Let's talk plows

[JSK76]

Been looking at different trucks and I guess I need to figure out what style of plow I want first. Is a straight blade plow going to do much on the hard snow on the lake? Or should I be looking for a 3/4 ton with a V plow? It would be so much more money to buy the truck and plow and then the loss in gas milage from a 3/4 to a 1/2. I also don't want to buy a straight blade and find out it's only good for the driveway. As far as I can figure nobody makes a lighter weight V for a 1/2 ton. A guy plowed me out this year had a F350 with a straight blade and he couldn't get to my house from the old plowed road because it was to hard when it drifted in but was able to plow a new road about 50 yards off. I wasn't there to witness how hard it was to plow.

I'm not looking to be the guy that plows the main road out on the bigger lakes but more so a spot to park 50 yards off the main roads so I need to be able to break the previous plowed snow berm. On some of the smaller local lakes I would be plowing the main road but I could plow after each snow fall. BTW I'm not just buying it for lake use, I also have a 700' driveway and a large turn around I snowblow with an old Erskine pull behind on my tractor. It works great but it's slow and cold. I actually have a SnoSport plow for doing the turn around area, works great for that but I don't see it lasting on a lake being a home use aluminum plow.

[Great Outdoors]

I've had both, and there is NO COMPARISON.

The V blade is far superior to a straight blade plow, for just about anything you do.

[leechlake]

we have a place up north and have had a guy with a straight plow do our 1/2 mile driveway for years. He was layed up for a while so I hired a different guy that has a v plow. It did such a better job that I hired him to do it all the time. Especially with all the snow and that long driveway with trees close to the driveway the straight plow didn't have a chance compared to the V plow.

I don't know what each rig costs but the V Plow guy's rig sure looks to cost substantially more. Also I have a 3/4 ton pickup. I bought it because I thought it looked cooler. Looks cooler sucks when you aren't hauling anything and it's sucking gas at 12-14 mpg vs what a half ton gets. There's a lot of time you're driving without the plow on.

[Great Outdoors]

I don't think there is much mileage difference between a half and three quarter ton pickup. They get about the same on the highway, and both get poor mileage driving around town, especially if the plow is on.

[JSK76]

we have a place up north

I'm actually only a few miles away from you. Your on Kabekona right?

[leechlake]

Yep, north side of Kabekona off of 39. My dad has a place on Oak Lake down the road and his road is the 1/2 mile one. Ours may be just short of 1/4 mile long.

[hawkeye43]

After this year, I have a 3/4 ton with a straight blade for 20 years now. It going to be a v plow for next year, in fact the mount and wiring is going to be installed in May when there is less of a push on the dealer. I know there are a lot of good plows out there, I going with a Boss.

[superbee]

There is no comparison with a straight blade vs a v plow, the v plow is twice the blade.

[fishersofmen]

We use 1 ton Fords at work with Western V-plows. Got a new one of each the last 2 years. We still have a couple of strait blades on the older trucks. For my residential driveways I almost never v the plow back unless there is an insane amount of snow. Commercial stuff the v-plow is very nice for the scoop affect.

I would say for your driveway you are more than fine with a strait blade. For the lake a v-plow would be highly beneficial because of the depth an hardness of the snow.

[JakeJ_Mn]

I had a straight blade which was adequate for any driveway plowing. My driveway is over 500 feet double wide and a 150x150 foot turn around.

Trying to plow on a lake works with a straight blade as long as you can keep moving, which isn't possible in most cases, because the angle of the straight blade keep pulling you into the bank once the snow gets deeper and builds up in front of the plow.

I bought a new 3/4T Dodge Ram quad with a 9' Boss Power XT V-plow and can normally go anywhere I want on the lake. There is no comparison IMO between the two the V is the best. Still always have to be carefull with the speed when you don't know what's under the snow.

All the plow companies now make V-plows to fit on 1/2T trucks, jeeps, and sxs Atvs.

Once you get late in the winter and the snow packs from the sun, it's hard with a V also, but usually by then it's close to the end of the season.

It all comes down to price and how much you will use it. You can pay for alot of plowing for the cost of a new rig.

[Mike Stark]

I have been trying to decide what to do next winter for plowing on the lake. A V blade is by far the best tool for the job. But 3/4ton trucks and v blades are expensive! Meyer is the only company I have found that makes a 7.5ft V blade for half-tons. It weights 582lb compete with the mount. Boss and Snowdogg make a 7.5ft V that weights around 780lbs complete. Which is a lot of weight to put on the front of a half ton. The local Boss dealer here in Ely didn't recommend putting it on a half ton. The other problem with a 7.5 v blade is that when it is in the V position it just barely clears the tires. Which ups your chances of getting stuck on the lake.

I thought hard about getting the Meyer 7.5V but the closest dealer is 3.5hrs away. Where as the Boss dealer is about 2min away.

I am leaning towards just getting a straight blade to maintain a road that was opened up with someone else's V blade. I will have to stay on top of it tho and possibly plow with the storm instead of after. It is the most feasible option for me at this time.

[Great Outdoors]

Wait until you can afford the V blade and whatever else you need to make it work, Mike.

You will regret going with a straight blade, as there is no comparison between the two.

A 6 to 8 inch wet, heavy snow, will throw you all over with a straight blade, even if plowing a driveway.

I've had trucks with plows since 1974, and learned the hard way!

[john.wells]

I don't think there is much mileage difference between a half and three quarter ton pickup. They get about the same on the highway, and both get poor mileage driving around town, especially if the plow is on.

It does make a difference, as 3/4 ton trucks usually have beefier components which add weight, as well as they typically have lower gear ratios for better towing/hauling/working performance. The difference in fuel economy isn't as drastic as it used to be, though.

[Jigging Joe]

I don't think you'll be happy with a straight blade. If you're buying a plow for ice fishing you want a v-plow. There hasn't been anywhere I haven't been able to go with the v-plow. I have a 2007 chevy 3/4 ton crew cab, it gets about 12-13 miles per gallon when not pulling anything and less than 10 when pulling my fish house. It has the 6.0 engine, rides is rough and sucks gas but it does what I bought it for so I try not to even think about the gas mileage, even when going to Red Lake where I cant even make it up there in 2 tanks of gas...

[Great Outdoors]

I have a 3/4 ton, 2006 Ram with a Cummings diesel, and a V blade Boss plow.

More than enough power for everything, and will get over 22 mpg on the highway.

When you put the plow on and drive around town, the mileage drops quite a bit.

There aren't many 1/2 ton trucks that can do that. Even the new hemi gas V8's will get good mileage in either a 1/2 or 3/4 ton truck.

[JSK76]

I just looked up that Meyers 7.5 V plow and at full V it's 81" wide. I went and measured my tire width and its 81" too, would that be an issue or would I just be squeaking buy.

[dougger222]

I've had a 8.5 Western Pro Plow on my truck (3/4 ton) for a dozen years and it's worked just fine. The plow is used for personal use only so it should last forever.

As far as trying to blast through snow berms on big lakes like LOW a V plow just won't cut it. That snow gets so hard it's very tough to move. I know late in the year at Zippel when we need a road plowed off the main road to move the sleeper house Nick doesn't use a plow to do it he uses his articulating tractor with huge snow blower.

Another example would have been a friend of mine getting his house off Little Lake this year. A guy with a house near him used a tracked bob cat to get most of the snow off to clear a path then used his Boss V plow to clean up before he got his house off. One would think with a V plow he could have just used that but not this Winter. Would have guessed until this guy was a super loaded he used both pieces of equipment for professional snow removal services.

A straight or V plow can and will keep a road maintained on a lake but you have to keep on it.

Putting a plow on the front of a truck is tough on them. If it's only personal use with limited hours and miles it's not so bad.

I paid $1,700 for my plow when it was 2 years old. It came with the truck mount, controller, and wiring harness. Only had to purchase a new bolt kit for $85, a friend and I did the install pretty simple stuff. To do it over again would really have to think about a V plow because they are a very nice plow set up. My neighbor has a new Ford diesel and Boss V plow and it sure moves snow nice!