< Gentle laughter > I was just being playful bro.Originally Posted by NHscrapman
I have watched a one ton with a 9 ft fisher, SS sander fully loaded, in park, slide down roads with the plow down to the ground essentially plowing by itself.
I have watched tractors with hydro static clutches do the same thing blade on the ground and she starts rolling away.
Grade plays a huge factor in using 4 wheel drive, we have "extremley" steep grades on our routes and I'm going to tell ya, No 4 wheel and you ain't gonna make it one season here. I don't care how many flat roads you have plowed and for how many years you've done it.
When you're running the little pickup trucks four wheel drive is a necessity for plowing.
I was running heavy metal. An eleven foot Frink on the front and an eight foot wing plow with TEN tons of sand over the driven wheels. The key thing is to maintain your momentum when you're plowing uphill. It takes a little bit of skill but if you know how to run a ten speed the steep grades aren't too much of a problem.
The thing that frigs you up is when the vehicle up ahead of you loses traction and you have to come to a complete stop halfway up the hill. It's iffy about getting a re-start. More often than not you have to back down the hill with the sander on to get some traction.
From what i've seen two wheel drive is pretty much the standard for most municipal and state trucks that plow the roads. I did run one that had a button on the shifter for engaging the differential lock but i didn't like the feel of it. A posi track rear end pushes your truck straight when you're trying to make a turn. Too easy to get into a mess that way ....
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