# how do you unfreeze pump?



## amcolandscaping (Dec 4, 2004)

i have been reading these threads about frozen plow pumps how do you unfreeze? do i have to drain all the fluid tonight or else it will happen again? Its snowing now and we are supposed to get 3-6 inches and my plow doesnt go up down or angle i hear it running but nothing


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## tsmith (Sep 19, 2006)

You need to thaw it out and drain all the fluid. It's the water in there that is the problem, sometimes it takes a couple times to get it all. The water will be stubborn to get out in some parts. I had to disassemble a valve on my Meyer 47 pump, it had one drop of water in the top by the spring and would stop the valve every time it got cold.


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## jdadjstr (Oct 16, 2007)

I agree, full flush is in order. Also, some people use a cap full of fuel de-icer too.


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## Bighammer (Aug 20, 2003)

Mine just froze up tonight. (at least that's what I hope it is) I went over to my shop after dinner and it didn't raise very high on the road. When I got there, I dropped the plow and raised it again.... only about 2 or 3 inches. 

I dropped it again, and went in to work on some other stuff for about 3 hours. When I went to leave, the plow wouldn't raise at all. I set it to float and pushed the lift all the way down and it wouldn't raise at all. I ended up having to lever up the blade onto blocks, and shorten the chains just to drive home. 

It was soggy wet just a couple days ago, but single digits tonight.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

Bighammer said:


> Mine just froze up tonight. (at least that's what I hope it is) I went over to my shop after dinner and it didn't raise very high on the road. When I got there, I dropped the plow and raised it again.... only about 2 or 3 inches.
> 
> I dropped it again, and went in to work on some other stuff for about 3 hours. When I went to leave, the plow wouldn't raise at all. I set it to float and pushed the lift all the way down and it wouldn't raise at all. I ended up having to lever up the blade onto blocks, and shorten the chains just to drive home.
> 
> It was soggy wet just a couple days ago, but single digits tonight.


Did you take it to the dealer


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

Holy old thread.


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## Bighammer (Aug 20, 2003)

Nope, put it in the garage with a salamander shooting between blade and bumper. (kept moving and checking on it every 5 min.) After a while, things had warmed up a good bit. Drained the oil and removed the tank. Lots of crud in the bottom and there did seem to be some water in the oil. 

I think the O ring around the top of the tank was going bad. Replaced that and the filter, put it back together with some new oil, and all is well.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Sea Foam will work in a pinch.


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## Defcon 5 (Mar 20, 2014)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Sea Foam will work in a pinch.


Do you have a 55 gallon drum of Sea Foam?


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Sea Foam will work in a pinch.


What if you don't live by the sea...?


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## thelettuceman (Nov 23, 2010)

eye c foam all the time. It is in my cup holder. Looks like a cooffee cup with a different aldult beverage in there.


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## Bighammer (Aug 20, 2003)

I've never used Sea Foam for/in anything, but I've heard about it a lot.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Mr.Markus said:


> What if you don't live by the sea...?


Lake foam...pond foam...swamp foam.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Defcon 5 said:


> Do you have a 55 gallon drum of Sea Foam?


No, a 10,000 gallon tank.


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

John_DeereGreen said:


> Holy old thread.


No kidding, people have switched to using atf fluid which prevents pumps freezing duh.


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Lake foam...pond foam...swamp foam.


Our lake foam won't be anywhere near the chem composition of lake Michigan...


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## Hydromaster (Jun 11, 2018)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Sea Foam will work in a pinch.


 Because it is made up of isopropyl alcohol ?


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Lake foam...pond foam...swamp foam.


Sounds like the stuff I was drinking last night.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Hydromaster said:


> Because it is made up of isopropyl alcohol ?


Sure...I guess...I don't recall.

My back blade started freezing one night a month or so ago. Dumped a can of Sea Foam in and it's been fine since.

I'm not necessarily recommending running it all the time, just saying that in an emergency\during an event, it's mulch easier than flushing a system.


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## LapeerLandscape (Dec 29, 2012)

BossPlow2010 said:


> No kidding, people have switched to using atf fluid which prevents pumps freezing duh.


My trans doesnt freeze up with atf in it.


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

LapeerLandscape said:


> My trans doesnt freeze up with atf in it.


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

LapeerLandscape said:


> My trans doesnt freeze up with atf in it.


Mine neither.


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Sea Foam will work in a pinch.


I put that stuff in every new can of fuel and all gas tanks and use it as dipping sauce for all my food! I'm addicted!


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## Hydromaster (Jun 11, 2018)

why, add more alcohol to your gas, doesn't it have enough already?


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## WIPensFan (Jan 31, 2009)

Hydromaster said:


> why, add more alcohol to your gas, doesn't it have enough already?


No idea, it just seems to work, especially on 2 stroke machines with ethanol in the gas.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Hydromaster said:


> why, add more alcohol to your gas, doesn't it have enough already?


Is there really such a thing as "enough alcohol"?


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## Brndnstffrd (Mar 8, 2013)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Is there really such a thing as "enough alcohol"?


May not be a such thing as enough, but there's definitely a such thing as too much


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