truck doesnt seem to be squatting that bad either...nice job indeed

 

i think maybe about 1/2inch or so! LOL

 

hey guys just thought i'd give an update on the plow

so far I've been through 2 winchs on my 3rd...glad I got the 2 yr warrenty..

1-winch... backed into a pile of snow and jerk on the winch so hard it snapped in half...

2-winch... remote stopped working and snapped the cable backing again...

harbor freight replaced them for free because they were still under manufactures warrenty.. and my 2 year warrenty from HF starts over... can't beat that for a total investment of $45!!!

the reason the cable snaps is because when backing the plow wants to bend downward and the back of the truck want to lift upwards.. this puts a lot more stress on the cable and causes it to snap.. the solution is to install a limiting strap/chain the will limit the amount of blade travle and take the stress off the winch cable... the limiting strap is attached between the top link on the plow and is connected to the adapter near the winch.. by installing the limiting strap there is no need for a larger winch... unless you want to run a larger blade or want a faster lift/lower speed

now for the adapter...

overall it works well... with only a few problems

1. How the adapter connects into the trucks 2" hitch is poorly designed... the company uses hollow 2"x2" square tubing for construction... this is strong but they drilled two hole to mount the winch and therefore creates a weak point right at the reciever... solution... construct the adapter from 2" solid steel bar, and attach the winch with U-bolts instead of drilling into the adapter... The steel bar would make it heavier but it will not bend as easily.

2. The second problem is articulation..or lack there of.. the blade follows the movement of the truck.. i.e. if you run over a packed mound of snow with the right side of your truck.. the right side of the blade will lift off the ground and the left side will dig in...still working on a solution for this.. probobly need to add a link to allow some movement.. but not too much...

this being said.. it does a great job for the most part.. you just have to be careful and not get too carried away with the skinny pedal!

the only other complaint I have is my blade.. it's a little too light and I will be adding some bolt on weights to it so it digs in just a little more... it works great on gravle because it doesn't dig in but does a poor job on heavily packed snow...

I know this sounds like it's a total pos.. but it really does a great job for the money I have in it. It's fast, there's no truck mods needed, and you can take it off in a matter of minutes and you stay warm!!! and now shoveling!!!!!.

We are going to be getting another snow storm tomorrow so I will post pictures of before the storm and after.. We just had 24" over the weekend and I just went out and plowed and will post pictures of that too.. fyi.. they sell these on ebay now and I informed the company of these problems and they are "looking into the matter"

 

I though the blade might have been light but not so light that the snow would just go right under it. After all it seems taxing on the winch. But it is also a shot pull to get the blade up.

I'm glad you gave us an update on this cause we have been getting PISSED on with snow the last 2 weeks.

Do you have a link to it on ebay?

 

we have about 2-2.5' here in northern Ohio.. plus drifts that are bigger the the old dodge.. they had to use graders on the back roads!

The blade I got works well... it will ride up while pulling forward.. but still does a great job... If I turn it backwards and push in reverse it does a much better job on asphalt/concrete drives.. BUT.. you MUST have the limiting strap tight while the blade is resting on the ground.. this prevents the stress from snapping the winch cable

With winch: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hitch...Q5fAccessories

With out winch:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hitch...Q5fAccessories



Here I'm using a come-a-long as a limiting strap

 

its definitely a good idea if you dont have to get through 3' + of snow. have you thought about building some kind of spring to keep down pressure on that blade? im not sure how thatd work though. build a receiver hitch to put it on the front and you'd be golden

 

Our last 2 storms have dumped over 30" a pice and than 6+ on monday.

This is looking like a better idea every time I look at it.

They didn't event plow our roads this last round.

 

iwhitne, now you ought to weld a front hitch on so you can plow going forward instead of having to back up the whole time.

 

it works great for the money i have in it... I don't want to spend the money on a front hitch. The purpose was to illistrate how one could make a cheap plow that anyone could bolt to the vehicle that didn't cost an arm and a leg. for $300 I've done this.. beats the pants of shoveling

 

it was just a thought. my hitch was 25$ at a junk yard.

are you going to attach a 1/2" or so chain for a permanent limit strap?