Snow Plow Redo

I've been fighting with this ancient Meyers single-action plow pump forever. Before my dad shipped it out to me, I plowed with it for years on a scout back east. It's been through multiple rebuilds, a few (expensive=obsolete) solenoid replacements, and a pair of permanent vice grips is all that's holding one of the stripped-out plugs in place. It needs another ($) solenoid replacement because it won't hold weight without rapid fade. I'm done with it.



My plan is to hook up a standard 2" x 8" 2-way hydraulic cylinder controlled by a standard 3-position valve (think logsplitter) and power it through my power steering pump.

I'm thinking it should work, but I'll lose power steering while lifting or lowering. This shouldn't be a problem since I'm at a stop shifting from forward to reverse when lifting, and vice versa when dropping the blade. And since this is a power up and power down, I'll be able to replace the lift chain with a solid link to have down pressure on the blade if/when I want to do any light grading work.

I'll update this as I get time.

 

I ve done this with a Chevy truck. You will need more fluid I used a radiator hose to extend the filler on the pump to allow for more fluid. Up will get rid of the power steering but down has little effect on a single acting cyl power down will though. With a solid rod you will need float in the valve or the blade will skip along.

 

Is it an E-46 pump? Should be able to use all the parts from an E47

 

I'm sorry, was that English you're speaking?

 

That would only be for dirt work. For snow I'll keep the chain.

 

Could you plumb in a transmission cooler rad to increase the volume AND add cooling?

 

My PS fluid cooler is being re-used in this setup, but extra volume alone won't help... you need room for the difference in volume of the cylinder shaft itself. When the cylinder is collapsed, the area that the shaft is displacing in fluid has to be contained in a big enough tank. A typical piggyback PS tank isn't big enough.

 

what about a good old-fashioned engine driven plow pump? that way you don't have to re-engineer your PS system.

 

Oh, I get it now. You got that handled i bet.

 

Even if I had one (I sold one years ago and regret it), I just don't have the open real estate to put it in there.

I'll get some pics posted up in a bit. I'm out gathering parts for the finishing touches.

 

My first step was to find a location for the control valve. I wanted it close to the pump and cylinder so I didn't have 10' hoses running everywhere. The only logical place was an inch above the radiator. I made a mount off of the rollcage crossbar in the engine bay.




Next up was the cylinder. Since it's taller than the last one, I had to mount it out in front of the crossmember, rather than over it like before.




This evening I started on the reservoir. I did the math to find out the shaft will displace just under 8 cubic inches of fluid when collapsed. I expanded my reservoir by 9 cubic inches, so that should be covered. The steel in that reservoir is only .030" thick!!






That's where I'm at now. I have all the hoses to hook this up, but I'm two fittings short of being able to fully assemble. It might be a few days until I get back to this. Happy Halloween!

 

I hope Momma isn't still awake; I told her I'd be up in 20 minutes... 2 1/2 hours ago.

Everything is in place. Waiting on a trip to Ace for two 90° fittings. Fabrication-wise, all that's left is to run the linkage and controls into the cab.

So, the fluid will go from the pump, to the control valve, to the steering box, to the cooler, and back to the pump. It'll probably look like a lawn sprinkler when I start it up.

 

Myself, instead of trying to modify the ham can power steering reservoir. I'd just switch it out for a round one then run a remote reservoir. You can get even more fluid capacity that way.

 

love this!

 

That was my initial plan, and I have one here that would be a direct swap minus the pulley (from a serpentine setup), but I just could not get the old pulley off without destroying it. Oh well. It was an extra 2 hours to modify this. This old beater doesn't really deserve much more. It stays true with the "patchwork quilt" theme.

This jeep is retired. It's sole purpose is to plow snow, pull stumps, move dirt, and generally be abused then neglected. This hasn't been my prettiest work; I've had very limited budget and a deadline:

 

The round can will bolt right onto the ham can pump. No modifications needed, no need to change pulleys. Just unbolt the ham can and bolt on the round one.

At least you have the round can available if you end up with leaks you can always change it.

 

The other pump I have was made by Saginaw, but it came off a Volvo 850. It's a completely different style pump, but the mounts are close enough I could have made it work if I could have swapped pulleys. Thanks for the info though. Good to know I have another option.

 

I got the cantilever linkage mocked up out of some scrap I had sitting around. The rectangular tubing is windsheild frame off-fall from my modified Arctic Top windshield. Keeping it in the family!

 

looks good