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4 High Or 4 Lo For Plowing?

mudrunner80

By mudrunner80
in Garage, Shop & Tools

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Somepunk396 Enthusiast

Somepunk396

Posted
Posted

I don't know about this 4 low... in the 12 years I've pushed snow, not once have I ever had to use it. I live way the hell up here in Canada, and if you are behind enough snow to consider even using 4 low, you're pushing too much snow. Keep it in 3 and tow haul and just push accordingly. I haven't fried a tranny

  • 1 year later...
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Badass69 Senior Enthusiast

Badass69

Posted
Posted

Although old as hell here topic wise one thing people didn't surprisingly ask was what gears are in the truck? An old bucket like the OP's 80 could have something stupid like 3.08's in it..... so yeah... use 4 Lo. I know..... I plow with an 86 K5 Blazer that is currently a mismatch from hell with 3.08's and 33" tall tires. It's useless to plow with even with the 700R's 3:1 first in 4Hi. I am rectifying that before this upcoming snowy season with a set of 4.56's. Then I will just use 4Hi lol.

  • 1 year later...
Wardsilverado Enthusiast

Wardsilverado

Posted
Posted

I have a 07 silverado1500(NBS) Z71 4x4 and always plow in 4hi with the tow haul mode turned on. It is an automatic and keep the transmission in 1st or 2nd gear to keep it from shifting to much. I'm in New Brunswick, Canada do we get a lot of snow and I have 25-30 driveways and haven't had a problem at all with the truck. I have 168,000kms on the truck and this is my 4th winter plowing with this truck.

Cowpie Senior Enthusiast

Cowpie

Posted
Posted

I just use 4hi and don't bother with tow haul. I just will use manual mode. Tow haul just changes shift points. I can do that with manual mode that fits more of what I actually want.

Wardsilverado Enthusiast

Wardsilverado

Posted
Posted

Tow haul makes a big difference in my truck when plowing. The truck works much easier with the tow haul mode engaged. Especially when pushing wet heavy snow that wants to pile up in front of the blade instead of winging off to the side. The trans temp also doesn't get as high when using tow haul mode then plowing without it. My normal trans temp when plowing ranges from 82 degrees Celcius to 95 degrees Celcius

NoProblem Enthusiast

NoProblem

Posted
Posted

I just put on a set of Duratracs and plowed what we've gotten so far, mostly in 2wd, just leave it in D and it's worked just fine. Otherwise 4hi does the job if it gets over 4" or so. Seems like if I actually needed to put it in 4 Lo it'd likely be too deep to plow at all with the truck - I'd have to crank up the old tractor.

Wardsilverado Enthusiast

Wardsilverado

Posted
Posted

I ran a set of Duratracs last year and they were pretty good. This winter I'm running a set of General Altimax Arctic studded tires. The traction is fantastic!!! I live in northern New Brunswick, Canada and usually after our first storm around the first week in December the snow is here to stay. Once the snow stays the driveways I plow are always snow covered or even ice. I usually don't plow unless we get 10cm(4 inches) or more so pushing that on a driveway with packed snow or ice underneath is pretty hard to do in 2wd. I run studded winter tires with about 350-400 pounds of weight in the box of my truck. I always use 4 high and if there is more than 4 inches I use the tow haul mode and keep it either in first or second gear(automatic trans)

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