new toys for the season

[snow]

Just wonering what you guys are planning to buy this winter? any new toys? sanders? plow? trucks? central hydraulic systems? I am planning to have my lawn customers on my street sign contracts for snow removal. I added a mirror to my snowblower to help with visibility, and i also plan on using the blower in conjunction with a gravely l w/ plow. I also probably have a bigger supply of sand/salt, along with a new spreader. What about you guys?<p>Bryan<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://content.communities.msn.com/BryansEquipmentPicts&quot;&gt;Bryan's Equipment Pictures&lt;/a&gt;<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowplow.web.com&quot;&gt;The Snowplow Homepage&lt;/a&gt;

[Alan]

Unless something really bad happens I'll have a Sno-Way Lobo vee plow next week. Then comes the central hydraulics on the 5500. If money allows (not likely) I'd like to get a small Ice-O-Way spreader for the K2500. That one has the removable spinner which is real nice,, I've seen too many crushed spinners on spreaders in the back of pickups. Somewhere along the line I'll put urethane edges on the plows, but that will probably be as the steel ones wear out and I use up my supply.

[snow]

Alan- i still don't know howthose s10's push 8' blades full of wet snow, i mean i could maybe see them in dry snow, but wet snow. also,, the lobo is a full trip v-plow so it has no way of taking the impact. Do you have any picts of your trucks or equipment? what is your aol sn, cause you're never on? you should get a fisher v or an old diamond v-plow for your 2500.<p>Bryan<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://content.communities.msn.com/BryansEquipmentPicts&quot;&gt;Bryan's Equipment Pictures&lt;/a&gt;<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowplow.web.com&quot;&gt;The Snowplow Homepage&lt;/a&gt;

[GeoffDiamond]

New shop, and some new trucks in plows.<p>Geoff

[Alan]

Bryan,, believe me, they push just fine. I wish I had pics of them in action, maybe this winter I will get someone to video them working and get some still cuts off the tape. As far as the Lobo not tripping, I have to believe the promo video and they seem to trip fine in that. If you're running scoop and one wing hits something they both come back to straight and then trip normally. Straight and vee are no problem tripping anyhow. As for Fisher-Price and Diamond, I have no desire to own either. The Sno-Way dealer here is fantastic on making parts available on virtually a 24 hour basis. He's 20 minutes away,, pretty hard to beat that sort of situation. Besides, I want to keep commonality between trucks as much as possible. If I had one off brand in the fleet I'd have one plow/truck combo that would be unbavailable if one part of it went down. As it is, I can runany of my straight blades on any of the trucks. Granted, I can't put the vee on an S, but when I get another full size one installation will let me run either straight or vee plow on it. <p>PS: I'm either anadeau710 or ajnadeau on AOL. But I have privacy set to only those I have listed, so I never show up online to anyone else<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: Alan

[Deere John]

I want a back blade for the 2000 Chev. I have tentatively ordered a 7' Arctic back blade for $2400 with power pack, but I read here (I think it was Lazer) had a back blade that was hydraulically extendable to 14&quot;.<p>Lazer, was that you? Do you (or Snow) have any pictures to post? I am pretty handy with my welder and would not be shy about building one.

[nsmilligan]

orderd a new k2500 with the new 8.1 engine<br>(the duramax won't be in production till late october) and the allison 5 speed auto. Gotta do a bunch of maintaince to my Fisher V, but I'll run it one more season.<br>Bill

[snow]

Alan, i hope i'm added to the list of people that can see you when your on, my sn is BKrois. John-i have a few photos of Geoff's on my page, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.angelfire.com/ct/construction/pullplow.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;. Searh &quot;pullplow&quot; using the lawnsite search. he put a post up on what he used, and how he built it.<p>Bryan<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: snow

[OBRYANMAINT]

INVESTING IN BULK SALT EQUIP THIS YEAR ONE SMITH V-BOX AND A SPINNER AND AUGER FOR MY TRUCK CRAFT INSERT

[OBRYANMAINT]

INVESTING IN BULK SALT EQUIP THIS YEAR ONE SMITH V-BOX AND A SPINNER AND AUGER FOR MY TRUCK CRAFT INSERT

[plowking35]

You will love that smith spreader. Best one out there IMO.<br>Dino<p>----------<br> Professional Ice and Snow Management <br>Products:Services:Equipment www.sima.org

[n y snow pros]

We will be buying 3 pull plows and 3 Z90 Kawasakis and 2 Z80 Kawasaki wheel loaders. The 90s are 5 yard machines and the 80 are 3 yard machines.<p>----------<br>J PARKER<br>914-485-4200

[Alan]

John, sounds like you bagged the big one! Way to go!

[plowking35]

I guess there is no gap in your plowing schedule now.<br>Dino<p>----------<br> Professional Ice and Snow Management <br>Products:Services:Equipment www.sima.org

[Alan]

Well,, step one of the plan is done, put the money on a Lobo today. Used but seems very good to excellent. Got it for $2750 + tax. Once the wiring harness is in (doing it ourselves) we'll go pick it up.

[atozpropmaint]

We are considering investing in a Toro Dingo TX 420 for sidewalks and tight areas. We will use it in the summer, too. But we are looking towards a winter purchase right now. Does anyone know anything about these machines?

[diggerman]

Im looking at a new blizzard plow for my 90xt skidloader has any one used if so how do they hold up? also has anyone had any experiance with poly boss plows v.s. the standard steel?

[snow]

i'd look into a pro-tech snow pusher. the blizzard plows are meant for light snow, i'd like to see them in the $tuff we get in New England. the pushers are great, and the price will probably be about 1/2 of a blizzard plow. let the users tell you how they work.


bryan

[diggerman]

I have three protechs but they do not allow for the flexability that I am looking for in a skid loader plow. There are times on lighter snows were it is just plain faster to windrow. The Blizzard seemed interesting because on the heavier snows a shorter blade can be used, We often get alot ice before a snow in the midwest, this can often be a problem for skid loaders, then the blade can be extended for lighter snows and moved further to a cup position for those times when apartment builders have left me no choice but to move the snow all the way to the end of the lot

[iowastorm]

We ulitize a Bobcat 773 and last year bought a 7' Kwick Way V plow for it. It works just as well and sometimes even better that our Boss V steel plow (we're going to buy to poly V this year so I have nothing to report as of now) that's mounted on a 3/4 ton GMC. If you work with Hawkeye Truck Equipment, you probably know that Boss has a V plow for the skid steer too, but they really haven't advertised it. Not sure if I'm answering your question, but since you service apartment complexes, you know that your skid loader is probably more efficient than your trucks. And by the way . . . our V plow on the Bobcat does do a good job scraping a ice too.

[diggerman]

Ya I did know that boss has a skidloader plow but it is way to short for the power that a 90xt has and I have talked to kwik way and am interested in its durability.I buy my boss plows out of Minniapolis a company called Crysteel,they have been about 5 to 7 hundred dollars cheaper and when I buy 2 to 3 at a time thats alot of money. I service my own stuff so that has not been a problem. The problem with the blizzard plows around here is that I hate giving my money to the competion.

[thelawnguy]

Saw the blizzard plow at a fair today, but for $4100 installed it better come with a driver(!). Looks promising but seems a little too much like a modified Curtis to my liking. Say, how about someone with extra $$$ to spend go and do a long-term test on one this season? No, it wont be me.

[diggerman]

Sound like they are try to rip you off I was only quoted $3400

[Lazer]

The guys I know who have a Blizzard aren't going to buy another one.



They have a couple basic flaws as I see it:

1.) Too many moving parts to only gain 20% more width. Should be able to almost double in size to get me excited.

2.) They have sliding components. Plows get the (*^& beat out of them and they bend. They all bend. Even if slightly, every plower I know who makes any money plowing has a slightly tweaked plow.

Bent plows plow great, but they don't slide.

3.) The specialized cutter-edge and cutter edge bolt and close cutter edge tolerances are more suitable for and internal engine environment, not "under the snow, curb hitting, man-hole cover tripping" environment of the commercial plower.


Frankly, I think the early prototypes of the Blizzard showed more promise than their current offering.

[Doug406]

We have an 8'2" poly Boss v and plan on a 9'2'poly this year. Does that say anything.

[John Allin]

I have no experience with a Blizzard plow - and am glad to have gotten someone's opinion that has one. I get asked lots of questions about new equipment on the market, and the input here is invaluable. Thanks.

I have all Boss steel plows (straight and V) but some of our subs have poly. They like them and have not reported any problems that I can recall (most of our discussions on the radio surround Meyer's parts and does anyone have them in their truck).

We have 19 Pro-Techs and have 6 more coming. The skid steer box blades work well for us, especially on sidewalks.

[Aspen Snow]

John,

What size boxes blades do you have for your skidsteer? What size skidsteer? I might need a 10' boxes blade for our skid steer but I don't know if our skid steer is large enough(Bobcat 773).

[John Allin]

We're running 6 foot, 8 foot and 10 foot on 753 Bobcat's. The 6 foot is on a sidewalk crew, the 8 and 10 foot are doing 6 restaurants that we have lined up all in a row, right next to each other. No problems.

[Aspen Snow]

John,

No problems with the 10 foot on the 753. Do they break there traction when the boxes are full? Do the Bobcats have enough speed? I was told the it is better to use a New Holland or John Deere because of the two speed transmission. Thanks for the input.

[diggerman]

Im pretty sure the new Bobcats have two speeds and so do the new Cases.

[John Allin]

We own 7 bobcats and nothing else, so I have no experience with Deere or Hollands. However, with the 753's if you DO break traction it doesn't matter if the box is full or part full - you gotta start over. A good operator is key. One that doesn't decide to stop or radically change direction while filling up the box. Generally we don't have a problem. I was with a contractor last week that had used a 12 footer on a 753 and it was problems galore. This year it will be on a 4WD backhoe loader (after some modifications to all the bucket to pick it up - and removal of the bobtach).

You can make 'em for skid steers with not alot of effort. We take junk plows, extend them out, take off the A frame gear and hydralics, make a new bobtach and off we go. Not including the cost of the moldboard, we have about $300 in materials - plus labor - to make one for a skid steer. A new one (10 foot) from Pro-Tech for a skid steer is about $3000 - so the savings can be considerable IF you have a guy that can weld good and has an eye for some remedial engineering design.

[Aspen Snow]

John,

Thanks for the idea. Like I said we have a 773 so I think it will have no problem with the 10 foot. Might think about building our own. Do you ever need tire chains on the Bobcat?

[diggerman]

Hey I used a 16ft protech on my 90xt,just picken up crumbs,but It sure looked cool.

[John Allin]

To Aspen Snow:

Only if I want to get into the paving business.
We'll tear up the pavement with chains.
Never used it, but a rubber track would help a great deal, I should think.

[iowastorm]

Last year we bought our first V plow for one of our Bobcat 773's and had very good sucess. Just curious is anybody else has used one or owns one and how has your luck been?