We got a Sno-Way 29 series snow plow end of winter 2009. We are on a 1 1/2 mile long dirt/gravel road.
Last year, we had a very mild snowstorm and took the plow out just for fun, but didn't do much plowing, maybe 30 min or so max.
We had a good snowstorm in Dec; ended up with 8 to 10 inches, started plowing around 3 or 4 inches.
On our first trip down the road, by the time we reached the end (maybe 30 min?), the plastic cover over the electronics had popped up. By the end of the day (we don't know when it happened) the stops under the plow had pulled out. Somehow the locking pin came out. Our neigbors found the stops and spacers scattered at various places on the road and brought them to us... locking pins never showed up.
We feel like a $7,000 plow shouldn't have these issues this early and have asked for some money back on it. After weeks of delay, the factory called us and said basically "gee, the stops never pull out" and that "we have to adjust/tighten the clips on the plastic cover per the directions in the manual" - the manual says to tighten after 20 hours of operation and we had only used it max an hour between the plowing last spring and this winter... All they offered us was a free set of stops (which they say are not covered under maintenance) but we have to drive to the dealer to have them installed in order to get them. Since the drive is two hours each way (with a snowplow on the front of the truck - not fun) we really don't want a new set of stops that will probably just pull out again.
Are we unreasonable to want some money back? It was a lot of money to pay to have things break on the first plowing. We have since said if we drive to the dealer it will be to return the plow and get all our money back, not just to fix something that might break again. That was a couple days ago, have not heard a response. Just wondering if this is normal for plows... and is it normal to get so little response from Sno-Way?
Thanks, Anne
ps - we're strictly "home plowing" folks, we don't do this for a business. The reason we got such a pricey plow is we wanted something that could handle our road -dirt/gravel, windy - and snow - up to 18 inches at times, although of course we would plow during the snowstorms. But cheaper models we looked at seemed designed for paved driveways, not roads like ours, so we thought we'd get something we were sure would work...
Last year, we had a very mild snowstorm and took the plow out just for fun, but didn't do much plowing, maybe 30 min or so max.
We had a good snowstorm in Dec; ended up with 8 to 10 inches, started plowing around 3 or 4 inches.
On our first trip down the road, by the time we reached the end (maybe 30 min?), the plastic cover over the electronics had popped up. By the end of the day (we don't know when it happened) the stops under the plow had pulled out. Somehow the locking pin came out. Our neigbors found the stops and spacers scattered at various places on the road and brought them to us... locking pins never showed up.
We feel like a $7,000 plow shouldn't have these issues this early and have asked for some money back on it. After weeks of delay, the factory called us and said basically "gee, the stops never pull out" and that "we have to adjust/tighten the clips on the plastic cover per the directions in the manual" - the manual says to tighten after 20 hours of operation and we had only used it max an hour between the plowing last spring and this winter... All they offered us was a free set of stops (which they say are not covered under maintenance) but we have to drive to the dealer to have them installed in order to get them. Since the drive is two hours each way (with a snowplow on the front of the truck - not fun) we really don't want a new set of stops that will probably just pull out again.
Are we unreasonable to want some money back? It was a lot of money to pay to have things break on the first plowing. We have since said if we drive to the dealer it will be to return the plow and get all our money back, not just to fix something that might break again. That was a couple days ago, have not heard a response. Just wondering if this is normal for plows... and is it normal to get so little response from Sno-Way?
Thanks, Anne
ps - we're strictly "home plowing" folks, we don't do this for a business. The reason we got such a pricey plow is we wanted something that could handle our road -dirt/gravel, windy - and snow - up to 18 inches at times, although of course we would plow during the snowstorms. But cheaper models we looked at seemed designed for paved driveways, not roads like ours, so we thought we'd get something we were sure would work...
. I'll keep pushing for at least some money back then.... sounds like there is some padding in there. & I do understand they need some maintenance, I just don't think we should have to stop halfway down the road the first time to do any of those... 
