# blade tips back, springs lock up



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

Hello, 
I am a total newbie to all of this, so bear with my lack of proper terms and knowledge.....

I have an old (not sure how old, but at least 25 year old Meyer) plow mounted to an equally old army surplus 76 dodge powerwagon. I bought the plow used, and had the local Meyer dealer mount it to my truck. 
I live in Utah, and we have had an incredible winter here in the mountains, with several feet of snow falling every week for the last 6 weeks or so. We have a LOT of snow, and I have to push into some pretty big piles. Lately my blade tips backward under a big load of snow, and the two springs sort of 'bowed' and locked that way. I was able to just kick 'em back into place the first couple of times, but yesterday both springs actually popped off the bolts on the blade. I got them back on, (THAT was fun) but the very next pile I pushed into caused the same thing. 
Is it possible that I damaged or weakened the springs somehow by the blade tipping back?
I do not do any commercial plowing, and use this plow only for my own property road which is gravel. I also have noticed a new hydraulic fluid leak on one of the side piston hoses, though it doesn't seem too alarming at the moment.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.... we've had 2' of snow in the last 48 hours, and more on the way!
thanks


----------



## wild bill (Feb 10, 2007)

*got bent*

i think your blade went back past the stops ,will have to weld some more in between the blade and quadrant .


----------



## kashman (Jan 13, 2004)

tighten or new trip spring are needed had the same prob. Can you wiggle the springs if so thats your prob


----------



## Indy (Sep 23, 2007)

post a picture, I am sure others have had whatever your situation is and can help.

Don't worry if it is old looking, alot of the stuff on here has been well used.

good luck


----------



## KGRlandscapeing (May 2, 2007)

Indyplower;507217 said:


> post a picture, I am sure others have had whatever your situation is and can help.
> 
> Don't worry if it is old looking, alot of the stuff on here has been well used.
> 
> good luck


ridden hard and put away wet. i mean its gotta either be poor trip springs or the sector is well having some issues. shouldnt be that bad of fix


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

Thanks everyone!
This is a great forum..... I appreciate all the quick feedback!
I'll try to get some photos I can post to help nail this problem. I guess I don't even know what or where the 'stops' are, and if I've broken them off. I am very fortunate to have the best neighbor in the world who is an expert welder with a complete welding setup right next door if I need to repair something. 
I'll also see if I can wiggle or move the springs.... should I do this while the plow is resting, or elevated? I'm glad to hear that it's hopefully not too major. Even though this rig is old, it has served me very well and quite literally saved my backside this winter. I live in the Wasatch mountains of Utah, and we're having a record breaking snow season! 
Thanks


----------



## DeereFarmer (Dec 12, 2005)

Booda;507355 said:


> I'll also see if I can wiggle or move the springs.... should I do this while the plow is resting, or elevated?


You can do it either way as long as the plow has not tripped back. I'd do it raised just to make sure it's not tripped. I bet this is your problem.


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

If I can move the springs, then what exactly does this mean? Do I need new springs then, or just tightened. Seems if they were tightened, it would want to pull the blade back even more. Sorry I'm so uneducated with this. Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll try this today and also post a couple of photos. We heard on the news last night that our area has received 10 feet of snow since January 4, so this old plow has gotten a real workout this last month!


----------



## DeereFarmer (Dec 12, 2005)

If you can move the springs, you need to tighten them for sure. I'm not positive that's your problem. It'll be easier to see when you post up some pics.


----------



## cincy snowdog (Dec 19, 2005)

it may be your pivot pins and tubes may be wore out and the blade is jumping the stops.


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

I was able to move the springs a little, both when the plow was elevated, and also when at rest. Does this mean that they need to be tightened? I was able to very slightly move them, so it seems there is not that much tension on them.

I did find what I'm sure is the problem.... and I'll attach some photos. I found what is probably the 'stop' broke at the welds after I took the plow to the carwash and blew all the snow and ice out off of it. Looks like an easy fix (I hope!)

Here are the photos if I can get these attached properly...
one of the photos shows the springs locked back (although not as severely as before)
one just shows the plow components, and one shows a close up of the broken weld I found

thanks again for all the help and advice- this is really a great resource-
cheers


----------



## Milwaukee (Dec 28, 2007)

Hey that look exact to our free meyer snowplow.

Do you have someone who have welder and can fix for you?


What kind pump on it? We try find what type is.


----------



## brunosplace (Dec 30, 2004)

looking at the pics, it looks like the pivot bolt has torn through also. You see the small piece of angle iron that is pulled off, the pivot bolt is still through it, but the whole A-frame is pulled away from the sector. The pivot bolt has ripped through the lower angle iron also, or the hole is very oblonged out. The only thing holding the A-frame on right now is the angle cylinders. You need to take it completely apart and weld up the damaged steel.


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

not hard to read at all!

I don't know what the pump is to be honest..... I really am woefully uninformed about the set up. I bought it used on eBay several years ago, and had it installed on my old army surplus powerwagon. It actually came from Wisconsin if I remember correctly. the downside was that in order to get it to fit and work in my truck, I had to sacrifice my power steering (for the pump), and damn! this thing can be a BEAST to turn. I get a workout everytime I plow. 

my neighbor is an expert welder, and has already offered to fix anything I find. I'm very fortunate to have him nearby and so generous.

good luck with finding a job. It's wrong that you would be discriminated against and I hope you are successful!


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

brunosplace;508750 said:


> looking at the pics, it looks like the pivot bolt has torn through also. You see the small piece of angle iron that is pulled off, the pivot bolt is still through it, but the whole A-frame is pulled away from the sector. The pivot bolt has ripped through the lower angle iron also, or the hole is very oblonged out. The only thing holding the A-frame on right now is the angle cylinders. You need to take it completely apart and weld up the damaged steel.


I'm really going to show my ignorance here, but what now? I see the plate which has broken off the welds..... but I'm not clear on what the pivot bolt ripping through the lower angle iron means. Can you help me out more? (sorry to be so clueless.....)


----------



## brunosplace (Dec 30, 2004)

Booda;508758 said:


> I'm really going to show my ignorance here, but what now? I see the plate which has broken off the welds..... but I'm not clear on what the pivot bolt ripping through the lower angle iron means. Can you help me out more? (sorry to be so clueless.....)


The "plate" is a piece of angle iron you see that has broken off, the bolt in the middle of it is the pivot bolt. Looking at the pic, you have the broke loose angle iron on top, then the nose piece of the a-frame, below that is the lower angle iron I am referring to, it is the main long section of the sector, The pivot bolt in the pic actually looks to be too small, and upon disassembly of the a-frame and sector you will probably find that the holes in the a-frame nose piece and the angle iron of the sector are elongated if not already ripped.

In pics 1 & 2, notice the gap between the curved piece(sector) and the bracket where the chain is attached? The curved piece should be back at that bracket fitting under the flat plate that the chain is attached to, it will have a small gap (about 1/4 inch) so as not to bind up the plow when turning it.

As for the tension springs, the pivot isn't the only problem causing that, but there is an easy fix, see the round tubes at each side of the sector where it attaches to the blade. you need to have a flat piece of 3/8 steel welded in to act as a stop for the blade.

In the pics I attached, circled in red are the stops you need added, and in green is the center pivot area that needs repair.


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

Excellent!
THANKS for helping me understand all this. I'll be off to my neighbor today for a weld. Hopefully it won't be too big of a job.
This has all been most helpful, I really appreciate it!


----------



## brunosplace (Dec 30, 2004)

Let us know what you find, pics of the damage are good, I'd like to see what it looks like upon disassembly. Also feel free to ask if you have more questions.


----------



## nbenallo33 (Oct 23, 2007)

looks like you need to weld 2 plates on the back of the sector but also lookin at the pictures you need a new sector


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

why do you think I need a new sector?


----------



## brunosplace (Dec 30, 2004)

He doesn't need a new one since he has access to a good welder, I have repaired ones in far worse condition. That one is an old model, before Meyer started putting the stops in at the pivot tubes. the repairs that I recommended him to do will make it like a new one.


----------



## Booda (Feb 4, 2008)

brunosplace;509277 said:


> Let us know what you find, pics of the damage are good, I'd like to see what it looks like upon disassembly. Also feel free to ask if you have more questions.


Well, we dove into the repair today, (after I had to clear yet another dump off of my driveway--carefully, since I knew my plow was damaged)
and you were quite right. aside from the broken plate in the photo, the pivot bolt had almost completely torn out. we had to cut a new piece in to run the pivot bolt through, and fabricated new plates for the top and the bottom on the a-frame. everything is very tight (a little too tight, but more on that later) much tighter than it has ever been since I've had the plow. I don't think the Meyer dealer who put this on my truck ever had it set up right, I'm sorry to say.

so, the only problem we have now, is at the extreme angles of the plow throw, the plow binds up. tomorrow we're going to probably re-weld things so that doesn't happen, as well as put the stops in to keep it from tipping back.

I'm sure getting a crash course in plows and how they're built!


----------



## brunosplace (Dec 30, 2004)

Sounds good, glad to hear its coming back into shape. Don't forget the pics, we like pictures around here.


----------

