# Ballast Question



## bobingardner (Jul 18, 2004)

Hi,

This is a great site and the thoughtful posts have been very helpful to this newbie. Thanks! I do however have a few questions.

Does the weight of the driver, passengers, and fuel count as ballast? 

Would a Blizzard plow put more strain on the front axle than an Fisher plow of equal weight? I was comparing a Blizzard and a Fisher last weekend and it looked to me like the lifting mechanism used by Fisher would have the affect of redirecting some of the weight a little closer to the axle. 

I'm thinking of putting a Blizzard 760LD on a Silverdo 1500. The truck has the plow prep package, a front GAWR of 3925lbs, a front axle reserve capacity of 768lbs, and a total vehicle reserve capacity of 1111lbs. I think I need to keep the weight of the plow under 600lbs to allow for up to 500lbs of ballast. Does this sound right or is it too high or too low? 

According to the Blizzard website the plow weighs in at 550lbs. It doesn't mention ballast but I'm figuring about 450lbs. Does anyone have an opinion as to how much this will drop the front end of the truck? The one I looked at this weekend was attached to an F150 and it dropped the front end of that truck about 2" with the plow resting on the ground. There was no ballast in the back.

Thanks again.
bob


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## Bolts Indus. (Dec 22, 2003)

I run a Blizzard 760 on a 91 chev 1/2 ton and it is perfect for it.
Do not exceed 550 lbs plow weight.

I crank my torsion bars up 5 turns and add 500 lbs ballast to level out the truck.


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## bobingardner (Jul 18, 2004)

Thanks Bolts. I'm going to email the local distributor asking for a quote on the Blizzard 760LD. Blizzard recently updated their site to include the 720LD. How does the 16 gauge metal blade compare to the 3/8 Poly blade Homesteader offers?


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

put 400 to 500 lbs of salt or sand bags ontop of the rear axels


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