homemade plow for Max II

[truckinwagen]

hey all, I got the axle on my max replaced(still waiting on some chain though, so its five wheel drive right now)

I decided to build a plow for it, my wife told me the max could only stay in our driveway if I could clear snow with it.

I built the plow lightweight on purpose, so if something is going to break it will be the plow and not the max.

I got a second hand 30 gallon drum and cut it up, bolted it together, and mounted it to a 1-1/4 angle iron frame.

the mounts are attached to the front bearing bolts, and the winch lifts and lowers the plow.

we don't have much snow right now, but I cleared the sidewalk out front with no trouble, and cleaned up the berm the city put across the driveway.

-Owen

[SCMay]

Do you have any upclose pictures of how you mounted it to the body?

[truckinwagen]

I can take a few later when I get home.

its snowing right now, so I might be able to get some action shots then too!

-Owen

[spookum]

man owen that is a bad a$$ idea. I am going to have to keep my eye out for the stuff to do that. it would be one more reason for the wife to allow aatvs around . In the deep snow, does it float at all? I think you might want to add some "pins" that go down to help the blade "float" a little. I would hate to see you moving fast and whack something in the snow, like a concrete joint in the drive way, and the blade not bounce over it and the wife laugh (as mine would) at the crumpled plow frame. terrific idea though!!!

[LarryW]

That is a cool idea! I like the light weight idea too. One thing I might add is it could use some cross braces to strengthen it from side loads like if you turn. Maybe add an X looking support in between the arms of the plow. Looks great though. Good Job!

[truckinwagen]

the frame has a cross brace on one side(ran out of angle to do the second side) but it seems really stable with just one, adding a second would hinder its ability to flex(one side higher than the other) so I will leave it for now.

I dont know how it will do with deep snow yet, we just got our second snow of the year today, so we only have a few inches.

as for the frame breaking, that is exactly what I want it to do if it catches something(rather have to rebuild the plow than the Max) and I wanted to make it as simple, and therefore cheap, as I could. making it spring loaded like a real plow would have added alot of complexity(cost)

I might make a pair of skid pads like real plows have to hold the blade of the plow 1/4 inch off the ground(maybe a pair of tiny skis)

I spent $60 on the whole thing, 20 on the drum, and $40 on steel and fasteners.

the snow curls on the blade really well, so if I keep my speed up it will push lots of snow.

-Owen

[LarryW]

the frame has a cross brace on one side(ran out of angle to do the second side) but it seems really stable with just one, adding a second would hinder its ability to flex(one side higher than the other) so I will leave it for now......
-Owen

Ok I see it know. I thought that went down, didnt see it went towards the center. Nice work! Looking forward to seeing some big piles of snow! In your picture though, not here. lol

[truckinwagen]

I am pretty stoked, I have some friends driveways to plow too, so this thing will get lots of exercise.

[truckinwagen]

just plowed!

there was about an inch of fresh snow on the ground, and my plow had no issues clearing the driveway, as well as a very long section of sidewalk(about two blocks)

I hit a few things and the plastic of the plow has enough flex that it bent and hopped before the frame got over stressed.

I ran into a berm and it twisted the plastic pretty good, but it came back into shape when I reversed out of it.
I will have to be careful not to run into berms really hard, but it didn't have any issue pilling up the snow I cleared.

its too dark for pics now, but I will get some in the morning(I will probably have to do some more plowing by then, supposed to get several inches tonight - oh darn!)

all in all, I am very pleased considering it cost me very little, and only took a couple hours to build.

-Owen

[spookum]

my hat is off to you sir, it worked just like you wanted it to. it takes a special breed of guys to think of something that cheap and have it work so darn well. WELL DONE.

[truckinwagen]

thank you very much, I have a hard time leaving things as they are.
this time I think it worked out really well(doesn't always, but failure is fun too)

-Owen

[LarryW]

just plowed!

there was about an inch of fresh snow on the ground, and my plow had no issues clearing the driveway, as well as a very long section of sidewalk(about two blocks).......

lol, I bet your neighbors will love you now! Congrats on the success!

[truckinwagen]

well, we got much more than our forecast 1 inch of snow last night, more like 4-5 inches.

I took the max out and it did really well pushing snow!
I was able to push quite a berm up, and when the plow got into snow too deep, it would ride up instead of digging in!

I cleared a bunch of sidewalk and a few driveways until I hit a standpipe and broke the frame of the plow(just like I had hoped it would) the right hand diagonal brace broke off, but I can weld it back on pretty easy.

here are some pics of the fun!







and a quick pic of the mounts for the plow:



-Owen