[Beast12]

Plow up or down?

When you stop for a coffee or leave your vehicle unattended for a long period do you leave your plow up or down? I see lots of people leave it up and I think to myself "why"?? It's just extra weight on the front of your truck and what if for some strange reason it fell when someone was walking by? I always put it down when I am away from the vehicle for more than, say, 15 minutes. Just wondering.......Thanks

-Matt :canada

 

[snonut12]

I always lower the plow blade when I parked my truck for any length of time. I even took my time to lower the blade once I reach the firehouse for fire calls. I find it ridiculous that some people would leave their blade raised. I even have seen some plow trucks for sale with their blade raised for months! Make no sense to me since it just will put much more stress and wear on front end components plus the liability issue should the plow blade unexpectly dropped itself. It's a 600-800+ pounds of heavy steel hanging above the air waiting for accident to happen. :geez

Always lower your blade when parking the truck!!

 

[jakegypsum]

I agree with leaving it down. It's the basic rule that is done with all types of equipement that is left parked for time.
There was a time back in the mid-90's when we would leave the blades up over night. (Remember the storms of 96'). One of our big Western rigs was a slow mover. The blade would move slower than the norm which would seem to take a lot out of the battery that had already just started a very cold truck. Our trucks are parked in a warehouse where they are out of the way so there would be no worry of a plow dropping on somebody. Still, bottom line, we keep them down. Jake.

 

[Honest Mike]

I voted sometimes up sometimes down because sometimes I leave it up, if Im only going to the parts store, and Ill be in and out in a matter of seconds or minutes. When I go to work and park it, I put it down of course. When I come home from work and park it, its down of course. I always put it down if the truck is going to be parked for the rest of the day or any amount of time. If Im just gonna run in the store real quick, or the parts store, most times I leave it up, not all the time, but most times. I think people see it better when its up, and they wont back into it or hit it coming down the street, when its sticking out passed the truck a little. Mike

 

[phillyplowking1]

Always down ,why put all that weight on the front end of a truck for nothing.

 

[roblandscape]

I put it down whenever I can, if I am at a traffic light that I know has a long red, I will drop her down:haha

 

[Honest Mike]

I thought about this more and you know what? The plow is up alot of the time and we dont even think about it. Driving from house to house or lot to lot, the plow is up. So why is it so bad to leave it up for a quick minute or two to run into the store or something? My shop is 9 miles away from my house, so when I go there to plow it out, usually its during the storm. So driving there, during the storm, the conditions are bad and everyone is driving real slow, so sometimes it could take 20 minutes or longer to get there. The whole time the plow is up. Then driving home, samething. So an extra minute or two the plow is raised that I go to the parts store, to me, means absolutely nothing. Obviously, its smarter to put it down, so it cant fall on anyone, but how often is it that a plow has fallen on its own, due to a plow problem or the chain breaking? I dont wanna sound like a jerk here, but no one should be standing that close to the truck or plow while its raised, while Im in the parts store. Just my oppinion. Mike

 

[Dan725]

I always put my plow down if I am leaving the area that my truck is parked in. If I'm getting out to shovel then it usually stays up but I am never more that 20' from it. I feel the same wxmn6 way to much liability.

 

[jakegypsum]

Mike, I do agree with your point. They don't drop on there own very often, if ever, and I doubt very much that anything will happen. It's just the thought that IF something happened is what would be would be in the back of my mind personally. I have had the chain on my plows break several times and have seen what can happen when hydraulics fail. It does put an added strain on the front suspension when sitting in the raised position also. My thoughts. Jake

 

[snonut12]

I think that even if it is just for a minute or two in public, you should still lower the blade. You have no idea how many people out there that are stupid enough to watch out even for themselves. In today world, it is crazy, people are suing for everything, from a hot coffee spill to slip and fall. If the plow should ever fall on someone, they could sue you. It's just ridiculous out there that you got to be really careful and do whatever to minimize the chance. I doubt that some people are smart enough to stay away from the blade. I had a customer last year that would stand right at the edge of widrow that I was plowing. I had to kindly ask her to move out of way. It just show you that people are just not thinking and you can't just take a chance. All it could take is one incident and it could have an impact for the rest of your life. I would not take that chance by just saving a couple seconds to lower the blade. Just press the down button, it's simple as that.

No matter how unlikely you think it would happen, you will never know until it acutally happen. I certainly hope that it will never happen to anyone, but these things can unexpectly drop itself. Last year we responsed to a call at our county highway dept. It was a highway worker that got one of his leg slapped with an one ton sidewing. He was walking around the parked truck doing a quick inspection when all of suddenly before he knew it, the cable that was holding the sidewing snapped off and the blade fell on him. One of his leg had to be amplitued so it was pretty unfortunately for him (and the highway dept.). Just because you have been driving around with the plow raised for hours and hours without a single incident does not mean it won't happen when it is parked for just a few minutes. These things could happen at any moment no matter what. A chain or hydraulic hose could break at any time for any reason. When travelling on the road, it is not a concern about having the plow raised because no people are walking around you when you are driving. But in the public parking lot, that is a different story, and that is where people would be walking around.

So in my honest opinion, just lower the blade whenever you are leaving the truck for any period of time no matter how short the time is or how unlikely you think it would hapen.

 

[Honest Mike]

Jake, I see your point as well and I totally agree with you also. I think we are both right. Seriously though, it is a bad habit to leave it up, but like I said earlier, its up when traveling, for long periods of time and we dont even think of it then. If it falls unexpectedly, driving 65mph on route 280, that will be pretty scary I think. Not that it would cause an accident or anything, just that it happened unexpectedly, would scare you just a little I think. I would never leave it up around a crowd of people I will say though. Mike

 

[jakegypsum]

Mike, I know what it is like to have a plow drop while in transit. I had the bolt that attaches the chain to the plow break loose while doing approx 40 mph on a four lane highway. This was a Ford F-700 w/ 10' Western blade. It's a real blast:nope when something like that happens. Nothing bad came about but it does make one jump a little when all of the snow dust comes flying on the windsheild. Bottom line, better safe than sorry.

Steve, I understand your point completely. Too many nuts out there. People that don't even realize a potential hazzard let a lone a slip-and-fall type of accident. Been there. You actually have to be on alert and think ahead what the other guy may do.
I run a drywall business and know all about dealing with knuckle head types. You would be amazed by the amount of people that we see that will walk under a load of drywall hanging by a drywall boom and not even think of it falling on them. There is a lot of people in this world that don't think! Scary. Jake.

 

[Adams Plowing]

if im moving away from the truck its down but for just a quick stop for gas when i only go asfar as the pump then back into the truck i'll usually just leave it up... although if i have to go inside for some reason ill drop it...

 

[BWhite]

plow down for safety and keeping the weight off the front end

 

[John DiMartino]

I leave mine up always,When the trucks turned off theres such a small chance of it falling.If i was worried about the weight on my front end i wouldnt put a plow on it.One of my trucks has the blade on all winter from dec to april and its up all the time.4th yr of doing this no probs yet.I think i got in this habit yrs ago when we used to park the trucks on the mud/gravel,and the blades would freeze to the ground and be a pita to get free.So we just kept them up,kinda stuck with us.

 

[Satz28]

Whether its a 1 min or 1 hour safety should always be job one.
I'm on a commercial route as a sub, and when the 5-6 of us are done and waiting for the last man to finish up, we all park in the same location waiting to go to the next location. In all cases, every person drops their plow.

 

[Honest Mike]

Ok I agree with everyone who says put it down for safety reasons, but on the other hand, does that mean at work I should never walk under a car thats up on the lift?? The lift may fall down at any time right? You really cant compare these two situations, but who says that my lift at work will NEVER EVER fall one day? If that thing falls and Im under it, its gonna hurt just a tad more than a snowpow falling on someones foot or leg. What Im getting at is, yes things do happen, and you cant control it, if its gonna happen, its gonna happen, period. I agree putting it down everytime you park will pretty much gaurantee no one will ever get hurt, but maybe one day you will be stopped at a red light and someone will walk in front of your truck to cross the street and bang, it will fall on them. Im not trying to sound like a negative peson here, but if something is gonna happen, its gonna happen no matter how careful you try to be about it. Now on the other hand, I wouldnt leave it up for months at a time, like John does. John lower that thing, I hear the truck crying from here! Mike

 

[Satz28]

Walking under a car lift is your choice, and know the possibility exists however slim. On the other hand Joe Public is dumb as a door knob.
A problem in transist is a different scenario. While parked, you have complete control, and should error on the side of safety. And on top of that, how many warnings are in the operaters manual about a sudden blade drop while parked.
I just counted 8 warnings in Western's manual. If you parked you truck with the blade up, and someone gets hurt because the blade suddenly drops, a lawyer would have a field day in a law suit.

 

[cat320]

I put mine down one for safty the other to releave the presure on the the hydraulics and plus the weight on the front end of the truck .

 

[labsnducks]

I always put it down, if im refueling, going into the parts store, whatever, BUT after i drop it i lift it just slightly depending how long i plan on being gone from the truck, its harder to steal that way (we had a rash of people getting there plows stolen right off there trucks) :headwall