73 plow

[zebrabeefj40]

i was told it came off a 40 but some things don't line up. i'm gonna get a new ladder made. i agree that the plow seems like it would be too far back, but there is a cut out in the crossmember that fits perfect with the diff. bennett's plow looks like it is too far forward, i would like to mount it as far back as i can without inhibiting the upward motion. does any one have a ladder like this, if so where does it connect to the frame?

That is indeed a Fisher mount for an FJ40. I've pulled 2 of them from parts trucks. In post 3, the last picture, the rear of the ladder was attached to brackets that bolted through the frame just behind the rear of the front spring. There were a couple clamps that kinda hung the front of the ladder from the leaf springs just in front of the spring perches. The passenger side was more solidly mounted to the spring while the driver side let the spring move a few inches separate of the ladder.

FWIW my uncle used to plow with one of the 40's I pulled the plow rigging from. He had no issues with the plow mount or how it functioned. Worked well for the driveways he plowed for folks. He loved plowing with a 40 because it was small enough to get into residential driveways and manuver around. But yet it was heavy enough that he could move quite a bit of snow in one shot.

Nick

 

[CruiserStuff]

JetBoy - I really like the front mount you show that utilizes the bumper for added strength....I'm mocking up some new mounts and will have to serioulsy consider this approach.

With the Fischer mount, how do these "loose fitting clamps" around the springs not damage the suspension? I guess I just can't visualize it. Any pics of this type of set up?

 

[MoCoNative]

My 73 40 had a very similar settup with a Western plow on it like JetBoy. Mine was kind of reversed, where the diagonal supports went back to the frame crossmember under the radiator, and the verticals where the blade pinned on came down from the bumper area. Unfortunately the assembly was welded to the frame, and the fabricator actually extended the front frame horns about 8 inches. His thought was to put the pump assembly farther forward so that it wouldn't come through the radiator if you were in a wreck. But the assembly being welded on was bad, as you hit everything with it. By this point the 40 never left the yard, and was only used for plowing. We later restored it.

This mount worked very well though, and JetBoys mount is pretty ideal. I would personally fab up a mount the goes with square tubing and pins to the front end, so you can take it all off in the summer. Just by leaving the square tubing on the frame, like reciever hitches for everything.

Problem with mine, is that the plow was too far forward, and really unloaded the rear suspension when fully lifted. Also the stock alternator had a really hard time keeping up with the demands of lights, heaters and running the hydrualic pump on the plow unit. Things got pretty dim at night when lifting the blade.

If I ever did it again, I would use a dedicated belt driven pump, or PTO driven hydrualics to run the plow.

 

[CruiserStuff]

MoCoNative - Yeah, I think that your setup would put the plow WAY too far out in front for proper weight distribution. I'm also considering the idea of receiver-hitch-style mounting for easy removal. I like JetBoy's quite a bit, but will probably mod it further to increase strength in the areas that I've found to be weak points in my Meyer setup.

 

[MoCoNative]

I'm not saying go forward, that was a severe shortcoming of the setup on mine years ago. The extension forward was purely an adlib by the welder that helped my dad do it back then. It was unnescesary and was far too forward.

But it was very similar to JetBoys setup and worked well in that regard. Always seemed plenty stout, and the front end on a 40 is plenty strong. The front bumper and frame member under the grill give alot of strength and rigidity to the front frame, that you don't find in pickups and other domestics. Going beyond that with a tie to the frame further back is overkill.

The only setups I have seen with ladders were on dumptrucks that DOT uses, and for good reason, they are cruising down unknown highways at 45 MPH or more sometimes, I can see having the extra force behind that plow. For small scale commercial or home use, you just won't be pushing that hard and that fast to have that heavy of an impact. Plus average home use blades, will spring forward pretty easily. DOT plows don't always give that readily.

Another aspect, is if you do have a collision around town with your plow, I'd rather the framework up front give, or worse yet, bend the front frame horns, instead of spring the frame at the transfer. The front frame can be heated, straightened or cut and welded to be functional again, taking the impact out of the center of the frame would be far harder to do.

 

[zebrabeefj40]

With the Fischer mount, how do these "loose fitting clamps" around the springs not damage the suspension? I guess I just can't visualize it. Any pics of this type of set up?

The Fisher mount doesn't "clamp" like in u-bolt. More like hooks over the spring packs. One side hooks across the top of the springs roughly 1" and under the pack about the same with an opening just taller than the spring pack. The other hook is the same 1" across the spring pack but the opening is say twice the thickness of the pack. The width of the ladder and hooks make it so once everything is bolted in place it cannot unhook while in use. I'll see if I can round up a picture...

Nick

 

[zebrabeefj40]

Found an Ebay ad for the same plow set-up with some great pictures. This hooks around the springs slightly differently than the one's I had but you get the idea. There's a fair bit of slop in the rear holes and the spring hooks that lets the ladder move with the springs without binding.

eBay Motors: Land Cruiser FJ40 Jeep Scout bronco snowplow mount plow (item 390024748642 end time Feb-15-09 18:45:15 PST)

Nick

 

[Jetboy]

I would definitely recommend upgrading the alternator. A conversion to a gm high output is probably the cheapest way to go. A good alternator can work fairly well, although some of the older models did have dedicated belt driven pump. I've never used one of those though. The one in my pics has a dual batter set up as well, which isn't necessary, but if you're doing a lot of plowing it helps. If you do upgrade the alternator, you need re-wire it to bypass the amp meter as it will fry that thing. I did it the first time I used my winch.

 

[CruiserStuff]

zebrabeefj40 - those pictures do help alot...thanks. The thought of having the springs tied into the plow mount still freaks me out, but the rest looks pretty stout.

Jetboy - You're right, dual batteries and/or a higher output alternator are necessary if you're doing alot of plowing....

 

[zebrabeefj40]

FWIW you're not pushing against the springs just hanging the ladder from them. I built a similar deal for my '76. When I raised the plow the front would drop maybe 3/4" because most of the plow weight went right to the axle instead of through the springs.

Of course the most important piece of plow equipment is the loose nut behind the wheel. If you plow smart nothing gets busted. Plow like you're headed to the races and even the most built set-up will break. MaineIAC post up what you end up with after the smoke clears.



Nick