Who makes a good snow plow? I'm thinking of buying a used 05-06
3500 SRW,4X4, Duramax/Allison and want to mount a snow plow
and a dump bed. Any pics of your truck with the plow removed?
I'm just curious what the front end looks like with plow removed.
Also what's a good tire(s) for plowing?
Thanks

What kinda snow plowing do you plan on doing?

Most modern trucks you cant realy tell when the plow is off. Take a look at my garage....I think I have some front pics.

Remember insurance will be a killer. Look into that before you commit as the $ it may cost you may be a deal breaker.

The cooper M+S tires kick but in the snow. If you are looking at a more compromise tire thats good for year round use then look at something like the dunlop radial rover RT's.....they do great in the snow as well. Lotsa other good tires as well out there.

Making sure your dealer is good is as important as picking out a plow IMO if you are doing this for $. Wester, fisher(stay away from the new power plow IMO), boss(dont like thier V for high speed comercial), Blizzard are pretty deccent.

Just on my property, not for hire. Sorry for posting in wrong forum thanks for moving.

If its just for your proerty look into a regular duty fisher or western straight blade. Maybe a blizzard or boss depending on dealer and price. western and fishers mounts are about the cleanest I think. Good and easy wiring.

a 7.5' blade will technicly be too small for your truck but since its your own property running over your windros going round corners and such wont be a big deal. Neither will productivity.

Check out letstalksnow.com as well. :)

Gravel or pavement? I think shoes are options....if its all pavment forget the shoes.....if your place is gravel get the shoes and set emso they stick down a tad farthur than even with the cutting edge.

Wester, fisher(stay away from the new power plow IMO), boss(dont like thier V for high speed comercial), Blizzard are pretty deccent.
Couldn't find any info on Fishers website about a powerplow, but since Fisher and Blizzard are now owned by the same company I wouldnt be surprised to see Blizzard technology cross over. I have a Blizzard 810 powerplow and I love it. It is as tough or tougher than any Fisher I've owned, and the versatility is unbelievable. I can move more snow with my 810 than any other plow, bar none. V-plows have their advantages too, but bear in mind every time you fold it either way it is making it narrower. The Blizzard gets wider, plus the angled wings keeps snow from dropping off. The big thing with a V that I like is the ability to bust through a big snowbank to access a job that has been plowed in by road plows.

Making sure your dealer is good is as important as picking out a plow IMO if you are doing this for $. Wester, fisher(stay away from the new power plow IMO), boss(dont like thier V for high speed comercial), Blizzard are pretty deccent.

x2. Your dealer means everything. When I workded for a JD dealer, we were also a Fisher distributor... My boss would pay someone overtime to stay at the shop 24/7 during storms... if any of our commercial customers came in with anything warranty, it was fixed on the spot no questions asked... anyone out of warranty we'd get done at a fair price.

The powerplow is a gimmic, IMO. 3902 things to go wrong.

I'd go with Fisher if I were's you... I bought a used 2001 western for my truck a few years ago cuz I didn't have the cash for a new plow, and seeing that vs. the new Fishers... there's no comparision.

Fisher's not cheap, but they beat everyone else on quality and warranty.

Alot of plows to choose from. Everyone has a preference. Dealer location is a PLUS. Don't want to drive 100 miles to get parts.

Personally I have a 8 foot boss straight blade and have no issues. Used to have a 7.6 boss also no issues.
Look in my gallery for pics, have some with plow on and off.

Blizzard plows are cool, I like how they expand to help but with only your place it isn't such a big deal.

well you have a large enough truck, and maybe you will want to plow a little more, but with that truck i would go with the 8' fisher x blade.. unless the you like v plows then get the extreme v

The powerplow is a gimmic, IMO. 3902 things to go wrong.

I'd go with Fisher if I were's you... I bought a used 2001 western for my truck a few years ago cuz I didn't have the cash for a new plow, and seeing that vs. the new Fishers... there's no comparision.

Fisher's not cheap, but they beat everyone else on quality and warranty.

I have an Blizzard 810 power plow and it's far from a gimick, unless plowing more snow in less time is a gimick. It's built better than my Fisher was.

Here we go again! Mine is better than yours!!!!!!! I went from Boss to Western. I loved the Boss and only had one minor problem in 2 years. I switched to Western Unimount b/c I bought a truck with one. I since switched and now that's all I own. I have them b/c we plow large commercial lots non stop for big hours on end and my entire crew runs them. I sub myself and my other truck to a company that has all Western. There are at least 15 plows running as well as a few spares. It just works better for us. The Western Unimount has to be (imo) the most reliable plow on the market. It has now been fazed out by the Ultramount. Boss straight plows are nice, mount up nice, but unless it is now an option, v-plows were never made to fold while in full vee. Blizzard is the big argument around here, but I personally don't like them. They don't seem to operate as efficiently as the rest, they have too many moving parts, and are ungodly heavy for a straight blade. Not to mention mounting. You have to mount the headlight assy. separate from the blade. Either you want to spend extra time and work to get it mounted, or leave the lights on the truck as if this were 1973.
Meyers, Sno-Way, etc. just seem quite cheaply made and don't seem built to take much abuse. Fisher is a knock off of Western and the blade has barely any curve to it.

For what you want, I'd look for a nice used Western or Boss. The new Ultramounts are very nice, but a bit pricey. Go with a straight blade(7.5, 8.0) and you'll be happy.

Now for tires. I've had BFG MT's, AT's, Swampers, Kelly dtrs,msr's, and some off brands etc. I now run the Yok Geolander AT. The rest don't compare. The BFG's suck for snow, the Swampers & Kelly's were ok, but the Yokahama's are unbelievable. I plow in 2wd often without counterweight. Keep in mind that a lesser agressive tire works better in snow. The bigger the lugs, the more you'll spin-it's not like mud.
Here's a pic of my bracket assy & tires. I know it's not the exact same as yours, but you get the idea. Forgive me, the truck is dirty.

Thanks, you guys have been a huge help! It's will be used on a paved,blacktop driveway, 1/4 mile long that runs alongside house then has a parking area , keeps going straight back to big slab in front of 48' wide shop. We don't usually get a lot fo snow, but like this year it snowed 18" then weather turned to clear&cold for 3 weeks, snow turned into a sheet of ice, tough to drive on and dangerous for walking! Also when the county plows the road out front they leave a big berm across the driveway, a pickup can go right through it but a small car could cause itself some damage;)

Here we go again! Mine is better than yours!!!!!!! I went from Boss to Western. I loved the Boss and only had one minor problem in 2 years. I switched to Western Unimount b/c I bought a truck with one. I since switched and now that's all I own. I have them b/c we plow large commercial lots non stop for big hours on end and my entire crew runs them. I sub myself and my other truck to a company that has all Western. There are at least 15 plows running as well as a few spares. It just works better for us. The Western Unimount has to be (imo) the most reliable plow on the market. It has now been fazed out by the Ultramount. Boss straight plows are nice, mount up nice, but unless it is now an option, v-plows were never made to fold while in full vee. Blizzard is the big argument around here, but I personally don't like them. They don't seem to operate as efficiently as the rest, they have too many moving parts, and are ungodly heavy for a straight blade. Not to mention mounting. You have to mount the headlight assy. separate from the blade. Either you want to spend extra time and work to get it mounted, or leave the lights on the truck as if this were 1973.
Meyers, Sno-Way, etc. just seem quite cheaply made and don't seem built to take much abuse. Fisher is a knock off of Western and the blade has barely any curve to it.

For what you want, I'd look for a nice used Western or Boss. The new Ultramounts are very nice, but a bit pricey. Go with a straight blade(7.5, 8.0) and you'll be happy.

Now for tires. I've had BFG MT's, AT's, Swampers, Kelly dtrs,msr's, and some off brands etc. I now run the Yok Geolander AT. The rest don't compare. The BFG's suck for snow, the Swampers & Kelly's were ok, but the Yokahama's are unbelievable. I plow in 2wd often without counterweight. Keep in mind that a lesser agressive tire works better in snow. The bigger the lugs, the more you'll spin-it's not like mud.
Here's a pic of my bracket assy & tires. I know it's not the exact same as yours, but you get the idea. Forgive me, the truck is dirty.

To say the BFG AT's suck in the snow is totaly wrong. I would say it's one of the best all around tires you can buy. It's perfect for those who plow and don't run a set of snows for winter only. I have used them for years now and traction is great, 2 wheel plowing is possible most of the time.
I am biased towards Blizzard as I own one. Yes mounting takes longer as you need to install the light tower first then the plow. It still only takes a minute though. You just drive into the plow and them plug it in and the arm mounts it together them install the pins.
One thing I like is no lift chain. Keeps the bouncing down when driving with the blade on.
Now the to many parts thing or to heavy thing, it maybe heavy but you can't beat the actual use you get out of one. It's efficency is above any strait plow or even a V, unless you are breaking deep snow all day

To say the BFG AT's suck in the snow is totaly wrong. I would say it's one of the best all around tires you can buy. It's perfect for those who plow and don't run a set of snows for winter only. I have used them for years now and traction is great, 2 wheel plowing is possible most of the time.
I am biased towards Blizzard as I own one. Yes mounting takes longer as you need to install the light tower first then the plow. It still only takes a minute though. You just drive into the plow and them plug it in and the arm mounts it together them install the pins.
One thing I like is no lift chain. Keeps the bouncing down when driving with the blade on.
Now the to many parts thing or to heavy thing, it maybe heavy but you can't beat the actual use you get out of one. It's efficency is above any strait plow or even a V, unless you are breaking deep snow all day

I own 2 plow trucks. 1 with 1 year old Yok At's, 1 with new Bfg At's (begining of plow season). The Bfg's have 1/3 less tread left. The Yoks get abused much more than the Bfg's. Don't get me wrong, Bfg makes a great tire and they have improved big time w/the ko tread design. But, I have both-trust me they suck in comparison in snow. Our trucks are built around snow plowing. It is the main reason for my owning the type of trucks I do. I tried the new Bfg's this past season and was very unhappy with their performance. I had plain old Generals before those that handled better in the snow. There are tires that are much worse for snow, but there are also some that are better.

Second, I don't think in my 10 years of plowing that a chain causing the plow to "bounce" around has ever been a problem. A standard duty (I wouldn't own one anyway) plow may bounce over rough tracks or something, but come on.

Third, there are advantages to most plows under certain circumstances. As I said, I do large commercial plowing. Every single lot we have is different. We usually have a couple of straight blades and at least one v per lot. It works for us. A blizzard would not cut time in half when we plow for 30 straight hours-I don't care how great they are. For average driveway plowing, he has no need for a big bad Blizzard. For plowing the local church lot in a hurry, yes. For us bouncing off of curbs and running quickly through every lot, I'd rather not own one. I've used them, they are neat, but not as practial for me personally. I was bias to Boss until I switched.
Buy what suits your needs, finances, and one that is common to your area. You don't want to break down with anything and have to wait a week to repair it.

Sorry for such a long post, I just wanted to help while trying to explain my own experiences.

If your just doing your driveway I would look for a really good used blade. Used bladed don't have the best resale value. Go to whatever dealer is closest and see what they have. I'm partial to Boss, but we,ve had all kinds and had good luck with them. I have to agree that a blade does bounce more with a chain setup, But I reccomend just putting your blade on to plow and taking it off when your done.

i personally like the hiniker plows. the boss is second on my list. and yes i too would look into finding a nice used plow save your self some dough. as far as tires i like the k/o great in all weather, ice not the best.

rmr.....sorry to take this OT. I think you got your question answered. If not leme know and I can split these threads off. Your application IMO dosnt need a blade aimed at productivity from the likes of a blizzard or V blade etc. I do agree that a used blade might not be a bad direction though :)

Douglas dynamics(owner of western and fisher) did buy blizzard. They unvieled thier own version of the "power plow" at a recent trade show. Looking at the pics I wouldnt touch one especially the fisher. trip edge on the power plow dosnt look like a good idea to me. JMO. Hopefully they wont make any of their "improvments" to the blizzard line.(I'm game for actual improvments though....) All the "gimics and extra moving parts" of a blizzard.....well they arnt gimics. The thing flat out works. I'm actually supprised that a guy that has used one compared to a straight blade in large comercial hasnt seen a major time savings :think: I know in my larger comercial I see a big savings over my old 9.5' fisher EZV. Mostly becasue it windrows SO much better. You can take pretty much a full width bit and not worry about chasing snow bunnies(trail off) all night. Something about taking a full width bite on a 6" storm thats just :cool: and saves BIG time. The 810 is a HEAVY blade no doubt.....but my truck carys it as well as it did the fisher. With proper ballast it is fine for use on a 2500HS chevy IMO. Also a nice thing about the blizzard is that it puts more weight down on the edge than anything else out there. It scrapes very well. All that weight of the pump and such is sitting on the already heavy blade so it helps when the blade is down instead of hanging off the front of the truck going along for the ride. There are atvantages and disatvantages of the chain.....ease of short chaining in the unlikely event is about the only atvantage I see. I never realy saw the gripe about the "bouncing" of the chained blade though:think: even the blades that did have enough room to bounce(my ezv didnt becasue I could draw it up to the stops so it was rigid) the bouncing didnt realy bother me.....

Boss V's can trip when in scoop or V in theory. The wings will blow back on the relief till its straight and then it trips over like a straight....in theory.....I find in practice it dont all the time. Thats why I bought a fisher V with a trip edge. With a wing extended on a blizzard its suppose to do the same thing and it does. Never had a problem with my blizzard tripping yet.

Dont mean to get into a mine is better than yours.....but just relaying experience I have had in doing comercial lots with my blizzard. Mostly larger stuff. I can understand in a fleet being cautious about giving a blizzard to the mutants......but as productivity goes.....they realy do work for alot of areas IMO. Come cases a V would be better......but I can never see were a straight blade would be better if productivity is you goal. JMO :)

Well, Ratlover made some good points about the Blizzard. One thing I wanted to point out is that I have a Western MVP plow. I never meant to sound as if I were comparing a Blizzard to the average straight blade. My other truck has a straight blade, but mainly gets used for drive throughs, back dragging docks, etc. I didn't want to have 2 trucks with different hook ups. If one breaks down, the other will still get used one way or another. That's all. Although I understand all the + things about Blizzard, we plow real efficiantly with what we have. As I said, with all of us, there are at least 15 of the same style mount. I'd be willing to give one (bliz) a season's worth of work if it weren't for that.

westerns tend to be the esiest on the truck. overall i like the fisher plows, especially some of there new ones that have a quick conect. if you want to be nice to the truck get a western.

westerns tend to be the esiest on the truck. overall i like the fisher plows, especially some of there new ones that have a quick conect. if you want to be nice to the truck get a western.

Western's a pretty lightweight plow vs. fisher, thats why its easier on the truck. But, western's a trip blade vs. fisher's trip edge... that debate will last for years, but my personal stance is in favor of trip edge.

Fishers MM2 setup is by far the easiest on/off system out there while still retaining reliability and resisting damage. I've put 50+ of these setups together; they're virtually unbreakable.

Western's a pretty lightweight plow vs. fisher, thats why its easier on the truck. But, western's a trip blade vs. fisher's trip edge... that debate will last for years, but my personal stance is in favor of trip edge.

Fishers MM2 setup is by far the easiest on/off system out there while still retaining reliability and resisting damage. I've put 50+ of these setups together; they're virtually unbreakable.

I have ran quite a few different blades.....I will say western is not a lightweight blade compared to the fisher or any blade if you compare with a like grade or product line(regular duty or heavy duty/comercial grade). For the most part they are the same blade with a different trip mechanisim and slightly diffferent mounting style(I actually prefer the fisher) Hell....the V's are the same blade with just different mounting and A frame and a different color.

westerns trip seems to be nice is why it dosnt seem so harsh.....the shock absorbers realy soften the return up(witch oddly enough causes as much if not more bang in some instances) Trip edges seem all great in theory.....you hit something and the edge just folds under still keeping most of the snow......in reality 1/2 the time when you hit something you do it at speed and the blade rockets straight up in the air dumping a pile of snow that you have to go back for anyway. If you hit something hard the blade will fly up hard enough to hit the stops....makes you think the thing is trying to go into orbit :eek: But unlike the boss it always trips. My fisher held up well to my abuse......but as soon as it got moved down to a mutants truck it got trashed in a season :rolleyes: Has had to have a new wing put on it and that one already looks beat :rolleyes:

I do see the point behind having a "fleet" and that does simplify things. Having a bastard in the mix would creat some issues. We dont have any spare blades.....so if a blade or a truck goes down we just go to the next unit.

The blizzard hanging lights off the truck is kinda janky looking. Its easy to yank and install em but it still looks goofy. Plus to that is that the lights dont take as much vibration and abuse like when they are mounten on the plow. Seems like our old school plows were the headgear stays on the truck the lights lasted longer than the new set ups.

One thing I realy like about the blizzard and drive throughs is I can actually fit now. With my 9.5 V I couldnt.....now with the blizzard I drive straight through em, I suck in the wings and when I exit I extend the wings and I can snag all the snow thats even right at the end of the island. I will say that we had a storm that consited of 16" of very wet heavy snow.....I was actually wishing for my V in a couple spots. Different blades for different applications. But most times IMO a Blizzard will be more productive than a V. Just in the mix of comercial I have seen.

I had quite a few bugs with my blizzard the first season. But they were all do to quality control. And it never let me down were I couldnt plow. Now that I got all that fixed I should be good to go. Hopefully DD dosnt trash the blizzard line. I have seen some of thier ideas on the western and fisher line and am a bit skeptical.

Is there some reason why some companies don't list rigs with Duramax engines as candidates for their plow blades? I took my 2006 2500HD extended cab 4x4 with Dmax and plugged it into the "What Blade fits my truck" a few site came up with no blades at all, and once I changed the engine selection down to the small V8 gas engine almost every blade they sold showed up. Is there something about the way the engine is mounted that gets in the way of the typical GM mounts?

Is there some reason why some companies don't list rigs with Duramax engines as candidates for their plow blades? I took my 2006 2500HD extended cab 4x4 with Dmax and plugged it into the "What Blade fits my truck" a few site came up with no blades at all, and once I changed the engine selection down to the small V8 gas engine almost every blade they sold showed up. Is there something about the way the engine is mounted that gets in the way of the typical GM mounts?

All about front axle weight rating. I have a plow on my reg cab. There is only 1 front end available on the trucks and once you get a ext or crew cab truck that rating is close to max so the plow makers don't suggest you mount one.

just keep in mind the GM front will hold about any plow out there regaurdless of what the axle rating is. I just put a stainless fisher x-blade 8.6' on a crew dmax yesterday. turned the bars up most of the way with 600lb of conuter weight ready to go other than getting the alignment done.. as well I run 9.6 fishers on my dmax duallys other than the one with the 8.6 as for plows FISHER ALL THE WAY. the oldest plow in my fleet is a 1974 if that doesnt show quality i dont know what will, it has plowed every winter commercially since new.

Wow , so the 6L is that much lighter of an engine? I was surprised the Extended cab takes the front end to it's limits on a HD 2500. Is it best not to plow with this truck then? I though I bought one of the toughest built HD 3/4 ton trucks on the market. This is some what of a let down.

dont worry. get the plow you want and enjoy the truck. even with the dmax you wont have a problem.. IMO

I love my Fisher 8' X blade. No complaints and looks outstanding even after 2 years plowing.

Timbrins, ballast and a few twists of the torsion bars is a must with our heavy diesel engines.

Now that I got my DMax, I can't wait to try it out. Last year I was out for 14hr in the gasser and burned damn near a full tank. Im hoping with the diesel that ought to change.

get a bigger plow you wont be out so long... 7.5 is way to small.:D

Now that I got my DMax, I can't wait to try it out. Last year I was out for 14hr in the gasser and burned damn near a full tank. Im hoping with the diesel that ought to change.


You aren't kidding! I had 2 trucks out last season for 26-28 hours straight during the one storm. One was my 02 LB7 CC w/a Western v-plow, and the other my 1500 5.7 w/an 8' straight blade. The 1500 used 2 tanks to my one. I was just ready to fill up when he called me and said he was ready for a third. That made me want to replace his with another diesel (if funds would have allowed).:D

Lie-ah-bill-uh-tahh. If you go over your front GAWR by hanging a plow, and then blow an intersection because you can't stop in time, suddenly its Fisher getting sued for letting you be a dumbass and over-weight your truck. Thats not to say putting a plow on a truck makes it a ticking timebomb, but god knows how many people would just pick up a plow and expect their truck to still drive like a sportscar...

Lie-ah-bill-uh-tahh. If you go over your front GAWR by hanging a plow, and then blow an intersection because you can't stop in time, suddenly its Fisher getting sued for letting you be a dumbass and over-weight your truck. Thats not to say putting a plow on a truck makes it a ticking timebomb, but god knows how many people would just pick up a plow and expect their truck to still drive like a sportscar...

So people that put a plow on a CC duramax are dumbasses, what does that make you for using EFI on your duramax. I assume all responsibility for anything that I have done to my truck, and would not think about going after a plow manufacture because I put one on my truck. If a dealer denies a warranty on your truck because you have EFI, are you going to sue them because the dealer denied your warranty.

I guess when his after market brakes fail he will be sueing as well:D :D :D also still looking for sports car/ viper with a v plow... though i seen one today......

western 8ft imo

You will be fine plwoing with one with proper ballast.

Not only do you have a much heavier trans but the allison ways a good chunk more than gasser trans