How much advantage with V-plows?

[Iceman]

As you can see I'm new to this forum. It seems alot
of you guys are mainly using the V's for commercial plowing.
How much of an advantage do you feel there is over a straight blade of near equal width?
We do mainly commercial lots here in Mi.(drug stores)with a couple dozen drives and smaller lots mixed in. Most of our snow falls amount to 2-5" max. We currently handle these accounts with 3 trucks, all 8' or larger straight blades. Do you think we would see a big advantage with a V?

 

[Kent Lawns]

Yes, up to a 50-60% increase in productivity depending of driver, site and travel time.

Realistically most guys I've talked to agreed a 25-40% increase in overall productivity.

I'm sure others will have their own numbers.

 

[Yardworks]

The guy I bought my truck and V-plow from plowed snow for some 15 years with a straight blade. When he finally switched over to a V-plow he cut the exact same route in half. It was a mix of smaller commercial and residential. I don't do any huge commercial lots with mine(all med to small lots) so I don't have any experience on how it would work for big lots, but I think you would save time once you have a big windrow and for cleaning up trails.

 

[John DiMartino]

I thnk in most cases,a V-plow wont cut any more off your time than a set of pro-wings do.My cousin's 7'6" V boss doesnt seem to cut the time in 1/2 compared to the 7'6" pro-plow we used before.It does save time,but the v spills to even in the scoop position,it is awesome for that last little bit thats always left though.I'd love a V-plow,and if i were buying a new truck i would get one,what's 1000 when your spending 30K minumum.

 

[Iceman]

I really appreciate the honest answers you guys gave. Here around the tri-cities I see a few V's plowing commercial but not many. Most guys have straight blades with wings. Probably because we're not really in a high snow volume area. For the last 5 years 12-15 plows a season was the norm with a majority of them being 1-3"(high dollar snows).
I guess until mother nature starts dumping more I'll stick to our straight blades and light duty trucks.

 

[PINEISLAND1]

Iceman-

I've said it many times here this year. This is my first season with a V, and I will never go back to a straight blade.

My route is very different this year, so I can't say "I've cut my time in half", but it sure is more enjoyable with the V- and much less frustrating. I'm sure it saves me a good 25% though.

 

[plowking35]

I believe that the v plows main benifit are in tight areas and where snow has be carried a long way. If you have wide open spaces, I think that a straight plow will be just as fast. IMO a v plow doesnt windrow as well as a straight plow. So does this mean I will give my v plows, no way, but there is a market for both types.
Here is where a v plow really shines, we recieved 4" on 1-1-01, and another 4" on 1-5-01 and another 4" yesterday, well I had someone call and ask for a driveway to be plowed that hadnt been touched for any of these snow falls. The v plow cut right through, even tho the bottom 6" was very icey.
Dino

[Edited by plowking35 on 01-10-2001 at 10:21 AM]

 

[slplow]

I trust all the guy's on this site and believe what savings the vplow makes. My next plow will be a v.

 

[JD PLOWER]

The most usefull thing about the v-plow is the clean up. I plow some commercial lots that have picky owners that want the snow "placed" in certain areas and the V plow makes this a LOT easier. This is where the v plow does its best work. It does cut the time anywhere from 30% to 50%, so it's worth the extra intial cost.