# SnowBear Plow



## ed salvatore (Sep 1, 2005)

My buddy has a snowbear plow bought from Home Depot for about $1100 for his Chevy Avalanche. Won't raise now.

We checked it out and found that the ground terminal post going into the winch seems very loose and in fact simply pulled out with pliers. There are threads on it, but difficult to catch the 1/8 inch or so of threads inside the housing. When playing with it and forcing it inwards, inside the housing, the plow seemed to raise properly. I was thinking of looking for a new threaded, ground terminal post to replace this (with longer threads). How does this sound and where might I pick one up?

Everything else checks out, except for this slopppy ground terminal post into the winch.
Thanks in advance.

Ed
Boston


----------



## Lifted4x4Astro (May 10, 2008)

First thing first...call Snowbear and see if they will send you a new winch!  After that, what about taking the same size bolt, cut the head off and just double nut it to tighten in. You can then use the 2 nuts to lock the cable on. Spray fluid film on it to keep from rusting.


----------



## delagem (Jan 6, 2009)

I'm guessing you're asking because the plow is out of warranty.

You could certainly try to repair it, there's not much to the motor, but some people find the brushes hard to get back in; kinda a 3 handed job, if you know what I mean.

A local starter repair shop could probably fix this for you; I had a starter repaired with more wrong than what you describe and it was only $35.

I tried a different model Superwinch, thinking I could just swap the motor; but the drives on the planetary gear were different. I made that winch work, but it's not ideal; I would have liked to stay with my OEM chain, but can't with the Superwinch ATV. I'm using the wire that came with the ATV winch for now.

My latest snooping leads me to think this winch is the same as the OEM Snowbear:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91727

But, somebody's going to have to buy one and see.....

Michael


----------



## kwollen (Jan 8, 2007)

I bought a Harbor Freight 2 ton 1.5 hp ATV winch for $49.95 a couple of years ago, now may be $69.95. This is 1.5 hp with power in and out. All I did was buy a ¼" (3/16" may be thick enough) steel plate larger than the base on the current Super Winch. Take the old winch off, center the new plate where the new plate will mount and measure the 2 wholes that you will need to drill to mount the plate on the plow(3/8"). Match or bolt the single bolt hole from the base of the new winch (drill it out to 3/8), then scribe the outlines of the other 2 mount holes from the new winch to the plate. Drill these 2 new holes at their widest point to get max clearance for the 2 ( 5/16") mounting bolts. This now gives 3 mounting bolts. Not being a machinist I had to enlarge some of the holes to make everything fit. I plan on using a chain or strap rather than the steel cable. The current controls work on the new winch. Now I have a cheap backup winch.


----------



## ed salvatore (Sep 1, 2005)

*Sno-Bear Repair advice - thanks!*

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, the plow is out of warranty. I know they are cheaply made and reflected in the retail price. Boy though, to see the winch wires/connections left out exposed to the weather though without any cover or protection is just so cheap and cheesy. Tiny, thin little terminal screw posts that strip with any amount of tension torque.

The terminal posts are apparently copper for conductivity, so a replacement steel bolt I don't think would work. We could look around for a replacement copper threaded post/screw same size and put those in ourselves. I don't know where they might be found, Home Depot or an electrical shop maybe.

But, I've found a couple of local electrical motor repair shops where I'm going to suggest my neighbor take this thing. The positive post is loose also, so for 30-50 bucks, I'd just assume have a professional take it apart, cinch two new, high quality postsin there, and end of story.

Again, cheesy, cheap plow, but with not much more design costs, SnoBear could have set the winch with electricals up much better to avoid these types of unnecessary problems.

I'll stick with my giant Blizzard plow.

Thanks Again,

Ed


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

Superwinch will sell you the motor direct - much cheaper than going thru Snowbear. Motor is around $120.00 or so.


----------



## delagem (Jan 6, 2009)

Yeah, kinda cheesy, but really not bad for the money. 8 years on mine, no failures except for the motor just this season, and I'm pushing it with a 2500 Diesel!

Somebody probably set your motor up wrong from the original install, as there are black rubber booties from OEM that slip over the wire terminals; mine are 8 yrs old and still in fine shape.

Kwollen, I'm afraid you're going to find when you try to put your winch on that the throw of the drum isn't wide enough to accomodate the chain. That's what happened to me. The clamp from the original Snowbear winch was larger than the inside diameter of the Superwinch ATV. And when I shimmed it out, the chain would strike it own frame. Would probably work with the strap type setup, though.

I believe this motor may also replace the motor on a snowbear, using the original gearbox and planetary gear setup:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_39468_39468

Once again, somebody is going to have to buy and try.....


----------



## hero419 (Feb 29, 2008)

I just broke mine and ordered a new part 1 hour ago. Mine did the same thing, pulled right out.

Superwinch is sending the cap, brushes, bolts and springs for 20 buck. At first the sales rep quoted 30, but when I told him I bought it this year he sold it to me for 20.

The reason it is not covered under warranty is that I admitted that I broke it by over tightening it.


Call Superwinch directly

Snowbear's customer service is below par to say the least.


----------

