Plow truck progress

[Goinmxn]

Thanks in large part to this forum here is the almost finished project from this summer. I have learned a lot and am willing to help anyone who needs advice if I can provide it! It has been a lot of work, but fun at the same time! I am mounting the sander on my second 5 ton now and should have it buttoned up in the next 2 weeks. This on uses a 6 yard gas over hydraulic spreader with all controls inside the cab. Dump trailer hydraulic lift pump is in the tool box for the plow, Mx7000 rotator/strobe bar on the roof, led tail turn and strobe lights on the back of the sander. The interior has air ride drivers seat, bluethooth Pioneer cd player, 2 12v plugs and a flip down dvd player all in a overhead center console with a led interior light (we get a lot of standby time with VDOT). All my 12 volt items are run with a battery isolator (like found in charter buses). All wiring is soldered and heat shrink protected outside and inside with redundant runs for backup. Still have a lot of little things to do, but most of the "hard" work is done. The second truck is getting a sander that is driven by a clutched hydraulic belt driven pump mounted on the passenger side of the motor. Other than that it will be identical. I could not be happier with how they are turning out, and if all goes well I should have a good winter!

 

[marchplumber]

Congrats! Looks like ya did a "bit" of work! Honestly, hope we don't get that much white stuff here. Will be prepped for it, but prefer to have a mild winter for a change!

God bless,
Tony

 

[Goinmxn]

Thanks! I have 6 trucks on with VDOT and the good thing is these 2 trucks are on Interstates, so they get called out at the hint of snow and get lots of standby time. If we have a mild winter these trucks will still do good with little wear and tear. If we have a winter like last year, I'm not working next summer.

 

[ke5eua]

Congrats! Looks like ya did a "bit" of work! Honestly, hope we don't get that much white stuff here. Will be prepped for it, but prefer to have a mild winter for a change!

God bless,
Tony

This January I was stuck in IL because for some off reason they didn't want to salt the roads. Truckers took over Heartville, IL January 7th. All truck stops beyond capacity, walmart, shopping centers, if it had a parking lot it was packed. It was a fun night. I70 was a sheet of ice nearly the entire state.

I pulled out two cars from the median, and got threatened to get a ticket if I did it again. Sad part is IL is where we pay our UCR if our state doesn't participate in the program.

 

[jcappeljr]

It looks good,Ive built a few 5 ton plow trucks.The m939 series work best.

 

[Artisan]

You will reap what you sow.

If you sow and reap a little and learn and survive you gain knowledge.
If you take that knowledge and sow cutting the BS while keeping
the quality up HIGH you will reap a LOT more.

The 5-Ton is an awesome platform. Make a bolt on easy to install plow and sander
w/ controls and you will reap the awards. Warrant your product, make it bullet-proof so
you get few if any issues.

(Just keep the price's reasonable)

Good Job! Paint to match now!

Sub'd in!

 

[srodocker]

Sweet setups!

 

[Carlo]

I would suggest repaintng the frame, supension and under side of the cab before using it for slat work. Plus some rear full fenders. I plowed snow here in Italy many years.
You have a cool setup.

 

[bchauvette]

Is the plow attached to the truck frame or the front axle?

 

[Carlo]

I would hope front frame and mid frame. Our trucks in Europe attach only the front part of the truck frame to the plow frame. USA trucks make the best blow frames in the world.
This is my best truck I have, Iveco 90 4x4. See the push plate?

 

[Goinmxn]

Thank you all for the compliments! Artisian, thanks - words to live by really. The plow is 3 pins to remove from the mount, then 2 pins and the mount is off the truck. It is mounted to the front cross member (through the bumper) that has been reinforced with 1" plate. The lower part of the mounts cradle the axle. I can have the whole assembly off or on in less than 5 minutes with my skid steer or forklift and one of my guys helping. The sander controls and strobes use a 7 pin plus 2 pin plug flush mounted in the back of the cab (water proof) to unplug. I have led turn/tail/brake lights on the rear of the sander wired with a 4 pin trailer plug spliced into the nato trailer plug (soldered, heat shrink, taped and painted od green). The sander takes about 45 minutes to mount. As far as the paint goes, VDOT wants my plows to be visible for use on I495 hence yellow, and they were (seriously) a little concerned that my trucks might alarm residents if they looked completely camo or od green. I am using por15 and top coat of averoe od green on any areas that have rust (not many). Then the chassis will get a coat of fluid film for corrosion resistance. Carlo, I am looking for fenders. I would love to find an Iveco after seeing them in Niarobi and Kinshasa and where they could go hauling loads on long forgotten mud roads into the bush.
Now I need a class in hydraulics so I can figure out my system using the clutched belt driven hydro pump on my second truck... I have spent most of the day reading and am taking a trip tomorrow to see the company that installs wetlines on the VDOT trucks around here. Going to be fun

 

[travism]

I'm starting a plow truck m923a2 . I like your mount do you have any more pics you could text them to me 2537224123
Travis

 

[srodocker]

Hows it going travis welcome aboard! I have a couple of links in my sig to post on. Were also on facebook under PNW STEEL SOLDIERS. Go ahead and join up!

 

[Neophyte]

Set up looks great!!

 

[Goinmxn]

Thanks again for the compliments! Travis, my mounts are pulled off vdot trucks, standard municipal mounts that cradle the front axle, and attach to a modified front cross member through the bumper. Easy on and off. I'll get you some pictures to your phone on Monday. I sometimes go several days before getting back on here, hence the slow response....

 

[justin572]

That's a really nice looking job. I've been considering doing a similar thing for a while now, but the main thing holding me back is figuring out how to support the plow.

On most big trucks you just bolt a big piece of plate to the outside of the frame and you are good to go, but these have so much clutter with the power steering, CTIS etc all in the way.

Your solution of "cradling" the axle sounds good and sturdy, but I don't understand how it allows the axle to travel. I imagine these axles have quite a lot of travel. Would you be willing to shed any light on how that works?

 

[Artisan]

I would very much like to see some close ups of your mount
if possible please.

 

[Karl kostman]

Congrats on what looks like a very NICE setup, I can tell by the pics that you have a lot of engineering and fab work into this setup please keep us posted on how it works in the actual crappy white stuff, if it works half as good as it looks it should be great!
Nice work setting this one up!
Karl

 

[Goinmxn]

Sorry for the slow response, I have been busting my but getting my trucks and equipment ready for the past weeks and have not had a early night for a while. I still have a lot of things to do still! Thanks for the compliments fellas, it means something to have others acknowledge all the work I have put into these things! Please LET IT SNOW! I would like a return on my investment!!!!
Here are 2 pictures of the mounts. They are a simple "c" that cradles the axle. I am having two rubber inserts made to put between the axle and the mount to prevent metal on metal wear. That is the reason for the gaps right now. This is a copy of the design I saw used by a contractor who has been making and using these truck mounts to plow in south west Va for VDOT for many years. He has never had a failure due to this design and swears by it for many years now. I have taken the truck and articulated the axle as much as I can on off camber sections at my shop and cannot make it bind in any way. When I push large amounts of gravel it simply transfers the pushing force to axle with no binding or adverse effects. I just saw a truck today, a M923, that VDOT outfitted for one of my customers and they did it the exact same way as mine.

 

[Goinmxn]

Plow truck belt driven hydraulics

I am putting the belt driven pump on my truck and would like to know if anyone has a picture of brackets they used to mount a second alternator above the oem one or some other belt driven device so I can look at how you guys did it. I also need to know if anyone has any ideas where I might find the extended belt for such an application. Here are the pictures of the pump and bracket and where I want to put it.
Any ideas will be appreciated!
On a side note both my trucks have air ride seats, center console with drink holders, overhead consoles with bluetooth stereo, speakerss, interior light and 2 12 v cigarette lighter plugs. Doing power windows and a door pin to kick on the interior light next. I am bound and determined to make these trucks as comfortable as possible for operators. Going to layer in some mass loaded vinyl and dynamat as well. Overkill I know, but many many many hours are going to be spent in these trucks, so might as well!