Maintenance tips for snowplows and spreaders

When the snow starts building up on roads, there's nothing cities need more than snowplows to make the streets safe again. The South learned this the hard way this January after a rare blizzard swept through. New Orleans was ambushed by up to 10" in some areas, more than three times more than their previous record snowfall in 1963. Bourbon Street was put on ice and business froze in the decadent tourist destination. And it was all because they had no way to clear the streets.

“We're pleading with our citizens to stay off of the roads because we have several rescue operations out here,” said Mayor-President of Baton Rouge Sid Edwards told Fox Weather. “Again, we're not really equipped. We don't have a ton of snow plows in south Louisiana.”

Up north, where cities are well-equipped to handle winter weather, lack of snowplow maintenance can cause major delays for commuters and a more dangerous drive overall.

“You're going to have a lot more breakdowns during a storm event when it's critical that you're out there, and [instead] you're in the barn,” said Tony Beaver, outside sales manager for the Wisconsin-based Monroe Truck Equipment. “What good's that?”

Maintenance can be challenging given how hard snowplows work some winters, and are “abused very hard," Beaver noted.

So, what do municipal fleets need to do to keep their snowplows and spreaders ready for the weather, and how can they fix them up after dragging on the ground and hitting manholes, curbs, expansion joints, and more? As is often the case with work trucks, it begins with knowing where to look for damage and a strong preventative maintenance program.

A damaging job

According to Austin Roseboom, the facilities and equipment manager for DJ’s Landscape Management based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the amount of punishment a truck plow takes tends to limit their lifespans to 7 to 10 years. After that, “we’re getting rid of things before they have a lot of fail points and it costs more money to repair it than to buy new,” he said.

DJ’s Landscape Management, which offers various services from landscaping to snow and ice management, tends to use Fisher XLS truck plows and Fisher truck salters.

In general, Roseboom reported that their machines tend to see the most wear and tear on the cutting edge of the plow, depending on whether the edge is steel or poly. Beaver agreed, noting that Monroe sometimes changes their cutting edge daily.

“It all depends on what they use for a cutting edge, but we consider that to be a consumable item versus your springs and cylinders,” Beaver explained.

Beyond this, Roseboom also noted that the chain and sprocket drive motor assembly sees a lot of wear and tear with salters, as do electrical harnesses, which can bounce loose if not connected tightly enough. Hydraulic lines can be a problem as well, especially if they’re pinched by the plow’s movement.

“Sometimes [if] they get rerouted or pinched wrong, or just due to dry rot from being stored outside and not being caught during a PM, the hydraulic line will blow and the plow will lose its fluid,” Roseboom said.

DJ’s keeps an eye on this problem by dying their hydraulic fluid red, making it easier for operators to spot if something is amiss. Roseboom said this is referred to as "plow bleeding," and if you see it, you know something's wrong.

And, of course, the mounting hardware for truck plows, including bolts, bracketry, and physical stops can be sheared as well, Beaver said, and cylinders and springs can break. But as with over-the-road trucks, preventative maintenance goes a long way toward increasing the plow and its components' useful life.

“A lot of that has to go into the preventative maintenance and the physical care, i.e. washing of the equipment,” Roseboom emphasized. “So if you tend to wash it more regularly, have a good PM program in place, [and are] utilizing some rust preventative solutions, you can extend [vehicle life] out further.”

Preventative maintenance for all seasons

For Roseboom, one of the key pieces of plow and spreader maintenance is washing the vehicle after every event to get rid of any contaminants that could cause corrosion later. For Fisher XLS plows, it’s especially important to make sure the wings don’t collect any salt, snow, or water. Beaver also recommends paying particular attention to tough-to-reach areas such as between a truck’s frame rails and the underbody scraper area.

Another way to avoid corrosion, especially when putting away snow management equipment for the season, is using rust-prevention spray. Roseboom noted that DJ’s uses Fluid Film, especially since their plows tend to work in parking lots that are frequently salted.

After that, good inspections are critical to making sure there’s no damage from putting away the equipment. For Roseboom, that includes checking all the cutting edges and pivot points both for damage and grease. Additionally, making sure no hydraulic hoses are sheared off and the cylinders aren’t leaking is critical, Beaver said, as is making sure the center pin, which helps the plow pivot left and right, is in good shape.

For internal components, Roseboom noted that they check the fluid for any water or imperfections, and change it if they find any.

“We're looking for any metal shavings and/or water in the fluid,” Roseboom stated. “Typically, your water will float to the top or you'll be able to detect that there is water in the fluid [through sampling]. It can cause extra damage to the hydraulic motor and pump.”

Even if there isn’t any contamination, DJ’s still changes their plow fluid every other year.

Finally, inspecting a plow’s mounting pins both for damage and proper torque is important for safe operation.

“We all say when the truck is first built, after the first two to four hours of use, all that hardware should be retorqued, because that’s when stuff finds its home and where it's going to sit,” Beaver noted. “Then it should be retorqued at that point, and then torqued two or three times a year, depending upon usage.”

For Beaver, that means keeping up a torquing schedule in October, January, and March.

Beware the off-season

While over-the-road trucks tend to get relatively consistent use and maintenance, the same is not true for snowplows and spreaders. This brings some unique damage to watch for, especially when equipment is stored outside.

During the off-season, the sun can cause hydraulic lines to crack and shrink, creating fail points, Roseboom stated, and electric connections can corrode without dielectric grease. To help avoid this, Beaver advocates for regular use throughout the off-season, even if only for 5-10 miles.

“I get why the standard body might sit for six months, but the plows, and all the [hydraulic] cylinders that are on the truck, should operate at least once every two weeks to exercise them a little bit,” he said. “That way they get lubricated.”