-3 yrd bodies(it says it on their brochures but not website), and <a href="http://www.truckcraft.com/tc-140.htm">truck craft</a> makes one. both of these are electric, so you don't have to worry about gas or central hydraulics. bryan p.s- do you have a picture of the truck?
Thanks for the thoughts guys. Bryan, i priced the truckcraft spreader about 4,000 ouch!thaanks for the info on the vboxs will call on tues.I just got a digital camara so i will try to gut some pictures. Thanks Todd
Lazer, If you "turn into" something hard with the pro-tech the chains will snap so the entire unit will move off the bucket. Additionally, if the chain doesn't snap, the weld holding the chain will give next. In the event that both do not give, the side plate will fold in and under the support strut inside the box. Even though it is a box channel for that strut, it is sized to 'give' if the side plate folds in far enough. This is set up so that the arms on the loader won't be "tweaked" for if that happens you can lose the hydralic cylinders on the lift arms (and that is no cheap date). Most of the stress in the box's is from side hits. Front hits are deflected by the skid plates under the side plates. With the rubber cutting edge and the skid plates as they are constructed, you shouldn't tear up any grass if you happen to get onto grass along side the sidewalk or parking lot. Additionally, the skid plate configuration is such that it SHOULD skip up over a curb if your operator tags it head on or from an angle up to 45 degrees. On the larger models the rubber 'cutting edge' is in two pieces in case you tear one side, you don't have to replace the entire length of the blade. Back to the side plates... Other manufacturers of box blades are now doubling up on the support struts (inside the box) in an effort to stop the 'folding under' failure of these plates when the side plate takes a strong hit. Unfortunately, this transfers the stress to the arms on the bucket attached to the loader. Bang !! stress cracks in the arms of the loader. Expensive repair. Hope this info helps. [Edited by John Allin on 10-09-2000 at 12:04 AM]
Yeah, I saw that on Avalanche, I like my Pro-Tech better. (Mine has 3 cutting edges: 20' folder) I guess I hadn't thought of strinking anything sideways, but the back arms will catch on the bucket sides, though, limiting the lateral movement. ThankYou for the reply.
I've got one 24, two 20 footers (one fold up), an 18, a 16, two 14's, three 12's, eight 10's, one 8, one 7 and one 6. And, I've got 14 more coming before winter. Not an avalanche amoung 'em.
The majority of our pushers are Pro Tec,but we have 1 Avalanche.I went to Canada to pick it up.I asked Avalanche about the truck mounted pusher and at that time it was only done for the truck in there video.The problem they were having was that when the pusher loaded with snow the truck would lose steering control because all that snow would force the front of the truck downward making it impossible to steer.The rear of the truck was forced upward making it lose traction.Maybe they have perfected it but as of last spring they hadnt sold a single truck mounted unit.
Sounds like a truck with a split rear brake like a farm tractor could handle one then. Hmmm, who makes one of those??? Oh yeah, no one! ~Chuck
I think steering is highly over rated anyway,plus with a truck that size you can go through most stuff without having to go around,quicker that way.
