Tad out of season, Snow plow on 67-72?

[TP from Cntl PA]

I'll have my '72 K-20 pretty much buttoned up before the snow flys........I bought it for the intention of plowing snow in the winter, along with getting in and out of auctions during the muddy times of the year. I was curious if any of you guys had suspension or other breakage issues with a plow hung on the truck. I was concerned about the steering box mounting area breaking so I did re-inforce that area, but anywhere else? Since we do alot of open areas along with driveways I'll probably put a Western V-plow on it. We never had any problems with the older straight blade Westerns on our Ferds suspension wise, but I imagine the V is a bit heavier. I may need more helper springs in the front that I planned. Yeah I know, I'll probably wish I'd have put an auto in it, but for the few times I plow snow it isn't worth it..............Rather have the stick the rest of the year.

[Longhorn Man]

off topic, but why do ppl here prefer an auto? I've blowed with both, and while it is a bit rough on the clutch, I'm sure it's hell on an auto...and I prefer the clutch in this type of work. Is it just the constant foot work, or am I missing comething?

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

Probably just because it's easier to drive an auto truck when plowing??????? Not sure as I've never seen or drove a snow plow before!

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

off topic, but why do ppl here prefer an auto? I've blowed with both, and while it is a bit rough on the clutch, I'm sure it's hell on an auto...and I prefer the clutch in this type of work. Is it just the constant foot work, or am I missing comething?

Don't know. Our "family" plow truck (shared between my uncle, dad, and grandpa) was a late 70's dodge powerwagon with a 318 and 4 speed. Fun as hell to plow with.

As far as a 67-72 my dad bought a 69 K20 with a plow on it about 3 years ago. I knew the guy who owned it and he plowed with it for years too. Frame seems just fine. I think it was a 4 way Fisher plow modified to fit.

Just toss a bunch of junk in the bed and you'll be good to go.

[TP from Cntl PA]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

off topic, but why do ppl here prefer an auto? I've blowed with both, and while it is a bit rough on the clutch, I'm sure it's hell on an auto...and I prefer the clutch in this type of work. Is it just the constant foot work, or am I missing comething?

Cycle time is quicker, your pulling into a snow bank while lifting the plow/braking at the same time, move your hand to throw it in reverse and put the lead foot to it, I brake with my left and never move my right off the hammer pedal.........and its alot easier on your legs running for long periods. I never had a plow on a manual pickup truck that we had, but I did run one alot for a guy who had one on a Jeep with a 3spd.........and just putting around in driveways made a long day doing the clutching.

I've plowed for the township in the past, and they've had nothing but auto's for years and they hold up just fine..........They ran nothing but Ferds though.

For the little bit I'll use this rig I'll get along fine, I just want something on a pickup again so I don't have to get out the big guns to fight smaller snowfalls(100+ Hp tractor with a BIG 3pt snowblower).

[wibilly]

if i were doing alot of plowing i would want auto for sure, but for just a few driveways manual would be fine but 15 -20 hours at a shot your left leg would about fall off

[JimKshortstep4x4]

I have not had any suspension or breakage problems in the (6) years of snow plowing with my 71. Plowing time per snowfall is only about two hours and I don't abuse the truck.

I need to replace the front springs as they were never strong enough to hold the heavy plow setup on the truck. (I have the springs ready and will replace them before snow flies again).

When I bought my plow it had three on the tree and I could not wait to change to automatic as most of the plowing is back and forth, (no long runs).
The clutch would not have lasted long under my plowing conditions as it stunk badly after a few minutes of plowing. Also, my plow controls are hydraulic which means that levers have to be push/ pulled.

Here is a pic of the truck plowing snow a few years ago.

Jim

[special-K]

I plowed with a`71 that had Burbank 4" lift springs,4spd,14.50/37" tires,and Western 7'.My partner had a new at the time`84 K/20 with the same set-up.We would plow to the center away from the cars.Then,mirror to mirror,the guy on the left looked forward while the guy on the right watched the mirrors.We would get our own glacier rollin`across those lots.Never had any frame issues.I keep in shape,so using the clutch was nothing on my legs,even after 15 hours of plow-time.We did it by contract and made $100 an hour back in the early 80s.I`d rather run a clutch and a Western joy-stick at my knee than an automatic and one of those dang Meyers with two toggles way up on the dash.Which is what most had back then.Never could figure why.I believe Fisher is the hot ticket these days.BTW,I used the`84 mounts and only had to drill two holes and weld a "stop" at the rear of the frame.

Left the plow home this day.

[JAKES 68GMC]

My truck had a plow on it. I don't think it hurt a thing. Heck, you could pick the plow blade up and down, and the front end wouldn't even slouch down a bit. I can't imagine they plowed much with it, with the Rockwell t-case broken. I don't think a plow will bother your truck any. There's all kinds of 67-72 trucks up here with plows on them.

[TP from Cntl PA]

[QUOTE=special-K]I`d rather run a clutch and a Western joy-stick at my knee than an automatic and one of those dang Meyers with two toggles way up on the dash.Which is what most had back then.Never could figure why.I believe Fisher is the hot ticket these days.
QUOTE]

LOL, township had one Meyers on an old Ford..........Nobody liked it, even though plowing gravel/2 lane black tops you didn't use it much as you would in parking lots.

What type of controls is BOSS using? I always liked Westerns, but alot of my friends who work for local excavators say they have problems getting parts ASAP from our two local dealers now days. We have a good Boss Dealer, but I don't know anyone who has any first hand experience running them(besides the dealer )

[white82]

I dont think i've even seen a plow in my lifetime, but then I live in East TX where heck i dont even see snow anymore and this year we have seen 25 over 100 deg days so far this year. last year we seen 16 total. lol, sorry, I had to throw that in to make everyone laugh.

[special-K]

It`s funny talking about snow for everyone when it`s so dang hot.Even where it does snow,we like to forget about it all summer long.But,it`s best to get her ready before frozen fingers and all that crap returns.
I imagine Boss uses decent controls.They make a good unit.Heck,even Mryers got it right.They prolly have a website.

[jacobs]

I purchased a 7 ½' Western snowplow in 1980 for my 1973 Blazer with a TH350 automatic transmission. I used it for plowing a non paved US Forest Service road in the Colorado Rocky Mountains that was the access road for our home. Since this road was only a single lane road, when we had a lot of snow, I had to work the snow downhill off the road by dropping the plow, cranking the wheels to their stops, pushing the snow down off the slope, stop, pick up the plow, put the transmission in reverse, back up, and start the process all over. I would gain about 4 feet or less each time I did this. The transmission only lasted 2 years at which time I converted it to a SM465 4 speed manual transmission. After that, it was slower and more work to clear the road BUT the conversion increased my fuel milage by 20%.

I had to reinforce my Blazer frame by the steering box due to a crack that developed there.

This snowplow is now installed on my 1970 k/10 and have never had any problems although it doesn’t see the abuse it used to.

It's pushed a lot of snow over the years and still on it's original clutch. Automatic transmissions are less tiring but they don't hold up, at least not for me.