# Plowing With a Dually - Take Off Inside Tires or Add Weight??



## SummitLawns (Oct 14, 2013)

This is our first year diving into snow removal services ourselves as opposed to just subbing it out. I have two 1-ton dually dump trucks with 4WD and a 3/4 F-250 4x4. I would prefer to not put a plow on the F-250, but will I run into traction problems with the dump trucks?

We are only plowing, no ice management. So we will not be using any salt spreaders as weight in the back of the dump trucks. Is it common practice to take off a set of wheels on the dually trucks to get better traction or should I just add 1500-2000lbs of sand in the back to maintain traction? What have you guys done in the past to deal with this? Again, both dually dump trucks have 4WD, but I don't want to get out there in the first storm and be sliding all over the place.

Thanks!


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Just add a weight. No need to take off tires. And since you have 4x4 no worries. We usually do 1.5- 2.0 yards of river rock


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## osomany?s (Aug 29, 2012)

The only problem i have ever ran into with my old dually was when i bought it the plow was an 8 footer and at full angle i was pushing snow in front of the outboard tire.(just my luck my first storm with that truck was a blizzard)Truck was an '82. So i hear alot of guys talking about narrow dually rears and selling dual rear trucks with 8 foot blades. I dont know about the widths of all rear ends and dont claim to....SAFE RULE OF THUMB......PUT A 9 footer OR BETTER ON IT!!


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

When I started in business, I had a diesel 1 ton dump with central hydrauics, and it was one of the best plow trucks I ever ran. I removed the tailgate for plowing and never ran any weight. Rarely used 4WD either, unless I felt I had to. I don't think you have anything to worry about.........


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## RWK in WI (Mar 29, 2003)

In the past when we needed more traction on dual wheel trucks we often removed the outer wheel. The narrower track helped when making short turns.


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## Antlerart06 (Feb 28, 2011)

I run a Dually ,I did it once. The year was 2010 blizzard and people out in the country was calling to v plow there drives out. I found out even with the locker and fully load in V box and chains on I wasn't going leave hard surface again after spending 2 hrs to plow 300ft drive. I take 4wd tractor to the country now.

I always have good traction on hard surface with the duals on Last 2 winters been running summer tread on the back studded front tires


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## SummitLawns (Oct 14, 2013)

We are running Western MVP Plus 8'5" blades so that should be plenty wide. We have a whole string of self storage facilities we are doing, so I am a little nervous about maneuverability since nearly all of the locations have tight spots. If I remove the outer tires will that give me a better turning radius? The trucks have a relatively long wheel base as we wanted to have big beds for grass clippings.


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Removing an outside tire will do nothing for turning radius. Hate to say it. But its a ford 4x4. They have no turning radius. Mine its just terrible.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

As other said, no need to remove one of the rear wheels. Just add weight. 

I have no idea how removing one of the rear duals would help with turning, that makes no sense. 

What years are your 350's?


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## JimMarshall (Jan 25, 2013)

Just add a bit of weight..... What do you do in the summer?


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## osomany?s (Aug 29, 2012)

i would either call western and find out what the width of the plows path is at full angle(then measure outside of outside tire to outside tire or put plow at full angle and run a string down the side of your truck to see if it clears your outside tire.u may not run into problems in a 2in plowing other than messy plowing due to running over the edge of plowed snow but when i had problems the snow i was pushing in front of my outboard tire actually shoved my truck sideways which could be really bad in those tight quarters.my simple fix was removing the outside tire till i found a 9 foot blade was an ez fix but in your case with a pricy blade unless it clears a path 2 inches wider than your rear i would leave the outside wheels off u wont get any traction if ur rear tires are riding on snow.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

osomany?s;1653299 said:


> i would either call western and find out what the width of the plows path is at full angle(then measure outside of outside tire to outside tire or put plow at full angle and run a string down the side of your truck to see if it clears your outside tire.u may not run into problems in a 2in plowing other than messy plowing due to running over the edge of plowed snow but when i had problems the snow i was pushing in front of my outboard tire actually shoved my truck sideways which could be really bad in those tight quarters.my simple fix was removing the outside tire till i found a 9 foot blade was an ez fix but in your case with a pricy blade unless it clears a path 2 inches wider than your rear i would leave the outside wheels off u wont get any traction if ur rear tires are riding on snow.


or you could just try this website http://www.westernplows.com/wp/showroom/mvpplus and find out the width of the plow on a full angle and then measure the tyre width from outside to outside or he could add wings to his 8.5 Vs and have no problems with plow width and not have to remove his out duals or inner duals or whatever


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

As long as you have 4 wheel drive you're golden. Weight will help but it's not a must have IMO. The tightness of the lots you're plowing should determain the type of equipment you use to plow them with. If you're going to get into snow removal then get the proper equipment for the jobs you have. Just advice to make you're life easier, I realize money is always a factor.


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## 94gt331 (Oct 21, 2011)

My dodge dually sucks in the snow haha, got to be in 4wd all the time. Even with a full skid in the back. My worse fears plowing with that truck is going up a couple private long lanes up hills, anyhting over 3-4 inches and I'm sending my other 2 guys with the single cab 3/4ton trucks to do it. I think I'm going to invest in chains for my dually this year. But it does a pretty good job on flat parking lots. I've never took off the extra tires on my dually, just didn't want to go to that.


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## watatrp (Jan 10, 2001)

I've not had a problem with snow and my dually. I run a 9.5 MVP so it's around 1000 lbs up front. I add 1000 lbs of sand bags to the back plus my snow blower and 40 gals of fuel in tank. I plowed after a 39" once snow and found that even that only slowed things down slightly. One plus is that my truck rides so rough when unloaded that all the weight really smooths things out.


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

Shouldn't be removing wheels from a dually anyways... puts a lot of extra force on the wheel bearings since the weight is not divided between them anymore. Add a little ballast.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

derekbroerse;1657499 said:


> Shouldn't be removing wheels from a dually anyways... puts a lot of extra force on the wheel bearings since the weight is not divided between them anymore. Add a little ballast.


Holy cow, talk aboot a blast from the past, how ya been Derek?


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

Mark Oomkes;1657506 said:


> Holy cow, talk aboot a blast from the past, how ya been Derek?


LOL hey Mark... yeah, I'm still around, I just don't get online nearly as much as I used to. Still surviving, still in business, despite the town's best effort to shut me down in 2010 thru 2011 (on a minor zoning technicality we should have been exempt from anyways)... but still alive, even though the bylaw officers got fired for harassment after I threatened to sue. (I wasn't the only one either) Think Google Earth is great? Think again, these people use it to literally spy in your back yard behind buildings and fences and compounds! Big Brother is Watching You!

I still pop in from time to time when someone digs up an old thread and it sends me a notification in my email... I just haven't taken much time to participate in quite a while, but I see everyone got along just fine without me! 

What did I miss? xysport


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## Ramairfreak98ss (Aug 17, 2005)

add a lot of ballast.. if its a dump, add 2 tons minimum. We run the 2 yarder in the dually 06 F350 crew cab. Even with that, we made an 8' metal extension for the top this year since we can generally heap it up pretty high and it still has room for more weight back there. If it was a long bed i'd try to fit a 3 yarder in back 

What did I miss? xysport[/QUOTE]


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

derekbroerse;1657591 said:


> What did I miss? xysport


On the one hand, not much. On the other, everything. lol

The biggest thing for me was I was encouraged to take a vacation. pumpkin:

Good to see some of the "old" guys around. Not to many of us still post.


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## derekbroerse (Mar 6, 2004)

Mark Oomkes;1658229 said:


> On the one hand, not much. On the other, everything. lol
> 
> The biggest thing for me was I was encouraged to take a vacation. pumpkin:
> 
> Good to see some of the "old" guys around. Not to many of us still post.


I am badly in need of a vacation, it's been around 10 years since my last "real" vacation... by that I mean more than just a two day weekend for a wedding or something. Of course, now that I'm single again, things like a cruise by myself just don't seem that appealing...

Now the real question is... did they really want you to take a vacation? Or just to go away for a while?


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## MGardner (Nov 27, 2001)

Been plowing with a dually many moons. No problem with traction.just check lugs ever so often front and rear.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

derekbroerse;1658268 said:


> I am badly in need of a vacation, it's been around 10 years since my last "real" vacation... by that I mean more than just a two day weekend for a wedding or something. Of course, now that I'm single again, things like a cruise by myself just don't seem that appealing...
> 
> Now the real question is... did they really want you to take a vacation? Or just to go away for a while?


You'll have to ask the mods. :laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## Buswell Forest (Jan 11, 2013)

Put a 9'6" V on the F250 for those storage units, or you will be repairing some tin....as for ballast, do not use dirt. Use cement blocks, or better yet, green firewood. Someting you won't mind heaving back into the truck if you need to dump the ballast for some reason.


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