Hello everyone! I think this is one of my first questions to be posted on here. I love the site so far. There is a ton of good information to be read! I just logged on to post my question and found myself an hour and a half later, reading posts.

The Info:

I have a 2005 F-150 SuperCab 4x4 with 5.4L Triton, 100% stock. I have a 3 car garage that is obviously 3 vehicles wide, and about 3 vehicles in length. I am looking at a small personal plow for this winter and found one called a SnowSport HD that basically hooks to a front mounted tow hitch, and has NO modifications or wiring modifications needed. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I do not want to mod anything on this truck. I have read about guys having to swap out front springs and things like that, and I want to avoid that.

The Question:

The blade weight is 110lbs, and shipping weight with tow hitch and plow mount is 225lbs. In my eyes, that's like adding the weight of another person to the front passenger seat. I do understand that the weight is further toward the front of the vehicle, but it's not like this is one of those heavy duty commercial plows.

I will basically just be using it for my own driveway, and maybe my parents driveway when the township plows them in and they can't get out.

I also understand about the transmission going south if I do a ton of forward and reversing, but as long as I'm not shifting while I'm in motion, that should prolong the life of that.

What do you guys think of this plow for my situation?

 

You will be fine. A friend has a plexigass Fisher plow on his F150, but a Scab config with the 5.4 and 4x4 of course. Works like a charm everytime. Plus it's easy and lightweight.

I was thinking of getting one for my truck to do the driveway. Get some nice studded tires and some weight and be set for light duty, 'round the house plowing.

 

Thanks for the info! I have 3 pool table slates that I was going to put in the bed, which should add roughly 300lbs to the back wheels. I'll add them one at a time and see how it goes. Thanks again.

Anymore opinions on this?

 

Pryce, welcome to the site lots of great people and info here. I have never used a plow like you are looking at but I have plowed snow since I was 18 and used both Western and Boss plows as well as Loaders. My first question is how much is the plow you are looking at? How deep is the snow are you going to push with it a couple of inches or a couple of feet? How big of an area are you going to plow a drive way thats 50ft long or 500ft long? The other to consider is do want to be getting in and out of your truck in sub zero weather to lift and angle the plow? The only reason I ask this is the only time I have been out plowing is when you dont want to be out in the weather.

 

dsq3973,

Basically it's a driveway, that if I had to guess would be about 30' wide by about 50' long. The parents driveway isn't as big, but the township likes to plow them in with tons of snow, and also the township likes to plow the middle of the road, and not the edges. So, that means the lazy mail lady won't deliver their mail until the snow is removed. I'm not planning on being real hard on it at all. I am a patient person and can deal with taking small bites out of the piles.

As for the cold, I have no problem with getting in and out. I just REALLY don't want to be wiring things up to my electrical system, or having bulky plow lights on it. That's why I thought this one would be a good solution.

 

I know Western makes a plow called the Suburbanite and every thing but the mount comes off the truck. Also every thing on these plow now is plug and play with no cutting or splicing and you wont have to change springs or do any suspension mods to the truck. All I know is when I had to plow I am very glad that all I had to do is push on the joist stick and I can control every thing from in the cab of my nice warm truck just food for thought. Check out the site http://www.suburbaniteplows.com/. Also you will not kill your transmission on your truck unless you abuse the crap out of it when you plow. You can also pick up a nice snow blower and ramps for about half of what you can get a plow for just another option for you.

 

dsq: The Suburbanite looks nice, but what is the price on it roughly and by looking closely at the video, it looks to me like there has to be a wire harness installed. Also, would I have to worry about beefing to a bigger alternator to handle the winch load?

 

I used to have a 7ft-6in Boss power V and a Western Pro plow of the same size and I ran it off of a single battery and stock alternator on my old GMC and never had a problem. The Suburbanite is probably going to set you back about $3000 with out installation. Thats why I said that you can get a big snow blower and ramps for less if you wanted to go that route. But if you do buy the Western plow they are super easy to put on I put mine on my truck when I switched plows and it took me about 6 hours to install it.

 

Thanks for the info dsq! I appreciate it. The price is one reason I was also looking at the SnowSport HD because with hitch receiver and blade, it was only $1450, which then I could still afford a smaller snow blower for the front sidewalk that the borough says needs to be cleared within 24 hours of a storm. EASY FOR THEM TO SAY!

 

Manual you don't need studded tires

Heck i hardly ever use 4wd

 

Your welcome happy to help when I can. I know what you mean about having things cleared in a certain amount of time. I can cheat and borrow our John Deere 544E loader from work if I have to.

 

I have seen the ATV version of the snow sport plow, and to be honest it is a very cheesy setup, IMO. You have to lift the blade off the top of the mount and sit it on to the ground and it is a manual angle. Also the ATV version wasn't build very good, atleast when compaired to a Moose or Cycle Country blade.

Also if your drive way is only 30X50' and your parents drive it smaller yet it sounds like a snowblower would be a much better setup or find a cheap ATV and put a plow on that. My drive is 26X95 and I used our Jeep (93 Wrangler with 6.5' Western) a couple times to plow when I didn't feel like getting out the ATV and it was just a PITA with the Jeep much less trying to use a full size truck.

 

Snow plowing sounds like fun.

 

I understand your thoughts on just getting a snow plow, but for the extra couple hundred bucks, I can do the driveway in the warmth of the truck. Plus, I've already tried moving that bulk crap at the end of the driveways that the borough plows leave, and that's no fun with a snow blower and sometime doesn't even work. Also, as I said before, the township that my parents live in doesn't like to plow the whole road, and though my parents driveway is smaller, the road adds on more time out in the cold. Plus, I owe their neighbor a few plows because last year he came out and helped my dad after his triple bypass surgery.

 

It is for the first 1-maybe 2 hours, then after that it gets old very fast. And after anything more than 8 hours I am about to pull out the rest of my hair, which I can't afford to loose any more of. For some reason for me I can handle being in the Bobcat more than being in either the truck or Jeep.