I am thinking about purchasing a new toyota tacoma pick-up truck. I would like to use it (among other things) to plow my driveway (approximately 300 feet)in the Winter. I would like to get a 4 cyl. manual trans 4 x 2 since it gets much better mileage than a 4 x 4 but I am worried that a 4 x 2 may not be suitable for plowing. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts about this,
A 2WD is unsuitable for plowing. In addition to needing the added traction, with the blade turned even a bit it creates a large amount of sideways force which needs to be compensated for with the traction of the front tires. And, when you push the snow up onto the mount, you’ll instantly get stuck in the mound without having the front wheels also driving to help you back off the snow pile. Even 4WD vehicles can get “hung up” with a novice plow driver.
- mountainbike
You’ll also want some extra oomph for the plowing so you will probably need 6 cylinders or more. Diesel might be overkill since you won’t be doing it as a side job.
[b]Three hundred feet is quite a distance to push snow. That’s a football field in length! Especially if it’s the heavy/wet variety of snow.
No. To do this you need a heavy duty half ton or bigger truck, 4X4, with a big V8. And even these trucks get beat all-to-hell when they have a heavy plow season. So, I can’t imagine that little 4 cylinder/two wheel drive pickup being able to push the snow too far once it builds up in front of the moleboard.
Tester[/b]
You don’t push the snow the length of the driveway. It’s supposed to roll off the blade continuously as you plow so that you only have a set amount in front of the blade the entire distance.
Angled or not, a blade full of snow, especially the wet variety, is still asking a lot of a 4 cyl/2WD pickup.
Why not look around and find an old beater Ford 7/8/9N tractor with a blade? Easy/cheap to maintain and can be used for those warm weather jobs also.
The board of the small town I live in sold their old Ford 7N for 800 bucks and that was with the blade and mower attachment.
Just a suggestion anyway.
Well, you’ll find that the plows available for these lighter trucks are also a shorter mold board so you’re pushing less. The downside is you have to push more often to stay ahead of the big snows. If you want to wait for the end to plow, you’ll need a big rig. If you can stay on top of it, you may be able to get away with a smaller one.
And, there are no rules saying you have to cut to dry pavement and take a full blade width on each pass. I’ve gone through many storms where I had to whittle it down to stay within the ability of the rig.
All of this assumes the OP is in an area that gets big snowfall or the wet slushy kind. There are areas that don’t have those circumstances very often and then you could hire out for the occasional fluke storm.
There are many people plowing with these rigs and they do fine. The OP may want to visit a board dedicated to plowing where there are people who have more experience doing it with the type of rig they have. They can offer the pros and cons based on experience. I’ve plowed for many years in 2 wheel even though I had 4 wheel mode available. Makes for easier turning when stacking in tight conditions. The right tires make a tremendous difference in traction along with the correct ballast weight.
I wouldn’t do it. In the long run it would be cheaper to buy a small gardon tractor with a 4’ snow blower attachment. Then you can get the vehicle you want.
Plowing puts a LOT of abuse on a truck. I bent the frame on a brand new F150 within it’s first 2 weeks of ownership.
Plowing puts a LOT of abuse on a truck. I bent the frame on a brand new F150 within it’s first 2 weeks of ownership
They say guns don’t kill people, people kill people. The gun is just the tool used to do the killing. By the same token, plowing does not abuse the truck, the operator does. If you ram into packed snow or objects, then you’ll get what you deserve.
Most hydraulic plows have pressure release mechanisms in the ram hydraulics and trip springs on the blade to limit damage from hitting hidden objects encountered at reasonable speeds. Was this a fixed blade plow?
If you bent the truck frame, the plow must have been a real mess too. Was it an extended cab by any chance?
A 2WD truck will break front ball joints like crazy. It has been tried before. You would need a lot of weight in the back for you to have any traction at all with 2WD. And you will get stuck really bad. Even with 4WD you should plow downhill or you might overheat and/or put too much strain on the truck. Don’t go “commercial” with a small truck either.
The power should not be an issue. You just wont be taking commercial-sized passes, youll take smaller passes. Youll be going slow, and even a 4 cylinder has a good amount of torque in low gear. Its fine for your own driveway, since youre not concerned with how much money youre making.
However, Id only do it with 4wd. 2wd trucks are already bad enough in the snow alone, with a plow it would be about worthless. Unless you put an enormus amount of weight in the bed, and then your mileage gains are gone.
Id get a small 4wd truck. They make 6 ft plows for small trucks like the S10 and Ranger, and they plow just fine. Youll still take small passes, but it will be a lot more reliable in the snow. You can take it out of 4wd when it quits snowing. You could even put a set of locking hubs on the front, that would probably save more gas since you can unlock them and it wont be turning the entire front drivetrain when in 2wd.
They say guns don’t kill people, people kill people. The gun is just the tool used to do the killing. By the same token, plowing does not abuse the truck, the operator does. If you ram into packed snow or objects, then you’ll get what you deserve.
Most hydraulic plows have pressure release mechanisms in the ram hydraulics and trip springs on the blade to limit damage from hitting hidden objects encountered at reasonable speeds. Was this a fixed blade plow?
When you hit a manhole cover that’s 3" off the ground at 30mph…it does some damage.
Plowing over and over again is FAR more stressfull on a truck then NOT plowing…Expect to shorten the life of a truck that’s used for plowing by 50%. Especially in places like upstate NY where you’re plowing 3-4 times a week from November thru April.
The power should not be an issue.
Depends…If you have a HUGH heavy wet snow storm then you’ll have to get out there every 1-2 hours to keep up. If you don’t then pushing 2+’ of heavy wet snow is going to be a bear for 4-cylinder. It’s tough on a V8. And lets not talk about the end of the driveway AFTER the town plow came through and left a 6’ pile of heavy wet snow. Two years ago I had to snow blow that part of their driveway out so the plow could plow the rest…and he had a BIG F-150 4wd with chains.
Folks, lots of folks up here in NH use small 4X4 vehicles, even with 4-bangers, to clear their own driveways with no problem and without abusing teh vehicles too much. A lot depends on technique and the size and slope of the driveway.
But you absolutely do need the traction of the front wheels pulling to control the front end from going sideways and to get up and down off the mounds.
- mountainbike