I am Sick of the Anti-Meyer Campaign

[MusGuy]

I own a 86 ford f250 with a 351 and four speed manny tranny, It has the C-8, An eight foot plow on this 250 and it takes care of snow like no other, I am a sub-contracted plower and I work with a company that has Western and Boss, their trucks are always at the shop, one at a time. Bent A-Frame, Cracked Cutting Edge, Electrical Hook ups go bad, V plow hinge tears, Seals Breaking, One guy on his 2000 dodge, plows for one hour, tranny over heats, has to sit for 30 minutes..... I know that is not a plow issue, but my meyer is tough it pushes like a monster and I have no problems, I have maintenance issues, I check lines all the time and take care of it, but structurally this thing can not be beat. Do not beat up meyer, cause I would take on any Straight Blade Truck 9 foot or less and get more hours on mine then theirs.... and my truck is 15 years old.....

[John DiMartino]

Im glad you have a good setup,sounds like your a careful operator,this goes a long way.My experiences with Meyer havent been good,the plows that are sold here are like toys next to my Fisher,which has never let me down in 7 yrs of tough plowing.I had 2 meyers,and wont buy any more.Set a 7 1/2 meyer next to a 7 2/ fisher or western,you be the judge,same thing for the 8" fters.The C-8 is a better,beefier plow,and i dont think anyone here has said anything bad about it.

[BRL]

If you are plowing commercially a meyer E-60 or preferably E-60H with their C-8 Blade (I believe the C stands for Commercial) or larger size Commercial, you will probably be able to keep up with the real plows. If you're using their E-47 pump and or ST Blades that are not really geared toward heavy duty use, your going to have problems. That line is made for light duty use & there in lies the problem (many problems).

[Alan]

MusGuy, I don't see anything to indicate any "anti-Meyer" campaign. What I do see is a bunch of folks who have used them and not had good luck. If YOU have had luck with them, then stick with them, but other than that it would seem your experience is the exception to the rule. By the way, what's your average snowfall? Maybe in higher use areas the problems show up more frequently or earlier.

[RB]

MusGuy,

First, thanx for the post re: you stick for the man. shifter.

And I second your opinion regarding Meyer plows. This is my first year and I cannot speak from experience, but I just bought a used Meyer plow 7.5 and I would put it next to any 7.5 plow out there. It looks like it's about 25 years old but it dwarfs other 7.5 plows (almost 36" tall).

I was out plowing on Sunday and ran across the person that sold it to me. He has a brand new western 8' plow on his new truck. He pulled beside me and said he would buy my plow back any time I wanted. He said without a doubt the plow he sold me (btw he said he bought it used 15 years ago) pushes more snow and rolls snow better than his new western. He also said my e60 is faster than his western pump.

Well, what does everyone say about that one?

That's for all the Meyer users out there! lol

[MusGuy]

I have the e60 and I really do not care about speed of the pump, I look for reliability and ability to move my blade with weight behind it.... I know guy who have the 47 pump and they do not have problems.....I mean how quick a blade turns from left to right is not going to break the bank.... while you are backing turn the blade, while you are pushing turn the blade, I mean I have never had a situation where my blade had to go from left to right in .06 seconds flat.

It is all about the driver and the maintenance.... It is equipment that must be treated with respect and can not be abused... I have not had my trucks.... 79 Blazer, and 86 Ford ever break down on a job.... or lost time on it... I had a wiper motor burn out once and that was it.... You get garbage help that is untrained and has no desire to take care of the machine that is when you have problems...

I mean tell the driver, when you gas... get out and check the oil, look for hydro leaks, look for belt slips, look for frame, body and electrical problems. tell them they bend the truck, they pay the buck and they lose money extra cause they can not get paid for a truck in the shop.

And for god Sake keep the truck under 45 MPH in four wheel, so you do not burn it up.

[Chuck Smith]

A 7.5" Meyer plow, that is 36" tall? The Husky line is only 28" tall. Does this 36" tall Meyer have 4 trip springs on the back?

Here's the Husky line.

http://www.meyerproducts.com/plows/c-9.html

And yes that E - 60 is fast, and that touchpad takes some getting used to!

~Chuck

[RB]

Chuck, no just three springs, but it makes the husky C8 look small. I measured it and it's actually 34' tall.

I called the person that sold me the plow and he said it was a meyer plow that was used a long time ago. He said they stopped making those moldboards about 1975.

[UNCLE BOB]

I have a Meyer Plow and love it!!!!! my plow came on my truck when i baught it.Iam the 3rd owner,my rig was a special order from GM in 1974. My plow is bigger than 36" my board is 33"and cutting edge 6".For a total of 39" of curved board.And with my 4.56 gears and 33"wrangler m/t"s my rig will push more snow than I'll probaly ever see in MD.My plow also has 4 trip springs,power angle and H.D edge 1" thick.It has a e-47 unit but it's bigger than any other 47 I've seen.I have all original papers except "spec" sheet.I dont know what model it is only that it's heavy duty and also came with solid bars to replace springs for plowing "earth" dirt,gravel,sand,etc. I love my plow!!!!! I may be an amature but Iknow all that see it have (plow) envy. by the way my truck is a 3/4 ton w/a dana 44 in front and 14 bolt corp. in rear both 8 lug. manual trans.and 203 case. If any one knows anything about my plow please let me know. By the way you guy's are the most knowledgable I've heard of.SORRY but i love my meyer.

[John Allin]

I think I'm gonna throw up...

[Chuck Smith]

Ok, now it all makes sense. So it was in the mid 70's that Meyer went downhill so to speak. Mine is a 1980 model. It only had 2 trip springs, but I added a third.

RB seems you have the Meyer Husky of the 70's that Lazer (on this forum) called "the best plow ever made". Wish I could get my hands on one. Not likely in this area. Now I can imagine the plow he was talking about. It does sound like a good plow.

Uncle Bob, yours sounds really tough!

~Chuck

[UNCLE BOB]

Thanks Chuck I've had it for 8 years and had no problems until this week but I hope It's not a big deal.I'd just like to know about my plow. All i know is It's HUGE for a 7'6"er. thanks I love your truck site

[zipp669]

I have an 2 old meyer e-47's, not sure how tall, 7 1/2' on a 84 3/4 k-20 chevy with 1T leafs 350/350 & 83 k20 350/400..both plows also have pro wings & total 9 1/2'. I have added 2 springs on both plows so have 4 springs now..both plows r at least 20 if not 25 years old.
The major problem i have had is the electric motors burn up..this year hit a pile of dirt & melted & froze snow & sna-pped the front of the a frame right behind the pivot bolt, a little welding fixed it
I have always had good luck with my meyers & have no complaints.
I get along fine but until you try another brand the one you have is always the best

[UNCLE BOB]

Can anyone give me a guess at the weight of my plow ?

[earth works inc.]

i have had a 8' husky poly meyers for 5 years with little or no problems, but i do prefer my 8'2" boss v blade over the meyers. cant get use to the new fisher v blade control so i try not to get into that truck. i guess i just like my old control box on the boss. next plow will be a boss.

[Chuck Smith]

I'd guess between 700 and 800 pounds.

~Chuck

[jimsmowin]

i have 1 9ft fisher 1 8.5ft myers and 1 7.5ft myers, the fisher has not shown me any thing over the myer. would not hesatate to buy another myer.

[Grant]

The Meyer ST series are a light duty plow.Many durability issues depend on the operator. A few tears ago, I looked all over for a decent used one for my pickup. I wanted a light weight plow for doing un-paved driveways and yards. The ST-90 fit the purpose nicely. I could plow dirt driveways or my yard in November before a good frost without rolling up yards of turf like my Fisher would. For doing any paved surfaces with stubborn half-frozen ice and snow, thats where the Fisher really shines!

[CMerLand]

Grant,

I agree with you on how well my Fisher plow gets down to clear pavement. In fact has already cleaned 1 speed bump and two asphalt ramps right off the parking lot. NOW thats cleaning the parking lot.

CMerLand

[75]

A good friend of mine had, up until this season, an 8' Meyer (I don't know the model) with E-47 pump. He bought it way back in '77, was always happy with the pump & controls. (regular maintenance and overhaul of parts was done as required, I don't recall him ever saying the unit left him stranded) Not much of the original plow itself is left, it's been beefed and modified over the years. By his own admission, he sometimes "plows like a madman" so his stuff gets worked hard. This season he bought a 1980 GMC 1/2 ton with a 7.5 Fisher and Monarch powerpack. He likes the Fisher a lot better, especially the bottom trip blade and the fact that the A-frame and angle cylinders sit higher than his Meyer. (More clearance for stacking) Couple of weeks back the Meyer blade and pump got sold. It sounds like a lot of the people who have had bad experiences with Meyer have been using a plow that is spec'd too light for the job they're doing - that's why his blade got progressively rebuilt over the years. Can't speak from my own experience, I've got a "Heinz 57" (Western blade, custom fabbed A-frame, Monarch powerpack) myself!


1975 GMC C-35

[BillNero]

It seems to me that like the auto industry - the various plow manufacturers have their fans and their bashers too.

If you buy a Ford and it serves you well - you tend to stick to Fords - if it breaks down all the time - chances are you would never buy it again.

I have owned several of most plows ever made and I can tell you they all break down. Some more than others although I suspect most of it is Driver abuse.

I can speak with authority though when I tell you we sell more Meyer parts than ANY other plow on the market. I guess I should thank them for that.

THINK SNOW!

Bill Nero

[RB]

that is simply because there are more meyer plows out there.

that is the only reason.

Ron.

P.S.

The new Agressor is going to rock!

[UNCLE BOB]

I think I see 50/1 more meyer's plows on the road too! RB hit the nail on the head.

[Deere John]

Ok - I resisted on Chucks E-60 thread, but since this has been brought back to life, I can resist no longer.

In our market, Meyer represents about 25 percent of the sales. Arctic (made in London ON) and Boss make up the balance. However, without fail, the Meyer dealer's storefront is lined up in front with trucks without their blades (or pumps) on because their pumps are in the repair shop. I do business at the two dealers and compare notes with them over coffee.

The Arctics are often forced into the welding shop when the main centre bolt pulls through the hinge plate. That problem happens more often on any plow run by a Monarch pump pack because of the way the pump maintains pressure on the angling cylinders, even to lift the blade. The bolt is literally pulled through backwards.

We are seeing a few cracked Bosses - ones that receive really hard use. One bent mould board.

By in large though, the power packs of the locally popular brands do not give trouble, with the exception of the Meyer products. There just isn't the depth in engineering in a Meyer pump relative to pumps that see more universal applications, such a truck bodies, tailgates, dump lifts etc. The population of Meyer plows ensures a good return for those in the parts business, an frustration for those who should be in the plowing business.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

[Mike Nelson]

Here in my county Fischer,Western&Boss are big,but that is because of the dealer being aggressive in his sales.
It seems to me the only one that chooses Meyers is the truck dealerships because either the price is cheaper or they can get one put on in a hurry!
To the dealer a plow is a plow!You very rarely see one with a V plow on them.
Just the way I see it :eek: in my neck of the woods :D

[Chuck Smith]

I have stayed out of this whole thread other than a comment or two. Being happy with my Meyer plow, I am one of the "exceptions" here. I think Bill Nero made the most relevant point, when driven and operated by an experienced driver, that knows the limitations of his equipment, most plows will last for years without problems. On that same note, a properly maintained plow, will last a long time without troubles as well.

Now, if you don't want to change your hydraulic fluid at least once a season, and wait until the plow stops working, you will have problems. If you don't drain the angle rams when changing your fluid, you will keep contaminants in the system, and wasted your time changing the fluid. If you just drain the fluid, and don't clean the filters and/or screens, you've wasted your time.

If you don't clean all your electrical connections at least once a year, you will have problems. If you spot a weld starting to crack, and let it go, it can only get worse. If you find bent parts of your plow, and let them go, they can cause other parts to fail. If you have a leaky hydraulic system, and let it keep leaking, you are forgetting that where the fluid leaks out, water can get sucked in, as well as air.

Many problems I hear about with Meyer are design "flaws", but there are more problems caused by abuse and lack of maintenance. Abuse, is a broad term. What I consider abuse, you may think is "normal" use.

As far as the power packs, well, I have an E-47, and it is a 1980 model. It still has the original pump motor on it. The carbon brushes in it are original. The motor, is a Bosch brand. We all know Bosch makes good motors (and power tools as well). Do I wish it was faster? Yes. Can I live with it's speed? Yes. Has it let me down? Yes, but for "ordinary" reasons. Considering I have plowed with it for close to 100 snowfalls in 6 years, I can't complain. How did it let me down? I had to replace the motor solenoid once. God only knows how old it was, most likely from 1980. I replaced the ground wire from the motor to the truck frame, when the terminal end snapped off. Nothing unusual about a 20 year old wire breaking. When I first got the truck, I tried removing one of the valve coils, to clean it up. When trying to loosen the nut, it snapped off the threads on the coil. Nothing unusual about a 20 year old rusty 10-24 stud snapping off. I replaced all of the coil nuts with brass ones, to prevent it from happening in the future. I had a spare coil and valve to replace it with, and that was 5 years ago, it was a used valve, and it's still working fine. I put the original coil back on, since there was nothing wrong with it. Other than these items, I have had no trouble with my power pack, and believe me, it gets used, and has been used plenty!

I bought the truck from a quarry. They used it on site, and the truck had a hard life. The area that I bought it from, gets plenty of snow. For those of you who know NJ, the truck came from a quarry in Hamburg, Sussex county. The bed was "washboarded" and you could see every crossmember imprint, from it being overloaded with gravel, crushed stone, and clearly some boulders. I replaced the bed in 1997, but that's another story, that has nothing to do with the Meyer plow, other than it was most likely abused as well.

So after 20 years of hard use, what is "wrong" with my plow? Well, the pivot pin sleeves are worn. The center (king) bolt holes are worn. The lift arm is worn. The mounting pin holes on the A frame are worn. I replaced the cutting edge once. I replaced the trip springs once, because they were worn, and replaced one last year because it broke. I replced the trip spring mounting eye bolts because they were rusty, and I couldn't adjust the trip springs. (On that note, most guys don't adjust their trip springs often enough).

So can I complain about my Meyer plow? Nope. Is it a perfect heavy duty plow? Nope. Does it serve me well? Yes.

Now, keep in mind that the headgear, and lower mounting frame are 1980. Very sturdy, and durable. The fact that my blade originally had only two trip springs, is because it is so old. At some point, Meyer went to 3 trip springs on the ST 90 plows. I added my own third trip spring. My moldboard "sheet" is welded to the angle iron frame of the moldboard, along the top edge. Newer Meyer plows, the sheet is crimped over the top edge, and welded. Obviously, Meyer made an improvement. Adding the third trip spring, was an improvement. It seems that the older Meyer plows, are very heavy duty, and durable. Lazer, who used to post here, and wasn't a Meyer fan, did say that the Husky plow of 1975 and older, was one of the best plows ever made. RB, and Uncle Bob here own those plows. Bob's even came with steel rods to replace the trip springs, for grading dirt, gravel and sand. We all know Meyer's Husky line, is a much better built plow. I'm sure it can stand abuse more than the ST series. I think that is the real question when it come to what we refer to "dependability", and "strong". It's all about how much abuse and neglect a particular plow can stand, versus other brands and models.

I don't care if you own a Meyer, Boss, Western, Fisher, Artic, Snow-Way, or any other brand, if you abuse it and neglect it, it will fail, and let you down. I recently spoke with a friend who visited a company running 22 plows. All of them were 1995 or newer, with most being 1998 and 1999 models. They were driven by animals, or idiots, depending on how you look at it, and out of 22 plows, every one of them was bent, or tweaked in some way. For the record, none of them were Meyer. They also had a brand new Bobcat skid steer, that had the side of the bucket torn completely off! Does that make Bobcats junk? Not in my opinion.

On the subject of bending, my brother bent the A frame on his Meyer ST-90 plow about 3 years ago. What he did, I would imagine, would bend the A frame or worse on most plows. It was his error that did it. He stopped in one of my lots looking for me, and saw a "point" of snow, he thought I missed. He headed straight at it, doing about 20 MPH, and dropped the plow. It was actually a point of Belgian block curbing, behind a sign to stop cars from getting near it. He knocked out about 16 curbstones, and stalled the truck when he hit. He also sheared one of the pivot pins that the plow pivots on when it trips. These pins are 1" diameter, so you can imagine how hard the hit was. He took it to a welder, and had it fixed. He left the bent A frame on there. Just last month, he got a new A frame, after it cracked. He had no idea why it cracked, but it was clear to me. The angle iron frame of the A frame, cracked right where the bend in it started. The steel was stressed for 3 years. Plowing over and over again during the course of the 3 years, took it's toll.

Sorry to ramble, but yes, Meyer has their problems. It's just that most people don't assess all the facts before they pass judgment. In fact, I can guess that many of those who "bash" Meyer plows, never owned one. Yet another "bunch" of them who have, either neglected, or abused the plows, knowingly, or unknowingly.

As far as Meyer not doing any research or development, well it seems thay have lately. They have the new MD-2 mounting system now. They are also releasing the Aggressor line this spring. A spinoff of the Husky from the 70's. With a mean curl to the moldboard, and a 33" tall moldboard. I would be willing to speculate that whoever became the CEO of Meyer, between 1974 and 1980, is reponsible, for the lesser quality of their plows. Either they now have a new CEO, or they read this forum, and realize it's time to change the way they build plows.

~Chuck

[John Allin]

Awww c'mon Chuck....

Tell us how you REALLY feel.

[John DiMartino]

Chuck,I'm glad you like your Meyers,I certainly didnt abuse mine,a plow is meant to plow and should be designed to take a cetain amount of abuse to do its intended purpose.My 2 meyers plows didnt hold up-thats the bottom line-you cant explain it away-the trucks or frames didnt break-the plow and power pack did.Ive switched to Fisher and wow,no more broken plows-coincidence?I think not.Maybe you dont plow big lots or get high real high windrows that you have to blow back-I dont know,but the meyer couldnt do what I needed it to do.I always treated it like a plow-not a bulldozer blade.

[Chuck Smith]

John Di,

I know you of all people know what you are doing, and could teach me a bunch! I enjoy reading your posts on all of the forums here, and always have. I have learned quite a bit from you.

I didn't mean for it to sound like the Meyer ST series is the greatest plow out there. I also didn't intend it to sound like any problems were driver error, or neglect. I just meant that many of the problems people have had, could be associated with these factors. Not all of the problems, but many of them.

And yes, I plow some large parking lots, some with 300' runs. In fact, one with 300' runs, I did during the blizzard of 96 here, which left us with 30". Though I didn't plow 30" all at once. Parking lots are about all we plow now, with the exception of the parking lot owners houses, and a few others we have been doing for years.

As I said, Meyer doesn't make the best heavy duty plow. I do feel it isn't the biggest piece of crap out there either.

I have no doubts that you get much more snow than we do here. I'm sure that is a big factor. The type of snows, and depths when you plow I'm sure make a big difference as well.

Now, to answer another question, would I buy another Meyer ST series plow? Nope. Does the one I have suit my needs now? Yes.

I had a Jeep with a Western plow, and I really liked the plow (hated the Jeep, but that's another story). The Western stacked great. I never had a problem with it.

I am actually considering a new plow for next season, and I want to see what the Meyer Aggressor looks like. I don't want to remove my mounting frame that's on the truck. It's been on there since 1980, and a previous owner added tack welds on the brackets in places. I would rather adapt the frame to accept a different plow. I have no idea what brand I would buy. My gut tells me not to get a Fisher, I don't know why, but it does. I have never heard anything bad about them, only good. I am interested in BOSS plows, but there are none in this area for me to get a good look at, or see in use. I do like Western, as I said I have used them before. I got a good look at a Curtis plow at John Parker's place, the day of the BBQ. They look like HD plows, but I don't like the hydraulic location. I've actually began hoarding pieces to build my own plow. I know what design features I like about plows, and which things I don't like. Now if I could just find the time to build the plow! With what I have in mind, I think it would be much heavier than any of the plows on the market of the same size.

Getting off topic here..... sorry.

~Chuck

And JAA, if I do get a different plow, I'd be glad to give you my old ST for you to make a pusher box out of! :-)

[Mike Nelson]

So many stories I almost forgot this one.

Back in 1990 I purchased my first new plow for my new chevy 1/2 ton Z71 pickup.
I chose a Meyers because they were the only ones that had the black piece that covered up the bumper extension.It was purely looks I was going for.Needless to say the plow worked fine! :D
P.S.They also had a free cell phone give away :)

[Deere John]

We as an experienced and diverse bunch will not ever agree on something as personal/mainstay as brand names. I doubt very much that many owners of any brand are 100%, positutely satisfied with their own purchases. This thread points out the value of this forum.

[Mike Nelson]

Deere John,
You hit the nail right on the head.I still feel it has alot to do with dealer support.

Just imagine if there was only one plow manufacturer:eek:

[John DiMartino]

Chuck,I doubt I get much more snow than you do,but ive got some lots over 1000 ft long-so Im looking for a loader/pusher soon!I actually am looing for a Meyer St90,so I can adapt it to my S10's minute mount.The 6.5 ft blade Fisher really is homeowner grade-it is much weaker than the ST90.I think the St 90 will hold up fine on a 4500 lb S10.My GMc weighs 9000+-500 when plowing,so the ST90 really would be to light to use on it,you need a heavy plow with a heavy truck.I "d like to buy this blade,but Im looking closer to home. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=552606648&r=0&t=0