Anyone build their own Plow blade?

[dogdaysunrise]

Well winter is upon us, and im too cheap to go out and buy a plow. I have been playing with the idea of building one for my truck. I would like to make one that mounts into a reciever that hasent found its way onto my truck yet, but am open to any and all suggestions and tips.

Lets hear em boys.

EDIT: And girls

 

[Brocky]

For my Honda Foreman Es 450 we took a hot water tank and cut it down. welded on a few pics of angle iiron and some pipe and there it was. Used a power window motor mountd to the front rack with a chain welded on it going to the plow to raise and lower it. Used Chevy Hood springs on the blade for when she hooked in. For our Chevy Tracker we took a Oil furnace tank and cut it down and made one up, again we used power windows to raise it but two this time and it mounted up on a custom built pushbar. We have changed this design to now run off power steering pump and ram now. I think if you have a welder and a grinder you can come up with something but the oil tank and hot water boiler is a good place to start for the basic plow design.

 

[diesel4me]

I've made a few...

I did a few..mostly for farm tractors and quads..like Brocky suggested,a 275 gallon oil tank can be trimmed into a plow blade..its a bit on the thin side though..makes a better snow bucket for a tractor,than a plow for a truck..then you need a push frame and a lift piston..I've seen Reese receiver hitches made into crude front mount setups for a homebuilt blade,using a small winch to lift and lower it..

I've seen decent homebuilt blades made from those big culvert pipes they bury under bridges to let water pass thru..they are galvanized,so dont inhale while cutting one though!..you'd still have to reinforce it quite a bit though..the curved angle iron part is the hardest to invent..one guy used rims with the centers cut out for reinforcing his plow blade..worked pretty slick!..any big steel pipe that isn't cast would work..

We made a small "V" plow for a garden tractor we had at the junkyard out of an oil tank ,250 gallon one cut down to size...we used an old convertible top motor and piston off a chevy impala to raise and lower the blade--it worked pisser,it even had "down pressure--it would lift the front end off the ground with me standing on the blade!..we sold it before it even snowed,after a customer was impressed watching us level out the gravel in the parking lot with it,where the forkloader had made big ruts!..

But for all this work and time,I'd think you could buy a blade cheap??-I'm having a hard time selling a complete 8' Fisher setup off my 74 K20 for 400 bucks..I have everything but the pump to motor bracket,and the pulley that drives it is rotted to death..other than that,everything is there,push frame,etc..nobody has even looked,and only a few people on "craigslist" have e-mailed about it..

.I see many blades for 100-300 bucks on there in my area..
I just sold one given to me last year for 100 bucks a month ago--guy was moving,and was going to scrap it! --,it didn't fit my plow frame.and was too heavy..so I took 100 cash for it!... ..are things that hard to come by up your way??.. ..maybe its time for a "road trip"!..

 

[dogdaysunrise]

yea anything good is scarce around here. I have been watching the for sale stuff in around here and no one has anything for sale. All the ones I have found that are new sell for like 1100 bucks, and that doesnt include the mounting bracketry for the truck.

I still have a few other places to check out, but im leaning more and more to building one.

 

[diesel4me]

EEsshh!

Wow...wish I was selling my setup in your area then..I think the main reason my plow setup isnt selling here is two-fold..

A..nobody has a 73-87 Chevy or GMC truck except ME around here anymore!--at least it seems that way..you can buy a 90's GM truck with a plow for 1500 bucks around here without too much difficulty...90% of all the older ones either have plows already,or the owners don't want one ...or more likely,90% of them are in china being recycled..

B. I've seen trucks like mine with complete plow setups on them go to the junkyard--I know of 2 right now at one yard alone!..but you can bet THEY wont sell the setup for 400 or less..unless your good friends with the owners....but they would rather sell it as scrap with the blade on..it weighs more that way!..

Only 2 people interested in my setup at all--they had 1 ton 4x4's,or a 1 ton 2wd truck..I'm not sure the push plates will work on them!..the 4x4 1 tons maybe..the 2wd,I doubt it...

In the blizzard of 78,I had a '56 Chevy 3200 series pickup,2wd...No plow,but I did have access to tire chains, and lots of 2x12's...I bolted 2 pairs of them together ,2 on the bottom,two on the top,and bolted a peice of 4" channel iron to them --then welded a 2" square tube that fit into the trailer hitch on it..

I used it to plow my yard by backing up in reverse!.no up or down,it was more like a huge bumper that nearly dragged the ground!--.it didn't plow that great,even with lots of weight (snow 4' high shoveled in the bed!)..and visibility was poor at best!..but it beat shovelling 3' of wet cement snow..

I tried a "real" plow on it a year later..made rails out of 2" pipe,that went way under the truck,and pinned to plates bolted to the frame under the cab..also had angle irons bolted to the "U" bolts on the straight axle,which faced down towards the ground..the pipes were pinned to those angles..it made a quick release "push frame"!.Used a come along to lift and lower the blade--I left it down a LOT!- ..but even with a ton of sand in the bed,and tire chains,it didn't plow that good,compared to a 4x4 ,it got stuck a lot...I rigged a hand cranked boat winch into the trailer hitch,so I could crank it out of a snowbank easier!..

I suffered for many years after I sold that truck with shovels,snowblowers,and Lawn tractors that were a joke plowing more than 3"...then in 1987,I bought a K1500 GMC with a plow for 500 bucks,with a smoking 305 Monza motor..I've never been without a 4x4 plow truck since!.. --that truck was paid for in the first 1 foot storm!..made enough plowing in one winter to buy a decent 350 for it..I'd still have that truck if salt hadn't dissolved it--same with my 74 K20..

 

[gravdigr]

Used snowplows around here are rare as lips on a chicken. If you ever consider buying a plow I strongly recommend a meyer. Our plow for the cemetery is a 1978 model mounted to a modified F250 weighing about 6300#. We have plowed the cemetery with this plow every winter for 27 years. This plow has been used and abused. Just this year I had to buy a new sector, the design hasn't changed in 27 years either telling me they got it right the first time.

Currently I'm trying to find a plow mount for a 86 F250 so I can finally retire the 78. It's looking like I'll be fabbing one up.

 

[dogdaysunrise]

I have a couple of metal oil drums here, im thinking about cutting one in half and welding the ends together. Then making ribs for it, almost like a grate across the front.

Kinda like this

 

[dogdaysunrise]

Then I would use some 2" square tubing to come back from each end, on some sort of crude hinge, then come back to a main piece of 2" square tubing that goes to the reciever, also attaching to a hinge. then use a boat trailer hand winch to raise and lower it.

Its just to plow my driveway so it doesnt have to be outstanding.