A lot of time yesterday was spent riding the borough bus after I had dropped the truck off at TrailerCraft, the local Western distributor, to have them do the installation. I had started to walk back towards town when I noticed the bus stop signs. There is a new (at least to me) bus line. It wasn't due for a bit so I just continued on following the signs until the bus arrived. I stopped at College Coffeehouse to meet with some of the regulars then headed to the other side of town to the credit union.
(Now some minimal moto content) I met with JedR, another Ural rider, at the Starbucks inside Fred Meyer. He generously gave me a bag with a container of tire lube saying that we used up what I had when we installed his K37s a couple of weeks ago. Also in the bag was a great selection of cotter pins and some small picks to help pull out things like spacers and washers. Thank you Jed!
He offered to give me a ride back to TrailerCraft but I had plenty of time to kill before they would be done and just took the bus. The university pays the borough a lump sum every year so anyone with a university id can ride the bus. A pretty nice benefit especially with all of the new routes.
The plow is a Western Midweight with a 7½' metal blade and is classified as light commercial duty. It weighs around 600 lbs or about 50% less than some of the commercial "V" plows. Since I have the Cummins engine, it limits the size of the plow due to the weight of the engine. All of the hydraulics are installed on the plow frame so there are only 2 electrical connectors to the truck. One for power and the other for control. I will be picking up sand bags to put into the rear of the bed for ballast to offset the weight of the plow. So if it never snows in Fairbanks again you can thank me...
Right now I'm sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Barrow through Anchorage and Prudhoe Bay. Due to their new flights the 1½ hour flight now takes most of the day.
So, you will be doing a 'snow dance' just to see how quick you can use the new toy? I am sure you will have fun the first dozen or so times.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your all day trip.
Did not enjoy the all day trip just to go 500 miles...
DeleteNo "snow dance" likely.
Mr Plow, that's my name, that name again, is Mr Plow.
ReplyDeleteMr Plow
I don't think so...
DeleteWelcome to the war on snow!
ReplyDeleteThe only truck with a plow that I've ever owned was a 1978 Ford F-150 reg cab 8' box 4x4. It also had a western 7.5', but the very old school model with the stay on the truck lights, hyd pump and lift cylinder. I had a blast with it. Never got stuck, I just had to be careful not to go too crazy with it. That was back in the days when a 1/2 ton was built more like your 1 ton. Solid front axle, lock out hubs.... a real truck.
I've never had a plow before so this will be a learning experience. This sounds like the same plow only with the new mount where everything disconnects from the truck except for the frame mounts.
DeleteThat rig fairly screams self-reliance. So does the Ural. Although the Ural is just a little too delicate given its outward appearance.
ReplyDeleteStill. Between you and Dom, Ural owes you free lifetime repairs and upgrades as brand ambassadors.
I'll bet you're fairly begging for a huge dump of snow so that you can truly enjoy the quiet isolation of being thoroughly snow-bound, knowing that all you need to do is fire up the diesel one ton and plow your way to freedom when you're done with the winter wonderland.
Awesome!
When I first mentioned that I was thinking of getting a plow, the first thing many said is that they didn't know Ural made a plow. In spite of pictures on the Internet, the Ural would make a poor plow vehicle.
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