Whare are good plows for the 1st gen? I need to pick up a used one sometime and wanted to know your experiences.

 

If you can afford the $$ a poly plow is the way to go. They're much lighter which make them a whole lot easier on a front suspension that already holds up a 1000+# engine. Also the snow tends to stick less to a poly plow than it does to a steel one. The newer plows also can have quick connect and disconect that make it easy to drop the plow when you don't need it and save the front end.

 

Ive got an older western plow on mine. 9ft. I believe it is called an isarmatic type plow. It has the old cable controlled pump. I bought it for $17 dollars from someone in the parking lot at NAPA a few years ago. It came off a 60's ford. The frame mounting was nearly the same, just had to play with the bolt holes and bracing. The plow is heavy, but the truck handles it fine. I think the older plows are better than the newer ones, and i like the fact that the plow frame stays on the truck, adding crash protection in the front. Trust me, unfotunatly, ive tried it.

My truck used to be owned by the town, and used to push a 11ft fixed angle plow around the roads in the winter

 

All the serious plow boys in the mountains of Colorado are using Western. They just hold up better in heavy snow conditions. I had the quick connect type on a 2nd Gen. Loved it. It's nice to not have the pump and other hardware on there all the time. It was a 9 footer. The little joystick controller is a lot nicer than the big cable-type older ones. If I was doing it again, I would get the type that's split in the center so you can scoop, split, or divert to either side. But...I've seen the poly plows and like the looks of them. I would have concerns about them if you were plowing dirt roads with the possibly of hitting rocks.

 

I would go with a Western Unimount. The least obtrusive setup when not using it, and on every older Western setup that goes behind the bumper that I've seen, the bumper corners are wasted from the plow hitting it. I had a parts truck w/ a unimount rack, and I let it go w/ the truck, thinking I was done w/ first gens. I've had 3 more since then .

 

My Truck came with a Meyers plow. Not sure on the model but the whole unit comes off in 2 parts Blade and pump. Its not a super duty plow a mountain pass but, it works fine for the little I use it. From what I was told if your going to put a plow to work go with a Western.

 

Check out the sno-way plow systems at, www.snoway.com Just happened to stop by the factory in Wisconsin yesterday. Very impressive system.

Jim

 

I put a Western Ultramaount plow on my truck, and am very happy with it. The only bummer is that Western doesn't make an ultramount frame mount for the 1st gen, so I had to fabricate my own, which was a little more complicated than I had expected. The unimount hangs way down under the front of the truck.

Fishers are incredibly popular around here, and do last forever, but they are heavy, and I have heard of some cases where the trip wasn't enought to protect the truck, especially on our trucks where the frame rails are a little weak behind the front axle. Their minute mount is pretty nice and unobtrusive.

The truck that Vinny bought had a slick Blizzard plow on it, with the extendable wings -- I'm not sure what happened to that plow, but it was in VT anyway.

The Blizzard, and most V-plows weigh a ton, by the way.

Most of the newr plow set ups use electric motors and controls, which are a lot easier to deal with & install than the older engine driven pump and cable controlled valve set-ups.

For what it is worth, the plow prep package from Dodge for our trucks included air-shocks in the front, that use an oversized pin on the the axle, to help hold up the extra weight. I'm not sure it is necessary, but my plow is pretty light -- I only have a 7.5" blade.

 

I have a Meyer CP8 (CP being Commercial, Polyboard, 8' wide). Its a great plow, has the E60 pump, I've never had any problems with it. However; It is heavy, alot of the higher quality poly blades tend to be heavier than thier steel counter parts due to extra bracing. According to the manual the average weight of my set up (including the mounts on the truck) is around 850lbs.

 

I run a Boss 7'6 V and haven't been able to tear up on. Yes it is heavy but with a set of Add a leafs in the from it only squats about 1 inch with the blade lifted. By the way on the poly comment, Go check the specs on a Boss Poly plow they are 30# or 40# pounds heavier. The real advantage it he snow doesn't stick to them as much. I will be headed out in just a few hour for what look to be a long day and night. Nothing like the Cummins last time our I used less that a half a tank of fuel in over 12 hours of pushing and around 150 miles of driving with the blade. My left leg was sore but i survived.

JON