Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Looking for input on a snow plow

Wxladejn1

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Dec 20, 2020
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Location
Newburgh NY
I could use help in deciding what plow to buy and put on my 2003 Sport.
I am only doing my driveway and a friend or two.
 
Do you have a really long driveway (Doesn’t look like it in your profile pic)? If not, you would be better served with a snow blower. Snow plows are really heavy, will make your Jeep 4’ longer, you have to store them in the summer, they are expensive, if you get a lot of snow -it will pile up. A snow blower is cheaper, easy to maneuver, wont negatively impact driving your Jeep, less storage space, will “throw” the snow a good long distance so it doesn’t pile up at the edges.

Unless you have a really long driveway or doing a parking lot, snowblower all the way. You can get a REALLY nice snowblower for cheaper than a plow.
 
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What plows are you looking at?
How much do you want to spend?
What condition is your Jeep in?
How long have you owned it?
Do you take it off road?

Answers to those will help but I think Vtx531 has a pretty good way of looking at snow removal considering where he is.
 
I bought my jeep because I wanted to get a plow for it to do my driveway and a friends driveway
My driveway goes around behind my house to my basement garage
The turnaround is very short and the pick up truck I had was too big for it
But now I am finding out that the plow manufacturers do not want to put any normal size plows on the jeep
Some of the plows suggested have bare-bones ability and only manual movement.

I just saw several answers in your profile AFTER my reply. I'm sure they will help someone help you. Posting it from your profile is the best I can do.

Good Luck!
 
SNOWBLOWERS SUCK‼

They make cheap plastic snow plows for small SUVs that will do the job. They don't use hydraulics. More like just pushing a plank of wood. Cheap and could work if your driveway dosen't need a lot of turning around.
A 6' to 6 1/2' is as big as you really want. Bigger adds weight. Almost all brands offer a 'quick-tach' system to easily (once you learn the tricks) mount and dismount the plow. But they do require quite a bit of a hydraulic system bolted up to the engine and controls through the firewall that look terrible for the rest of the year.
Best bet for relatively small work would be to look into snowplows for a side by side. They offer easy bolt on mounting, usually just 1 bracket on the vehicle and are made to be raised and lowered by the front winch. You would need to get out to change the angle of the blade, but after a few snowfalls you should have a system to limit needing to shift the blade. They are fairly well built, relatively inexpensive, and should do all you need for a few driveways.👍
 
Go with the Fisher HT. It's a real plow designed for a half ton truck. The TJ can handle it easily. It's 6'7" wide and weighs 415lbs. Don't let anyone talk you out of a real plow. Those plastic/poly plows are garbage and don't have the weight you need to push. The minute mount is IMHO the easiest on/off mounting system. Fair warning, the push plates and wiring harness are going to run you like $650.
 
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I use a Snowsport 7' manual plow on mine. Driveway is 700' long at road width and then roughly 100x100' in front of my garages. Takes 10-15 minutes to completely clear. And nice thing is less than a minute on/off for the whole setup of plow and carrier. Only thing left behind is the front hitch mount.

Only downside is that you can't backblade...I've just worked out a system where I shovel out 5' in front of my garages. Everything else the plow gets.
 
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Food for thought, a 30” snowblower (half the width of a Jeep plow when angled) can do a one lane driveway in about 3 passes and should do it at a good walking pace. How much time is a plow going to save vs. the other negative aspects of a plow? 10 mins? If you are not doing this commercially for 12 hours a night, the time savings is negligible. Don’t forget, a plow cant get close into the tight areas and you still have to get out and shovel.

Some people see every size nail including a tumbtack as requiring a sledge hammer. Maybe you are one of them... If so, enjoy your new plow
 
Do you have a really long driveway (Doesn’t look like it in your profile pic)? If not not, you would be better served with a snow blower. Snow plows are really heavy, will make your Jeep 4’ longer, you have to store them in the summer, they are expensive, if you get a lot of snow -it will pile up. A snow blower is cheaper, easy to maneuver, wont negatively impact driving your Jeep, less storage space, will “throw” the snow a good long distance so it doesn’t pile up at the edges.

Unless you have a really long driveway or doing a parking lot, snowblower all the way. You can get a REALLY nice snowblower for cheaper than a plow.

Ugh - have you ever tried to move a 3 foot high snowbank at the end of a driveway that the city plow just left with a 180lbs snowblower? It takes sooo long, the shear pins snap, you're pushing and pulling and rocking back and forth and chipping away at a seemingly endless pile getting absolutely nowhere... god help you if its wet and heavy... it takes you 10 solid minutes to get one full swipe through the bank only to do the same thing 55 more times?!?! Then you grab a shovel to "cut up" the snowbank and help out the blower? Ever done it when the wind is blowing 20MPH right in your face? Seems like nothing you do gets it out of your face?

I F$%#ING HATE SNOWBLOWERS!
 
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Food for thought, a 30” snowblower (half the width of a Jeep plow when angled) can do a one lane driveway in about 3 passes and should do it at a good walking pace. How much time is a plow going to save vs. the other negative aspects of a plow? 10 mins? If you are not doing this commercially for 12 hours a night, the time savings is negligible. Don’t forget, a plow cant get close into the tight areas and you still have to get out and shovel.

Some people see every size nail including a tumbtack as requiring a sledge hammer. Maybe you are one of them... If so, enjoy your new plow

Food for thought, a 6'7" plow can do a one lane driveway with one swipe while sitting on your ass in a heated cab listening to music. That same plow can actually get the job done in much heavier weather without having to do the driveway 4 times throughout the storm to "keep up". That same plow can make it super easy to help out your neighbor that is struggling to get his shitty snowblower through the HUGE snowbank at the end of his driveway.

Some people see every size nail including a railroad spike as requiring trim hammer. Maybe you're one of them... if so enjoy you snowblower
 
Haha enjoyed reading those two posts! A driveway that goes to the backyard is hardly a railroad spike but it is good to have multiple opinions to help make a decision.

Buy what you think will work best in your situation. Can always sell it and buy something else is you don’t like it.

I don’t have a problem with anyone having a snowplow. Good for you but I wouldn’t want one for free if somebody gave me it. (Not exagerating, but I would take it and sell it)
 
But they do require quite a bit of a hydraulic system bolted up to the engine and controls through the firewall that look terrible for the rest of the year.

The newer plows all have the hydraulic pumps attached to the plow, not the vehicle. The only permanent visible points are the push plates. I hang a couple of painted D rings from them and they look pretty good. The controls are on a plug so you just unplug the cord and tuck the wire away. Nothing to see.
 
Thanks everyone
That’s exactly what these forums are for, so everyone can give their opinion. Usually no 2 situations are the same. It’s so everyone brings a different perspective.
Thank you all very much
I had a Meyer Wingman on a 2018 Colorado that I bought both new.
I just got rid of the Colorado because of issues and I really didn’t like the way it operated with the plow maybe it was the Myers plow I don’t know it was the tape with the Clestrie tree hitch in the front. I never owned a jeep and sadly I thought almost everyone used to plow on them
So I bought a used snow way and come to find out it doesn’t really operate
The jeep is stock and in very good shape it took a lotta frogs to find this one with a good frame.
Some of the homeowner plows whether they are poly or metal doesn’t seem to be much trouble for me using it but they look to be way out front and not well balanced.
As for a snowblower I have used one on this property but it’s quite difficult because I do not have much area to throw the snow in front or front side of my house because I live within a city and I have a small property
The driveway circles around back behind the house and that’s about where I have to moveThe snow to
I guess there’s no simple answer
 
I bought this off Craigslist last summer do I don't know a lot about it. It was pretty rusty and sitting in a pile of Jeep parts on the side of the guy's house. There's no tags or badges on it. But it was clearly made for a Jeep. The mounting tabs are the same width as the recovery tabs on my Smittybilt bumper. And it's very simple, like an ATV plow. No hydraulics, manual adjustment for side to side, uses the winch for height. But the blade is 84" long.
I have since stripped it and painted it with POR15 so it looks a lot better than when I bought it. Cost me $180. Takes me like a minute to plow my 200' driveway. Plus maybe another minute to do the neighbors & in front of the mailboxes.

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I have a 97 tj with 85 thousand miles Texas jeep I'm the 3rd owner but I live in northern mi and want a plow also it sits pretty high on 33s×12.5 it has never been in the salt and is beautiful I'm sure it will out last me ..no rust at all will a plow fit on it sitting that high and what brand should I get..
Jim
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts