Pros/cons of plowing with a 1500
 

A buddy of mine has a landscaping company and he picked up a handful of plowing contracts, problem is he has all high mileage trucks that he is constantly buying and selling. His plan is to subcontract people to help him out, so he offered to buy a whole plow and salt spreading set up for my Silverado 1500 if I help him out.

My question is should I go for it? I've heard that Chevy's aren't good for plowing, although I don't know why. Also, would the fact that it's a 1500 be a problem either? I did some research, but I keep finding conflicting information.

Plowing is rough on any truck, depending on how intense it is, its known to twist the frame, puts excessive wear on your front suspension... I wouldn't want to plow with any nice truck unless your only doing small areas.

if you do clean that thing well, salt is crazy on those trucks.

frame, suspension, brakes not up to the task.

If you value your truck avoid it.

if you want to plow buy a beater truck for plowing its not worth beating up your 1500 the salt kills trucks i just bought a 94 s10 blazer for plowing small driveways

For casual plowing...as in doing your driveway and a couple driveways on the street, it would be ok. For high volume, you want a 3/4 ton truck with a heavier suspension and a transmission that can handle the plowing. The weight of the salt spreader and the plow setup alone will be taxing your suspension

That makes me nervous, but I really could use the additional income. If I did decide to go through with this is there anything I could do to minimize the negative impact on the truck? I really wont have that much to do, I would be in charge of three Friendly's parking lots, then a couple long driveways. After that, I'm free to do whatever of my own contracts I find.

mark your curbs.....and anything else the blade can catch

You will want bigger torsion bars to handle the extra weight of the plow. Then you need to worry about the transmission(hopefully it has a tranny cooler) being up to the task.

If He's supplying the plow and stuff take your first few jobs and put the money aside for truck repairs (new suspension parts, new trans...)

and if you get your own accounts, will you have any type of insurance? plows can do some expensive damage to driveways, and landscaping pretty quick.

I use the truck for my own small landscaping company, so I have a tranny cooler already because of all the towing I do. I figure if it handles that without trouble, the plow can't be much worse. As for the torsion bars I was hoping not to need much else other than the plow and mount, I will discuss that with the guy maybe he'll pay for that upgrade too.

I have insurance for my small landscaping company, I will have to talk to my agent about adding plowing coverage depending upon what I get in terms of contracts of my own. Since I've never plowed before I may just stick to my buddies contracts to start.

Don't do it with your truck. You would effectively be sacrificing your truck for his business. A 1500 series truck isn't meant to be plowed with in a commercial application. Even a 3/4 ton truck if not properly equipped can feel the strain. You need to really think about what you are getting involved in.

Consider last winter: Working your truck hard for 24 hours in 10+inches of snow, mostly in 4 wheel, going from Forward to Reverse, start stop, on the brakes, heater on full blast, lights on, auxillary plow lights on, plow going up and down, wipers on, all while the truck is carrying 1500lbs of salt in the bed and 200lb spreader hanging on your tailgate/trailer hitch/bumper. Then 2 days later go and do it all over again? Could your truck handle that kind of work load without failure?

Is your transmission, engine, charging and electrical, driveline, and front suspension up to the task. Forget about the salt effects for now, plowing is very hard on a truck even when you don't hit stuff. Start hitting stuff and costs go up very fast. There is money to be made, but the right equipment and experience go a long way in making that happen. There is a very real possibility that come the end of the plow season (if its a busy one), you'll be the one looking for a new truck or be looking at costly repairs.

Are you going to use the truck in your sig? 2006 z71, extended cab, 8ft bed? That's a long truck, more difficult to maneuver in small lots. Long frame to be hanging an 8' blade on the nose? I wouldn't do it.

There is a reason the factory doesn't offer a snow plow prep package on a 1500 series truck........

Chris

you will replace every front end part on a 1500 truck....its just not strong enough to handle it.....to plow effectively you really need to push hard....not to mention slammed into reverse and drive, reverse and drive. i have a dodge ram 2500 and i wouldn't do it with that. and at work we have a 06 silverado 3500 with a dump body on the back that we use for plowing when it snows and that truck has been through front end parts twice....and it has 15000 miles on it....its still like new....if you value your truck i wouldn't do it