snow plowing with ranger

[Boggin]

anyone here plow snow with a ranger? the buyer of my 94 backed out so now i probably gotta keep it if i cant sell her, and my 79 might not be done by winter, so how a ranger would do snow plowin, she is 3.0/automatic and it has the d35 front end, and the rear is getting locked solid if i keep it(lincoln locked)
i want to be able to push around a foot of snow at a time
i found this one on a plow website, the owner said its a 4.0 and auto, but she also has a salt spreader and i dont plan on getting one of those, and it has 4" susp lift and 31s

would i need to put more weight in the bed? i can put my snowmobile back there if need be
but the most thing im worried about is how the little 3.0 will hold up
thanks

 

[84stealthranger]

Put the hamma down lol. Locking the rear would help tho then when ur done u can do some drifting lol

 

[JohnnyU]

I would NOT weld the rear axle for plowing. A limited slip would be ideal, but not welded. The biggest factor here is the blade size/weight. A lighter blade such as a snoway lexan would be ideal as they are fairly light and would put less stress on the front end components when carrying from site to site. Another factor would be springs, you'll want to upgrade to some higher rate springs and Timbren load boosters to help prevent front end sag. Carry 500-800# of ballast (rear weight) to help with traction. You wont want a snowmobile becuase that will obstruct your rear view too much and make manuvering difficult.

I have 600-700ft-lbs of torque and I seldom if not NEVER plow a foot at a time. Granted I have a 8-10' plow on the front of my Dodge, it's just not practical or feasible. Plowing with the storm (in smaller increments as it is still snowing) is much more efficient and creates MUCH less stress on a vehicle.

 

[Boggin]

I would NOT weld the rear axle for plowing. A limited slip would be ideal, but not welded. The biggest factor here is the blade size/weight. A lighter blade such as a snoway lexan would be ideal as they are fairly light and would put less stress on the front end components when carrying from site to site. Another factor would be springs, you'll want to upgrade to some higher rate springs and Timbren load boosters to help prevent front end sag. Carry 500-800# of ballast (rear weight) to help with traction. You wont want a snowmobile becuase that will obstruct your rear view too much and make manuvering difficult.

I have 600-700ft-lbs of torque and I seldom if not NEVER plow a foot at a time. Granted I have a 8-10' plow on the front of my Dodge, it's just not practical or feasible. Plowing with the storm (in smaller increments as it is still snowing) is much more efficient and creates MUCH less stress on a vehicle.

thanks man
ive been plowing with my lifted ATV for people for around 3 or 4 years, ive done alot of it but im just new to doin it with a truck.. the plow ill be running will be 6.5 ft steel, and i forgot about my rear view, i can put alot of snow in the pan for some weight. and i was gonna get a 4" lift for the front and 2" in the rear, or maybe just 2" springs in the front not sure yet
again, thanks for the input.. and thats a nice truck you got

 

[feellnfroggy]

Im sorry but there is no way that ranger in hte pic is running 33's. He has the same ride height as mine maybe and inch or two more. Im running stock height and 31's. His is the spitting image of mine. But his plow setup being the point of the picture looks aweful heavy for a ranger, you would need ALOT of counterbalance weights in the bed, just to keep it running level. you dont want the back so heavy you cant steer but with that blade on it I wouldnt worry about that.

 

[Boggin]

hes running 31s not 33s
but he has the salt spread in the bed which adds alot of the wieght he needs

 

[JohnnyU]

Im sorry but there is no way that ranger in hte pic is running 33's. He has the same ride height as mine maybe and inch or two more. Im running stock height and 31's. His is the spitting image of mine. But his plow setup being the point of the picture looks aweful heavy for a ranger, you would need ALOT of counterbalance weights in the bed, just to keep it running level. you dont want the back so heavy you cant steer but with that blade on it I wouldnt worry about that.

As he said in his first post, they're 31's. As I said in my post, you would need to run a significant amount of ballast weight in the rear to help balance things out safely. Plowing with a Ranger isn't anything new, in fact people have been doing it since 1982.

Also, if you look closely you can see the extended radius arms (appear to be Skyjacker), which would lead me to believe that this really is a 4" lift....

I used to habg a 720# plow off the front of my half-ton Chevy. Now I hang a 1050# plow off the front of my 3/4-ton Dodge. I upgraded the springs to 4500 springs, but I still keep weight in the back to balance the truck. Again, this isn't rocket science, you just have to do a bit of homework to figure out the proper way to setup a truck. It's really not all that dissimilar to properly building a wheeling rig...

hes running 31s not 33s
but he has the salt spread in the bed which adds alot of the wieght he needs

That spreader only weighs a couple hundred pounds empty, the real weight comes from the bags of product he probably keeps in the bed.

 

[Boggin]

As he said in his first post, they're 31's. As I said in my post, you would need to run a significant amount of ballast weight in the rear to help balance things out safely. Plowing with a Ranger isn't anything new, in fact people have been doing it since 1982.

Also, if you look closely you can see the extended radius arms (appear to be Skyjacker), which would lead me to believe that this really is a 4" lift....

I used to habg a 720# plow off the front of my half-ton Chevy. Now I hang a 1050# plow off the front of my 3/4-ton Dodge. I upgraded the springs to 4500 springs, but I still keep weight in the back to balance the truck. Again, this isn't rocket science, you just have to do a bit of homework to figure out the proper way to setup a truck. It's really not all that dissimilar to properly building a wheeling rig...


That spreader only weighs a couple hundred pounds empty, the real weight comes from the bags of product he probably keeps in the bed.

thats true too. thanks!

and i also just seen your a member on plowsite. im fordzilla over there