# homesteader plows any good?



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

im looking to put a steader on my 06 ranger and i was wondering what your thouts were on the plow and will my ranger push it good?


----------



## C.Solan (Jan 20, 2009)

What you gonna be using it for?


----------



## blueline38 (Dec 22, 2007)

*homesteader*

I have the suburbanite and love the plow. Alot of guys on here like the snoway so that may be an option for you as well. The snoway will cost around a grand more. Depends on what dealers you have near you.


----------



## chcav1218 (Jul 31, 2008)

good plow for small projects and personal use. and its a good match for your truck


----------



## Krieger91 (Feb 7, 2008)

new2chevy;726762 said:


> I have the suburbanite and love the plow. Alot of guys on here like the snoway so that may be an option for you as well. The snoway will cost around a grand more. Depends on what dealers you have near you.


Cost is more, but like you said sometimes dealer's change your opinion. I wanted to get a Homesteader/Suburbanite on my Blazer, but couldn't.

To the OP; I've heard nothing but good reports on them, as long as you don't beat the crap out of it and try to use it in a way it's not intended. It's a personal use plow, so it's obviously not going to be as strongly built as it's commercial-strength counterpart.


----------



## RangerDogg (Jan 13, 2009)

*plow*



Krieger91;726924 said:


> Cost is more, but like you said sometimes dealer's change your opinion. I wanted to get a Homesteader/Suburbanite on my Blazer, but couldn't.
> 
> To the OP; I've heard nothing but good reports on them, as long as you don't beat the crap out of it and try to use it in a way it's not intended. It's a personal use plow, so it's obviously not going to be as strongly built as it's commercial-strength counterpart.


If you go to truck equipment forum and look under ranger small rigs you will see mine.I have seen a lot of guys in mass have the homesteaderon or curtis homepro the snow away is a1000 more i bought a snowdogg 68 3100 installed.and it plows awesome if you.


----------



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

jest a few drives for now iv looked at snowways and in my mind not werth the xtra $1000. jest want some thing light that will get the job done and not kill my truck with to much weight


----------



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

i have a snowway wester and fisher dealer all within 5min from me


----------



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

dose any one know the totel weight of the snow way


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

I have 17 driveway accounts. Plowed 7-8 storms so far this year with the Homesteader. So that's about 128 driveways plowed and I think it works great. I'm very happy with it.

I think the Snowway with sub-frame is around 420lbs and the Homesteader is 280lbs.


----------



## winged1dur (Feb 12, 2006)

bumblebee;728616 said:


> dose any one know the totel weight of the snow way


Snoway 22 is 275lbs for 6'8'', 284lbs for 7'6".


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

winged1dur;729106 said:


> Snoway 22 is 275lbs for 6'8'', 284lbs for 7'6".


Does that include the frame that mounts on the truck??? I was under the impression that is the plow itself and does not include the subframe.

When I was looking, the dealer told me it was around 420lbs total weight with frame for my Explorer.

The Homesteader is 280 including the truck frame.


----------



## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

did you see the curtis personnal plow


----------



## RangerDogg (Jan 13, 2009)

*picture*



Captain;729061 said:


> I have 17 driveway accounts. Plowed 7-8 storms so far this year with the Homesteader. So that's about 128 driveways plowed and I think it works great. I'm very happy with it.
> 
> Hey captain do you have a picture of your truck i would like to see it.I see alot of guys around here with homesteader because of weight i was told by a few people that pump breaks a lot and it doesnt scrape good.But seem you have had a good exp with yours.


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

Here you go:





































One of my fears when I bought it was that it wouldn't stack well - as you can see from the poor quality cell phone picture, it does stack well. I have many 5'-6' snow banks. This picture was plowing 6".


----------



## RangerDogg (Jan 13, 2009)

Nice looks like it works well .Plow on


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

I should note the above photos are the 6' 8" plow that I originally purchased.

Before the first snow I decided to upgrade to the wider 7' 4" plow.


----------



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

thanks for the info i think im gana get the steder.looks good on your explorer


----------



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

im only doing like 10 to 20 drives so i think the steder will be fine if i dont beat on it.
what would be better on my ranger the 6.8 or 7.4?


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*steader , bad motor , very bad ...*

it just wont last a whole season , let alone 3-4-5 ? cant say bad enough times !! gl


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

I do 17 drives right now. I was doing them with a Snowbear before the Homesteader. The key is not to beat the plow and let it do the work.

I originally bought the 6' 8" but when it was fully angled it was 70" or 72" wide. My truck is 70" wide. I went up to the7' 4" just so it would be a bit wider than my truck.

Even my dealer said the 6' 8" would have been fine, but the upgrade was my personal preference.

How wide is your Ranger???

The difference in price between the 2 plows is only $125 or so.


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

HOMESTEADER sucks ,, the motor sucks , period ! no fix -it , just a replaceit motor , costantly !!!


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

luv2plow;729265 said:


> it just wont last a whole season , let alone 3-4-5 ? cant say bad enough times !! gl


I know you have issues with yours. Mine has been fine, and one of our Town Departments has been plowing a parking lot for the past few years with one without problems.

Maybe you got a lemon, or your pushing it too hard, I don't know. I do know plenty of people that are using them without any problems though.


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

thats great for you and your town , i do think i got a Lemon , but the lemon has been changed 3 times , and still no satisfaction from Fisher . very poor help for me .......!!! ps , i'm not pushing too hard , it's a snowplow not a feater -duster !


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

luv2plow;729289 said:


> thats great for you and your town , i do think i got a Lemon , but the lemon has been changed 3 times , and still no satisfaction from Fisher . very poor help for me .......!!! ps , i'm not pushing too hard , it's a snowplow not a feater -duster !


My question would be......do you have a blockage or a defective lift or angle cylinder that is causing undo pressure on the pump motor. Obviously if you've gone through so many motors, it's not the motor itself, but something causing the motor to fail.

I know my dealer is great at customer service, and would work hard to define the problem, rather than just swap out motors.

As far as plowing hard - I've seen people plow with care, and people that just ram snowbanks.

This is a personal plow, not made to ram snow banks.


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*just a pusher*

i dont ram the snow , in the morning 's , the motor just 'clicks', i have to tap it , w/ a mallet or stick , and voila , it works again , my dealer has been very helpful and very accomodating w/ this problem i assure you , it has been very frustrating for all of us ,i wish you good luck !


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

Have you replaced the actual pump itself and not just the motor???

When you tap the motor you may actually be freeing up something in the pump ..... just a thought.


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*dude .*

i will bring this up nex t time i have to take it in to the fisher -shop , thanks for the clues , i'm really at a loss as to what is the main problem , my dealer , ' whom ' i'm relying -on says '' it's a under engineered motor !


----------



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

not sure how wide my ranger is should be the same as an explorer.and i agree with captain if you have changed the motor 3 times it has to be some thing els and would check the pump


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*will do*

, the only reason that i Harp on the motor is that as soon as it's been re-placed , everything is as should be , and my dealer has said himself that the 'motor' has been a weak spot since he has been installing them ,,


----------



## bumblebee (Jan 22, 2009)

dont get me wrong if its junk its junk but it sound to me like it some thing els.dose the motor sound like its working to hard at all maybe something binding cosing them to burn up?


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*click click*

thats the only sound made as i push the joystick buttons ,it sounds like such a simple problem/fix. but the only diagnosis so far has been a faulty motor , click !


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

I bet odds are that you have a faulty pump that is causing excessive draw on the motor. Over time this is burning out the motor.

Or, there is a possibility you are not getting full voltage to the motor. This could also cause it to fail prematurely. I would contact Fisher direct and see what they say.


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*thanks capt.*

i personally contacted fisher for advice/suggestions etc. but nothing was solved .absolutely nothing ,


----------



## Captain (Sep 27, 2008)

Did you send a PM to Brian Simmons in the Fisher forum on this site. He is an engineer at Fisher and could probably help you out. 

I just really feel it is not a motor issue and that something else is causing your premature motor failure.


----------



## blueline38 (Dec 22, 2007)

*motor*

I have had my plow for three seasons now and I did just replace the motor. The motor was $200.00 and it took me five minutes to swap out. Other than the motor I have had no problems with the plow. It does not backdrag as well as I would like because their is too much play in the mount and the angle is wrong on my truck, but it scrapes great going forward. I have no complaints about this plow. It get's the job done and weights next to nothing. As shown on the website, I can slide it into the brackets and pick it up to lock it in.


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*hi captain ,*

i was just hooking up the 'Steader' for tom's storm ,AND i had to Tap the motor lightly again just to get it started ... i did send Brian a note , but , not any re-plys yet .. it just makes a click '' up'' click '' left '' click '' down '' click ''right ''. like a said , it was professionaly installed by Fisher trained techs ..


----------



## vtzdriver (Jun 12, 2006)

I am also on motor #2 and motor #1 was never right but noone, including Fisher could diagnose it. 
I spent alot of $$ on fluid changes as they kept thinking it must be condensation causing the problem- Nope!!
Now I have an intermittent fluid leak in the valve area- but never when it's in the shop!!!


----------



## luv2plow (Jan 15, 2009)

*i just returned ,*

from my 500' gravel driveway , i had to 'TAP; the motor to start things working but since then , it's been fine , i just hate having to Tap a $3200 plow , TO GET IT GOING , !


----------

