Plow recommendations

Can anyone recommend a snowplow setup for a DC 4X4? Maybe include some pics?

Thanks

 

I went with this on my '06 TRD OR:
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Lightweight, steel frame & cutting edge w/poly blade, hand-held remote, relatively easy on-off.
Good for up to about a 6" snowfall. More than that and the snow spills over the top if too much gathers in front of the blade.
Mine had a 6.5 foot blade - in hindsight I'd rather have a 7.5 foot blade.
Definitely not for commercial heavy duty work.

 

i don't know if i'd want to put a plow on a tacoma. are the frames strong enough?

 

I won't put a plow on my Tacoma. I just use this instead for the heavy wet snow in N Idaho.

 

I guess that all depends on how you treat your rig. With the lightweight Homesteader it's kind of limited as to how much force is applied to the truck's frame. Unless, of course, you try pushing around 6 ton boulders, or running into trees. Never had a concern with mine and never had a warranty issue with my dealer because of the plow's subframe. They even swapped the subframe onto my truck's new frame in 2015.

 

Love it, but I’m thinkin’ a sweet Kubota(??) set-up like that has gotta be at least $10k more than a 7ft plow for a 3rd Gen? Not really even in the same ballpark...

I’d never plow commercially with my Tacoma, but I’d be interested in a small, reasonably priced one for my home and cottage....

 

I put a snow way plow on both my old 2010 and 2017 newer Tacoma it weight about 350 pounds and it come in and off so easily I just put it before I plow my driveway then take it back off when I’m done.

 

Watch Western Truck and Tractor on YouTube he'll give you the honest low down on Kubota from the service side. After watching some of the repairs on the bigger units I wouldn't want one.

 

I was in Boston for a while...
Miserable, terrible weather. When you are not freezing - you are cooked by steam (Humid!). There is a period of spectacular weather though... (about two weeks in late September) - that's when the tourists invade.

Saw may a truck with a plow in the winter with an over-eager owner enjoying destroying both his transmission and everything else on the truck. Salt and worse chemicals everywhere... - Horrible noises being made banging on hidden stumps and boulders...
Plowing must reduce the trucks' expected lifespan greatly! (and the owners too!).

I quickly discovered that shoveling snow, snow raking, and ice chipping are definitely not a pastime I want to engage in!
When engaged in these horrible tasks I always had this soul-sucking, despair-inducing, highly disturbing feeling of my life-hours being completely and utterly wasted - and never to be recovered...




Just recalling that requires me to go have a drink. (maybe two!)

 

I think for some people pushing snow is a zen thing, i've seen some pretty mental shit in the Midwest. There can be a blizzard outside, but there's always a few bumble fucks that try and stay ahead of it running their machines/shovels all night and day to keep a clear driveway.

 

I was like that at first when I first got my '06 TRD OR with a Homesteader plow.
Didn't take too long to realize that it made more sense to wait until the storm is over and then tackle it. Unless the accumulation was clearly gonna be more than 6-8 inches - then it meant getting out there at least once (sometimes twice) cuz the plow couldn't handle 16-24 inches of snow depth unless it was pure powder.
Now I have my Kubota BX2380 with a 55" blower - now I definitely wait. Being close to retirement helped also - was at a point where I could work from home and could avoid all on the insanity on snow covered highways.
Plowing/blowing snow IS a Zen thing, as is mowing my 3 acres of lawn. Especially when I can do it on my terms and not because it's gotta be done NOW.

 

Definitely a Zen thing for me and I like the mental challenge I feel while trying to do it efficiently. There’s something extremely satisfying about admiring my well plowed driveway and a post-plow beer is one of the best beers. Lol

 

My recommendation would be to find a shot-out GMT800 with a plow. Let an old heap of a full-size truck take the beating.

 

For your own driveway?

I'd use a walk-behind snow blower. Minimum 6 hp, dual stage, 26" wide.


Zero stress on the truck. Plus you could arch the throw in such a manner for the wind to drift into the neighbor's driveway.

In this area, the snow always goes to the South or East side of the driveway.

 

I've been using Fisher Homesteaders on various Tacomas to do about half mile of dirt road for years. Gen 1 had the old plastic blade. Gen 2 and now Gen 3 (MT) have the improved lightweight steel blade. I miss the manual low range shift in the Gen 1 (MT). Keep it in 4wd low; for me second gear is the sweet spot, nice and slow. I have rods on the plow so I can see the corners and prefer plowing wrong way, plow angled to driver's side, makes it easy to see things. I put some take on the dash, another bit on the hood, and some on the plow light to make it precise lining up the plow. I also have about 300 lbs of gravel bags in the bed, mostly to keep things under control with without the plow when I am in 2wd on pavement.

In coastal Maine a dump of more than six is rare, and as a poster noted you need to get out and plow early. If I have to do that I just do a center pass leaving the edges to be worked once the storm passes. IF we get a bad crust, you need a v plow and bigger truck.

 

Don’t plow with light trucks.

Get a big ass Honda blower on tracks.

 

If all I had was a driveway, a big blower like the one I have would do the job. For a road you need to go up. I have no need or budget for a tractor. When my road is too much for the Taco, we bring out the neighbors big truck with the v plow, and sometimes the front end loader.

 

SnowSport is what I use.

 

Big truck big plow little truck small plow there is little difference. The danger is the driver.