Thoughts on buying a plow

My buddy Chris asked me what was the best plow to buy. I thought about this a bit and here is the information I sent him. I figured this would be good info for any first time - or repeat - consideration.

1) Purchase from a retailer that has a good service reputation.

2) Check with others you know locally that have plows and see what they like and don’t like. Discern what they say and try to find out the facts and stay away from discussions that are fueled by emotion

3) Look for brands that have features you like. The following can be points of distinction:

a. Hydraulics system – Stay away from quick-disconnect hydraulic systems, Sno-Way has a Down Pressure system that adds down force on your cutting edge, Western and Fisher have something like that but it is more of a scrape lock

b. Weight- Because you have a F150 too much plow weight will be detrimental to the life of truck components.Most major plow companies now have a plow suited for your truck

c. Controller – Make sure you like the controller system as this is the main interface you will be in touch with while you are plowing. You typically will find a joystick or a
keypad configuration. One company makes a wireless system as well.

d. Hook up – All plow companies make a system that allows you to attach the plow to the truck in less than a minute. Talk to your plowing friends about this for sure. Personally, I think they are all pretty good.

e. Electrical connections – Three major configurations exist to control the interaction
between the plow and truck lights: Western, Fisher and Blizzard use a module that houses electrical circuitry, Sno-Way uses an innovative harness that
redistributes truck energy and all others use a bank of relays (sometimes as
many as 12) to control circuitry. If you looked at this from the perspective
that you wanted the least fail safe combined with the lowest potential repair
cost then you would go with the Sno-Way system.

f. Looks – Every manufacturer has a color they have chosen to represent your brand and they all use very good powder coat systems. You need to decide if you want a steel blade or poly blade. My choice would be poly because they are slicker so snow will
roll off faster and they do not rust, Steel blades eventually rust.

g. Configuration – The only reasonable blade configuration I know of for a F150 is a straight blade. I know that Boss has a v-plow that I have seen on trucks this size but it is very heavy – I would not go that route unless they have changed their weights. You might take a peek at the SpeedWing from Blizzard – It is newer to the industry and I am not really up on it but the configuration looks interesting.