Hummer Snow Plow, Part 2

Amazingly, the month of January has passed, and we only got about 3 snowfalls with any accumulation, so my snowplow testing has not been as extensive as I had hoped. 

Driveway After

That said, I did get a chance to install and remove the plow many times in a variety of conditions, and I also had the opportunity to use the plow on two different vehicles.

Plow Mounted

The verdict is: The plow is great.  Not only does it do a good job, but it is actually quite fun to use.  I found myself looking forward to going out and shoving the snow around the driveway.  With no manual angling controls, operation is very simple: Raise the plow, back the truck up to the garage doors, lower the plow, and drive up the driveway.  Pull the snow all the way out into the street to one side or the other, and raise the plow.  Pull forward a few feet, lower the plow, and push the snow back off the road.  The eight foot blade is wide enough to easily see it in both side view mirrors even on an H1 with wider-than-stock tires, and the self angling of the plow is surprisingly intuitive, dumping the extra snow conveniently to the side of the driveway with each pass.  The motor and pump on the plow are responsive, snapping the plow up and smoothly dropping it with each flick of the switch.

Solenoid and Switch

You’ll notice from the picture of the switch and solenoid wiring that I did not do a “permanent install” of the controls.  I wanted to be able to move the whole setup onto another test vehicle, so I mounted the solenoid to a board, along with the switch, and moved the whole setup from a Hummer over to a Land Rover Discovery series II.  The Land Rover, like the Hummer, handled the plowing duties with grace and ease.  I did notice that the automatic traction control kicked in several times on my steep driveway in the Land Rover, whereas the Hummer didn’t slip and slide at all – primarily due to the extra weight of the truck, I suspect.  My experience in both vehicles led me to the conclusion that any medium-sized SUV with 4 wheel drive would probably handle this setup without too much trouble – I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for an H2 or H3.

Connector

The only complications I encountered were related to mounting and dismounting the plow.  The process of getting the plow onto the truck involved wheeling the cart that the plow is on into place behind the vehicle, and sliding the plow into the receiver hitch tube.  On smooth dry pavement, this task is easy, but after snow and ice has fallen, the castors don’t roll around as cooperatively as one would like.  I found it to be a real chore to get things lined up once the weather had struck.  And, the ratchet strap that releases the plow got iced up one day as well, making it difficult to release. 

Motor Pump

These were minor setbacks, but they did get me swearing under my breath in the freezing temperatures.  I spoke with Mike Biance at Driveway Superplow about my frustrations, and he was very helpful, offering several tips and tricks for each of the problems I encountered.  In the end, I came to the conclusion that to really eliminate these issues, a large garage (wide enough to drive out of with an 8-foot blade hanging off the truck) or a sheltered flat portion of driveway would take that pain away.  Otherwise, you may run into some of the same snags I wrestled with unless you get the plow on your truck before the weather swoops in.

Ratchet

Overall, I would definitely recommend the plow – there aren’t a lot of options for Hummer owners when it comes to snowplows, and this one does the job pretty darn well.  With a little practice I was able to scrape the driveway nearly clear with minimal time and effort, which is a lot more than I can say for any snowblower or shovel.

Raised

http://www.superplow.com/