# Should I buy a Snow Bear Plow?



## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

I have a 2000 Ford Ranger with the 3.0 V6 and I was in lowes to day and I saw they had 
88" Snow Bear plows for $1399. And didn't know if they were a good plow or not so if anyone has any sugestions let me know.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Go with a Sno-Way plow.


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## got-h2o (Sep 26, 2008)

I wouldn't waste my $$$$$$


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## elite1msmith (Sep 10, 2007)

anybody these days must think they can plow snow , with any thing..... if your going to go with a snow bear, just save some money and buy a sheet of ply wood and strap it to your truck


get a snow way , for sure


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## Lifted4x4Astro (May 10, 2008)

Since the 3 previous guys have a biased opinion, I will give you info based on using one just outside Oswego, NY since 1999! I used one to plow my own driveway with an AWD Astro van for all those years and the plow worked awesome for a cheap homeowner plow. I only paid $995 for it in October 1999.

First thing I must ask is what are you planning on plowing? If you are doing just your driveway and it is a pretty straight push, the Snowbear will work great. The only issue I ever had was that you had to get out to angle the plow. My driveway is really straight forward to plow so I didn't angle it very often. We get an average of almost 200" of snow a year and I never had a problem plowing except when I was trying to push the pile too high and got hung up.

Here are pics from a small storm that dumped around 80" of snow or so in 4 days...
My Snowbear has been modified to work with my Astro's full hydraulic system...hydraulic up AND down.

1st day...


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## Lifted4x4Astro (May 10, 2008)

2nd day...










3rd day...


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## Lifted4x4Astro (May 10, 2008)

4th day...



















With these pics posted, you can see for a VERY CHEAP plow option, you can't go wrong! If you do have more money to spend, then a full hydraulic power angle plow would suit you better.


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

Now that's an Astro van! The Snowbear will be a good plow if you take it easy and only have your driveway to do.


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## elite1msmith (Sep 10, 2007)

crazy van , looks fun

no i still wouldnt buy a snow bear, for the kinda money your talking , you can find a used professinal plow , with full hydros for your truck.... not have to modify or mess around getting out to angle.... 

your fare better to get the proper plow , even if it is used


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## maccrazy2 (Dec 31, 2007)

I have a snowbear I got last winter on my 98 gmc 1500 and for a residential driveway it works fantastic. It ofcourse is not a commercial duty unit and is not advertised as one. If you will be doing limited plowing at home it is hard to beat for the price. I looked all over for a used commercial plow first and did not find anything worth buying anywhere near the price of the snowbear. For me it was a toss up between a large snowblower or a small plow. I am so glad I got the plow. I can do my whole driveway in 5 minutes VS around 1 hour with a blower. I will say it is a tough little unit for the price. I got the largest blade model hoping the extra weight might help it back drag a little better. The snow here is not very wet and heavy like it was back east so it works quite well for that too. 
I will say if you get a plow you will find "friends" you never knew you had. I did get hit up by several people to plow for them when I got it. I turned down all of them but my parents (non paying job of course) because of the liability and insurance issues I have learned about on here when doing research on what plow to get. If you only want to do your own drive they are hard to beat. If you plan on making some money on the side get a larger truck and a commercial unit. Chris.


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## KGRlandscapeing (May 2, 2007)

the guy with the van is my new hero thats awesome. anyway i had to snowbears both awesome plows. If you have never used one you can not judge it in the least bit. They work dang good for what they are.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

your so limted go with a meyers classic mount 6.5 or 7.0


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## das fisch (Feb 9, 2007)

i looked around for a while for a plow for my colorado, and because of the truck choices were limited. found a snowbear for $500 that had been used maybe twice. for my drive and parents it works great. have had NO issues. yes i would have loved to get into full hydro and whatnot, but couldn't afford and also would not do much more pushing than this with this truck. had been reading opinions here for a while and saw all the anit-snowbear, but for the price could not turn it down. ordered mounts for mine, they were late shipping (backordered) so for the inconvenience i received skid shoes and a light kit.
keep in mind it's not a commercial unit and you'll be all set.

if you can find a used unit i have a set of mounting plates i'll sell ya at half price, i'm down in southern maine.


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## snowfighter75 (Mar 10, 2007)

Goin into my third winter with my snow bear and I plow 7 drive ways all winter with it. It payed for itself. Had it on my S10 4x4 the fist winter and now its on my dakota 4x4. I never had any real big troubles for the hell I put it through. Just a set of shoes replaced. So take it from there! I think you'll be pleased for the price! As for the bashers they probly never owned one so what right do they have to put it down. I hope this helps and good luck!


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## plowguy43 (Jan 2, 2008)

Coming from a Fisher MM1 7'6" Plow on a 94 F150, my snowbear is great. My truck barely knows its there (no squat when raised which means longer Ball joint life along with the other suspension pieces). I plow all winter last winter with mine and the only problem I had was I bent a bracket trying to push ice/hard packed snow back with the blade raised. It was about a week after a snowstorm and some cold temps and I was running out of space for the snow. The new bracket was $46 and I was back in business.

Also- I could've bought a used Fisher not knowing how it was used or cared for, or purchased a new one for $4000, but I paid $1199 for this on my Lowe's Card making $100 payments a month. Kinda eased the shock of the purchase as well.


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## F150dash (Dec 4, 2006)

All these guys that bash a snowbear I am guessing have never used one. As long as you use the plow in the manner that it was made for they are great. If you don't have $4000 to put into a plow then why not a snowbear. I do 10 drives with mine and it works great, only issue I have had is a strap breaking and that is cause I pull it up tight most times. It has already paid for itself. Yes I would like a plow that angles from in the truck but I would rather put the money into my construction business, as snow is just not predictable around here, so unless you are a commerical guy you aren't going to make much money here. Just don't let the bashers talk you out of it. It is worth the money.


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## PhantomRacer (Dec 27, 2004)

Snowbear rocks! Sure beats shovelling! 10 years and counting.. Plow still looks good. JUST now starting to show some light signs of rust (kept outside year round). I would buy another.

My snowbear pics from a few years ago click here










with the SB light bracket and real plow lights! The tilted light has been fixed now 

Past thread about the lights here


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

hey if gonna do your driveway its good


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## topdj (Oct 6, 2007)

I had a snowbear for 6 years I liked it, but I did not like getting out to angle! 
now I have a had a full angle plow its hard to turn back, plus Snowbears just don't weight enough 250 ish.
even what I have now doesn't at 450ish . I kinda think Snow way is on to something with those down pressure plows at least in the light truck and SUV category.


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## sugarhillctd (Dec 17, 2008)

Have you thought at all about a rear (receiver mounted) plow?

Used a self built version of the "Driveway Superplow" for the last two years.

All the front plow users- 99+% of the posters here- might poo-poo a rear mount, mostly citing visibility- but can you really see all of a front plow? No. But having used both (a 9' Fisher MM2 then an 8' rear mount) I can tell you that the rear mount is way easier on the truck. And which end of your truck already has lots of weight on it? Front. Which end do most plowers add weight to? The rear. So why not add plow weight there?

Just my experience- others may have way different opinions.

John


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## mobo (Jan 23, 2005)

I have a winter wolf and it works great I have only had to replace the strap on it once in 5 years. I have a Ford F150 and it works out nice on my truck.


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## KGRlandscapeing (May 2, 2007)

sugarhillctd;689572 said:


> Have you thought at all about a rear (receiver mounted) plow?
> 
> Used a self built version of the "Driveway Superplow" for the last two years.
> 
> ...


The problem with a rear plow is how to you make a pile? Thats why must of us use front plows. Now a truck that has both is awesome. Just one or the other i pick front


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## Jettix2 (Feb 18, 2007)

I had a SnowBear on my '06 Tundra, and broke it twice this winter. 

1st time, caught a piece of turf in the yard with the right edge, twisted the plow kinda funny and SNAP! The pivot point at the front of the plow snapped right off..........I had a friend reinforce that area with some steel stock, and thought I was good to go.

2nd time I was pushing about 10" of snow off the driveway, and pushed into a large snowbank..........we had a freeze a couple weeks back, and the bank was rock hard. I was going about 5mph when I pushed into the bank.........truck stopped abruptly, with a "screaching" metal sound from the plow. 

Plow was twisted a bit, A-frame on the driver's side was twisted, and the driver's side plow mount was destroyed...........it bent about 70 degrees downward from horizontal, where it should have been. A new mount is $250 , plus the A-frame repair, etc etc. I put it on CraigsList, sold the whole mess for a couple hundred bucks, and bought a "new" plow. (I still can't get the driver's mount off the truck, btw, it is so twisted I can't get to the front bolt).

I've now got an 8' Western Pro Plow on my 2500HD Silverado. 

Is the SnowBear worth it? Not sure. It sure beats snowblowing, but I got 1.5 years out of mine, and total cost was $1000 - 200 I got for it. So, $800.........ouch...........and really, I didn't beat on it. I think my truck was too big for it (06 Tundra). If you're plowing with a Ranger or S10, maybe you'll be fine. But I think the weight of a fullsize truck will destroy it.

Ben


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## shepoutside (Apr 6, 2004)

Put one on my Dad's Durango last year, been great, and he loves it. He dose a couple car lots too.


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## KGRlandscapeing (May 2, 2007)

Jettix2;699852 said:


> I had a SnowBear on my '06 Tundra, and broke it twice this winter.
> 
> 1st time, caught a piece of turf in the yard with the right edge, twisted the plow kinda funny and SNAP! The pivot point at the front of the plow snapped right off..........I had a friend reinforce that area with some steel stock, and thought I was good to go.
> 
> ...


Which one did you have i assume you didnt have a winter wolf there blue or red?


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## Jettix2 (Feb 18, 2007)

SnowBear, from Sam's Club...........red in color, either 82 or 84", I can't remember. Had the side markers and flap on it. I thought I loved it until I broke it twice so easily.......just too much truck for that plow, I guess.

Now I've got an 8' Western Pro Plow (steel) on my Silverado 2500HD, cost me $3300 on the truck, lightly used (maybe 1-2 years old), with handheld controller....... I hope this one lasts me for a long, long time

It's really nice being able to back-blade and have power angle, too.

SnowBear would work OK for a smaller driveway, in a climate where you don't get a TON of snow, mounted on a compact truck. I was running it on a Tundra, in Northern Michigan, with a big driveway & lots of yard to plow to keep my banks far away.

Ben


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## KGRlandscapeing (May 2, 2007)

Jettix2;700923 said:


> SnowBear, from Sam's Club...........red in color, either 82 or 84", I can't remember. Had the side markers and flap on it. I thought I loved it until I broke it twice so easily.......just too much truck for that plow, I guess.
> 
> Now I've got an 8' Western Pro Plow (steel) on my Silverado 2500HD, cost me $3300 on the truck, lightly used (maybe 1-2 years old), with handheld controller....... I hope this one lasts me for a long, long time
> 
> ...


Ya thats a winter wolf extreme i had a winter wolf the blue one on a 91 ranger for 3 seasons and now some guy who got that truck is still using it. i Had a red one on an 05 ranger for 2 season then i took it off put it on my couzins 06 then he slamd it in to some ladys car and wreck the truck in the process. But that thing payd for its self 10 times over


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