Snowplowing

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 06:08:40 -0400, fredbarga246 rearranged some electrons to form:

I doubt a Ranger would be up to the challenge of snowplowing.

I live in Maine, and I plowed all last winter with my 2000 Ranger.

3.0 litre, 4 x 4, 5-speed manual. I'm using a Fisher Homesteader 7'4" plow and 70# of ballast in the bed. My driveway is about 300' long, with a large parking area at the end about 80' x 80' I had no trouble at all as long as I didn't let it get deeper than about 4" Next season I plan to crank up the torsion bars a bit for some extra support up front.

I don't think I'd plow commercially with it. It's a light-weight plow.

A Ranger would probably be up to the challenge in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.

In Buffalo, the snow drifts might be a little more challenging.

If you mount the Ranger sideways, on the front end of a big truck, it will plow snow very nicely. Ron

...now that was funny.

Spdloader

As hard as it may be to comprehend, you can plow snow with a riding lawn mower.

I would not do it, BUT, You could have a plow mounted on your Ranger and could very effectively plow snow with it, but it will not hold up to the abuse as long as a full sized 3/4 ton pickup truck would.

I personally would not drive a Ranger. I drive a F-450 4x4. I plow my 2000 foot long driveway and 15000 square foot parking area with a

4500 pound 32 horsepower tractor.

These nay-sayers are not speaking from experience...

SHOCKS do not help your load carry capacity! they simply dampen the up and down movement of your springs...

I have 2 3/4 ton trucks, anF250 and a 2500 Ram, both with plows, and they do a good job. The problem I have is taking on another customer with short narrow drives and narrow streets ie: turning radius. The

2500 Ram does better than the 2001 F250 (2005 F250 supposed to be changed). If I was to put a plow >...now that was funny.

Yep, that's what I thought. Should I try the Mazda/Nissan groups too??

You're gonna have a helluva fleet when you're done.

Denny

I use standard cab GM trucks with IFS front ends and they will out turn a dodge or ford with a striaght axle with ease. My newest one is a 2000 K3500 SRW and it is unstoppable in snow when loaded and yet turns tight and nimbley with no torque steer/whip through steering wheel when crowding it in tight turns (Ujoints in straight axle are not constant velocity as they turn/flex) I will never go back to a striaght front axled plow truck or any trucks I add to my small "fleet".

Sure, get a plow with less surface area to match the size of the truck. I still would recommend a full size truck and plow if you have plow streets and drives. When my 20" mower crapped out, I got a 22" cut one. That extra

2" makes quite a difference in mowing time as will the wider blade. John

I have Edelbrock IAS shocks on it, but not for plowing. Shocks don't do anything for weight capacity. I plowed all last season without doing anything with the torsion bars. I'm going to try cranking them up a little next season to see if the truck drives any better with the plow raised.

BTW - I would not want to drive much distance on-road with the plow on. The front end is not happy with that much weight hanging on it - hence the torsion bar experiment next season.

As for the other replies: I was able to pile snow at least 7 feet high with this equipment. I successfully plowed through 3ft. drifts of *light* powder. (Get a running start)

1.5 ft. of heavy packed snow left by plows at the end of the driveway was not a problem. I would not put 500# of ballast in the bed. The whole plow rig only weighs 260#. Traction was not a problem.