Awakening the Plow Truck
Icy stalactites hang from the open garage door. Street salt glistens in the early morning light. Behind it all, a virgin snowscape lays quiet and untouched — except for a set of tracks that roll off into the distance. Could it be the elusive Yeti? On this suburban street? Just then, the scraping roar of a snowplow truck crescendos behind a wave of snow, clearing your way to work. Like the Himalaya’s abominable snowman, the plow truck driver heeds the call of the winter wild, braving the ice and snow so that our lives can proceed, despite the weather. Sightings of plow trucks begin to roll in during the early fall months, as contractors prepare their plows for new weather battles. But sharpening a blade for another year of ice-cold dozing is more than just dusting it off and pinning it to a truck. Winter preparation begins when the leaves start to fall — not the snow.
“Before you start the season, we tell everyone the same thing. Check the hydraulic motor, change the hydraulic oil fluid, replace the filters, grease the electrical fittings and test the lights — both high and low beams,” says Shawn Palmer, general manager of Chenango Truck, a truck body, lift gate, tarps and snowplow dealer in Oxford, N.Y. “You have to be careful when you’re taking the plow out of storage. For instance, in the summer, hornets can get in there and nest, and you need to be careful getting rid of that. Don’t wait until the snow is piled up 6 in. before hooking the plow up to the truck. Start in September or October because when November rolls around and the snow is falling, you want your plow to work.”
Pre-season maintenance is of the utmost importance. There’s nothing worse than waiting until the snow flies to find that your plow’s
cutting edge has deteriorated or that your plow hitch needs a good hydraulic overhaul. So arm yourself with a can of Raid and head into your plow’s hibernation den to wake it up for the most wonderful time of the year.
Summoning the Beast
The doors open and the cool autumn air wafts in ahead of the warm sunshine. You enter the plow hold and clear the cobwebs away, extinguishing any unwanted pests. Take a good look at your plow — first investigating the welds on all the structural steel, including the moldboard, A-frame, sector/pivot bar and the mounting and lift frame. It is crucial that there are no cracks or excessive wear in the welds; you don’t need a joint buckling under the pressure of plowing.
As your eyes dart from weld to weld, take a minute to let them travel down to the plow cutting edge. “Most cutting edges are about 6 in. and most guys who plow know that when it gets down to about 4 in., it’s time to replace the edge. It’s the same with the rubber shoes wearing too thin. If you’re plowing, you’ll eventually leave a groove if something is too worn,” says Palmer. When the runners are installed, the cutting edge should be about a 1/2-in. off the ground. Cutting edges are usually the most expensive replacement on a plow, costing about $150 to $300, while shoes run around $50.
“V- and C-plows have one extra hinge point that should be lubricated with a high-quality, general purpose grease,” he adds. “You do have to keep an eye on wear points; there’s more of those on a V-plow. It essentially has two cutting edges and an extra center rubber flap that you have to watch.”
During the visual inspection, get your hands in there and check all the bolts to make sure they are snug and secure. While you are down, check on the chrome parts of the angle and lift cylinders for rust and corrosion. As far as greasing is concerned, inspect and grease the king bolt, pivot pins/bolts and all hinge points. And take a look at the ground to check for any hydraulic leaks from the angling and lift cylinders. Also check the hydraulic hoses for cuts, abrasions and leaks.
The best preventive maintenance for hydraulic systems is to change the fluid at the beginning of the season. If you don’t feel comfortable messing with the hydraulic system, it’s a good idea to take it to the dealer to have it done.
Once you’ve given the blade a good once over, it’s time to turn your attention to your truck — the beast that will wield the blade. It’s probably been a while since you’ve used your plow mount’s headlights, so why not flick them on and give them a good flash from low to high beams to make sure they are in order. Replace the bulbs if necessary.
“You should also check your push beam height. See your manual for measurements, as the vehicle suspension has a tendency to change after plowing for a season,” says Rick Robitaille, marketing manager for THE BOSS snowplows — a snowplow manufacturer since 1985. “Check all bolts for tightness and look for cracks and other obvious signs of damage. Make sure to apply dielectric grease to the power ground cable and control cable electrical plugs as well.” Before you pack her away for the rest of the fall, check for full functionality of the plow system, including raising, lowering and angling left and right.
Out With the Cold, in With the New
To continue making big tracks through the snow, some seasons may call for an upgrade to your plow system — be it from cracked welds, a weak moldboard or a failing mounting plate on your old blade. If your plow is more than a couple years old, chances are that buying a completely new setup will likely be the solution.
The problem with trying to buy a single component like the plow or mounting system is the compatibility. If you upgrade the mounting system and not the plow, the plow is not likely to make full use of the new mounting system technologies and vice versa.
“When you buy a plow these days, it’s like buying a pickup. When you call to order, we say, ‘What do you want on it?’ and you get it,” says Palmer. “But there are different classes. You can’t take a 6-ft blade off an Explorer and put it on a F-450, and the same goes for the opposite. The plow sizes range from light, which is like a Ford Ranger, medium is like an F-150 and heavy is like an F-450. The commercial size is for larger municipal-type plow trucks.”
While there are guidelines to follow to make sure you don’t pick a plow that will overload the capacities of your truck, there are a host of other features from which to choose. With every major manufacturer — THE BOSS, Hiniker, Sno-Way, Meyer and Fisher — comes a unique mounting system. For example, THE BOSS offers its SmartHitch 2 attachment system, while Hiniker has its Quick-Hitch mount and Meyer has the EZ-Mount Xpress. Although they each have fancy names, they essentially do a variation of the same thing. Like your favorite skid steer or compact track loader, these mounting systems offer a quick-attach that lets you attach or detach plows through the use of a hydraulic mounting system, instead of hopping out of the cab and trying to lift a heavy plow blade.
“In most cases, you will want to replace the moldboard with the upgraded mounting system,” says Pete Robison, director of marketing for Meyer. “An individual mount can run from $330 to more than $1,000, depending upon the vehicle and plow mounting system.”
Of course, the brand of mounting system will dictate the brand of plow blade you get, as the mounting systems aren’t compatible like their skid steer brethren. Most manufacturers offer two types of plows — a straight blade and a V-blade. The straight blade is a standard plow that angles 30 to 45 degrees right or left, whereas a V-blade can be set in four different positions for precise plowing — V, scoop, straight and angle. The V-blade is more versatile than a straight blade because it can transform into two addition positions, but there’s a bigger price tag that comes along with it. While a straight blade usually costs between $3,000 and $4,000, a V-blade can start around $4,000 and go upward of $5,000.
The latest advancement in plow blade technology is the C-blade. Instead of being vertically split down the middle, the C-blade is partitioned about one-third up the blade from the ground and hinged to allow the top two-thirds of the blade to flip downward. By raising the blade off the ground and flipping it, you essentially reverse the blade curve for more accurate back dragging.
Finally, you’ll have a choice of plow controls. Again, each manufacturer will have a unique technology with similar operations. The basic plow controls — tilting up and down, angling left and right and V- and C-plow controls — are all usually controlled by a single device either mounted in the pickup cab or by a remote held by the driver’s hand. Either way, the controls should be easy to use and if they are cab-mounted controls, they should be raised for the driver’s access so that he doesn’t take his eyes off the road. Of course, a remote eliminates this installation, but if you drop it between the seats or forget where you put it, you’ll be in a bit more trouble than when you misplace your TV remote.
Spring and Summer Slumber
You’ve battled the treacherous ice and snow for a long four months and you are beginning to see signs of life poking out from the melting snow. Soon it will be back to the dog days of mowing and ‘scaping. The cyclical motion of life must continue, and when you start gassing up your lawn equipment, you need to give your plow the proper once-over before putting it back to sleep.
The post-season maintenance isn’t as involved as the pre-season but you still need to be thorough. Robitaille lays the tasks on the line:
- Disconnect all electrical plugs and coat each connection with dielectric grease. Clean and install all dust caps and plugs.
- Touch up any rust spots or chipped paint.
- Grease the coupler spring pins and vertical hinge pin.
- Take the pressure off the trip return springs.
- Grease the cylinder rods then make sure both angle cylinders and the lift cylinder are completely compressed. This will protect the cylinder rods from corrosion and pitting and prevent leaking.
Now that the snow season has come to an end, the plow truck will fade into the backs of minds, until the annual autumn sightings. Just remember to stay on top of the maintenance game when the air shifts temperatures, and you’ll have a healthy plowing beast that is hungry for
winter work when it is awakened.
Comments are closed here.