NycHeavyIron Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 New York City Department of Transportation Mack GU713 w/ American Roads Machinery Snow Plow. This was taken during the second of four blizzards in a row during late winter in 2018, each storm bigger than the previous, the only thing that helped lessen the impacts was the higher sun angle by the time the fourth storm hit the city. I do not know the full specs of these trucks but i was told they are still spec pretty heavy, 22k fronts and 58k rears. For those that are curious, NYC spec trucks all have the plow housing as part of the actual chassis of the truck, this has been the standard since the 1960's. Hope everyone has a great weekend! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 Pretty hefty rig. Thanks for that. I hear some of the old-timers were chanting. The blizzard of 78 was much worse ha ha.. Bob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 You know I grew up back there seems as a kid in the 60s we used to get a lot more snow than they do now… Bob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NycHeavyIron Posted July 15 Author Share Posted July 15 The pattern since the 90s seems to be every 10 years or so we get that one big blizzard. The last decent size snow we had was in 2021, the whole city got 21 or 22 inches from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjc transport Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 agreed here across the raritan bay in NJ our weather runs 10 year cycles. last heavy snow season was 2014-2015. so we should see heavy snow again in the next two years or so. 1 Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MACKS Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 Years back I had a 1990 RD,was a NYC truck before I bought it,58 rears 20 front 275 four valve, Allison auto,tough truck,and it went like a bat out of hell,lol,that 275 was a sweet running engine.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NycHeavyIron Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 15 hours ago, MACKS said: Years back I had a 1990 RD,was a NYC truck before I bought it,58 rears 20 front 275 four valve, Allison auto,tough truck,and it went like a bat out of hell,lol,that 275 was a sweet running engine.. Incredible truck! Thank you for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NycHeavyIron Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 18 hours ago, tjc transport said: agreed here across the raritan bay in NJ our weather runs 10 year cycles. last heavy snow season was 2014-2015. so we should see heavy snow again in the next two years or so. I have a feeling this up coming winter will be bad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MACKS Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 19 hours ago, NycHeavyIron said: I have a feeling this up coming winter will be bad We are definitely overdue for a snowy winter,I’m out of plowing for the last three years,50 years of pushing that white stuff is enough for me..lol 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tjc transport Posted July 17 Popular Post Share Posted July 17 same here. i sold all but one of my plow trucks. after pushing it for 50 years, it is fun sitting inside the house watching it come down on the video cameras instead of through the windshield. and when i get tired, i can go to bed instead of drinking another gallon of coffee. 3 Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Weeks Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 (edited) On 7/15/2023 at 7:44 AM, NycHeavyIron said: . For those that are curious, NYC spec trucks all have the plow housing as part of the actual chassis of the truck, this has been the standard since the 1960's. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Not sure what you are saying about the plow frame. I delivered Henderson plows for Co, UT and MT. The Trucks were sent from the truck mfg direct to either the state shop, if the work was done "in house", or the fitter shop, if contracted out. The trucks came in with an extended front frame and the plow reinforcement and lift was all fitted behind the bumper. Each state had their own spec's and no two were identical. Often the trucks were Mack but there were a spattering of Sterling and other brands. In all cases the truck was spec'd with the extra frame, and in some cases hoods with butterfly openings, but the plow equipment was not supplied by the truck maker. Once the truck was at the fitter, dump bodies, brine equipment, salt spreaders belly, wing and front plows along with the controls were all fitted. Colorado did some of their own builds, and some contract, Same with Wyoming, Utah used contract shops, Montana did some and contracted others. No two states took the same equipment, there were "Utah" bodies and plows, Same for the other states. No one states equipment would fit another. The plow reinforcement was build by the plow mfg and fitted to the truck frame which was spec'd to take it. The equipment for that state was all identical and interchangeable regardless of the truck or plow mfg. Not all plows that, for example Wyoming used were Henderson, there were other brands, but all were built to the "Wyoming" std blue print. The trucks were all built to a spec and the frames were factory, that extended well out front of what a "standard" frame for that truck model would, but that was as far as the truck mfg got, in terms of plows, Unless NYC did something much different. Somewhere on Hank's was a picture of my Marmon taking a load of plows to either Co or Utah, when Hanks was still up. BTW the same extended front frame was also used for railroad "High rail" trucks. Edited July 17 by Geoff Weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechohaulic Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 On 7/15/2023 at 3:07 PM, tjc transport said: agreed here across the raritan bay in NJ our weather runs 10 year cycles. last heavy snow season was 2014-2015. so we should see heavy snow again in the next two years or so. like many things today ; patterns of weather cycles can't be reliable as years past. "global warming "has screwed patterns/cycles . I remember the '78 blizzard well. V plow on road grader; TD-20 operator ran 48 hrs no sleep. spend days on dozer pushing snow into river as tri axles brought it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjc transport Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 here in jersey the 10 year cycle has been a constant for the past 50 years i have been plowing, and at least 15 years before that that i can remember. 1 Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NycHeavyIron Posted July 17 Author Share Posted July 17 8 hours ago, Geoff Weeks said: Not sure what you are saying about the plow frame. I delivered Henderson plows for Co, UT and MT. The Trucks were sent from the truck mfg direct to either the state shop, if the work was done "in house", or the fitter shop, if contracted out. The trucks came in with an extended front frame and the plow reinforcement and lift was all fitted behind the bumper. Each state had their own spec's and no two were identical. Often the trucks were Mack but there were a spattering of Sterling and other brands. In all cases the truck was spec'd with the extra frame, and in some cases hoods with butterfly openings, but the plow equipment was not supplied by the truck maker. Once the truck was at the fitter, dump bodies, brine equipment, salt spreaders belly, wing and front plows along with the controls were all fitted. Colorado did some of their own builds, and some contract, Same with Wyoming, Utah used contract shops, Montana did some and contracted others. No two states took the same equipment, there were "Utah" bodies and plows, Same for the other states. No one states equipment would fit another. The plow reinforcement was build by the plow mfg and fitted to the truck frame which was spec'd to take it. The equipment for that state was all identical and interchangeable regardless of the truck or plow mfg. Not all plows that, for example Wyoming used were Henderson, there were other brands, but all were built to the "Wyoming" std blue print. The trucks were all built to a spec and the frames were factory, that extended well out front of what a "standard" frame for that truck model would, but that was as far as the truck mfg got, in terms of plows, Unless NYC did something much different. Somewhere on Hank's was a picture of my Marmon taking a load of plows to either Co or Utah, when Hanks was still up. BTW the same extended front frame was also used for railroad "High rail" trucks. NYC orders direct from Mack and highly customized. An example is during the W.T.C clean up Mack gave NYC several rd600 dump trucks, they however did not have the plow hook ups on them so nyc set the trucks up in house at central repair. With rare exceptions everything is ordered with the plow hitches attached to or apart of the actual truck frame/chassis. The plow fame on nyc trucks is mounted into the front bumper and is apart of the frame/chassis of the trucks, the housing for the locking pin sits right under the front bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NycHeavyIron Posted July 17 Author Share Posted July 17 2 hours ago, tjc transport said: here in jersey the 10 year cycle has been a constant for the past 50 years i have been plowing, and at least 15 years before that that i can remember. Same for nyc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Weeks Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 50 minutes ago, NycHeavyIron said: NYC orders direct from Mack and highly customized. An example is during the W.T.C clean up Mack gave NYC several rd600 dump trucks, they however did not have the plow hook ups on them so nyc set the trucks up in house at central repair. With rare exceptions everything is ordered with the plow hitches attached to or apart of the actual truck frame/chassis. The plow fame on nyc trucks is mounted into the front bumper and is apart of the frame/chassis of the trucks, the housing for the locking pin sits right under the front bumper. Yes, that is very similar to how the ones I delivered were. The plow mount is part of the truck and remains on the truck.Trucks come in with factory extended front frames which are then additionally reinforced with the plow mount. From what you are telling me I think the only difference is who and where the mod to the factory truck is done. A gov vehicle doesn't need to consider weight in the off season, so are very robustly built, and a permanent part of the truck. The plow frames reinforce the factory frame. Some (depending on design) have a bumper others the plowframe has a bumper as part of the frame, like the NYC trucks. Colorado's design allowed for the driver to mount the plow from the driver seat. The trucks I saw were not the std build, but were factory none the less, the frames were not extended after they left the factory, rather the plow mount was added to factory extended frame. Most had a front PTO hyd , I don't remember if all did, or some were rear (bellhousing) engine PTO. Truck radiators came with the PTO opening, but the pumps and pump mount were installed after the factory. All work was done before the state took possession of the truck, all lighting, and decals (ID) were installed at the shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NycHeavyIron Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 Are the plows you use hyd two way plows? Ours are two ways but mechanical, they have a pin that locks the position for the plow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Weeks Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Depends on what they ordered, IIRC Colorado ordered one way roll-over plows, Utah had had hyd angle. Henderson made all types and were "custom" for whatever the state wanted. I know they had a plant somewhere in NYS. Because every plow was built to the state plan, it is hard to look and say that was a "Henderson" plow or not. I think Colorado wanted it so it could be mounted without getting out of the cab, the lift cyl arm had a weird "nose" on it that hooked into the plow, and when it drew it up the bottom arms slid into slots on the plow frame and hyd pins lock it home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavCut Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 The variety of plow mounting systems available for heavy trucks is amazing. Always neat to see each region’s /department’s preferences. It would be interesting (though probably a bit of a dry read) to know the how and why each system has evolved the way that it has. From the photos that I’ve seen it appears that New Jersey DOT will hire just about anything to put a plow on and provide a frame & plow for the contractor to use (they all appear to match). Those frames appear to have about 25% (or less) of the steel that a NYC mount has! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Weeks Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 I never thought to take pictures of the stuff, It was just a days work, and while I waited to get unloaded would walk around and look at the trucks in various states of the process. Just like my heavy haul days, it was so common, and I didn't carry a digital camera,(weren't around in the heavy haul days) so I never took pictures. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjc transport Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, DavCut said: The variety of plow mounting systems available for heavy trucks is amazing. Always neat to see each region’s /department’s preferences. It would be interesting (though probably a bit of a dry read) to know the how and why each system has evolved the way that it has. From the photos that I’ve seen it appears that New Jersey DOT will hire just about anything to put a plow on and provide a frame & plow for the contractor to use (they all appear to match). Those frames appear to have about 25% (or less) of the steel that a NYC mount has! NJ snow pow contractor trucks must weigh minimum 25,000 lbs or be tandem axle. most guys with single axle trucks will put steel plates or "mafia blocks" on the back to meet the weight requirements. and most dump trucks will have 10-15 ton of ballast weight in the box for traction weight. 1 Quote when you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is hard to remember you only came in to drain the swamp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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