Snowplowing Questions

[THI]

I have a 1978 GMC K25 that originally came from Arizonia and is now in Michigan. It was not treated well in it's previous life so I currently have it in pieces and have been debating selling it or turning it into a farm truck for my second home where I have 55 acres mainly wooded.

When I say it was not treated well, the original engine was long gone and replaced with a 1972 400 SBC that had one 1972 400 head (cracked) and one 1973 350 head (not cracked but missing steam holes). The crank was a 1974 400 crank that had chunks missing from the counterweights and was ground .020 under. The block was okay and got snatched up before I had any idea on where to use it, the rest went on a scrap pile. The trans was a junkyard TH400 that had a cracked housing and the NP203 also had a cracked housing. From previous projects I have a good TH400/NP241 out of a 1989 K20 Suburban and both have a fresh rebuild. The K25 has 3.73 gears and I have a Dana 60 with 3.73 gears and a Trac-Loc that I can replace the Dana 44 that is on it.

If I put the truck back together to use as a farm truck, I will also need it for plowing out the driveway and outbuildings. I would not be plowing out any other properties besides my own. I have two questions:

It currently has the factory 2-leaf spring up front, should I replace that with the 3-leaf or 4-leaf replacement springs?

I have a 1969 327 bored .030 over with flat-top pistons, Dart Iron Eagle SS heads (9:1 compression) and a Summit 1102 RV cam (204/214). Would be enough engine to plow the equivalent of a quarter mile of driveway, or should I consider something larger?

Thanks.

[1976gmc20]

Well, I'm plowing my 1/8 mile driveway and my neighbor's 1/4 mile driveway with a 25 hp Kubota. I would think even an old straight six would work because you're probably going to be in low range all the time anyway.

[400/400]

My ‘85 k20 came with a 7-1/2’ Meyer plow. It had the stock reverse arch springs up front. They were sagging pretty good, but not quite on the bump stops. I added a helper leaf to the packs before I lifted it and it seemed to work well.

Engine wise, almost anything will do. Plowing is more about skill, planning, and momentum when needed. Raw power will break things. Especially when it gets wet and heavy. My dad once advised, better to stall the motor than burn up a tranny or snap a shaft.

There’s a gentleman in Alaska with a build thread about his k30 plow truck running an in-line 6. It had some good info on a plow truck setup.

If you go with a V8 plan not to use long tube headers. I installed them on mine before the lift and it was in constant contact with the front drive shaft with the plow raised.

[LS short box]

Not a Chev but I've been plowing snow with my 98 Wrangler for over 15 years. The plow is a Western hydro turn 7'6". Wired joy stick in the cab. It's really made for a 1/2 ton pick up so it's a bit too heavy for the Wrangler. When the plow is up it bottoms out the to the bump stops. I extended the bump stops 2".
I also only plow my driveway so I don't drive around much with the plow up. I take it slow and depending the snow depth make smaller cuts. I would try it before you spend money on new springs.
Engine wise you can try it in 4 wheel high. 2 low should be just fine even with 6 cylinder. A bit of weight in the back will help with traction. I have 400 lbs in the back of my Wrangler.
I don't need low range. My Wrangler has a 2002 LS6/4L60E swap. Here's a pic.
Couple of tips plowing wise.
1. Early in the fall if you get plowable snow set the plow shoes up a bit so you will do a bit less "landscaping" to the lawn if the ground isn't frozen.
2. Push the early snow back farther than you think you will need. Once the snow banks sit for awhile they get really hard.
It's really nice moving snow with heater and the radio on.

[Dead Parrot]

I think a better use for the 'go fast' 327 would be to trade/sell it to someone doing a restoration on a 327 era Camaro or Nova. Get a basic stock 350 for your farm/plow truck.
4.56 gears might be better for plow use but gear swaps can get expensive. OTOH, for what you are wanting to do, gearing is more important then raw HP. As 1976gmc20 mentioned, lots of snow and field plowing is done on farms by tractors in the 20~50 HP range.

[1976gmc20]

1. Early in the fall if you get plowable snow set the plow shoes up a bit so you will do a bit less "landscaping" to the lawn if the ground isn't frozen.
2. Push the early snow back farther than you think you will need. Once the snow banks sit for awhile they get really hard.

Yes!

1. I don't know about a pickup plowing snow, but when I set the skids down so the front blade sits off the dirt, the front of the tractor just went sideways even in "float" on sidehills or with the blade angled. I had to retract the skids so the cutting edge contacts first and then carefully regulate the depth with the control.

2. I have a rear blade that sticks out about 18" outside the tires on each side that works well for "winging" the snow back off the driveway. Actually I use the rear blade about 90% of the time except breaking trail in deeper snow and pushing snow off our parking and turn-around area. If you get a really big snow all at once, you may want to plow the edge(s) off first and then go back and plow the middle out to the side(s) so you have a place to put it.

It takes a while to get a pattern that works for your property, so you're not always changing the blade angle or plowing the same spot over and over.

My driveway cuts across a hill so I plow all of it to the outside and as much over the edge as possible. Otherwise, the snow gets pushed against the bank on the inside and builds up, and then it all melts and runs across and down the road in the spring.

[LS short box]

The other thing I try to do is kind of "play the wind". My driveway runs north and south. So I plow and push most of the snow to the east side of the driveway. So what that means is the snow berm on the west side of the driveway is quite small which helps reduce drifting when we get a northwest wind.
Snow plowing is kind of like mowing the lawn. Once you get a pattern established it go's quite well.