Snow Plow on a Ranger

[CTYankee]

I previously had a 2014 Wrangler that I used to plow my driveway in addition to being my daily driver. Then I bought a Maverick and was only using the Wrangler for plow duty, which didn't make sense since it was a low-mileage Rubicon in excellent condition that I had also used as a product demo platform when I owned my truck and offroad shop. Translation - it had all kinds of bells and whistles on it. I ended up selling it (and the plow, separately) and had a friend take over plowing my driveway.

The friend is making noises about moving out of state at some point, so I started thinking about doing my own plowing again and that led to trading in the Maverick for a 2020 Ranger Lariat.

What I didn't know at the time was the transmission issues with the Ranger. With the Wrangler, I worked within the limits of the vehicle and never let the storms get too far ahead of me. I don't stress the equipment and don't try to push snow back by ramming into piles from previous storms. So, I'm not worried about the narrative that plowing always destroys a vehicle; I think that's true for some drivers and probably any vehicle used for commercial plowing. That's not my use case.

Sooo, is anyone here running a plow on their Ranger and how has your transmission held up? I've thought about buying a used beater to use as a plow truck but I don't really want another vehicle to maintain or one that might not work when I need it.

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[Dereku]

I dont believe they can be used as a plow truck. Mostly because the EPAS and the weaker front end. But the steering is the driving force here. One of the hitch mount plows might be ok.

 

[Muscleford]

I think they reccommend that even F150 not be used as a plow truck, F250 minimum for snow plow duty.

 

[Jamie Jack]

They are too light to use as a plow. Buy a JD garden tractor with a rear blade and a front bucket.

 

[The Last Ranger]

There's an option called the Snow Sport HD with a front mount, also option with an electric winch. I have the front mount on my 21 FX4 Lariat, and I have the snow sport plow which I used on my 01 Sport Trac.
Here's a link SNOWSPORT Personal Snow Plow | Aluminum Snowplow | Truck Plows Lineup :

 

[SFCHAMBERS]

I'm in Tennessee now so don't see many trucks with plow at all, but I grew up in Michigan and saw every kind of truck with a plow. One of the dealerships I worked at had a early Bronco half cab that we plowed the dealership lots with. My dad had a 72 Bronco that he plowed his driveway with for years. My dad's Bronco was also owned by Ford and used to plow the Ford World HQs building for five years. I think if Ford thought an early Bronco which is smaller than our Rangers it should do fine to push snow. I would love to see a picture of a Ranger with a plow. Thanks.

 

[jlarrabee104]

I've seen a person on Facebook put a Boss Stainless-Steel Plow on his Ranger. I believe Fisher makes a homesteader blade for it as well. I'll probably price those out when its my time to look for a plow. (Or just buy a old F250)

 

[Av8or1]

Plow compatibility not withstanding I wouldn't worry about the transmission. The CDF drum issue is a design problem irrespective of strength. The 10R80 is the same transmission in the F150 raptor, so it is TOUGH out of the box.

The strength of the transmission is not something I would be worried about. If you have a CDF issue it will not be a result of load.

 

[Chiefeaux]

I previously had a 2014 Wrangler that I used to plow my driveway in addition to being my daily driver. Then I bought a Maverick and was only using the Wrangler for plow duty, which didn't make sense since it was a low-mileage Rubicon in excellent condition that I had also used as a product demo platform when I owned my truck and offroad shop. Translation - it had all kinds of bells and whistles on it. I ended up selling it (and the plow, separately) and had a friend take over plowing my driveway.

The friend is making noises about moving out of state at some point, so I started thinking about doing my own plowing again and that led to trading in the Maverick for a 2020 Ranger Lariat.

What I didn't know at the time was the transmission issues with the Ranger. With the Wrangler, I worked within the limits of the vehicle and never let the storms get too far ahead of me. I don't stress the equipment and don't try to push snow back by ramming into piles from previous storms. So, I'm not worried about the narrative that plowing always destroys a vehicle; I think that's true for some drivers and probably any vehicle used for commercial plowing. That's not my use case.

Sooo, is anyone here running a plow on their Ranger and how has your transmission held up? I've thought about buying a used beater to use as a plow truck but I don't really want another vehicle to maintain or one that might not work when I need it.

I live in Alaska and, I have a single point connected "Personal Use Plow" on my 2010 Ranger for about 9 years. Absolutely no issues/problems with this setup. The connection is a 2" receiver that the plow slides into, weight approximately 320#, electric/hydraulic up/down/left/right control. I try to attack my driveways at 2" to 3" of snow or immediately after the road plow crew comes by.

 

[CTYankee]

I live in Alaska and, I have a single point connected "Personal Use Plow" on my 2010 Ranger for about 9 years. Absolutely no issues/problems with this setup. The connection is a 2" receiver that the plow slides into, weight approximately 320#, electric/hydraulic up/down/left/right control. I try to attack my driveways at 2" to 3" of snow or immediately after the road plow crew comes by.

I used to sell snow plows before I sold my business and retired. We did both chassis-mount and receiver-mount plows. Right now, I'm leaning toward the SnowEx 6800LT because it's a chassis mount plow with a down-pressure feature, a motorized mount system, and it only weighs 300#. I had one on my Wrangler and loved it.

I did the same with the Wrangler as you've done with the Ranger. I never let the snow get more than 2-3" ahead of me and never abused the equipment. My only concern has been the 10R80 transmission. I'll probably need to install a strut-based levelling kit as well.

 

[Dereku]

I used to sell snow plows before I sold my business and retired. We did both chassis-mount and receiver-mount plows. Right now, I'm leaning toward the SnowEx 6800LT because it's a chassis mount plow with a down-pressure feature, a motorized mount system, and it only weighs 300#. I had one on my Wrangler and loved it.

I did the same with the Wrangler as you've done with the Ranger. I never let the snow get more than 2-3" ahead of me and never abused the equipment. My only concern has been the 10R80 transmission. I'll probably need to install a strut-based levelling kit as well.

You can get stiffer springs as well if you dont want to level.

 

[got3fords]

There's an option called the Snow Sport HD with a front mount, also option with an electric winch. I have the front mount on my 21 FX4 Lariat, and I have the snow sport plow which I used on my 01 Sport Trac.
Here's a link SNOWSPORT Personal Snow Plow | Aluminum Snowplow | Truck Plows Lineup :

I have been using the rear mount Snowsport on 3 different vehicles. Been using it on the Ranger since I bought it in '21. I think there was one year it didn't snow enough to use it, otherwise I average twice a year. I also don't let the accumulation get too high, so it's 2-4 times per storm. Ranger seems to handle it just fine.

 

[CTYankee]

OK, decision made and money spent. As mentioned previously, I used to sell SnowEx plows but, after I sold the business, the new owner switched to Meyer. Then he realized that he'd gotten into a business he didn't really understand so he sold it to one of my former employees.

Long story short, Cory is taking the business back more toward offroad outfitting and wants to blow out the remaining Meyer stock. As a result, I will end up with a new Meyer DrivePro plow, installed, for around $3700, all in.

It's a bit heavier than I wanted but I'm not going to be driving around with the plow on, so I can live with it. Once it's installed, I'll post up a picture and then wait for snow to come around again.

I'm going to hold off on the lift/level until after the plow is installed to see if I really need to bother with it. If I do, I'm thinking Bilstein struts with adjustable levelling.

 

[got3fords]

OK, decision made and money spent. As mentioned previously, I used to sell SnowEx plows but, after I sold the business, the new owner switched to Meyer. Then he realized that he'd gotten into a business he didn't really understand so he sold it to one of my former employees.

Long story short, Cory is taking the business back more toward offroad outfitting and wants to blow out the remaining Meyer stock. As a result, I will end up with a new Meyer DrivePro plow, installed, for around $3700, all in.

It's a bit heavier than I wanted but I'm not going to be driving around with the plow on, so I can live with it. Once it's installed, I'll post up a picture and then wait for snow to come around again.

I'm going to hold off on the lift/level until after the plow is installed to see if I really need to bother with it. If I do, I'm thinking Bilstein struts with adjustable levelling.

Keep us posted. I am sure you probably won't need it until this winter.

 

[YaBoiNewton]

I previously had a 2014 Wrangler that I used to plow my driveway in addition to being my daily driver. Then I bought a Maverick and was only using the Wrangler for plow duty, which didn't make sense since it was a low-mileage Rubicon in excellent condition that I had also used as a product demo platform when I owned my truck and offroad shop. Translation - it had all kinds of bells and whistles on it. I ended up selling it (and the plow, separately) and had a friend take over plowing my driveway.

The friend is making noises about moving out of state at some point, so I started thinking about doing my own plowing again and that led to trading in the Maverick for a 2020 Ranger Lariat.

What I didn't know at the time was the transmission issues with the Ranger. With the Wrangler, I worked within the limits of the vehicle and never let the storms get too far ahead of me. I don't stress the equipment and don't try to push snow back by ramming into piles from previous storms. So, I'm not worried about the narrative that plowing always destroys a vehicle; I think that's true for some drivers and probably any vehicle used for commercial plowing. That's not my use case.

Sooo, is anyone here running a plow on their Ranger and how has your transmission held up? I've thought about buying a used beater to use as a plow truck but I don't really want another vehicle to maintain or one that might not work when I need it.

Whatever problems you're anticipating the transmission having with running a plow could not possibly be worse than a Wrangler. This is said with love - wranglers are great. However, they are significantly less capable as work vehicles compared to almost every other midsize truck available.

If a Wrangler could do the job, then your Ranger can almost certainly do it too!

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