All about Snow Plows, wife wants to kill me

[WiredRight]

So call it a boyhood dream, but I have ALWAYS wanted a snowplow for the front of my scout. I live in NC so I've never had a HUGE need for one, but as I tried to explain to the "boss" it's just something I've ALWAYS wanted!!

So I lurk Craigslist all the time, typing in key words snow, and plow, and snowplow, etc. lol

Well today I noticed a man around the corner from me is selling a 6 1/2 foot Western Plow complete setup that came from off an S-10 truck/blazer (not sure which)

So, I was wondering if those out there with plow setups can answer a couple questions for me? If the answers are "not what I'm wanting to hear" all I ask is that you "let me down easy" LOL

So my scout 800 is 2wd with a 152 motor, 3spd manual. Although 4x4 is Ideal for a snowplow setup, I have seen up north (I'm originally from Syracuse NY) many a 2wd truck with a plow setup and talking with those owners learned that with a set of tire chains they didn't have any problems plowing.

Besides, as I said, I just WANT ONE. I don't necessarily NEED one, and doubt I will be plowing (if it does ever snow) anything super heavy duty like you northern and mountain folks do.

So:

1. Will the setup for an S-10 fit my scout even with mods? I can weld and Fabricate and am not afraid of a small challenge as long as it's not TOO extreme.

2. Does anyone else here plow with a 2WD at all?

3. Would love to see pics and hear about your plow mounting experiences with your scout

4. He's asking $600 for the whole setup, might be able to talk him down to $500 so do you think this is a good deal?

I need it like a hole in the head I know, but I've had crazier ideas before lol



Thanks

Dave in NC
1968 Scout 800
152 and 2WD

[Gary Billings]

How flat is your driveway? If it's flat, you can throw a couple hundred lbs of weight in the back of the Scout (sandbags or whatever), put some tire chains on and go to town. I'd say that with that setup you could probably push up to 6" of snow just fine. If your driveway is hilly, all bets are off because you'll be able to get down it just fine, but trying to back up it is where the problem is going to be.

$500 for a complete plow setup doesn't sound too bad. Does it have the angle cylinders?

If you have fab skills, I can't see it being that big of an issue to adapt the S-10 setup over to a Scout. Heck, if you have access to heavy gauge angle iron, you can make the whole thing from scratch if you wanted to.

-Gary

[jeff rotella]

With a few hundred pounds in the back and tire chains you can plow a lot of snow. In the 60's I tore up the front axle of my Scout 80. The IH dealer did not have the parts in stock and a special order took weeks. I made do and I had a lot of snow to plow. Just remember tire chains are hard on blacktop.
I am sure that plow can be adapted with out too much work,but if you are patient you can find an original setup maybe with a Scout attached for the same $$.

[Stan Lazeski]

Dave, I live in Upstate New York, near Elmira, and have bought some parts Scouts with angle plows for less then that. Of course up here, sometimes all that is left is the drivetrain and the plow, no good sheetmetal. Stan

[WiredRight]

Thanks for the info Jeff, I figured I would be able to do fine with 2WD and chains. What part of Syracuse are you from? I'm originally from Southside/Valley area...near Salina St/Midland Ave. I don't miss the weather lol, nor what the salt does to vehicles.

Ironically I don't even have a long driveway. I just want a darn plow. The ONE day it does snow in NC (like today by coincidence) I could run around and plow out parking lots and it would pay for itself. Mostly just have Fun!

I really can't explain WHY I want one. I guess those of you who have super sized tires, or whatever neat mod for your scout that you don't REALLY need would understand lol.

I've emailed him back and offered $500....It looks to be in good shape from the photos he sent, and is an electric hydraulic pump vs belt driven. I'll have to install another battery then i think.

I'll mostly just be driving around with the huge Plow lights on the front minus the blade most of the time, but I will look/feel so "cool"

I reserve the right to be a nutcase!!

Please keep the stories/info coming as I find the whole snowplow thing fascinating!

Dave in NC
1968 Scout 800
152 and 2WD

[jeff rotella]

If you do limited plowing you will be fine with one strong battery. That was all we had back then and it worked. I feel the coolest set up is the IH brand plow. They were designed for tractors and are kinda heavy for a Scout. You could get a 1/2 size one for a Cub Cadet.
I now live in Westvale ,just west of the city limits. I live on a big hill with a 300 foot driveway. I will try to post some action shots of my son plowing with his Diesel Terra.
My shop is a few hundred feet " south" of the thruway. The dividing line for snow forecasts. I have about 3 acres to keep plowed. We have had over 11 feet of snow so far this season.
Snow plowing is kind of an obsesson for me. My plow fleet consists of:
Two Scouts with plows (actualy my son Ben's)
Mack RD dump with 11' blade and a wing
1968 Cat 922 loader
50 hp J.D. tractor with a loader and 10' Meyers plow
Cat skid steer with a 7' plow
I have a Mack fire truck with 12,000 miles I am making into a 6-wheel dump with a ten foot western plow .(my favorite brand plow after th IH. My cousin is a Western dealer. I have owned and operated at least 10 Scouts with plows from the 1960's until 1995 when I gave up the plowing for hire thing. My Dad resold at least 100 Scouts w/ plows over the years.
Sorry for the long post , but it has been a while with no BP.
So tell your wife , compared to me you are normal
I have more plow info I can post later. I am sure if you wait I can find you an original set up for the same money.

[WesV]

I would suggest you adding an extra leaf to each of the front spring packs or get a set from a V8 800 model to deal with all the extra weight of the plow. Also make sure your spring mounts on the frame are good and even welding a couple pieces of flat metal in there as support wouldn't be a bad idea. I personally would like to put one on my beater just to do like you are, but don't feel like investing the money in it.

[blybrook]

I have a plow on my '74 that is a 8' Northman 2200. It's HD and gets the job done. The front springs have helper springs and air bags installed to help with the weight. I currently have it running of an electric pump with a single battery setup (NOT ideal) & am either going to add the second battery for this winter or finish installing my belt driven pump setup so I can get the rear winch running too. I typically do my yard, the 1/4 mile road / driveway and a few neighbor's yards. Sometimes I get out on the lakes and clear off areas for ice skating (with 5' of ice right now, I'm not concerned about going through).

I can get better pictures later, but here are a couple that I took the other day to assist on the JI board with flat tow hookups.

HTH, but if your doing light duty plowing that is fairly flat and not really trying to bank things up and don't have to do many hills, you should be OK with plenty of weight in the back and chains.

[WiredRight]

Well, due to the "downtime" I've already moved forward LOL

I bought the plow, but talked him down to $300 for everything. I need to rework the fittings on the side to side rams, and finally hook up the controls to inside the cab, but the rest is already done

It's a 6.5 Blade Western Cable operated setup. I don't have ANY hills to worry about so figure I will be fine with chains (I have) and some weight in the rear IF it ever snows again.

We had about 4 inches a week ago and I went out and had fun on my "Davernational". the Davernational (my name is Dave, love IH...so you see how it fits) is a homemade Garden Tractor.

i took a Wheel horse C-125 Tractor, chopped and modded it up so it now has a 48 inch front blade, 3pt hookup in the rear (hydraulics pending) and a 10HP single cylinder Chinese Diesel engine I bought from Craigslist for $400 brand new. I've had the motor 2 years with no issues, and the tractor for 6 years. The Rear of the tractor is pieces of old Sears Suburbans.





It took 1.5 hours and 4 beers to plow the whole subdivision. I got a lot of weird stares, some thumbs up, but had a blast!!!


So anyway, back to the Scout:

I bought the Western, chopped and modded the S-10 mount and made it work. I've already hooked up the blade and the scout sinks about 3/4 inch when I raise it. Suspension Beefing is definitly pending but it seems to handle the weight fine. I am surprised though an S-10 blazer could handle this. The Blade is HEAVY!! I was surprised how much!

looks like I need to raise the lights a little. The western really lifts up high.

Thanks for the pics of the IH frame mount. It looks like I am pretty much spot on with mine. I was a bit worried about how FAR the blade is from the front of the vehicle, but looking at yours I think I am fine.

here's a few pics...can post some more details later tonight after dinner, wife wants me off the Forum NOW LOL


Pics

Mockup:




Finished mount:





Blade on and up:



Blade Distance from Scout front:




Any critiques/comments/suggestions are welcome...I jumped in feet first and am flying blind here


Dave in NC
1968 Scout 800
152 and 2wd
Plow Nut!

[WiredRight]

Oh yeah, I already have a 2 battery Isolater installed (need another battery still) and am doing an Alternator upgrade to 105 Amp tomorrow