Advice on a personal snow plow for pickup

[Ken Platt]

Folks -

Another pickup question here, but now weather-related. Although I have a decent medium size snowblower, taking care of a 300 foot long driveway is getting old (or I'm getting old, or both). So I'm wondering about one of those small personal-use plows that you attach and detach from your pickup. Who's used them, how well do they work, and which are installed by a dealer? I am not real keen on getting under my truck to set up the mount, or mess with the wiring, so I'd rather pay for someone to do it. The one brand name I have seen, Snowbear, looks to be exclusively a DIY affair.

Many thanks for all assistance. I've been toying with this for a few years, since I saw one of the Snowbear models in action, but now I'm on a serious information hunt and hope to make a purchase in the next few weeks.

Ken

[Pat Germain]

I have a local friend who had the same issue with a long, snow covered driveway. A few years ago, he bought a plow which fits into the proverbial "Draw-Tite" hitch on the front of his Toyota truck. It works great.

My friend had the hitch installed. I dont' know if it can be done by a do-it-yourselfer. Lots of places are familiar with installing a Draw-Tite hitch on the front of a truck because boaters are also doing this. They hitch their boats to the fronts of their trucks when launching. (I guess it's much easier to manuever on crowded ramps.)

[John Coloccia]

If budget allows, I would look for an atv with a plow. That's how I do my property and I couldn't imagine ever using a truck again. You wouldn't believe how useful the atv is the rest of the year too, if you have any sort of property. Just my opinion, but my atv is absolutely killer for this sort of stuff. I don't have a big one either. Just an Arctic Cat 400.

[Jim Mackell]

Can't go wrong with a Fisher Minuteman plow. The dealer installs the push plates and wiring on your truck. When snow approaches, you engage the plow with one handle, plug the wiring harness into the truck connection (a simple male-female mating) and you're in business. Been using Fisher for 30 years on my truck(s).

[Bob Borzelleri]

If budget allows, I would look for an atv with a plow. That's how I do my property and I couldn't imagine ever using a truck again. You wouldn't believe how useful the atv is the rest of the year too, if you have any sort of property. Just my opinion, but my atv is absolutely killer for this sort of stuff. I don't have a big one either. Just an Arctic Cat 400.

Yep...

I use a 450 Polaris. 300 foot driveway. Works great.


...Bob

[John Shuk]

Also depends on whether the driveway is paved or not.

[Matt Meiser]

An ATV is going to be a lot more maneuverable as well. Plus it can be a fun toy the rest of the time.

I plowed a lot bigger paved driveway than that with a blade on a lawn tractor at my old place. Here I have a compact tractor with a back blade and a loader.

[Jeff Monson]

We use a Honda ATV with a 60" plow for our business and it gets alot of snow moved. They are very manuverable but on the negative side the blade fills up faster and its a cold ride.

[Jason Strauss]

Ken,

I have a 500+ foot drive. I also have a Snowbear plow for my '04 F150. While I would love to have a nice Boss or Western plow, I couldn't justify the cost. At around $1600 a few years ago, the Snowbear has worked great. Now, the assembly was a PITA and so was the mounting of the bracket, but I just leave the mounting bracket in place year round and the plow doesn't take up too much room in the garage. I built a cart for the plow out of 2x4s and when disengaged, it sits at the exact height to make it easy to take on and off. It probably takes 5 min. on and 5 min. off. I can plow my drive and two neighbors' in around 20 min.

I love my Snowbear. I saw a smaller model at Lowes a few weeks back for around $1300, IIRC.

Good luck!

[Ken Platt]

Jason, could I trouble you for some details of the Snowbear install, and what made it difficult. I'm not wild about trying to install myself, but so far the best dealer installed option I've come up with is the Fisher Homesteader model, at around $3500, a lot more than the snowbear.

I emailed snowbear to ask if they had any installers they could direct me to, so far no answer. I'll try calling on Monday. For the price of a snowbear, I'd be happy to pay for installation and call it a day.

Thanks, Ken

[Bob Borzelleri]

Ken...

I can't imagine that a well designed and model specific mount would take much time for an experienced mechanic to hook up, particularly someone who does frame mount trailer hitches.

I've mounted two plows; one on an ATV and another on a pickup and neither was all that complicated. I don't have a Snowbear plow, but I do have one of their trailers and the build quality is quite good.

I would want to be sure that their mount kit is specific to my vehicle rather than a one-size-sorta-fits several.

...Bob

[Greg Cuetara]

Ken,
I have a '99 Chevy Blazer and have a fisher homesteader plow installed on the truck. It is a poly carbonite blade so it is lightweight. My driveway is about 300 ft downhill to the road. Overall it is much better to use the plow and be in the truck than be out in the cold trying to blow the snow around. My driveway with two big turnarounds takes me about an hour to plow and get everything cleaned up. There are a few downfalls to the lighter plow. If the snow is really heavy it can become hard to push the snow and the blade is not that high so I really need to get out and plow with every 8-10 inches of snow or the pile at the end of the driveway is too much for me to push.

Take a look at the fisher site. i know they have some movies to show the plow in action. It is great for the smaller trucks or SUV's. If you have a full size truck you might want to go with a full size steel plow.

Right now I bought a subaru for my every day commuter so I put the plow on and leave it on all winter. For a few seasons I put it on and off every storm and that became tiresome. I think the new homesteader plows go for 3500 - 4000 installed. Another idea for you would be to buy a yard truck with an older plow and use it exclusively for your driveway. I know this time of year you can pick up a pick up truck and a plow for 2-3k.

Plowing puts quite a bit of abuse on your vehicle which needs to come into consideration at some point in time. I know I have done a number on my front end but we have also had some terrible winters the past few years in Maine.

Greg

[Chris Damm]

Ken,
I have a '99 Chevy Blazer and have a fisher homesteader plow installed on the truck. It is a poly carbonite blade so it is lightweight.



Greg

I hate to tell you that the poly bladed plows are not "lightweight". Most of the brands I checked weighed about the same or more than the steel blades. I have an 8' Snoway poly bladed plow and it weighs a few more lbs. that the same it steel. It has more steel backing than is needed in the steel blade.
Mine is easy on easy off but it was about $4500 installed. It does an excellant job but is a little much for someone looking to keep just their own driveway clean.
Ken, I would look for a local dealer of the plows you are looking at and find other owners and ask them how they like their plows.

[Jason Strauss]

Jason, could I trouble you for some details of the Snowbear install, and what made it difficult. I'm not wild about trying to install myself, but so far the best dealer installed option I've come up with is the Fisher Homesteader model, at around $3500, a lot more than the snowbear.

I emailed snowbear to ask if they had any installers they could direct me to, so far no answer. I'll try calling on Monday. For the price of a snowbear, I'd be happy to pay for installation and call it a day.

Thanks, Ken

Ken,

First of all, it's shipped via freight. So, you have to have it delivered somewhere that has a forklift. My Father-in-Law owns a business that's got one - so no trouble for me. I imagine that you could arrange to go pick it up at the freight company that's used. Two people can lift the boxes without too much trouble.

As far as installation is concerned, it just involves some time on your back underneath you truck as you have to bolt the carriage receiver to your truck’s frame. If for some reason, you can’t get under your truck, or don’t have access to a lift, this could be tricky. Also, if you don’t have a garage, this could be even more fun; particularly this time of year! At the time of install, I didn’t have an impact wrench – this would have made for much quicker and less strenuous work. The rest of the blade and carriage went together fairly easily. As I recall, I had it all done in an evening after work – probably 3 hours worth.

I do like the idea of taking your truck and plow to a repair garage. I bet if it’s a local place, they would put your truck on their lift and charge you an hourly rate (or a rate + a case of their favorite beer) to install the carriage receiver – probably take them less than 15 minutes. Then you can go home and do the rest yourself. Better yet, find a place that sells and installs aftermarket truck accessories like caps and hitches. They might even let you have it delivered to their shop. Again, you’d probably have better luck with a locally owned joint.

If I lived in CT, I’d be happy to lend a hand, but it's a long drive from Indiana!:)

[Paul Ryan]

The ATV option is the way I went. But if you are buying a good used or even new machine and a blade it will run you more than a hydraulic lift plow. I use my ATV for all sorts of other chores it really comes in handy. It is colder but I have seen cab kits and heaters for them. I have a 650 john deere with a 60" blade and does it ever push snow. No matter how heavy or how much snow it has never been a problem. I bought a set of chains for the rear tires thinking when on ice I would need them. I have never put them one the AWD works great and always has enough traction. If I was going to take it on a lake for plowing and pushing houses I might use the chains, but they are not needed for plowing. Good luck

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a plow and a snowblower I use the blower because I can throw the snow 40 feet from the drive and the plow just piles it up on the sides and then when it snows and blows it will drift across and be as high as the piles. I have had piles that were 4 feet high and the plow couldn't get through them

[Ronald Blue]

Side by sides make great snow pushers. In fact pound for pound I don't see an equal to them. However if you get a lot of snow fall you can end up like Jerome said. That said my solution is that you have one opportunity to get it "right" with each snow fall. I always pushed well back from the driveway to avoid the "wind tunnel" and it worked pretty well. If it's a large snowfall you may have to plow several times to keep ahead of the mess. It wasn't a problem to roll snow over the top of the blade when it was deep. So you had to "work" the snow or risk accidently on your pile stuck. It doesn't matter if all 4 wheels are locked up if they aren't on the ground. Someone told me this I think.:eek: Plowing in the dark is when you have to pay the closest attention to this in my experience. You can get softside enclosure cabs to make it more tolerable.
As for truck mounted plows each region seems to have their "favorite" brands. No dog in this fight other than to say that you can pickup used late spring and early summer typically on the cheap used. That doesn't help you now I know. Good luck.

[Bill Dufour]

Climate location really matters. How many feet of snow do you get in most storms? How many total feet for the year. Does it melt down between storms or not. In Tahoe the snow does not really pack down much over winter so 50 feet of snow is still 25-30 feet tall by the end of winter. No unpowered plow is going to do much to clear that off the road when the banks are over 50 feet tall.
Bill D

[Ronald Blue]

Climate location really matters. How many feet of snow do you get in most storms? How many total feet for the year. Does it melt down between storms or not. In Tahoe the snow does not really pack down much over winter so 50 feet of snow is still 25-30 feet tall by the end of winter. No unpowered plow is going to do much to clear that off the road when the banks are over 50 feet tall.
Bill D


Somehow I don't think he's looking at 50 feet of snowfall. It's also unlikely unless you have more money than you could ever need an individual will have a snow blower to handle this. An educated guess would be a few feet of snow per season. The OP knows what his needs are and is simply looking for opinions and options.

[Bill Dufour]

Our friend the architect posted some facebook pictures of a house project where rather then deal with Tahoe snow they blasted. a 100 foot long tunnel, in granite, to connect the garage with the house. So some people do have that kind of money, not me, and I have enough brains not to live in deep snow. You would not believe how expensive windows are for that area.
Bill D.

Silicon valley billionares build a "cabin" in the mountains.
https://www.wyarch.com/category/residential/

[Bill Dufour]

I thought a rule of thumb was a plow had to be twice as tall as th accumulated snow. So for a 3 foot storm you need a six foot tall plow or you have to do it several times during the snow event.
Bil lD

[Dan Hunkele]

Our local U-Haul moving center has a shop and they install trailer hitches. You might look into that.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Absolute best snow plow ever is I-95 South. Once past Richmond, seldom is snow seen:D.