# F-550



## Aspen Snow (Aug 6, 2000)

I just got my new 550. I am trying to decide on the plow I want. Either a 9' Western Proplow or a 9' Fisher. They are the same price. Or the dealer has a leftover 9' Fisher MC - Municipal for $250.00 more. I just can make up my mind. We have both Fisher and Western and love them both. Looking for some other opinions.


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## Pelican (Nov 16, 2001)

I personally prefer a bottom trip plow, so Fisher would be my choice, and for $250 I think I'd spring for the municipal duty. 

I had a Viking installed on my 550, a municipal plow with a poly moldboard and bottom trip, cost about $4500 if I recall correctly.


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## JD PLOWER (May 18, 2001)

I don't know what you plow (large commercial or municipal) but if at all possible I would look at a Fisher or western 9.6 V plow. That is one of the few trucks that is capable of holding that plow and they are huge time savers when it comes to large lots. 

Just my .02.


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## Mike 97 SS (Aug 11, 2002)

I like both Western and Fisher and feel they both make great products. My Chevy pick up has a Western, but for what its worth, i'd go with a Fisher on your truck. Your 550 is a really heavy duty truck and in my oppinion Fishers are more heavy duty than Westerns, so i'd definitely get the 9ft Fisher if you have your mind made up on sticking with a straight blade. An older guy i know, recently just purchased a new F350 PSD dump truck with a 9ft Fisher HD plow and boy, the truck handles it really well when raised even being a PSD truck. It just looks "right" on the truck. If i was in your shoes i'd get the Fisher for sure, i too think trip-edge is a better design than full-trip. Whatever you put, the truck will look nice and either choice will be a good one. Let us know what you decide and get us some pics when all is said and done. Mike


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## GeoffD (Dec 21, 1999)

I think that if you going to be doing lots, then the F 550 and 9.5' v-plow is a great combination.

Geoff


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## JRFire (Feb 4, 2002)

Just did a Quick Seach on the Western site and i am guessing that your truck is 4x4, which means that you could put a 9.5' Western V on that truck or if you wanted to go with a straight blade you could go with the 10' HW by Western also. But if your mind is set on a Fisher than i guess thats what you would get. I dont know but i would go with the extra foot of plow. Now if Fisher lets a 10' go on your truck i would go with that. Just my .02 cents


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## Brickman (Jun 17, 2002)

Congrats on the new truck. Man I am green with envy. I so bad want one of those for my transport biz. But the $$$ are holding me back.

For the record the 4x4 F 250 thru F 550 use the same front axle. Ask Pelican if you don't believe me.


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## JRFire (Feb 4, 2002)

I am not going to disagree with you Brickman, because it sounds like you know a lot about Fords. But does that mean that the F250 can hold the same size plow as the F550. I dont know if you were refering to my last thread or if you were just stating a statement about "For the record the 4x4 F 250 thru F 550 use the same front axle. Ask Pelican if you don't believe me". I think that the F550 should be able to support a bigger plow than a F250 though. And according to the Western quick search thing it says it oculd handel the plow and the F250 cant. It is probably just a big misunderstanding on my part....can you please just tell me what you were trying to say....thanks


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## chtucker (Sep 6, 2002)

It is my understanding that the older style 97 and older had the Dana 60. the 99-2002 250 and 350 single rear wheels have a Dana 50, The dual rear wheel 350, 450 and 550 have the Dana 60. This fall all superdutys are supposed to go back to the Dana 60 (250 and 350 single rear wheels included)

My 2001 and 2002 superdutys both came with the dana 50. It is the spring difference though that allows the plow. Any superduty 250/350 with the plow springs should be able to handle an 81/2 or 9' commercial (NOT a municipal) Its when you step up to the 450 and 550 I would consider a municapal plow.

Howard


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## Tillerman1664 (Sep 18, 2002)

Personally, in my opinion, (you know how that one goes), I'm not to crazy about either. I am a loyal Meyers man. My dilemma with your question is I really like Fisher products better than Western products ( my spreader is a Fisher product) however, I cannot STAND bottom trip plows. It is SOOO annoying looking in your mirror and seeing all this snow you left behind verses watching your plow kick over and knowing that you need to adjust your plowing technique. I think the question you need to look at when purchasing either one of these plows is ease of maintenance and replacement part availability; At 2am in the morning, in the middle of a blizzard and with nobody open. What are your buddies using? Where can you rob parts in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm. That's where you're gonna need them. Hence the reason why I like Meyer. I can get a Meyer part from anybody, anywhere, anytime. I'm not trying to sell you a Meyer, just buy what's best for you.


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## phillyplowking1 (Dec 19, 2001)

Go wit the Fisher..


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## CT18fireman (Nov 30, 2000)

I have never seen that in my mirrors. Trip edge blades hold the snow. Even when it gets wet and heavy. This is the reason they are common in the Northeast.

As for the axles I think John hit the nail on the head. The old 350's had the 60. Ford has gone back to this in the newest SDs. The only difference in the trucks are springs. The F550 has a bigger rear end I think. Pelican did a comparison. Frames, Cabs, steering and other components were the same. I think you could actually run a muni-Fisher on a 350 with the 550 springs put in. 

Pelican your thoughts?


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## Tillerman1664 (Sep 18, 2002)

> _Originally posted by CT18fireman _
> *I have never seen that in my mirrors. Trip edge blades hold the snow. Even when it gets wet and heavy. This is the reason they are common in the Northeast.*


The Fisher I had held the pile of snow..but when it tripped it ran up over the snow we were trying to remove. I had to keep going back over and and over what we plowed. With my Meyer I can see when the plow trips...then stop and reajust to make 1 pass. just "MY" experience.

Also have they changed the styel of pump for the Fisher? I had a pump under the hood that was a belt drive. I liked it for the fact that the engine kept the pump warm. However, do to the size of the pulley the plow raised MUCH to slow. We tried to get a smaller pulley but there was not one at that time.

1 final experience personally I dislike asking for advice on sujects like this. If I ask 20 people... you usually will get 10 for and 10 against. Good luck.


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## plowed (Nov 30, 2001)

Aspen Snow - I have a 2001 F-550 that I love. I equipped it with the Fisher 9' and a Fisher sander. Although we didn't have much of a winter last year the truck and the plow performed flawlessly. My other plows are Fisher and wouldn't buy anything else, even though my dealer stocks Western too. I had a Western plow on another truck a couple of years ago and it was OK, but I like the Fisher better.

Let me throw this at ya...as a measure of safety, would the Fisher yellow visually be safer in a storm as opposed to the Western red? Let me know if that's your deciding factor...

Regards,

John


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## Pelican (Nov 16, 2001)

Since Aspen asked about a 550, I don't want to start a 550 vs. 350 debate here, but did here instead.

On the trip edge vs. full trip: I plowed with Meyers and Western for 14 years, and with both plows in heavy wet snow, the moldboards would fold over and float on the snow. Often this would happen without becoming apparent right away and I'd drive up on the snow and get stuck. If I didn't get stuck, it would at least require multiple passes to clear an area.

I borrowed my brother in law's truck with a Fisher when my truck was down, and was really impressed with its performance. Yes, it would occasssionally trip and dump snow, but I never got stuck! I found once you learned where the bumps were, you could compensate with lesser speed to avoid dumping the snow.

I bought a Diamond as a replacement for the Western and have never regretted it. The only time I would get stuck with this plow was from sliding off the pavement on ice. (Getting stuck still sucks!) This is the reason for the trip edge on my new truck too.

I'm not trashing full trips, in my operation the trip edge works better for me. It saves me time and hassle, and does a better job of clearing heavy wet snow. Judge for yourself.


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## Brickman (Jun 17, 2002)

> _Originally posted by JRFire _
> *I am not going to disagree with you Brickman, because it sounds like you know a lot about Fords. But does that mean that the F250 can hold the same size plow as the F550. I dont know if you were refering to my last thread or if you were just stating a statement about "For the record the 4x4 F 250 thru F 550 use the same front axle. Ask Pelican if you don't believe me". I think that the F550 should be able to support a bigger plow than a F250 though. And according to the Western quick search thing it says it oculd handel the plow and the F250 cant. It is probably just a big misunderstanding on my part....can you please just tell me what you were trying to say....thanks *


JRFire I was not trying to  you. And I am not going to try to claim what you can and can't do with a plow, because I know next to nothing about that particular subject. I was only making a statement, not trying to run your comments into the ground, sorry if I came across that way.
As far as I know the Super Duty trucks use the Dana 60 axle in the front for the 4x4. The other discussion we had on the subject is here. http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6374
Hope this helps, let me know if you have other ???

I did see a Super Duty dually crew cab today with a plow braket on it. I was not close enough to tell what model it was. I assuming F 350 for the fact that it had a factory bed on it. Correct me some body that knows more about it, but doesn't the F 450 and F 550 come cab and chassis only, you can't get a pick up style bed on them due to the frame length???


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## Brickman (Jun 17, 2002)

http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33760

Here is the discussion we had on this subject on Lawn Site. This is the one I was thinking of, not the one mentioned above. That one just started. My bad.


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## JRFire (Feb 4, 2002)

Brickman i didnt think you were trying to run my statement into the ground. I just didnt understand what you were trying to say.  Thanks for explaining and sorry my last post came across that way


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## GreginAlaska (Sep 14, 2002)

We put a Fisher 9.5 V on a 2000 F550. It worked out really good, but my wife wanted a vehicle with a shorter wheelbase for plowing so We bought a 2001 F350 and put the Fisher on it. We had Alaska Spring put another leaf under the front and it has worked out great so far.


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## 99SDPSD (Jan 20, 2001)

I have plowed the past 2 years with a Boss 9'2" V on my 550. I also am not a beliver in bottom trip plows. I would rather know when I hit an obstical or the blade is overloaded.


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## 90plow (Dec 22, 2001)

The 4-550 does come from factory with a bed in some cases I have seen them on occasion and on a web site which Ill send you if I find it again.


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## plowking35 (Dec 21, 1999)

99SDPSD

Straight plows are a matter of choice as far as tripping goes, but with v plows, a trip edge is really the only answer. Its is a known fact that the boss plow just doesnt trip in the scoop position, or if it does, it will dump your snow all over. I have used both types of v plows, and bottom trip v plows are the best design.
Dino


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## SCAPEASAURUSREX (Aug 21, 2001)

*BRICKMAN*

F250's through 550's do NOT have the same front end....

The 250s' have an independant type arrangeent and the 350 's up have a solid front axle.. The solid front axle design enables the truck to handle a larger plow , whera ss the wishbone type of the 250 cause the alingment to go wack with the weight and cause the front end to fail or unecessay strain ... on the springs and frame.... I am not sure but I think the HD 250's had a dana 55 in the front ?? and the light duty 250s had a dana 50 ?? Something to that effect..


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## CT18fireman (Nov 30, 2000)

Scape.

If you are talking pre SD or pre 99 then you are correct. We are talking about post 99 SD Ford 4x4. They are all leaf sprung front end.


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## Brickman (Jun 17, 2002)

What CT18fireman said. Cuz I got a 2000 F 250 and it has a solid front axle.

I found out since I posted that they were the same, that the 99 thru 2002 F 250 have a Dana 50 in the front, and Sterling 10.5 in the back. NOW (2003) they are all the same. Sorry about the confusion.


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