How much breakage do you have?

[rocknrollredneck]

at my shop we're breaking Boss plows all the time. we have over a dozen V plows, and there's always something breaking on them. so far this year, I've replaced 6 push frames, 2 wings, 3 center sections, one pump ass'y, one pressure relief valve, several lift/angle valve o-rings, 3 angle cylinders, and maybe 8 or 9 wing springs. 75% of the Boss plows we have, have needed welding at least once. mainly at the bottom center of the wings where they like to seperate from the center pin, and also the brackets that hold the angle cylinders to the wing. :eek:

I'm just the mechanic, so I only see the carnage, and not how it happened.
I always get answers like "I was driving real slow and it just fell off" or "well so and so used it yesterday and I just found it like that"
The root of the problem I'm sure...is that the guys running it, don't own it!

so I'm just curious what kind of breakage y'all see out there in the real world.

[Earthscapes]

I haven't seen any breakage at all and mine is 3 yrs old. Plus I'm not easy on it at all. I have hit everything possible at speeds that should have knocked me out and spun the truck around in circles.

[wyldman]

You need to find some real drivers,not cowboys.

Stuff does break,but that does sound a bit excessive.

[RibbleConstruction]

I ran a boss 8'2 vee for 6 seasons. It was pre rt3 mount design. And in the six years some of which were very heavy I only broke the cutting edge once. I was hard on it regularly. Every season I did the routine maintenance. The only reason I broke the cutting edge is due to a man hole cover that wsa completely seated. I was impressed as far as durability. However I decided I didnt like the full mold board trip feature. So I have been with western since.

[Mark Oomkes]

Couple things, how much snow do you get a year and are you plowing gravel or pavement?

Next, it really sounds like you need to find some operators, not drivers. The most frequent thing we broke on our Boss' were the welds at the hinge area. This is the weakest spot in the whole plow and why we started moving away from Boss to soemthing with a trip edge.

Return springs once in a great while, a cylinder once every several years but never a whole wing or center section or mount. These plows were in service for close to 10 years.

[John DiMartino]

I got rid of my 9'2" Boss after a little over 2 yrs,I didnt wait for it to fall apart,but it was clearly not going to last long on my truck.The push beam was tweaked,paint was popping around the areas where the outer cyl mount,as it was bending.The blizzard that replaced it is on over 3 yrs now,and its doing MUCH better than the boss.

[Jerre Heyer]

HMM, today, 2 western a frames snapped the welds off, several meyers a frames and pivots that should have been retired years ago tore themselves apart somehow, Boss wing section tweaked, boss light / lift tower tore the lift point out, Tuesday we did a Blizzard 810 aframe that the guy dropped into a 24X24 culvert. one end hit the ground and the other end was 14-16" up OUCH.

Several western and meyer frames ripped out of the trucks, Last week we did 2 CHEVE truck frames on 03's with 50-60K on them. Cracked top to bottom just behind the rear a frame mounting point ( THEY WARRANTIED THE REPAIRS ) paid my time and lost time to the owners.

Lots of sheared bolts on stuff and frozen up pumps by the dozens.
OH and electrical nightmares for battery and alternators. 50+ interstate batteries this week and last.

God to get people to use dielectric grease.......

Jerre

[wyldman]

This was definately the week for pumps frozen up,and a-frames.A little preseason checking and maintenance would have prevented most of it.Oh well,spend a little in the fall to get ready,or a lot in the middle of a storm when it breaks down.A least the worst of it has died down.Time to go see the wife and celebrate valentines day,and get some sleep !

[PSDFordMan]

God to get people to use dielectric grease.......

Jerre


And fluid film. :ff :ff :ff


I'm a believer now. :blizzard

[GreenQuest Lawn]

7 years on my boss 8/2 and zero down time

I have replaced a few springs (return) that have broke, cutting edges, I did replace the pump, thought it was the cause of the plow running way to slow but turns out it was the battery in the truck.

Other than that nothing. Hook it up and go. In fact I have only busted 1 hose and that was on the rear plow.


knock on wood.

I do not over maintain, I run urethane which even if for no other reason the shock absorbing of the urethane is great. I do however plow very carefully, I stack but do not ram piles. I worry about my truck from time to time but never about my plow.

[rocknrollredneck]

this has been a rough year for my plow at home too, which is an 87 Dodge W250, with a Meyer 7.5 st and E-47.
busted the main shaft on my NP435, and my 208 transfer case did a good impression of a grenade a week later. but those had 200k + miles on them.
also replaced my A frame and sector (20 years old) and welded up about 10 cracks in the moldboard. oh and somewhere along the way, I lost the rubber deflector from the top of the plow. backtracked and couldn't find it anywhere. :huh