# DIY snow plow



## IsaacCarlson

Hi. New here, first post, etc. I have been building my own snow plow. I tried to get ideas on the internet, but there were few to be found and I did not like a lot of what I did find. There was a lot of plywood and other construction materials. I gave up the search after day three and decided I would build it strong and go off the cuff. I am hoping others in search of ideas can use this.

I had a bent 5' plow from a John Deere M. and some steel. I picked up a winch at Harbor Freight, and some misc. hardware. I got the sawzall, welder, grinder, and drill press fired up and got right to work. The planning/measuring/figuring took a couple days and some 6 pages of scribble.

I managed to settle on a design that required no cumbersome mounting brackets and left the truck looking completely stock with the removal of two pins. I ran the design past my wife and she liked it so I started cutting up the old plow. I managed to reuse 90% of it. It took a lot to straighten out some of the bad spots. It was twisted pretty bad. I had my brother over for two days and kept him plenty busy.

When it was all done, we stood back and looked it over. We declared it snow worthy and hooked it to the truck. It went up and down. It turned easily. It tripped. It sprang back. It worked. I plowed the driveway today and was pleasantly surprised. The plow performed flawlessly! I had people tell me I was crazy for using a 110 flux core welder or for having the attachment points too high, or for putting a plow on a 2wd truck. This plow moves snow! It works as well as the store bought stuff and only cost me about $150.

I used my tire chains today since there was nothing in the bed. The truck seemed not to care at all that it was plowing snow. The driveway is clear and my brother rode with me while I plowed. He thought it was great. We will likely build one for him too.

The plow is 8' wide and has five position settings. 30° left, 20° left, straight, 20° right and 30° right. I am not sure how much it weighs. The truck settles about 1" with the plow on and up. Anyway....here are the pics.


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## IsaacCarlson

*the rest of the pics*


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## mayhem

Pretty good home engineering job there. Be careful with letting the snow accumulate though, I think if you don't plow every 3-4 inches that the weight of the snow will very quickly exceed your ability to move it out of the way.

When you start plowing, get as much of the snow as far off your driveway as possible...like if you can get it 10-15 feet away it would be good because your rig isn't going to do well if you get behind or as it accumultes on the sides of the driveway during the next few months. Add a bunch of weight to the bed and it'll do fairly well.


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## theholycow

That's great!

Tell me more about your welder...I want welding equipment that can do that kind of job, people telling me I'm crazy when I use an underqualified tool to get a job done is pretty normal, and my budget is what stops me from welding. It sounds like you operate the way I do.

Also, what winch did you use?

Also, did you make that bracket that bolts to the truck frame, or did you find one to use? Looks like something I've seen before, but I can't remember where.


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## LEVE

I like the plow; you've done a good job. I too would like to know more about the welder, my little Century 80 had done a good job for the last 15 years; now it's time to get something that will do better.

Have you thought about mounting the winch a little higher and maybe stacking snow. Space management is the key to keeping the driveway open. I've a 200' run that blows shut with up to 3' of snow. After a couple of snows, if I don't push as much as possible to the end/sides, the open section can start to close up. Then it takes time to open it up again.


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## IsaacCarlson

I plowed six inches of snow with it yesterday and didn't have any problem with chains. I will be adding a counterweight in the near future. The driveway is 1/3 mile long and is gravel, dirt, and asphalt. There are 3 right angle turns and I have to keep it wide so I can get my flatbed in and out.

The welder is a 110 volt Century model *117-050 85A* It is rated for 1/4". I have used it on 1/2 inch with great results. My rectifier just went out as I was finishing the plow. No biggie. It is an older welder and has seen some heavy use.

The winch is a badland 2,000 lb load holding winch from Harbor Freight.

I made the frame brackets with chunks of the arms I cut off the old plow. The pin tubes are 3/4" ID 1/4" wall DOM tube. I used 3" on each side and another 3" on the plow frame for a total of 6" on either side. Three 1/2" grade 8 bolts hold each bracket to the frame rail. The A-frame is 3/8 steel and the plow is a combination of 3/8 and 1/4. The blade is 14 ga.

It is super easy to hook up. I pull up to it, hook up the winch and lift the A-frame up to the pins and slide them in. That's it.


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## IsaacCarlson

LEVE;1371204 said:


> I like the plow; you've done a good job. I too would like to know more about the welder, my little Century 80 had done a good job for the last 15 years; now it's time to get something that will do better.
> 
> Have you thought about mounting the winch a little higher and maybe stacking snow. Space management is the key to keeping the driveway open. I've a 200' run that blows shut with up to 3' of snow. After a couple of snows, if I don't push as much as possible to the end/sides, the open section can start to close up. Then it takes time to open it up again.


I can stack pretty well already, but my brush guard will let me lift it higher, I just have to get it finished and put on. The bumper is the only thing keeping me from lifting it higher right now, but I can get the arms almost straight out.


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## theholycow

Good info Thumbs Up


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## theholycow

FYI, a little searching reveals that your welder was also sold as a Sears 93420111, which gives you some documentation if you didn't have it...
http://parts.sears.com/partsdirect/...arts/Welder-Parts/Model-93420111/0247/0753000


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## IsaacCarlson

Thanks for the info.


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## Dubl0Vert

What happened to the Pics?


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## IsaacCarlson

I'm working on it....should be back up in a minute....


EDIT: All fixed...sorry.


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## Dubl0Vert

Not a bad looking setup for home use. Need to get some Green and Yella on that!


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## Blast Chamber

Nice job on extending the plow! I'm doing the same thing currently with a plow for my Trackless MT; converting it from 5' to 8.5'. I'm trying to get it done before the snow starts coming, and so far winter has been delayed here in Wisconsin which I am very grateful for!


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## IsaacCarlson

How thick is yout steel? Looks pretty heavy!!!


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## Blast Chamber

Yeah, it's heavy. The moldboard is just made out of the typical gauge steel normally used.

The ribs and structure are pretty heavy-duty on the 5-foot center plow. I bought a used Bolens garden tractor plow blade on craigslist and cut it into quarters to stretch each end, and then filled in the center of each end with some scrap steel plate. 

I do have a forklift, so moving the blade around after fabrication is done isn't going to be a big problem.


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## IsaacCarlson

wow.....it looks like a dozer blade.....


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## Dubl0Vert

Blast Chamber;1380674 said:


> I do have a forklift, so moving the blade around after fabrication is done isn't going to be a big problem.


That is my biggest problem, I have a pneumatic engine crane I can use to move mine around when not on the truck, but a front loader on my John Deere would be sooooooooo much nicer!


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## bstout

Very impressive!!!









Congratulations on a job well done.

There's a little bit of 'farmer' in all of us.

By that I mean we will not purchase ANYTHING that we can build from scratch.

Bob


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