What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Buying a plow on CL

MassMan

MassMan

1/2 ton status
Joined
Sep 20, 2010
Posts
164
Reaction score
0
Location
Massachusetts
I found a short ad on craigslist last week advertising a plow off a chevy truck for $300. After talking to the guy via email I've got some more details but I'd like to know what you guys think before I go for it.

There weren't any pictures and the seller says he's held up with a broken hip. I guess the plow is about 30 minutes away from him and 1h 45m from me. With no pictures I already talked him down to $250.

He says it was on a 1981 1-ton chevy for one year before the truck's frame gave out. I guess it's fully hydraulic and comes complete with everything. He claims it works.

My feeling is that this deal seems too good to be true. I've never even been near a plow before, so I have no idea what to ask about or what to look for. From looking around, this seams like the deal of the century, but that could be just me missing some major difference between my research items and this mystery plow.

I'm looking to put it on my '85 Blazer for the winter, mostly as an excuse to drive it around now that I can't afford to insure it for the road :doah:. I've got to drive a good distance using my dad's truck to pick this thing up, so I want to make sure it's worth it. So, my questions are:

1. Is the price just way too good to be true for a working plow setup? I'm seeing used ones for $1200+ around here as winter approaches.

2. Will it fit my truck? From what little I've read the frames stayed the same between 81 and 85, but what about the 1/2 vs 1-ton frame differences? How exactly does the plow mount to the frame? Also, I currently am running the 1" front and 3" rear blocks the PO had under her with 35" tires. I've been planning on dropping down to stock height and trimming sheet metal as needed anyway, but would a plow work with my truck's lift?

3. Is full hydraulic what I want? I'm assuming it's run off an engine-driven pump.

4. Is there anything else I need to know before checking it out? What should I check for? What are all the pieces that should be included?

5. Will I need to swap to studded tires or use tire chains when plowing? I've got 35" MTR's right now. I'm confined to my driveway and maybe my neighbors, so on-road driving isn't an issue, but cash certainly is. This will be the truck's first year running in the snow!:woot:

6. And finally, anyone want to take bets on me coming away with a set of axles from the wrecked truck? :thumb:
 
What kind of plow, Fisher? It will bolt up for the most part, may need to drill a few holes. You will need the wiring, that may or may not work on your truck. The pump brackets are engine specific. You should look at the control valves, and lift/angle pisons for rust and pitting. Get it as complete as you can. Also check the condition of the blade, thy do rot out. The price sounds about right for an older Fisher. The Minute Mount plows are the $1500-$2000 one`s. Also check the size of the blade, a 1 ton should have an 8 footer, it may be a bit large for a Blazer.
 
www.plowsite.com free and super info . me same screen name there also but i am seasonal there .

second 73-87-91 solid axle 4x4 = same basic bolt up of truck side frame work .

if all hydro then its most likely a fisher speedcaster older model like i run . good unit just little slow and MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL MOTOR BRACKETS / PULLEYS / AND PARTS . there getting hard to find.

make sure holes are round and not severe egged out / welded / fixed bad . rams are chrome on shafts NOT rusty = will eat seals fast.

if electric unit ever looked at check all functions first as 1 solinoid can be over 100 bucks . and some have 3 of these guys .

dont be to consumed by lights condition . 100 bucks get you brand new set of lights ( truck light brand ) all day on average . 80 bucks get you cheep grote lights ( thay suck ) .

blade skin no major holes as patch work = time/money and possible new skin if to bad.

otherwise not bad to play with these things but can be hard on drivelines and big time eat auto trannys . get temp gauge and cooler for sure. read this http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3020914#post3020914

use low range when your moving wet heavy stuff and or new to plowing . get use to it first then when you got it down pat try high but be carfull.

good all season ( bfg at or general grabber at/2 ) tires work best guys find . or even better snow tires with lots of tiny slits / sipping get you traction . and dont forget 500-700 lbs rear weight on back of vehicle over axle to get traction and over come the plow weight on the front. and SECURE IT DOWN . dont need it slidding all over. good recovery strap / tow rope for WHEN YOU GET STUCK it will happen ! even to the best of us.

any more just ask . and if need be post pics for us / me to see.

and last yellow = fisher or myers.

meyers = full blade trip .

fisher = bottom wear edge only trip . whole blade keeps pushin snow. ( first time 1 trips on a fisher YOU WILL KNOW IT ) :haha:
and fisher 3 trip springs = 7ft 6" wide or less. 4 trip springs = 8ft / 8ft 6" and 9ft light duty . then med duty dump truck side 9ft and 10 ft = 6 trip springs but you dont need one of those.

red = western or boss or hineker .

all 3 good plows not much major diffrent in older stuff . but older boss mounting systems hard to get parts for .

7ft 6" is min width you need to run and clear tire track with blade at full angle. i have 8ft on my 1ton with 35x12.50 tires does about perfect. but if i need more i have a extra 9ft blade to swap up to . but that is a lot of blade trust me.

last make sure your insurance covers you with a plow and if making money at it get special insurance or pay big time with 1 mix up.

dont forget a caution light .

my setup older fisher speedcaster plow live hydro no electric . cleaned up blade and frame work with wire wheel and 2 coats rustoleum sunburst yellow and gloss black .

pic 1-2 my truck all setup first year.
pic 3-4 plow when i got it for under 500 bucks .
pic 5 lights i like cause nice simple and turn signals wrap around sides for more info to other drivers. 100 buck ones i posted about.

painted plow 009.jpg

painted plow.jpg

fisher8ft1.jpg

fisher8ft2.jpg

levineauto_2138_63321720.gif
 
Well, that about covers it! I'll make sure to print this out as a checklist for when I go over there.Thanks for the quick replies guys!

Luckily, I could care less about insurance and road-legality because my truck is just a lawn ornament at this point. It has a TH350 with what looks like the old A/C radiator plumbed as a cooler, but I'll grab a cheap temp gauge to watch it. I'd just be doing maybe 500' of driveway each storm, so I doubt the wear and tear could be that great.
 
One other thing...

I currently have a big ass push bumper off a tow truck that the PO welded to what is left of the frame horns (he hacked off the original bumper with a saws-all, apparently). It looks like the plow mount comes under the bumper in your pictures, but I'm curious about bumper clearance and where exactly the frame mates to the truck's. Maybe I'll just have to find out when I get it home...
 
a/c condesor = bad for trans never get warm.

dont get a cheep gauge get a decent one.

and here is how mu fisher mounts and most others will be about the same.

speedcaster hd 001.jpg

speedcaster hd 002.jpg

speedcaster hd 005.jpg

speedcaster hd 006.jpg
 
I bought a few Fisher plows like sweetK30's ,one I got from a salvage yard off a wrecked K20 for 225 bucks for the blade and plow frame,and the joystick control,had to buy the pump off another truck because it was missing,for another 50 bucks,that I put on my '77 K2500...it had a TH350 and I plowed a lot with that truck for 10+ years before it finally lost reverse.....................................................................................................My '82 K2500 already had a home brewed plow push frame welded to the frame when I got it,and a friend who was moving had a like new 7.5 foot Fisher blade off his Ford F250 he needed "gone" when he moved ,so I was happy to go get it for free..sadly its now rotted all the way across on the bottom and top,in less than 10 years...but it'll still plow fine,it just needs to be re-skinned...I've plowed at least 50 storms with this truck,and many were blizzards that dumped 2+ feet...you cant beat a Fisher when its deep wet snow,others like Western and Myers will simply flop over and ride up over the snow when it gets real heavy..I was called in to finish parking lots guys with those brands couldn't move with their Western & Myers plows................................................................................................A small lift of 1" wont affect the plows performance,but 4" or more may require the push frame to be modified and dropped 4" to keep it level...I got a Fisher push frame and a nice Diamond plow blade for my 85 K-10 Burb last year in trade for a garden tractor,that was modified as such for the truck it was on before,that had a 4" lift,and my truck has stock suspention--the push frame is now only 3-1/2" off the ground,so I'll probably either put 33" tires on it or have to cut the push frame back down to stock specs and re-weld it..I'll probably be fine with just larger tires,as the push frame on my '82 isn't much higher off the ground and I've yet to bottom it out on anything.............................................................................................I just plowed with my normal street tires on my K2500 and was amazed they did so well,old half bald summer tread radials,they rarely ever spun!...I have since got some Goodyear Wranglers 265/75-16 that will probably work as well or better--it never snowed deep enough here last winter to give them a good test!....tall skinny tires are best in snow,chains aren't usually needed unless its deep wet snow thats drifted over the hood--I put chains on all 4 tires a few times when we had storms that dumped 36" of wet cement like snow and my truck pushed it in lo range without wheelspin,when it simply slid sideways without the chains,so yes,if its really bad,you might need chains...even just chaining the rears up makes a huge improvement,it'll be like a bulldozer....................................................................................................................................................................................................I put weight in the bed ,especially if wet heavy deep snow is expected....the 6.2 seems to keep the front end planted and prevents wheelspin pretty well,and I use hi range most of the time,lo range is more powerful,but it also makes it real easy to spin the tires..it does reduce the strain on the tranny using lo range,but increases the potential to wound the diffs or u-joints due to the tremendous torque...the truck weighs over 3 tons empty,so its pretty unstoppable even in hi range...............................................................................................I had to remove the sway bar on my Burb to get the plow push frame on it,because the previous owner who modified it and dropped it 4" for the lifted truck it was on,decided to weld the whole thing together into one peice!--so it cant be unbolted and installed one peice at a time!..made for a difficult installation,but it is stronger I guess,and I only had to deal with it once...after it was bolted up,the sway bar went back on OK.....................................................................................................The automatic tranny is the weak point in a plow rig,I'd use a good sized add on cooler in addition to the stock one in the radiator,and you must learn to keep your foot OFF the gas,after you get used to the truck when plowing,you'll find you can usually move all the snow without going much past a fast idle speed,and if you avoid getting stuck and rocking it from forward to reverse,it'll live a LOT longer!..just one episode of wheelspinning for several minutes can wipe the tranny out ............................................................I found wiring up the plow lights to be the biggest PITA...I prefer to run them off a separate switch and relay,rather than tap into the original headlamp harness,which is marginal at best for even stock headlamps...I also am starting to like the electric pumps vs engine belt driven ones,they lift up the blade much faster and dont give much trouble,no busted belts to worry about replacing during a storm...but as of now I'm running Fisher belt driven pumps on my trucks...
 
I guess a real trans cooler is in my future. Do they sell them with thermostats to keep the fluid at temp or is there some passive way of keeping the fluid from getting too cool?

I shouldn't expect too much wear and tear if I'm only doing my driveway, right? It's not like I'm plowing the whole town for 12 hours straight. I will keep in mind all the hints about wheel spin, rear weight, etc. I'm really looking forward to trying this out now! I hope I'm not getting all excited for a rusty pile of junk though.
 
I would not pay much for a plow blade,I see a lot that are like new getting cashed in for scrap often,and trucks in junkyards with complete plow setups and blades selling for 400 bucks or less...like I stated before,the blade on my '82 K2500 in my avatar was a freebie,and I see some on CL once in a while for free when sonmeone is moving or cleaning up a recently purchased property...its a challenge to beat the scrappers though,when such an ad appears......................................................................................................................................................................................................I have just run an add on tranny cooler in addition to the stock one in the radiator without any additional thermostat,running the fluid thru the oem cooler will heat it up sufficiently,at least it seems so to me,as I have never had any evidence of water from condensation in the trans fluid...and dont let the cold and snow fool you into thinking the tranny will run cooler,it is just the opposite,I have even overheated my old 77 K2500 with a 400 SB a few times while plowing deep storms,when it was below 20 degrees out.............................................................................................................................................................................................................dont let a "small" driveway lead you to think its a cake walk either,I plow our 110 foot by 30 foot one thats "Y" shaped and though its not all that "big" in comparison to a parking lot,it has taken me up to an hour more than once to beat back deep drifts,and gotten it stuck a few times,before I got it all done ...you can blow a tranny in your own driveway just as easy as anywhere else--and another thing that accelerates tranny wear and failure in my opinion is the constant shifting from forward to reverse when plowing tight places like driveways and small lots...a tranny lives much longer if it can stay in forward gears and not be constantly shifted back and forth...............................................................................................................................................................................................................my steering colum shifter was tight as a drum when I got my truck,now its loose and floppy from the millions of cycles its made ,along with the bearings in the colum now sounding rough and dry from turning lock to lock so many times--it wears the steering box a lot too,when your always making 3 point turns............some friends I plow out sometimes whine I "take too long and plow like a old fogey at 5 mph"...but I would rather take it slow and easy,than batter ram drifts at 20+ mph and risk bending or breaking the frame,plow,or ruin the tranny...despite the fact an old GM truck will plow like a dozer,doesn't mean it'll hold up as well as one if you treat it like a tank....
 
I'll keep the blade's non-existent value in mind. I'm heading up to check it out tomorrow and I'll make sure to post an update after.
 
Got it yesterday! It's a 7.5' Meyer. I know It's a bit large, but It's in great shape. The hydraulic pump and valve setup are Fisher. The controls are cables, so no electronics at all. The pump bracket was off a 350 and it looks like it will fit with little modification. I've yet to try to mount the frame, and it looks like the the mount plates were modified before. I've to to make sure it still fits, but I should be able to weld up new plates if I need them. Here are some pics:
image004.jpg

image010.jpg

image018.jpg

image027.jpg

image030.jpg

image004.jpg

image010.jpg

image018.jpg

image027.jpg

image030.jpg
 
:eek1: wow :eek1:

what a mix match of parts dam :doah:

unless you got more parts for the pump your missing the bracket to the head to hold the pump. and also the crank pulley . needs to be 1:1 ratio off crank same size pulleys both pump/engine drive .

meyers blade / what ever top section to fisher lower cross beam to what ever made side plates. then fisher ear's welded to meyers a-frame .

and how is the bottom wear edge ? clean or worn to or threw the bolt holes for the wear edge ?

it will work if you need it but what a mix match setup.

check for frozen piviot pin's on the a-frame sector to the blade . and also cracking around piviot pin tubes on both blade and sector.

and that size blade is just right for 1/2 ton trucks / blazers.
 
my truck already has a spare spot on the crank pulley that will drive the pump ~1:1. The pump bracket for the PS pump is there and the back bracket should be easy to fab based on the pictures I've seen.

As for the frame and plow, we'll see how it fits. I've never worked with a plow before so I'm kinda playing it by ear. I figure as long as the frame fits the truck I'm good.
 
That's the one I've been looking at. I should be able to make that rear pump bracket out of some angle iron, a threaded rod, and a band clamp. God, I love having a welder! I can make anything!
 
Thats common here,having a plow setup made up of various parts and brands...as long as it works,who cares,right??...the snow wont know the difference....the plow frame that bolts to the truck ,I hope it'll bolt up OK,it looks correct on the drivers side ,but the plate welded on the passenger side somehow dont look right to me...but if you can weld,it can be cut and re-welded to whatever you need to get it bolted up.....................................................................................................The Fisher pumps are getting harder to find lately,and are bringing more $$ at swap meets and junkyards..the cables for the joysticks are getting expensive and harder to find too,so keep them lubed up and watch for any spares you can pick up cheap anywhere ...some Fisher pumps are made so the pump unbolts from the "can",if its that style you can put the guts from a GM P/S pump right into it,its the same exact pump...others that are newer are brazed "non-rebuildable" units that cant be taken apart easily................................................................................................The Myers blades are probably better for driveways ,as they dont tend to rip up sod or tar thats cracked & rough as much as a Fisher's trip edge blade will--but in real deep wet snow you may have trouble pushing a full blade of snow without the blade flopping over almost horizontal...some guys here put a chain with about 6" of slack thru the center spring to limit how far it can flop over,and a few guys also added a shock absorber or two,to help keep the blade from slamming back up after it gets folded down when you hit something too..........................................................................................................I dont know what you paid ,but if you got it all for 400 bucks,I guess thats about the going rate for a setup---I sold the complete setup of my 77 K2500 for 300 ,reluctantly,about 3 years ago.....................................................................................................I've seen many whole setups at swap meets for much less in past years at Stafford Springs and Thompson Speedway's fall swap meets though,as the sellers wanted to just be rid of them and not have to load them up to haul back home...but today,prices might not be so cheap any more,seems people aren't willing to give deals like before,they know there isn't as many to choose from as there was,and they raise the prices.........................................................................................................................................................................................................since the "minute mount" plows came out a lot of the old joystick style ones have been scrapped or sold off..I prefer the old school ones myself,I'm not a fan of those new electric ones with solenoids and a "wired" joystick...and I dont mind it taking 5 minutes to put the blade on instead of "one" either...my plow goes on in Novenmber and usually stays on until spring comes--some years that is May!..I may go to an electric pump if my belt drive one craps out though,since I have a diesel with dual batteries,its already pretty much equipped to handle an electric one...
 
lots of guys with fisher mm plows want the older fisher blades to refurb and install with little mods on to there mm setups as the newer the mm setups get the lighter the blades get on fisher.

and ya i do the same . plow is on truck unless realy need it off.

and i upgraded last year to a fisher live hydro electric clutch pump on my setup. i like it sofar. still full hydro but electric clutch only on when blade is activated via special control joystick with switch on back side for left/right/up positions.

this unit bolts right on inplace of older belt drive pump. and is a remote fluid tank setup also. http://library.fisherplows.com/fisherplows/pdf/21071_103097.pdf i just didnt use the electric portion of the valves . i hooked it in to my older cable controled valve unit.

also custom made/modifyed my joystick in to the non used a/c duct hole in the dash . can rest my hand on left knee and run control all day perfectly. much better than under dash .

joystick 1.jpg

1028111646a.jpg

1028111646b.jpg

fisher jstick mounting 001.jpg

speedcaster hd 010.jpg
 
I paid $250, which seems fair. I'm building the pump bracket this afternoon. It looks like the pump is all one piece, but I could be wrong. There's so much grime on it!

As for the valves and controls, the cables are new, but they don't seem to want to move the valves at all. It might be that everything was loose when I was playing with it, but I might need to lube up the vales a bit. We'll see.
 
fyi those pump use basic dex auto tranny fluid.

dont use newer blue stuff as the flash /flame point is to low for under hood use .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom