# Ford plow truck conversion therapy



## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Picked this truck up this fall. Haven't got a good name for it yet. Was the previous owners baby but our trucks are work trucks so time to hang a blade on it.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Truck is an 01 f350 with the 7.3 and e4od auto. Higher miles (269xxx) but prev. owner said he replaced engine and trans "about" 100k ago. Truck runs strong and starts good so it's probably true. Spent the fall finding and fixing the bugs and getting her in fighting shape- new Adrenaline Hpop and Hpop lines (pic is what happens when a line goes bad), new transfer case actuator, tracking down a broken wire in the 4x4 harness, and a passenger 4x4 hub. Still needs a few things, I think she's leaking boost and could use glow plugs, injectors are starting to show the first signs of wear, but she runs good now and I can address everything else when I get time.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Found the blade(craigslist special) about 3 hours north of me. I'm partial to Fishers so i was glad to find a used blade within a reasonable distance. 9.5 xv2


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

The plow was pretty much bare when I bought it, no truckside anything. My fisher dealer is a considerable distance from
me so I got ahold of the crew at Storks plows in Bernville Pennsylvania and got all my kit delivered right to my door. Finally slowed down a little today so I pulled it in the garage and got started with the install


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

You can tell just by the pictures that the previous owner added some leafs up front. I never like the stance but I figured I'd leave them to see if they helped handle the plow. The only modification I had to do involved trimming the extra long aftermarket bolts from the aftermarket leaf packs 









after those were trimmed, the push plates sat perfect with the frame just like their supposed to. Went through and attached all the hardware that holds the push plates to the truck frame. I think Fisher builds a nice set up.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

The push plates went on smoothly, the only part of the installation that requires cutting/drilling etc is the addition of two extra holes in either frame rail to secure a bracket to. I used my Milwaukee Superhawg with a nicer($$) milwaukee titanium bit. It took a bit, these frames are fairly thick, but it punched them out just fine. 









I used my Makita 1/2" impact for tightening bolts and it made quick of that. I believe there was 18-20 1/2" bolts that went into the installation so having the mechanical advantage sped things up considerably. If you don't already own one of these and you do a fair amount of wrenching I HIGHLY recommend them. It takes about $400 to get a decent (Milwaukee, Makita, Dewalt) 1/2" cordless impact and all the necessary accessories (multiple batteries, a set of impact rated sockets), but it's just really hard to beat the power and speed these add to the job.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

And here's the plates installed with the bumper back on. As I mentioned earlier, I feel like this was a well designed set up by Fisher. The push plates have a minimal underhang on your truck and create little to no visual distraction. The lights not great here but you can hardly tell anything is down there.









that's all I got done tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I have time and can install the truckside harness. I'll take some photos and post them up if that's cool with everyone here. After that we'll hook up the plow, work the bugs out of that, throw a new cutting edge on it(parts for that are on their way) and maybe get crazy with some wings.


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

Wow!
You’re paying 2.77 for fuel!!!


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

I thought this was going to be about buying a RAM...as in converting from Ford.


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## Defcon 5 (Mar 20, 2014)

When in doubt get the sawsall out....


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

BossPlow2010 said:


> Wow!
> You're paying 2.77 for fuel!!!


He's driving a powerstroke I hope not...


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

Ajlawn1 said:


> He's driving a powerstroke I hope not...


I may know someone that put gas in a diesel, Or one of his employees did.

Ford does have the flex fuel...


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

BossPlow2010 said:


> Wow!
> You're paying 2.77 for fuel!!!


2.89 here...been that way for weeks now.



BossPlow2010 said:


> I may know someone that put gas in a diesel, Or one of his employees did.
> Ford does have the flex fuel...


Not THAT flexable...


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

BossPlow2010 said:


> Wow!
> You're paying 2.77 for fuel!!!


Is that good or bad? This is horrible but I stopped looking at price per gallon a few years ago. It hurts less that way...


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Mark Oomkes said:


> thought this was going to be about buying a RAM...as in converting from Ford.


hey now that's a service you could sell. Specialty therapist that helps people deal with their traumas related to owning a Ford. Shouldn't have a problem finding customers.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

BossPlow2010 said:


> I may know someone that put gas in a diesel, Or one of his employees did.


I heard it was definitely an employee. And listen, if you haven't had to tow a perfectly functioning truck away from a gas station cause you just filled it up with 33 gallons of 89 octane cause you weren't paying attention, can you even really say you drive a diesel? I thought that was part of initiation into the club.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Mark Oomkes said:


> thought this was going to be about buying a RAM...as in converting from Ford.


ps congrats on 30,000 man. I dunno why but that seems like kind of a big deal. Sounds goofy but I found myself scanning threads looking for your name and post count to see if you had hit it yet. There may have been a moment during the middle of my day when I was doing something totally unrelated and I got on here just to check to see if you had made it yet


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

Kinport said:


> I heard it was definitely an employee. And listen, if you haven't had to tow a perfectly functioning truck away from a gas station cause you just filled it up with 33 gallons of 89 octane cause you weren't paying attention, can you even really say you drive a diesel? I thought that was part of initiation into the club.


Lol I used to have a 6.0
I never put gas in it, but I did get bad fuel from the same station, twice... 


Kinport said:


> ps congrats on 30,000 man. I dunno why but that seems like kind of a big deal. Sounds goofy but I found myself scanning threads looking for your name and post count to see if you had hit it yet. There may have been a moment during the middle of my day when I was doing something totally unrelated and I got on here just to check to see if you had made it yet


30k posts that are still here, we estimate 60-90,000 actual posts, but they got 86'ed...


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

BossPlow2010 said:


> 30k posts that are still here, we estimate 60-90,000 actual posts, but they got 86'ed...


Dudes a legend. 1st ballot plowsite HoF for sure



BossPlow2010 said:


> Lol I used to have a 6.0


Your the perfect candidate for an experimental therapy he's thinking of starting...


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

Kinport said:


> Dudes a legend. 1st ballot plowsite HoF for sure


He'll never make it... Stats are watered down and too many PED scandals...


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Kinport said:


> Picked this truck up this fall. Haven't got a good name for it yet. Was the previous owners baby but our trucks are work trucks so time to hang a blade on it.
> View attachment 200299


Call it ******, been using that name for decades.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

BossPlow2010 said:


> Wow!
> You're paying 2.77 for fuel!!!


Wyoming fuel is a little more once you're away from the interstate.
Paying $2.33 for Reg, $2.63 for Hi-test and $2.61 for Diesel here


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## Mistifier (Aug 21, 2016)

BossPlow2010 said:


> Wow!
> You're paying 2.77 for fuel!!!


$2.77 for good fuel here too.


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## Hydromaster (Jun 11, 2018)

$2.67 -$2.68 for #2


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

BUFF said:


> Call it ******, been using that name for decades.


I'll run that by the lady. I think she's the reason the trucks have names (Diary of Eve reference for any of you Mark Twain fans). If I say "babe, Ive got a leaky rear on the 01 F350" I just get blank stares. But if I say "Babe, I've got a leaky rear on Bob" she instantly know what one I'm talking about. Plus, it's fun to say it that way in the parts house


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Ok, back at it. Didn't get much done last night but I had some time tonight. Started with running the truckside harness 









the hardest part of the harness install was just finding space to get everything tucked away. There's not a lot of extra room in the engine compartment, and no real flat space to mount the isolation module. I didn't like it, but I finally ended up mounting it to the fuse box lid. They're about the same size so the fit was decent, I just didn't like it being on top of a box I'll need to get into a some point. However, I can still get into it even with the iso module on there so I'll leave it for now while I try and find a better place for it. Here's everything all plugged in while I tried to find a way to make it look clean.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Punching through the firewall







she needs a good vacuuming real bad.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Here's everything mostly cleaned up. Still needs zip ties but I think it's where it's gonna go









here's the isolation module sitting on the fuse box lid before I squared it up and secured it


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Time to hook the plow up. I'd dumped it on an unused corner of the property when I brought it home a few months ago, used the tractor to move it over to a somewhat flat piece of asphalt. The extra height of the front end coupled with the fact the the plow raise/lower ram had been collapsed and then short chained like that made it more challenging than usual, so I had to use the tractor and a decent sized floor jack to get everything lined up and connected. 
To my surprise, everything worked! The only issue was the lift chain was too short because of the extra height. I made it to the hardware store 2 minutes before closing and got the right length of chain. Got it put on there and we were in business.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

So now the plows on. It's not finished but we're getting there. It needs a new cutting edge before we do anything serious with it, that's supposed to be here Tuesday. Ordered my wings today, but I don't think they'll be here till end of next week, or even the next Monday- Tuesday. I also need to adjust the frame to account for the height. I don't think it will go low enough to make it right so I may need to fab something. Anyways, here's what she looks like with the plow on it. I'll get more pictures with the new cutting edge and wings.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

Are the rear leaf springs shot or something?

Seems like your front end is way up in the air and the rear is squashed when you are hooked to a wagon.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Philbilly2 said:


> Are the rear leaf springs shot or something?
> 
> Seems like your front end is way up in the air and the rear is squashed when you are hooked to a wagon.


Looks like that all the time. Previous owner added leafs up front and left the back stock, I'm assuming so he could run 35s. I hate the look of it but I left it thinking that a 9.5 fisher with wings would drop it way down. Wrong. With all those extra leafs the truck drops maybe 1/2 inch when the plow is lifted. So I'll either wait till this spring after plow season to drop the front or I'll just lift the back to level it out. I prefer stock ride height


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)




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## TwiceStroked (Feb 8, 2010)

BUFF said:


> Wyoming fuel is a little more once you're away from the interstate.
> Paying $2.33 for Reg, $2.63 for Hi-test and $2.61 for Diesel here


Lucky Dog
Been hovering around $3. Here


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Still waiting on wings for this set up...2 weeks now

in the mean time

oof....


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Kinport said:


> Still waiting on wings for this set up...2 weeks now
> 
> in the mean time
> 
> ...


Head gear hosed up? Seems a little droopy on the passenger side.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Bingo- hit a pile at a decent clip and when I backed out I could see something was off. Passenger side latch seems to have busted. I’ll dive into it tomorrow. It’s only 20 something years old, I guess it’s earned a break for a couple days.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Finally! They made it!


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Got rid of the old edge, It was toast. A full cutting edge assembly is something like $425.00 from the dealer. I ordered the center section for 130ish or something like that and then went to a steel shop in town and had them cut the 2 large edges. They were out of AR and I didn't want to wait so mild steel it is. Prepped it and tried painting it but it was too cold in the garage so the wife's runaround became a drying booth. Space heater and the cars heat cranked all the way up did the trick.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Old vs new. Just a little wore out 








Got the rest of the cutting edge installed and started on the wings. The plow may be tweaked just a little because it wasn't a perfect fit but it was close. A c clamp and a decent hammer got it all lined up and pinned together. Here she is finally assembled:


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

11'3ish" from end to end.








I didn't get the blade stop kit they recommend put on yet, I'm gonna try and get that done tomorrow and then we'll try it out. I'll try and get some pictures of it in action.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Once you plow with wings on a V you'll kick your own ash for not getting them sooner


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## thelettuceman (Nov 23, 2010)

Prepped it and tried painting it but it was too cold in the garage so the wife’s runaround became a drying booth. Space heater and the cars heat cranked all the way up did the trick....
Did the odor stay in the wife's vehicle??? ... Very nice work BTW !!!


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

thelettuceman said:


> Did the odor stay in the wife's vehicle???QUOTE]
> Who cares....If she complains give her a choice to get over it or toss a dead skunk in it.Thumbs Up


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Haha yea it smelled a little but didn’t last too long. We’ve hit the point where she’s realized I’m wired weird and not very much surprises her anymore.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Saw my first skunk of the year a week or so ago. Our dog gets blasted a few times each year, usually in the spring and I’m the one that gets to take care of it. Maybe I’ll keep one around...


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Kinport said:


> Saw my first skunk of the year a week or so ago. Our dog gets blasted a few times each year, usually in the spring and I'm the one that gets to take care of it. Maybe I'll keep one around...


Typically March seems to be the time Skunks are start getting active.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Part dos!









Picked this little 250 up this summer. Pretty clean truck for being old enough to drink. Had to replace the injectors 








And now it's ready for a plow!


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

The good ole days...kind of a glutton for punishment. There's engines out there that don't have to have new injectors fairly regularly. Or all the other myriad repair and tow bills.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Found this xtremeV a couple hours north of me, went a grabbed it Monday night. I wanted an xv2 but there's not much of a used market around here and it was getting late in the season so I pulled the trigger. Paid way to much for it, we'll see if everything works when I hook it up to the truck.








Pull the truck in last night to install my push plates. Everything lined up. Mostly. A little drill action and we are in business








Hopefully I can get a little time tonight to get the harness installed.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Mark Oomkes said:


> kind of a glutton for punishment


correct. Someday I'll sell all my junk and maybe be able to pay for half of a new truck and be able to spend more evenings with my wife instead of my trucks. Till then I nurse the old stuff along


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Kinport said:


> Part dos!
> View attachment 207986
> 
> 
> ...


We sure are fortunate to live in an area were rust isn't an issue like other parts of the country.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Kinport said:


> be able to spend more evenings with my wife instead of my trucks.


Careful of what you wish for...... :laugh:


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

BUFF said:


> We sure are fortunate to live in an area were rust isn't an issue like other parts of the country.


with the exception of Salt Lake County. Everything I've got from there has been a nasty rusty mess. I've bought 3 or 4 trucks from down there and I dreaded working underneath those things. I guess with the lake and large salt deposits nearby it makes sense


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Kinport said:


> with the exception of Salt Lake County. Everything I've got from there has been a nasty rusty mess. I've bought 3 or 4 trucks from down there and I dreaded working underneath those things. I guess with the lake and large salt deposits nearby it makes sense


Nah that's not it.... The Wardens younger brother lives in Roy and works at Hill AFB as a EE. He says they salt the roads there, I figure the reason is so LDS women can nurse, change diapers and still drive 80mph safely in their mini vans.....


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

BUFF said:


> Nah that's not it.... The Wardens younger brother lives in Roy and works at Hill AFB as a EE. He says they salt the roads there, I figure the reason is so LDS women can nurse, change diapers and still drive 80mph safely in their mini vans.....


yes to this


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Well I got the harness in last night and hooked up to the plow. Plugged the plow in and was having issues with the control. The buttons were running the wrong functions etc. did some troubleshooting and traced it back to a bad fuse on the plow side module harness. Switched the fuse and everything works like it should. I've got one low beam headlight that needs replaced and I'll probably replace hoses in the near future and add some wings but For the most part she's ready for service


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Found this little baby salter from a big outfit a few hours south of me back around Thanksgiving. Just like most things, I waited until the snow was falling on our first decent storm to put it together tonight. I think I kind of jumped the gun cause after I bought it I started reading reviews online and found a bunch of people who weren't happy with it. I'm headed out here in a few hours so I guess I'll get to see firsthand. My big beef that I have already is I'm going to have to ditch my blower in lieu of a shovel until I get something fabbed up to hold my blower on the back. I do like it's low profile but of course it comes at the cost of capacity. At least it's the right color


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Can anybody tell me the purpose of the curved metal bar that sits around the spinner? I'm assuming it's to protect the spinner but realistically if I back into something the hollow nothing-gauge steel won't do anything. If I can delete it I could slide something into my receiver as a starting point for a platform for my blower to sit on.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Kinport said:


> Can anybody tell me the purpose of the curved metal bar that sits around the spinner? I'm assuming it's to protect the spinner but realistically if I back into something the hollow nothing-gauge steel won't do anything. If I can delete it I could slide something into my receiver as a starting point for a platform for my blower to sit on.
> View attachment 209851


I'm guessing it's to protect the spinner while backing into snowpiles.


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## Fourteen Contracting Inc. (Jul 5, 2019)

Kinport said:


> Can anybody tell me the purpose of the curved metal bar that sits around the spinner? I'm assuming it's to protect the spinner but realistically if I back into something the hollow nothing-gauge steel won't do anything. If I can delete it I could slide something into my receiver as a starting point for a platform for my blower to sit on.
> View attachment 209851


I've used this product in the past. I'd recommend trying to find the aluminum one. Annoyance is you have to unhook and take off the spinner assembly everytime. It will hold a single stage snowblower (toro 721 for example) I'm pretty sure we had an epoke mini 5 and single stage snowblower on there for a number of years. 
Good thing about having to take off the spinner assembly everytime is that it lowers your risk of backing it into a snow pile

https://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?dept=All&keyword=cargo+carrier


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Kinport said:


> Can anybody tell me the purpose of the curved metal bar that sits around the spinner? I'm assuming it's to protect the spinner but realistically if I back into something the hollow nothing-gauge steel won't do anything. If I can delete it I could slide something into my receiver as a starting point for a platform for my blower to sit on.
> View attachment 209851


Yes it's a crash bar for the spinner and a crappy one too.
Yes can you remove and build a mulch more robust one that mounts in the receiver.
Instead of using the receiver for the blower platform and having to remove it when spreading how aboot using the "pins" the tailgate hinge's on and run a piece of channel or angle iron vertically and bolt to box using nutserts.
The platform would be oof to one side of the chute and have the ability to be folded up if needed


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Mark Oomkes said:


> I'm guessing it's to protect the spinner while backing into snowpiles.


well it's not doing a great job...







. To be fair there may have been a bit of operator error involved on this one


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Fourteen Contracting Inc. said:


> Good thing about having to take off the spinner assembly everytime is that it lowers your risk of backing it into a snow pile


I thought that's what the metal tube was for? Protect the spinner so I can back into snow piles at my discretion and not harm the spinner? No?

yea I'm thinking something similar to the product you linked. Now that the bar is gone (see post above) I think I've got a clear shot to plug something into the receiver.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

BUFF said:


> Yes it's a crash bar for the spinner and a crappy one too.
> Yes can you remove and build a mulch more robust one that mounts in the receiver.
> Instead of using the receiver for the blower platform and having to remove it when spreading how aboot using the "pins" the tailgate hinge's on and run a piece of channel or angle iron vertically and bolt to box using nutserts.
> The platform would be oof to one side of the chute and have the ability to be folded up if needed
> View attachment 209869


that...is an excellent idea. I'm going to start fabbing something up and I like your "drawing". Gotta get the tape out and take some measurements to see if we can make something work. I cleared almost a half mile of walks yesterday with a 3 foot shovel plus a few driveways at an HOA that I couldn't back drag , and I definitely don't want to do that all season


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Fourteen Contracting Inc. said:


> Good thing about having to take off the spinner assembly everytime is that it lowers your risk of backing it into a snow pile


I thought one did that so the license plate was visible between sites...


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## Fourteen Contracting Inc. (Jul 5, 2019)

I don't know if you're


Mark Oomkes said:


> I thought one did that so the license plate was visible between sites...


Don't need to worry about license plates anymore.... covid.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/serviceontario-covid-19-coronavirus-response#section-1


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Well after being slowed down on my route because of excessive shoveling, I determined I needed the blower in the truck(I had pulled it out for the salter). Originally I was going to try and build something that could support it that would slide in and out of my receiver, but realized that whatever I did would interfere with the salt as it was being thrown. I also liked @BUFF suggestion but after further inspection it didn't look like anything would fit
between the bumper and the salter chute. What I ended up doing was welding a short section of square tubing to the salter itself and drilling it out like a receiver hitch









then I built a platform that the blower would sit on that could slide into the receiver I built on the sander. I was originally going to make the platform sit on top of the the square tube but after playing with it a little bit I realized the tube was the perfect size to act as a wheel chock and help keep the blower in place


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

It's still very much a rough draft. I need to spend about an hour cleaning it up with a grinder and slap some black tractor enamel on it. By the time I had built this one I was already wanting to start over and incorporate some ideas I had along the way but I've got too much work to do elsewhere so this will serve it's purpose for now















Right now it's just held on by heavy duty bungees(that's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one) and seems solid but I'm not satisfied with that so I'll need to figure something else out. Also, it would be incredibly easy to steal. I'm thinking of incorporating some type of bar lock that would also keep it secured similar to the mount that holds our backpack blower by Equipment Defender. Another downside is it sticks out probably a solid 10-15 inches past the spinner, meaning I've got to be careful backing up. I'm totally open to ideas and suggestions if anyone has any


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## Fourteen Contracting Inc. (Jul 5, 2019)

Kinport said:


> It's still very much a rough draft. I need to spend about an hour cleaning it up with a grinder and slap some black tractor enamel on it. By the time I had built this one I was already wanting to start over and incorporate some ideas I had along the way but I've got too much work to do elsewhere so this will serve it's purpose for now
> View attachment 210124
> View attachment 210123
> 
> Right now it's just held on by heavy duty bungees(that's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one) and seems solid but I'm not satisfied with that so I'll need to figure something else out. Also, it would be incredibly easy to steal. I'm thinking of incorporating some type of bar lock that would also keep it secured similar to the mount that holds our backpack blower by Equipment Defender. Another downside is it sticks out probably a solid 10-15 inches past the spinner, meaning I've got to be careful backing up. I'm totally open to ideas and suggestions if anyone has any


I don't have any solutions that I've been satisfied with. I end up just pushing the passenger seat up and putting it in the back of the truck. However, this only works if you don't have a passenger and don't mind the slight smell of gasoline all night. 
On the snowex 7550 model they have these bolt receivers built into the frame on both sides at the back that would be a good place to start building a deck like you built or BUFF drew up but then that ends up blocking the back up camera I have mounted on the salter









I will however suggest a solution for emptying the salter at the end of the shift without having to get out the ratchet set. Drill a hole all the way through the spinner (just drill through the other side where the current screw goes through to attach it to the spinner transmission) and use a hitch pin to attach it to the spinner transmission going forward. It won't fly off when you need it to stay on, been doing it this way for a while.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Like the idea, mulch simpler than what I tossed oot.
Here's a few suggestions:
The weld joint to the spreader could be a failure point due the blower hanging oof and possibly bouncing while driving on the roads 









Suggestion for more secure strapping plus blocks the blower from siding oof in a corner if a strap came loose.










Suggestion for locking and I assume overnight. If lock was to freeze just whizz on it to free it. I did this when the tongue lock or door locks on my sled trailer would freeze.


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## Fourteen Contracting Inc. (Jul 5, 2019)

What if you modified the bracket holding the salter to the bed (purple) and just ran the square tubing along the bracket (red)? You could drill holes through the square tubing to match where the bracket bolts to the salter and then put your platform on top of the square tubing. Could weld in some chocks as well.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

been working on another one for the past few weekends 









this thing spent its first 267000 miles hauling snowcats between Salt Lake and Denver. Lost it's Hpop and the owner parked it and let it sit a few years. I took a junkyard Hpop down, changed it in his parking lot on a cold December day, put new batteries in and fired it up and drove it home. Ran good but after digging around on it I suspected a dead cylinder. The truck sat for a bit while I tracked down a decent 7.3. The engine showed up this Summer, and we finally wrapped up enough big projects that I had some time to start working on it.
Tear down and new(to us) Motor install















I

old engine tear down confirmed a dead hole in #7. Pretty nasty. I posted this pic in another thread so my apologies if your seeing this again.









had the new motor in and about 90% installed, realized I had missed a few things, and had to pull it all back out. We were doing this over Christmas Weekend so progress was slow. Finally got it in, hooked up, and surprisingly she fired up on about the 3rd crank. Runs good. Motor has a touch more blowby than I'd like but runs strong and starts great in the cold.


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

found a salter about an hour south of me. Swenson Polyhawk. Remote control operated with a gas motor so it was just a matter of strapping it to the bed.

truck had an old Fisher V on it when I bought it. The plow needed work and it was a little small for the truck. I found a low-use xblade and decided to switch it over.








ran the new harness and went to hook up the new blade, and noticed something was funny:














Passenger side was about 6 inches of the ground. That was a problem. Further tear down show how bad it was














pretty dang bent. I took the A-frame off and beat it with a backhoe hoping to straighten it out but realized that wasn't going to work. Also realized that the bend was clear into the moldboard bracing









Decided it was more of a project than I was prepared to take on so I hauled it to the steel shop for them to do


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Steel shop cut a bunch of the welds, replaced one section of channel, squared it up as best as they could, then welded it back up. They also cut out and rebuilt the trashed section of moldboard bracing. Beefed it up with 1/2" instead of 3/8" that it's built out of. They were slow at the shop so they had it in and out in less than 2 days. Got it home, primed, painted, and ready for reassembly.















reassembly was pretty smooth, except I didn't have the right spring compressor to install the trip springs. I did, however, have some old pry bars and some flat bar. Looks pretty ugly but did the job














last thing it needed was an oil change. This is what I drained out of the reservoir:







Got rid of this garbage and filled it up with Fisher blue. Now it was ready to hook back up


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## Kinport (Jan 9, 2020)

Much better this time. Still has a slight tweak, but it'll push snow like it's supposed to now. I may spend a little time on it this summer trying to true it up, for now I'm ok with it. I'd like to get some wings to help with spill off but they never built any for the xblade(as far as I know) so it'll need to be something I do in my garage. With as long and cumbersome as this truck is it will be mostly on standby for us. Pretty ugly old stuff but as long as it's working I won't complain


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