[carhartt61]

I just got back from my trek up to American Mfg/Eagle. My 1st impression was very positive. I met the owner and got a tour. They have yellow labs running around the building and I think thats very cool. I will attempt to make a honest report on the entire installation process and then go find snow to smash. I hope to have it wrapped up by tomorrow at this time. Here's what I'm starting out with.

Fire away if you have any questions

 

[White Park]

Carhartt I think you will be impressed with the installation of that unit. I have the exact same set up and it seems to be a good quality product. The only thing I did not like was the pins that pin the plow to the mount. I ground a taper on the pins and drilled out the holes and installed ring snap pins and cut installation time in 1/2.

 

[carhartt61]

so far so good. I spent about 1.5 hours so far on the setup. The winch plate fits perfect and the only improvement I needed was that the U bolts thread would of scraped the paint off the bumper tube so I covered them in electrical tape while I slide them into place.The plow plate was pretty tight so I had to use a rubber hammer to get it in the proper location. I did notice alittle bit diff oil on the bottom of the skid plate. Hopefully it was just a spill from filling. Tomorrow I will tackle the wiring and put the blade on.
Thanks White Park for the tip. I was thinking of dedicating a 4 wheel furniture dolley for storage so I can move the blade in and out of place easily. (like duwop)

 

[Duwop]

Thanks for the tip. This is the one issue I too have with mounting and dismounting.

 

[DBCooper]

U bolts?

Got a photo (of the mount - in place)?

 

[carhartt61]

here's one side

u bolts?

Got a photo (of the mount - in place)?

You can see the electrical tape I left behind

 

[DBCooper]

I was just curious. Have you seen the KFI mount?

 

[carhartt61]

I was just curious. Have you seen the KFI mount?

Never saw one installed. seems like I did ask for a pic once but it just didn't happen (truth be told it was the kfi plow mount I was interested in but decided to go with one that cost alittle less)

I made kinda a trade off going with a lighter weight winch. I'm alittle concerned what 4K lbs might do to the front end. Maybe I'll go bigger someday when the front end is already tweaked. I can always find a use for the smaller winch on one of my other junkers.

 

[DBCooper]

I hope you get a lot of years use out of it. Post some photos when you install is complete.

 

[carhartt61]

Test complete

IT was just as well we had a very light snow since my machine is still very new. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I screwed up one bolt so I have a small repair to do but all in all it went together ok. I am out of practice and spent more time looking for tools then actually wrenching. I'll write up the sequence and issues I ran into a little later today.

 

[mayoaaron]

I just got off the phone with North Star and ordered the plow system

 

[carhartt61]

Plow update

I just got off the phone with North Star and ordered the plow system

I used mine last night for about an hour. I have no complaints other than my snow is already 5 feet friggin high. So pushing it into high piles created extra effort. I need to perfect my system as I found myself pretty disorganized once I shoved the snow out into the street. I have a friend who plows professionally so I will ask him for some tips.

Hope your install goes well Aaron.