# my first plow truck



## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

this'll be my first truck with a plow, over paid a Tad, but I fell in love after the test drive. going to fix it up over the summer. 1985 Ford f250 with a 460 auto trans. 4x4 with a 900lb concrete block in the bed. 8ft Fisher plow in what I think is decent shape.


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## Sawboy (Dec 18, 2005)

Congrats and welcome to the site. That 1st truck is always a love affair!


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Looks like a hydro plow.


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## hammerstein (Feb 2, 2007)

How does one over pay when you get to make the offer?


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## scott3430 (Dec 28, 2010)

Welcome to the forum, I hope the truck does you well.


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## Banksy (Aug 31, 2005)

That's basically what I bought when I was 16. 1986 F250, 351w, auto, and same exact plow. Good tought truck and easy to work on.


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## Mark13 (Dec 3, 2006)

Old fire department truck it looks like?


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## havenlax18 (Dec 16, 2010)

I wouldn't of paid over a grand for it. How much did you pay if you don't mid me asking and looks like a solid plow truck those old fishers are beasts I have one. They are nothing special but won't let you down and very simple to diagnose if its OOS. But yeah looks like an old FD truck.


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

paid 2000 but its financed.


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

Mark13;1620276 said:


> Old fire department truck it looks like?


yep. only 36000 miles


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## Nozzleman (Feb 6, 2003)

areoseek;1620340 said:


> yep. only 36000 miles


Depending on what capacity that truck was used for in it's former life those 36,000 miles could be the hardest 36,000 miles an engine can see. I'm a F/F and we punish vehicles daily. We basically start up a cold engine, place it in gear, and hammer down before the oil is even fully circulated through the engine.

However, I'm sure it's been gagraged it's whole life and most FD's are good about maintenance. Also, many times a truck like that is used as a utility type vehicle so maybe the emergency responses were limited.


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## jdo150 (Oct 27, 2008)

Looks clean for its age, good luck with it hope it makes you A ton of


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## DareDog (Oct 22, 2007)

my dad had a 83 ford f-150 with 7.6 foot fisher he got it in 86 and it lasted till 2008 went everywhere pushed anything was a great truck would probably still have it and be driving it if back half of fame did not rust through. for part of it life it only had box sides with plywood floor as floor rusted out. Thumbs Up


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## 2006Sierra1500 (Dec 28, 2011)

Guaranteed that plow will not die


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

jdo150;1620418 said:


> Looks clean for its age, good luck with it hope it makes you A ton of


that's the hope. i already have an established Snow removal customer base, but i was limited to shovels. This will slice my time in half and allow me to take more houses. In the meantime it'll pull the landscaping trailer.


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## dieselboy01 (Jan 18, 2011)

Nice looking truck, you can't beat an old Ford, they are a tough truck! Good luck with everything!


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## Banksy (Aug 31, 2005)

areoseek;1620339 said:


> paid 2000 but its financed.


That actually makes the deal worse. Over paid and now you'll pay even more for it. The interest rates at those mom and pop dealers can be through the roof. They probably bought it for $500 at an auction. I hope it serves you well! They are good plow trucks and that plow is bullet proof.


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## scholzee (Nov 9, 2001)

grandview;1620249 said:


> Looks like a hydro plow.


Almost all plows are.................LOL. I think you mean belt driven pump cable valve Hydro vs Electric driven pump electric solenoid Hydro , or are you on your sixth Margarita


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## Dogplow Dodge (Jan 23, 2012)

areoseek;1620246 said:


> this'll be my first truck with a plow, over paid a Tad, but I fell in love after the test drive. going to fix it up over the summer. 1985 Ford f250 with a 460 auto trans. 4x4 with a 900lb concrete block in the bed. 8ft Fisher plow in what I think is decent shape.


Nice truck, buddy. I bet it smells like Old Farts and cigarettes inside the cab, right ??? :laughing: and with a little mold added, I'm sure.

Clean er up and lets see some updated pix....Thumbs Up


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

scholzee;1620586 said:


> Almost all plows are.................LOL. I think you mean belt driven pump cable valve Hydro vs Electric driven pump electric solenoid Hydro , or are you on your sixth Margarita


you're correct. belt driven pump.

as for the interest rate issue, it'll be paid off quickly, so its not a huge deal. 
ill definatley post pics after i bring her home and fix everything.


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## Rubicon 327 (Oct 6, 2009)

That's a beast!Thumbs Up

Got the ballast thing already taken care of! She should make you some good money and hopefully be a reliable ol' girl!

*Good Luck and Congrats!!*


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## peteo1 (Jul 4, 2011)

I hope to God you have that concrete fastened down in some manner or you won't live through the head on collision. I'd lose that thing at a dump and through some sand in there personally. The piece of mind would be worth it to me. Nice job on the truck tho, that combo will last as long as you keep it maintained. Good luck!


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## xgiovannix12 (Dec 8, 2012)

Looks decent,, Yes its over payed for but it could pay for its self in a good snow storm.


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

Rubicon 327;1620654 said:


> That's a beast!Thumbs Up
> 
> Got the ballast thing already taken care of! She should make you some good money and hopefully be a reliable ol' girl!
> 
> *Good Luck and Congrats!!*


That's the plan! thanks



peteo1;1620749 said:


> I hope to God you have that concrete fastened down in some manner or you won't live through the head on collision. I'd lose that thing at a dump and through some sand in there personally. The piece of mind would be worth it to me. Nice job on the truck tho, that combo will last as long as you keep it maintained. Good luck!


its bolted to the bed with 2 steel straps and has a steel box running around the edge that is bolted to as well. that seems like plenty to me.



xgiovannix12;1620751 said:


> Looks decent,, Yes its over payed for but it could pay for its self in a good snow storm.


 Regrettably over paid. should have done my research, but i feel in love and he knew it. damn salesmen.


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## xgiovannix12 (Dec 8, 2012)

as long as you are happy with it thats all it matters.

Im sure you can pay it off with a decent snow storm.


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## Nozzleman (Feb 6, 2003)

Don't let the overpaying thing bother you. I don't know how old you are but I overpaid for my first truck when I was younger. Salesman saw me as an easy mark and took full advantage. Now I'm older and wiser and I almost enjoy pounding on car salesman for the best price.


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

Nozzleman;1620897 said:


> Don't let the overpaying thing bother you. I don't know how old you are but I overpaid for my first truck when I was younger. Salesman saw me as an easy mark and took full advantage. Now I'm older and wiser and I almost enjoy pounding on car salesman for the best price.


19.
I got talked into thinking I WASN'T overpaying. i guess that's what their job is. He showed me what he bought it for (supposedly) and then i saw physical receipts from autozone ect, they fixed it up a bit because they use it to plow thier lot. Brand new holly 4 barrel carb, all the hydo's were worked over, blade was repainted, and they got new rubber put on. so, i guess alot of the work is done for me. I got scared about the Angling functions not working, but that just took a 10$ cable. now i cant even FIND something wrong with the truck, and I've been actively searching. Its a gas hog though. Not sure if i should use it as a DD or keep my s-10 blazer as well. Do you guys think it's reliable enough? The insurance and paying to gas up two cars is going to murder me. Not the best financial planning on my part. i'm working 30 hours a week on minimum wage with a start up business on the side.

I broke it down, i'm paying 270 ish a month for insurance on both vehicles (that's combined)

probably 20$ a week in gas for the blazer, 60$ a month for my loan, and 200$ for the truck payment. Cutting it a bit close as my girlfriend would say. (she's just mad because there won't be any more Steakhouse Saturday's  )

Ill see how the first month goes.


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## Rubicon 327 (Oct 6, 2009)

areoseek;1621016 said:


> 19.
> I got talked into thinking I WASN'T overpaying. i guess that's what their job is. He showed me what he bought it for (supposedly) and then i saw physical receipts from autozone ect, they fixed it up a bit because they use it to plow thier lot. Brand new holly 4 barrel carb, all the hydo's were worked over, blade was repainted, and they got new rubber put on. so, i guess alot of the work is done for me. I got scared about the Angling functions not working, but that just took a 10$ cable. now i cant even FIND something wrong with the truck, and I've been actively searching. Its a gas hog though. Not sure if i should use it as a DD or keep my s-10 blazer as well. Do you guys think it's reliable enough? The insurance and paying to gas up two cars is going to murder me. Not the best financial planning on my part. i'm working 30 hours a week on minimum wage with a start up business on the side.
> 
> I broke it down, i'm paying 270 ish a month for insurance on both vehicles (that's combined)
> ...


My thought would be to put her up for the spring. Take insurance off and put registration on hold til next winter. That mafia block in the bed doesn't help with fuel consumption or having use of the bed for other projects so you probably don't need the truck for any other use right?

*OR*

Remove the block from the bed take the plow off and driver her as light footed as you can Remove ins and reg from blazer and let it sit for a while til you decide what works better for you as I can't see the need to have both registered and insured other than piece of mind of having a back up vehicle at your fingertips.

Others may have some better ideas.


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

Rubicon 327;1621089 said:


> My thought would be to put her up for the spring. Take insurance off and put registration on hold til next winter. That mafia block in the bed doesn't help with fuel consumption or having use of the bed for other projects so you probably don't need the truck for any other use right?
> 
> *OR*
> 
> ...


i'll probably go for option two, because i've destroyed the back of my blazer hauling wood and metal. a pickup would be much better for that. ill take it down to my buddy's shop and hook up the hoist to the block hooks, and try to take it off without breaking it. hopefully fuel consumption wont be TOO bad then. My father is iffy about me using it as a DD. doesnt think it'll hold up.


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## Rubicon 327 (Oct 6, 2009)

I think she'll hold up fine just coat the underside good with oil/fluid film or what ever you choose and try to keep the rust to a minimum if she's still clean underneath. Do you know if it was stored inside the fire dept most it's life?...just curious.

She really should make for a good landscape/plow truck and when you and the girlfriend need to go out places just try and use her vehicle to save yourself on gas. Have you checked with your accounts about you plowing instead of shoveling as some people are touchy about plows messing up their driveways or lawns.....hate to see a good customer come out and start :realmad: at ya.


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## linckeil (Sep 18, 2007)

sell the blazer - thats a gas pig too i'm sure. keep the truck and use it for plowing/whenever needed. then get a cheap 4 cylinder and use that for everything else. some guys drive their gas hog trucks to pickup a gallon of milk. that doesn't work for me. my truck is not used unless its needed or making me money.

i had a 86 F250. great truck, simple to work on. i'm assuming you have the C6 auto trans? its a non-overdrive unit, so that'll hurt gas mileage. but its nearly bullet proof from the factory. 100 times stronger than the e4od overdrive auto that came out in the early 90s. 

weakest point is the TTB dana 50 front axle that the heavy duty F250's had. the light duty F250's had a dana 44 TTB (even weaker). if you plan to keep this truck for a while, swap out to a dana 60 solid front axle from a 86-97 F350 - its a direct swap


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

Rubicon 327;1621180 said:


> I think she'll hold up fine just coat the underside good with oil/fluid film or what ever you choose and try to keep the rust to a minimum if she's still clean underneath. Do you know if it was stored inside the fire dept most it's life?...just curious.
> 
> She really should make for a good landscape/plow truck and when you and the girlfriend need to go out places just try and use her vehicle to save yourself on gas. Have you checked with your accounts about you plowing instead of shoveling as some people are touchy about plows messing up their driveways or lawns.....hate to see a good customer come out and start :realmad: at ya.


 yep, kept in a garage for it's entire life. waxed every week as well. mechanic said jump on it



linckeil;1621183 said:


> sell the blazer - thats a gas pig too i'm sure. keep the truck and use it for plowing/whenever needed. then get a cheap 4 cylinder and use that for everything else. some guys drive their gas hog trucks to pickup a gallon of milk. that doesn't work for me. my truck is not used unless its needed or making me money.
> 
> i had a 86 F250. great truck, simple to work on. i'm assuming you have the C6 auto trans? its a non-overdrive unit, so that'll hurt gas mileage. but its nearly bullet proof from the factory. 100 times stronger than the e4od overdrive auto that came out in the early 90s.
> 
> weakest point is the TTB dana 50 front axle that the heavy duty F250's had. the light duty F250's had a dana 44 TTB (even weaker). if you plan to keep this truck for a while, swap out to a dana 60 solid front axle from a 86-97 F350 - its a direct swap


yep, I hear ya on the axle swap. was researching that. the lack of overdrive is a bummer, but the blazers overdrive set is non functioning since I got it. that 4.3l v6 eats gas like a v8.


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## FF/P215 (Dec 5, 2012)

Good luck with it, like Nozzleman said, routine maintenance is done and usually kept inside, the question is who plowed with it? We have MM on our 2 brush trucks and they plow a total of 5 different FD sites and God for bid someone who actually knows how to plow uses them.


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## Banksy (Aug 31, 2005)

Looking forward to seeing what you make of it.


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

FF/P215;1621947 said:


> Good luck with it, like Nozzleman said, routine maintenance is done and usually kept inside, the question is who plowed with it? We have MM on our 2 brush trucks and they plow a total of 5 different FD sites and God for bid someone who actually knows how to plow uses them.


afaik, it was used for one station. then the past year the car lot used it to plow there, (so they fixed everything up, even put a brand new carb on)  And the guy who plowed at the lot was very easy on the tranny ect. He's mad because i bought it. so far so good. i've had no problems.


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## CAT 245ME (Sep 10, 2006)

I'm a firm believer in "It's not what you buy, It's what you build".

The Dana 60 swap is a must have IMO.

Here is something to inspire you.Thumbs Up

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displayalbum.php?albumid=31692


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

CAT 245ME;1622386 said:


> I'm a firm believer in "It's not what you buy, It's what you build".
> 
> The Dana 60 swap is a must have IMO.
> 
> ...


thanks for the link. great pics with some good ideas on the interior. your build?


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## CAT 245ME (Sep 10, 2006)

areoseek;1623220 said:


> thanks for the link. great pics with some good ideas on the interior. your build?


Nope, just something to give you ideas to have fun with.

My first truck many years ago was an 86 GMC K15 High Sierra, paid more than I should have for a bone stock truck. Kept watching the classifieds and found a newly rebuilt 400ci sbc ($800), used 3" suspension lift ($150) and a good set of 5 33x12.50 Mud Kings ($250).

Watching sites such as craigslist and ebay can save you a lot of money. I figure why should I pay full price, let someone else do that.


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## clydebusa (Jul 10, 2010)

http://www.460ford.com/forum/index.php?

This site can help. :salute:


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## linycctitan (Aug 13, 2007)

My '86 F350 was a plow truck from the day she rolled off the lot (my uncle bought her new), he ran her until I bought it in the mid-'90's, I ran her until 3 years ago when the frame finally started getting weak. 460/C6 combo makes for a gas sucking beast, but the motor never needed an overhaul (did regasket most of it at one point) & went through 2 or 3 trannies, still ran and drove good with over 300k when I finally laid her to rest. Both my Uncle and I are maintenance freaks and because of that, that truck made way more money than I even want to think about. I sure do miss her...


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

linycctitan;1625169 said:


> My '86 F350 was a plow truck from the day she rolled off the lot (my uncle bought her new), he ran her until I bought it in the mid-'90's, I ran her until 3 years ago when the frame finally started getting weak. 460/C6 combo makes for a gas sucking beast, but the motor never needed an overhaul (did regasket most of it at one point) & went through 2 or 3 trannies, still ran and drove good with over 300k when I finally laid her to rest. Both my Uncle and I are maintenance freaks and because of that, that truck made way more money than I even want to think about. I sure do miss her...


wicked.

i think the tranny is going actually :/

It will start accelerating, then ill hit a flat point where it squeaks, then itll grab again but still squeaking. feels like its starting in second gear.


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## eastcoastjava (Apr 2, 2011)

CAT 245ME;1623232
Watching sites such as craigslist and ebay can save you a lot of money. I figure why should I pay full price said:


> Cant agree more, spent nearly 2 years scoping trucks and keeping prices in the back of my head until I hoped on the truck i got.


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## linycctitan (Aug 13, 2007)

areoseek;1625298 said:


> wicked.
> 
> i think the tranny is going actually :/
> 
> It will start accelerating, then ill hit a flat point where it squeaks, then itll grab again but still squeaking. feels like its starting in second gear.


If you think it's starting to go and you have the funds, it's sometimes works out better to have it rebuilt before it's totally gone. Check around for the most highly recommended transmission shops within your area and go talk to them, tell them what you've got and ask them how they would rebuild it specifically for towing/plowing. Doing your homework will save you a bunch later on. The shop I found and use is very fair on pricing and the warranty all their full rebuilds for 3yrs/36k (though as you can see they worked fine far beyond that), whereas at most other shops around here you'd be lucky to get a 12/12, most wouldn't warranty failure if you were plowing.

Found a pic from the Winter of '09-10, her last season in service...


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

its weird because I think the tranny was rebuilt, I found a sticker from the automatic transmission shop in town. it only has 36k on it


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## CAT 245ME (Sep 10, 2006)

areoseek;1626017 said:


> its weird because I think the tranny was rebuilt, I found a sticker from the automatic transmission shop in town. it only has 36k on it


Just because it has been rebuilt doesn't mean it was done right.

We have a large tranny shop here in town that is well known for bad rebuilds, and a lot of it was on purpose. They would fix it enough to get you by for a while but eventually the customer would have to come back.payup


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

CAT 245ME;1626170 said:


> Just because it has been rebuilt doesn't mean it was done right.
> 
> We have a large tranny shop here in town that is well known for bad rebuilds, and a lot of it was on purpose. They would fix it enough to get you by for a while but eventually the customer would have to come back.payup


I'm gonna call the shop and see if they have records of the vehicle, there is a barcode on the inside of the door that says "serviced by Erie automatic transmissions"


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## thebluemule (Jan 17, 2012)

I saw this truck on the lot. I want to say 26th street? I cannot remember for sure. I wanted to stop and look at it just because i thought it was a neat old truck. Good luck with it man and have fun with a truck that you can actually work on and fix up for cheap. By the way i just had a C6 rebuilt last year and it was like 600 bucks....compared to the E40D i just had done that was 1,800 and i even removed and installed it myself.


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## areoseek (Mar 13, 2013)

thebluemule;1628189 said:


> I saw this truck on the lot. I want to say 26th street? I cannot remember for sure. I wanted to stop and look at it just because i thought it was a neat old truck. Good luck with it man and have fun with a truck that you can actually work on and fix up for cheap. By the way i just had a C6 rebuilt last year and it was like 600 bucks....compared to the E40D i just had done that was 1,800 and i even removed and installed it myself.


yup, thats the one, bob's irresistible. really down to earth people there.

its starting to give me the used car jitters, but i'll get over it.

it's now missing on a cylinder and shuttering real bad, gonna change the wires tomorrow, put the plow is storage for the season, painted the rust spots to seal them up.


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