# New to me Snoway HTD 96", and new to plowing this coming season



## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

After years of tackling my driveway with shovels and snowblowers, I decided to keep an eye out for a plow setup to install on my truck to help with the longer driveway at our new (well, been here in Howell 2 years now) house. I'm now the next owner of a Snoway HTD 96" plow setup with the wireless (Predator) remote. I used the discussions here at the plowsite forums to research different plows before coming across this deal on CL and making the purchase today. I had also dug through information at the Snoway site to try and learn more about what I was buying. The plow had sat since the seller had bought it off a friend who had removed it from a truck he sold, but he never got around to using it.

The date code on the remote control receiver module is 50/04 - so I'm guessing (Week 50, 2004) this will likely put the plow as an HT with downpressure that was built/sold in early 2005 as one of the last of the Gen II HT series plows.

The wiring under the pump cover looks good. Though there were signs of nesting (mice?) from the plow sitting in storage, the wiring looks intact and without any damage. The plow looks to have been retrofit with the Quick Hitch conversion, and the vehicle-side mount that came with the setup has the correct center mount portion.

My plow vehicle is a 2005 Dodge Ram2500 quad cab short bed with the Cummins diesel, auto transmission and 4x4. Whatever use this plow had previously, it will be limited to clearing our driveway from SE Michigan snows, and that's about it. We have about 400 feet of gentle curving asphalt drive with about 100' of elevation change over that distance.

I'll need to find the right vehicle-mount kit for my Ram (Snoway 99100863), but I can reuse the center member 99100891. I haven't been able to identify the vehicle-side mount that came with the plow setup, but it is not what I need so I'll be selling that off.

Looking it over, the issues that I see are that the A-frame is bent at the back where the lift cylinder attaches. Also, the outer portions of the plow blade frame is bent backwards a little. Any thoughts on how bad these are to correct? A new plow frame is over $1000, from what I've searched so far, so that's not the solution I'm looking for, yet. As for that portion of the A-frame, what are the options for correcting it? Have it straightened and weld another section of angle steel over it as reinforcement?

Thanks for reading this far - and any advice is appreciated! A lot of pictures follow below.

Complete Snoway HTD 96" plow setup









Serial Number









Pump Motor and Controller









Remote









Quick Hitch conversion









Pump details









Vehicle-specific mounts









Plow blade frame tweaked at outer edges









Long view of plow blade frame tweaked at outer edges









Lift Cylinder Plate bent


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Welcome to the site.....
Sno-Way plows has a pretty limited following and i believe the Sno-Way thread was removed. Trying to find mounts isn't in your favor due to popularity but even a blind squirrel does eventually find a nut...... Good luck


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

I've identified the vehicle-specific mount that was with the setup - it's Snoway PN 99100881 for the 2004+ Dodge Durango and 2005+ Dodge Dakota 4x4's.

I'll be looking for PN 99100863 (w/o the center member) and the HW kit is 96109144 if I find a used mount that's missing the nuts and bolts.

Also need to get familiar with a local Snoway dealer - there seem to be a few around this part of MI.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

More detail on the 99100881 - it's for the 2004-2009 Dodge Durango and 2005-2011 Dodge Dakota 4x4's.


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## EWSplow (Dec 4, 2012)

You need to search Basher on plowsite. He's the sno-way guy.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Thanks, EWSplow! We started communication shortly after I made the original post Thumbs Up


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

Your driveway has a 25 percent grade? That is steep. Does it curve like a switch back?


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

It does curve a bit along the way, though not like a switchback. Some parts are steeper than others. But, yeah, if I remember correctly from checking altitude readings on my GPS: along our road, the 0.5mile up from the intersection with the main road is about a 200' elevation change, and from the foot of our driveway to the back of the driveway is another 80 or 100' elevation change.

I had bought a Crown Vic last year as a project car (low miles, sat for a few years with a bad fuel pump), but decided to sell it this Spring as it struggled with almost any bit of snow on the driveway before it was cleared and melted free of snow (it's an asphalt driveway).


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

BTW, BUFF, the blind squirrel found the nut! I picked up the correct mount for my truck (found it used on CL) just yesterday. All I need is to put together the bolt set to mount it before winter. 

Snoway had a mounting HW kit PN, but that is no longer valid in their system. I have a request in to the customer service team to see if they'll still assemble a kit, or if it was superceded with a different PN - should know more after the Labor Day weekend.


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

khnitz said:


> It does curve a bit along the way, though not like a switchback. Some parts are steeper than others. But, yeah, if I remember correctly from checking altitude readings on my GPS: along our road, the 0.5mile up from the intersection with the main road is about a 200' elevation change, and from the foot of our driveway to the back of the driveway is another 80 or 100' elevation change.
> 
> I had bought a Crown Vic last year as a project car (low miles, sat for a few years with a bad fuel pump), but decided to sell it this Spring as it struggled with almost any bit of snow on the driveway before it was cleared and melted free of snow (it's an asphalt driveway).


Are you going to put ballast and get at least a pair of rear tire chains to help out traction. I think for any solution about the A-frame you will have. To mount it on the truck and see how level the sits and of course consult manual for proper alignment and see what needs to be done after that.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

ConnerExum, thanks for those tips. For the ballast and chains, I'll have to consider it if the truck struggles with our drive. We have the 4-door short-bed with a truck cap - it's about 7600lbs on its own.

As for the A-frame, while I was at the Snoway dealer yesterday near where I am visiting in IL this weekend, I noticed that the Snoway A-frame now is built so that that back part of the A-frame is shaped as a U-channel, with the mount/pivot for the lift/downpressure cylinder in between there. So, one thought would be to add a gusset across the bottom of that back of the A-frame, changing it from just the "L" or angle-iron that it is right now, into a U, as well.


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

khnitz said:


> ConnerExum, thanks for those tips. For the ballast and chains, I'll have to consider it if the truck struggles with our drive. We have the 4-door short-bed with a truck cap - it's about 7600lbs on its own.
> 
> As for the A-frame, while I was at the Snoway dealer yesterday near where I am visiting in IL this weekend, I noticed that the Snoway A-frame now is built so that that back part of the A-frame is shaped as a U-channel, with the mount/pivot for the lift/downpressure cylinder in between there. So, one thought would be to add a gusset across the bottom of that back of the A-frame, changing it from just the "L" or angle-iron that it is right now, into a U, as well.


You could certainly do that. I am just curious if the bend even effects overall operation in a significant manner. Before I did anything to the setup myself I would set it up on the truck and then see how it functions. The bend to me doesn't look very significant from the picture. If you are worried about longevity of the piece- you could have it cut out and replaced with a heavy duty piece of channel and then put gussets on the piece for added rigidity. That is one way to go and you could make it very stout for sure.

As for ballast remember as you plow the weight distribution shifts in favor to the front and if you are going up hill or even on a flat you can loose traction in the rear.


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

That moldboard is what an 1 inch almost separated from the support rib on each end. That seems more problematic. It does look like you can have the moldboard welded back to the vertical support rib. I would also check all ribs for cracked welds. No point in welding the ends of the moldboard only to have failures in the middle of it.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Thanks for the information on the weight shift while pushing the snow - I hadn't considered that (I have a lot to learn, as this will be my first year with a plow).

On the moldboard, it's actually a clear (now aged and less clear) polycarb moldboard. Once I get around to bringing the plow into the shop to start prepping it for the winter, I'll put a straight-edge across the plow face and see what is tweaked. I think the outer edges of the plow frame have bent back slightly over the years of use, and that's why the moldboard stands proud of the ends. I'll also have to check if maybe the bolts have shifted on the bottom and top releasing some of the tension on the moldboard and maybe that is why it is standing ahead of the edges of the plow frame.


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

khnitz said:


> Thanks for the information on the weight shift while pushing the snow - I hadn't considered that (I have a lot to learn, as this will be my first year with a plow).
> 
> On the moldboard, it's actually a clear (now aged and less clear) polycarb moldboard. Once I get around to bringing the plow into the shop to start prepping it for the winter, I'll put a straight-edge across the plow face and see what is tweaked. I think the outer edges of the plow frame have bent back slightly over the years of use, and that's why the moldboard stands proud of the ends. I'll also have to check if maybe the bolts have shifted on the bottom and top releasing some of the tension on the moldboard and maybe that is why it is standing ahead of the edges of the plow frame.


That is poly I thought it was stainless...


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

khnitz said:


> Thanks for the information on the weight shift while pushing the snow - I hadn't considered that (I have a lot to learn, as this will be my first year with a plow).
> 
> On the moldboard, it's actually a clear (now aged and less clear) polycarb moldboard. Once I get around to bringing the plow into the shop to start prepping it for the winter, I'll put a straight-edge across the plow face and see what is tweaked. I think the outer edges of the plow frame have bent back slightly over the years of use, and that's why the moldboard stands proud of the ends. I'll also have to check if maybe the bolts have shifted on the bottom and top releasing some of the tension on the moldboard and maybe that is why it is standing ahead of the edges of the plow frame.


Its lexan plastic if I remember, And they do break.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

I re-measured my driveway and street elevations with my Garmin GPS unit over the weekend - I began to doubt my recollection of the grades I originally stated. 

Over the 1/2 mile from the main intersection of my road to the main road - and then up to my driveway, there is about a 150' elevation increase, and then from the front of the driveway to the back, there is about a 30' elevation increase over the ~350' of the driveway (there are a couple of level spots along the way in front of the garage and a parking area lower down the driveway from the house).

So that makes it more of a 8.5% grade overall, but a couple of spots where it's likely a little steeper than that (but certainly not the 25% I was alluding to originally).

After a little research - on the moldboard, it looks like an "all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares situation". Lexan is a brand name for a specific type of polycarbonate.

I picked up the used mount for my 3rd Gen Ram2500 over the weekend (it is straight, but rusty - this will give me an excuse to buy a sandblasting kit  so I can prep and paint it before installation), and I should hear back from Snoway this week on if they still offer the mounting bolt kit - or if I'll have to assemble the necessary bolts individually.


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

khnitz said:


> I re-measured my driveway and street elevations with my Garmin GPS unit over the weekend - I began to doubt my recollection of the grades I originally stated.
> 
> Over the 1/2 mile from the main intersection of my road to the main road - and then up to my driveway, there is about a 150' elevation increase, and then from the front of the driveway to the back, there is about a 30' elevation increase over the ~350' of the driveway (there are a couple of level spots along the way in front of the garage and a parking area lower down the driveway from the house).
> 
> ...


Have you checked out to see exactly how much the blade is bent? It looks rather extreme on the right edge but that might be the picture and not reality. That would concern me and straightening it might be difficult.

My suggestion grade 8 bolts if you buy them yourself. Zinc coated would be a good idea to reduce rust.

You truck sounds nice: got pictures?


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Here is our Ram - we use it for road/camping trips mostly, and Home Depot runs


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

khnitz said:


> Here is our Ram - we use it for road/camping trips mostly, and Home Depot runs
> 
> View attachment 183594


Very nice. Truck.

I am curious if the frame that supports the moldboard is possibly twisted too and not just a bent. It dawned on me when I was looking at it.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Thanks!

My thought is to take the plow blade frame to a frame straightening shop in the area and see if they can set it straight again, if it is found to be significantly bent. Just from my visual inspection so far, I think the outer ends are tweaked back a little, but the moldboard is following the rest of the frame pretty well, so I don't believe it is twisted.


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## ConnorExum (Jan 5, 2010)

khnitz said:


> Thanks!
> 
> My thought is to take the plow blade frame to a frame straightening shop in the area and see if they can set it straight again, if it is found to be significantly bent. Just from my visual inspection so far, I think the outer ends are tweaked back a little, but the moldboard is following the rest of the frame pretty well, so I don't believe it is twisted.


I hope that works out for you.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

We moved the plow out of the trailer, onto rollers (these were re-purposed snowmobile dollies) and into the shop garage. The plow frame is definitely tweaked back at the ends, more so on the right side than on the left side (when viewed from behind - from the driver's seat position).

More troubling, I connected a charged deep-cycle battery to the plow and new batteries in the remote, but was unable to get it moving. So, first I have to trouble shoot the remote/receiver/controller before moving ahead to worry about straightening the plow frame. I only had a few minutes to run the first check - so no time to get out the multimeter and start tracing the power through the system. Maybe I'll have some time this weekend.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

I examined the plow further last night, and it looks like the controller/receiver (PN 96105166 Rev K3) has succumbed to the elements and failed (the status LED does not flash or light up when power is applied). The plastic housing peeled away from the potting material in some of the corners, so that would provide a moisture path. 

The Date Code on the controller helps me pinpoint the year of my plow, though - WK50/04 is on there, so it looks to be a late 2004 or early 2005 plow that has had the Quick Attach 2-pin conversion put on it.

A question: looking at the plow circuit diagram, is the Red/White feed to the different solenoids 12V? Meaning, when the controller is on it feeds 12V to the Red/White side of the coils? Then, when the controller activates a coil, it pulls the other side to Ground? Since I can't fire up my controller, I can't measure it directly, but that seems the most likely configuration.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Adding some photos of the receiver. The arrows point to where the outer housing separated from the potting material.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

I hope you got a great deal on this set up for your sake. Good luck with the repairs and getting those frame issues straight.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

It seemed like a good deal at the time. Probably still will be, just need to get it sorted out.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

I ordered up a new Wireless Pro Control 2 setup with the correct connection harness to try on this plow (I got one of those use-it-now 15% off coupons from [email protected], so that made it more palatable). Everything has been installed, the receiver and controller paired, and the plow works! All functions are responding (L, R, Up, Down, Down with Downpressure).

So, now I just need to get the vehicle mount installed on my Ram, and see if I can find a shop to true-up the blade frame. Once that is ready, then I'll cut an HPDE cutting edge from some material I have here, flush the fluid, clean everything up and I'll be ready for when the snow flies here in SE MI.

And then, the snow won't fly this season


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Latest update: the blade frame was dropped off at a local frame shop last night. We'll see how straight they can get it. I had to cut off all the old bolts holding the cutting edge - good thing I ordered all new bolts for the mount and blade. The new bolts to hold the cutting edge are longer, as I am going to put an HDPE edge behind it.

And...the snow started to fly early, this year  I'm anxious to get this setup complete and put to work on our driveway. I'll need to carve out time to put the mount on the truck soon (so many projects going at the moment, though...).


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Well, that was quick! The shop finished straightening the blade frame and reassembled it for me to pick it up last night. It looks great! They were able to get it onto their frame jig and twist and bend it back straight.

Now I just need to get the mount onto my truck and hook up the plow before the real snow starts around here
lowblue:


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

And it's all set! Spent the weekend getting the plow mount onto our truck, completing the reassembly of the plow and testing it. When the snow finally flies here in earnest, I'll be ready


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

It took until mid-January, but we had our first significant snow over the weekend. This 8' Snoway plow setup worked great for our driveway, and I cleared my neighbors, as well, for the extra practice.

I do have one problem spot where our driveway meets the road at an angle (the driveway rises up away from the road). As I come down the driveway with the plow, I push off to the side of the driveway into the grass, and then need to exit to the road, back up, and then approach from the road to push the snow fully off the side of the driveway (I do not want to plow fully across the street into my neighbor's yard). 

Anyway, the angle is steep enough that the plow bottoms out a little on the road as I drive out of the driveway (even with the plow fully raised). Is this a big concern? I took it nice and slow each time I pulled out, to be safe. And, next time I'm thinking if I angle the plow to the left as I exit (and with the plow raised), this will give the right side more clearance to the road as I exit.

As I've mentioned, I'm new to plowing and trying to make sure I do what I can to help this setup up last us for many years to help with clearing our driveway. Thanks for any tips!


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## BlackBeauty (Aug 29, 2017)

I enjoyed reading your "journey". Kudos for getting it all working well!

I plow 3 driveways total; all my family membrs in adjacent houses. All driveways are narrow hilly and uneven, even though there paved asphalt. Very tricky. I also have issues with plowing from the driveway into the street where the plow wants to trip a bit. I want to be easy on both the plow in the truck so now what I do is when I come to where the driveway meets the road I picked the plow blade up a bit. This leaves a little strip of snow, but I'd rather go back and do it with a shovel rather than do any damage to either the truck or plow.

Nice work! I'll bet it's a great feeling of accomplishment!


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

Thanks, BlackBeauty! Yeah, it did feel good to have it working after all the repairs and prep. I bought it for $420, and am all into it for just under $1k when I consider the parts I had to buy & the blade frame straightening, and then minus the extra parts and vehicle mount I was able to sell.

As for exiting my driveway, I do pick the blade up all the way at the end of the driveway, but it still makes contact with the road as I exit. So, I'll just take it easy going in and out of the driveway. 

But, now that I think of it some more, one of the last repairs I need to make to the plow (which I will tackle after this season is done because it's not a huge issue) is to straighten the back of the A-frame where the lift cylinder attaches. That was bent back a little already when I bought it. The new Snoway A-frames have a gusset across the frame at that area that strengthen it. So, with mine bent back a little, it may not be allowing the plow to lift to its full potential.


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## BlackBeauty (Aug 29, 2017)

Aha....I see what you mean now where the plow hits.

I think you'll be able to fine tune even more to improve the performance as you use it and see where adjustments are needed


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

So, my original tinypic links are no longer available from my original post. I'm adding them below.
Complete Snoway HTD 96" plow setup








Serial Number















Pump Motor and Controller








Remote















Quick Hitch conversion








Pump details








Vehicle-specific mounts















Plow blade frame tweaked at outer edges








Long view of plow blade frame tweaked at outer edges








Lift Cylinder Plate bent









So that takes care of old business. On to new business...

I'm in the process of making the final repair to the plow - this was more of an improvement, as the plow functioned well the rest of the last season for me. This year's work was to get the A-frame straightened and reinforced at the rear lift cylinder attachment point (the bent area is shown in the last picture above, pointed at by the arrow).

I used a truck and trailer repair facility near me to straighten and reinforce the A-frame. They turned the repair around in the same day, and I'll be reinstalling it in the next few days. I'll add pictures of the repaired A-frame then, and I'll also add pictures of the new wireless controller and receiver that I installed last year.

I've missed the first snow of this season - and it was a good one here in SE MI, we got a little over 8 inches on Monday - but I should be ready for the next snow. As we were clearing the driveway with our snowblowers (took about 2.5hrs), my kids let me know that they *very much* want the plow repaired :laugh:


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Your kids are right. Over a year long for your project. I thought I took a long time for projects. I am cobbling a plow together right now for a Dodge 2500 Cummins 12V. All junkyard and CL stuff, 8 foot fisher Speedcast blade to MM1 set up and old school belt drive pump. We have been at it for 2 weeks and right now that seems too long. I am going to make a post on it. Sorry to hi-jack, hope you finish it for the sake of your kids.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

> Your kids are right. Over a year long for your project. I thought I took a long time for projects.


Now, now, now...it's not *that* bad. I bought the plow in the summer of 2018 and had it together and working by the end of November, so it was available for the bulk of last season. We really didn't get another heavy snow until after the New Year, but it worked well.

So smash-cut to this season, and all summer long I had been consumed with other projects around the house. I'm trying to get this repair completed for preventive maintenance and an improvement in performance. I should have the plow back together this weekend.

What I find funny (actually frustrating) is that once they were out there shoveling/snowblowing again, suddenly they were all more than happy to help me work on the plow to get it repaired. I reminded them that what I really needed was their help on all the other projects, too, so that I could have gotten to the plow sooner. They're good kids (teens), but they haven't put together that chain of events, yet.


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## khnitz (Aug 2, 2018)

I finally got time to reinstall the A-frame and take some pictures of the repair/reinforcement that was done.





  








Gusset Added To A-frame




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khnitz


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Dec 6, 2019




I had the shop add a gusset across the bottom of the A-frame at the rear, to mimic the design of...










  








Straightened




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khnitz


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Dec 6, 2019




The repair shop did their best to straighten the area of the rear of the A-frame that had bent...










  








Another View Of Straightened Frame




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khnitz


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Dec 6, 2019




Here is another view of the repaired/straightened area at the back of the plow A-frame by the...






We haven't had any significant snow since that first snowfall, so I haven't had a chance to try the post-repair plow out for this season, but I'm looking forward to it.


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## ggb6259 (Jan 14, 2010)

Awesome job there.... very impressed!


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## BlackBeauty (Aug 29, 2017)

Congrats on a superb job!


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