Official Snowplow Repair Thread! Post Up Your Repairs And Pics!

[7A749]

Steve told me he made this a sticky this afternoon. I suggested we just turn it into an "Official" thread specifically for plow repairs. Soooooo... Here it is! Feel free to post pics and short videos (please see our terms on videos if you are new to the site or have less than 40 posts)!! We wanna see 'em

I did this work last year and titled it as another plow from hell. After accidently deleting all my posts, there was no point in restoring the thread since the pics were gone and cannot be added to restored content.

Sooooo... After locating the pics on my tablet, I'll try it again. After all, 'tis the season for plowing

Long story short, a friend has a BOSS straight plow that I reskinned a few years back. He brought it to me last spring with a completely worn out and broken lower A frame kingpin as well as pivot guide hoop. He's been a good customer thru the years and always pays on time and never tried to chisel me on anything. He was in a jam and I did it for him cheap.

Here's what I started with. Pretty beat and in need of a lot of metal replacement.

[7A749]

Moving on, I decided to do the lower on the plow first. Took some time to cut out all the rotten metal and clean it up. Did most with a torch and grinder.

Got it all cleaned up and ready for new metal.

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I cut and turned new round material for the kingpin. Got the new metal cut and tacked in place

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Got the new metal welded in, used 7018 for this part. Most of it got welded both sides, all the way out.

[7A749]

The hoop proved to be a little tricky. It had been seriously bent and distorted down several inches from years of being worn out and too much slop in the A frame. I decided to completely strip it of rotten material, clean it and make a couple relief cuts in it so I could bend it back to a reasonably facsimile of what it was when it was in much better shape. Carbon arc made quick work of the cut out. I used a torch to make the relief cuts, then a come a long to move it into its new position. I've repaired other stuff with nasty warpage in it the same way with good success. The relief cuts get welded up fully, then new metal added for support outside.

Some pics of the cut out process..

[7A749]

You can see how distorted the hoop was once I got all the nasty metal off it. You can also see how out of square it is when compared to a straight piece of material placed in line with it.

After some tweaking, it's straight again. I avoided having to fully remove it, and for this job this was a far better option lol.

[7A749]

I got the new supports and stops cut and welded into the hoop. All and all that part came out pretty good. Minimal work and a good result for what I put in it.

[7A749]

Now, on to the A frame. Yes, I'm quite aware that a new one can be purchased and in most cases that is what would have happened, but dude didn't have the money to buy it and I knew I could fix it without too much trouble.

Again, it was more a favor for a paying friend than a straight up job for a customer. I had to carbon arc off all the bad metal first...

[7A749]

Moving on, I used a heavy piece of 2" x 4" 1/4" tubing for the new tongue. I also turned a new thru bushing out of a piece of solid bar stock.

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Welded it up... Hit the surface with a 36 grit sanding disc and capped it off.

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Now, weld the new tubing fully to the A frame..

I also straightened out the connections to the tower, then wire wheeled it all down and shot some spray paint on it.

[7A749]

Finally, got the rest painted up a little and fit back together. It came out really nice and he was super happy. He's a real good dude and has always been a good customer and friend so I was happy to help him out. I made about $450 on it which was dirt cheap for the work I did.

For this guy, I was happy to do it.

I did excise quite a bit of the original text from the first thread. You guys get the point and it was pretty straightforward lol.

Honestly, I like plow work as long as I'm getting something fair out of it. Just finish welded up a plow mod for my boss last week. Easy money lol.

Thanks for viewing

[whtbaron]

Nice work. I have a blade on a tractor and I'm very familiar with the usual plague of annually patched on metal. Some day I'll have to get serious and cut it up and redo it... hopefully stronger. I can only hope when that day comes that the finished product looks as good as yours.

[7A749]

Nice work. I have a blade on a tractor and I'm very familiar with the usual plague of annually patched on metal. Some day I'll have to get serious and cut it up and redo it... hopefully stronger. I can only hope when that day comes that the finished product looks as good as yours.

Thanks. I think it did turn out really well for what I had in it. He actually had a guy fix it for him when it broke (of course, in the middle of a plowing marathon during a big storm) but the dude couldn't do a lot with it pending the circumstances. He asked me if I could when I happened but there was just no way at the time...

[xryan]

Now, on to the A frame. Yes, I'm quite aware that a new one can be purchased and in most cases that is what would have happened, but dude didn't have the money to buy it and I knew I could fix it without too much trouble.

Buying a new one isn't worth the trouble to make the phone call. POS. I've repaired even new ones correctly like you did, heavy wall tube, BIG solid bushing, heavy end cap. The plow side hoops are also pretty crappy and weak, they flex like a wet noodle. I wouldn't take a BOSS plow for free. Their V plows aren't much better IMHO

I don't even know how many of their A frames I've fixed. Nice work.

[Bls repair]

Very nice

[MinnesotaDave]

That turned out great

Looks almost identical to the one I did this summer - surprised it didn't fall off his truck on the way to my place.

[7A749]

Buying a new one isn't worth the trouble to make the phone call. POS. I've repaired even new ones correctly like you did, heavy wall tube, BIG solid bushing, heavy end cap. The plow side hoops are also pretty crappy and weak, they flex like a wet noodle. I wouldn't take a BOSS plow for free. Their V plows aren't much better IMHO

I don't even know how many of their A frames I've fixed. Nice work.

Yea, thanks Ryan. I've found out thru the years that Boss plows are pretty much junk in comparison to stuff like Fisher. I got some time into this but the repair will likely outlast the rest of it lol.

Very nice

Thanks!

That turned out great

Looks almost identical to the one I did this summer - surprised it didn't fall off his truck on the way to my place.

Thanks Dave. I thought I was gonna get another one out of this, but I told him minimum of eight on the next deal as much work as it was for both pieces. It was his buddy that needed it done this time so no sweetheart deal I'm afraid lol.

[MinnesotaDave]

Thanks Dave. I thought I was gonna get another one out of this, but I told him minimum of eight on the next deal as much work as it was for both pieces. It was his buddy that needed it done this time so no sweetheart deal I'm afraid lol.

That sounds right to me.
The one I did also had electrical problems. Turned out the wiring had been butchered several times and the joystick had some burned areas inside. Welding, ran new wires, new joystick, his bill was steep!

[mike837go]

Great work!

Doing it all properly. Plus paint.

As someone who uses and repairs his own snow-clearing gear, any ideas on how your customer pulled the bushing out of the A-frame? In my experience, normal plowing activity pushes the blade into the A-frame.

[TJS]

Nice work. I also like doing plow work after getting past the nasty stuff. Stronger better etc. I repinned my circa 1979 diamond plow last year. I have a post here somewhere on here too. It performed great.
T.J.

[zapster]

Yep with another winter set to hit the plowboys will soon be destroying plows and related parts.


So here's the thread to post all those repairs that SUCK when it comes to plow repair.

I will merge Steve's Boss repair into this thread and away we go.


Post them all.
We want to see what fun everyone has.

I will be posting mine done today after I finish it...


...zap!

[Willie B]

I love seeing a pre season/fix it right plow repair. More common is the gobber some snot on there and hope for a miracle.

Willie

[zapster]

Here is what I found staring at me this morning...
Fisher plow A Frame.
Snapped the tube in half!






By the looks of it because the part is bent down..
That tells me that the trip edge is being abused on a regular basis.
Being bent backwards makes the stress on the tube and eventually this is the result..



3 cut off wheels later....



Tomorrow...
The repair.

...zap!

[BD1]

$450 Steve ? That's dam good for three hours of work .

Really nice job Steve. It's amazing how those hours add up hour after hour. You get started and figure about 4 hours, then another 4, and another. The more you cut apart the worse it gets. It's almost better to build a new one from the start. I hate to try to patch stuff. Once you patch here there is another then another.