In 2 months his Boss back drag pro snow plow broke 88 sheer pins, was in the shop 4 times, ripped through the frame, and had the controller fail over & over- including twice during this video.
I had a friend in his sixties who had been a welder his whole life get a job at boss a couple years ago. He told me that management is all about production and the quality control suffers greatly because of it. It got to the point that it drove him nuts because he really likes to do quality work and they were pushing him to just get it done quickly so he ended up quitting.
Don't blame him for quitting! Demonstrates moral courage to achieve a bar of excellence and to maintain a moral compass! That's integrity and character!
This is probably the most damning review on a plow I've ever seen. Boss should trash this design and start over. Oh, and give the poor guy his money back.
Thanks for videos like these Stan. If I was going to pick up a back blade it’s cool seeing you review the 3 top brands before we ever do. Thanks for doing videos on these since there’s not much info on them yet. Sorry for the guys issues, that sucks.
Michael Mac Tavish Ya sounds really nice. My main machine is a JD 644K on snow tires with a 16’ AMI 6way. My one lot used to take me 7 hours with the bucket at 6” of snow, i do it in 1.5hr and a better job now. Coming a long way with this stuff lately.
@@ChuckBeefOG yeah plus we usually put the 6 foot luck now snowblower on the back of the 340 case wich it gives way alot of hp for running our snowblower too
@@michaelmactavish1728 Soooo, lets get this straight. You put a 6' cheap Lucknow snow blower on a 340 Case that puts out over 300hp at the pto. You must think the rest of the world is as numb as you!!! Your comments on other videos show you know nothing about anything you comment on.
Walter, how? Was it the SL3's (best plow headlights on the market)? Or maybe D-force? Ya know, the down pressure option every one had been wishing for? Or was it the ext? Which big innovation made you lose faith in BOSS? Rather, what original new product has any other big name plow manufacturer released lately?
@@jhoss8524 I guess the same reason toyota and 1000s of other companies have a couple of American based plants but still manufacture 90% of their inventory over seas
Great video Stan. I live in Wisconsin and purchased my Drag Pro 12' in MN and have had nothing but issues with it as well. I tore the bolt hole out of the lower lift X framd on my 12' model. Terrible design, thin metal, no bushings, no grease zirks, only 1/2" of metal between bolt hole and edge of frame. The other side that didn't break showed significant elongation of the hole after 2 months use. I use mine for mostly residential and 4 small commercial properties. It took Boss over a week to send me a replacement after practically begging them to overnight due to upcoming storm. I also have a major issue with the pushbeam mounting bolts loosening up halfway through each snow event which causes the pushbeam (I have the universal mount for my 04 Superduty) to move up and down which causes the front wings to nosedive into the ground. Once the wings nosedive the center portion of the plow lifts up and leaves a 1/2" of snow on the ground (so much for a clean scrape). I would weld the push beam to the mount to alleviate the issue with the bolts loosening, however, I have another issue with significant slop in the mounting system. When properly attached the power unit/plow connection to the truck moves significantly when down pressure is applied. The slop in the mounting system causes the wing tips to dig in and lift the center of the plow. I literally have to toe out the top of the drag pro significantly so that when down pressure is applied the whole unit rocks forward to make proper contact. Boss says they are aware of the issue and a fix is 6 weeks out. As an aside I have not broken a single shear bolt on my 12' unit thankfully. Sounds like the shear bolt is enough bolt for the 12' unit but not enough for the 16'. Agree with Mike, I want my money back, too many issues for something that cost almost 6K.
Hey Stan, I have to tell you, you put out the most honest and comprehensive video's on RU-vid, no B.S., you rock on her buddy! Good to see a fellow who is realistic, family oriented, God fearing and entertaining! Keep up the GREAT work buddy!!!!!!!
I am glad you shared this. After I saw your past snow plowing videos and saw your rear plow, I was interested in buying one. Boss is the only brand near me that sells this style plow, and I almost bought one. I am glad I didn't. I did, however, buy a Boss salt/sand spreader. It didn't work correctly right from the beginning. I fought with it for a few weeks. During that time I had kept my dealer informed of the issues. Long story short, I have a excellent relationship with my dealer, and he let me return the spreader and buy a Fisher spreader instead. Boss needs to spend more time with quality control.
Gotta say it - i dont plow (i have done snow removal and melting with loaders) - but there is only a few people on RU-vid that would be willing to put out a video like this . Thank you for putting your viewers ahead of your corporate connections.
that looks like a plow that's had years of wear on it, not 2 months... also looks like it wasn't designed to hold the weight of 16' of heavy snow, at most maybe 3-6in snow accumulation
Chris Rowlison the back drag pro came out not even that long ago, boss used to make great stuff, i still think they have the best frame mounts but everything else has been scarified over the years to increase profits
It's not a flawed design, it's a flawed idea. Isn't the front plow enough? This product doesn't make sense, but maybe I'm missing something. Thanks for the videos guys.
Great video Stan !! Thankyou !! We were looking a slightly used one to quicken up production ! Guy said it just wasn't for him .. Thinking now thank god we didn't pull trigger buying it ! Honestly we thought to wait because we really haven't had snow this winter up here in Massachusetts ! THANKYOU for taking time to do these type of video's ! Really looks like Boss rushed development on there product !
I am glad you shared this.... I'm new to snow plowing 1st season. Currently running Boss 7'6" with Boss Extension Wings. I do only residential. Found I needed to add the Boss back drag edge for better back dragging, 90% of my driveways are back drag jobs and I started looking into pull plows. Obviously started at Boss because my dealer is a block from my house but also got in contact with Sno Power. Looking at build quality Sno Power wins hands down... just look at the attachment points. I was leaning towards Sno Power before this video and now I'm Running to Sno Power. Thank you again .
Minnesotan here. I've never even seen this style of a rear wing plow. Must be a testament of how bad they are because we get a ton of snow. I run a 9 foot DXT and have had zero issues besides the occasional wing spring failure and the obvious rust development.
Good video Stanley! This is why i stopped using any of the new plows lack of QUALITY. Manufactures have stripped the products they sell so bad. They have stopped the R/D process to save money and use the customer for free to fix the problems with the product.One question tho WHY DID BOSS RELEASE THIS PLOW WITH KNOWN ISSUES????? just bad corporate practice.........
@@blaken3824 This is what happens when financialization takes over from true production - the illusion of "progress" with the reality of failure. The capitalists laugh all the way to the bank while the working people hold the bag.
Hey Stan, you are the only one showing honest reviews of these tools. Thank you for giving us the public the information we crave. Anyway, what tires are you running?
They shouldn't even have shear pins. they should have the plow engineered to the point where there's an internal bypass in the hydraulic cylinder. the product is poorly engineered.
@@douganderson7002 but what I've you wanted a salter on the back? Having the back plow takes that option away. Personally I'd rather have a salter. If you were all commercial I could see a use for it.
I know the origional designer of boss Ken, I work on his diesel pick up as one of my customers... unfortunately he sold the business in a divorce. I bet he would have made this right.
My 15 year old Boss plow has operated flawlessly. Changed out cracked hoses before they blew, cutting edge a couple times. It seems Boss engineering department dropped the ball on the Back Drag Pro.
GREAT comparison!! This is the kind of need to know information that makes or breaks a purchase. That's terrible... bad bad bad... no good at all. On a bright note, it makes the Short Iron and Snow Power look like a CHAMP!
Great video! For those who say this is a fad, we’ve had back blades in west Michigan since the 80’s 😂. The expanding type have been around here for 15 years or so. The increased productivity is undeniable once you learn how to use it. Our productivity easily doubled. The boss backblade is new. I haven’t seen any here in west Michigan. I’m sure there’s a reason for that. 😉
Very good educational video! Boss failed big time on the pull plow electrical system also on the frame system it’s not a safe piece of equipment that being said boss should reimburse him for everything plus the 89 pins. You should be sent to a warm weather vacation after snow season paid by boss for showing the quality of their equipment. But I really think boss knows without your video. Thanks Again
Thank you Stan really saved my butt here was looking at these for winter 2019 after half way thru NO freaking way will drive across michigan to get the right drag plow for us
I bought a boss drap plow and a boss front plow last fall. I have had no issues with it except when u put to much pressure on the drag plow when the wings are in the back will lift a half cm above the ground. We run it in -30 and it works just fine. He might have low hydrolic fluid and that makes it slow to lift up. My plow wings do move but not even close to as much as his did.
Let us know what the feedback is from Boss I would imagine that they will be seeing this and hopefully resolve the issues. Thanks Appreciate the videos. Glad I went with my Western plow after watching your videos. Just sold my neighbor on a new MVP up here in Bemidji
WOW! Had to believe a company can produce a product with so many fundamental design flaws! A good review with an important message for those looking for that type product and, hopefully, Boss management!
I have absolutely zero experience with drag plows, but I’ve been plowing municipal streets for 18 years. Seems like there’s too much load when in a “scoop” position. Plowing snow is mostly moving it from one linear position to another... not carrying as much as possible along with you to a dump area. Work a leading edge of a straight blade plow into that same snow bank at that angle and the truck would stop. It’s physics. But maybe I’m wrong?
That's gotta suck. Nothing more frustrating. Would have been nice to see the design of your plow to really know what to look for when choosing a plow. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you @Stanleydirtmonkey I had wrote on a previous post of yours reviewing snowpower... I asked if you or anyone you knew reviewed this boss drag pro. I did purchase drag pro because it was only pull plow available locally and being that it was a boss I had trust in the name. Unfortunately I've encountered these exact issues listed in this video... I wish I waited but it didnt seem feasible to by from an out of state fabricator and now I regret my decision. I wish you had this video before I purchased but chalk it up to most expensive learning lesson I've had in plowing. If you have any updated suggestions on what option I may pursue with boss I'm all ears... thanks for all the informative videos!
@@fknbastages I did watch the whole video, some guy did it and it broke the whole plow. I would have been that guy. And they would have warrantied it. I think it's actually a problem with the hydraulics, or how their positioned. If you put a valve in there like loader suspension has, it'll let the hydraulics flex a little and bounce back before snapping a shear pin.
Sorry mate. I get what you were saying now. I would have been that same guy. Lol. I would have also improved this terrible design myself, by looking at other products. ;-)
WOW that is an excellent video you guys did on those snow plows. I had no idea that it can does it. I think the BOSS solution is the cylinder they use it not the correct size and location on the back plow. Show us some close ups on how the cylinder is positioned. I bet the Cylinder is to small for the load to hold. And as a result it flexes and causes the sheer of the bolt/pin.
I have an RT 1 first generation Boss V plow on my truck and love it but it has some of the same issues. When I plow a big parking lot for hours at a time it wont lift off the ground. But the reason I wont upgrade is i like all my plow pump and wires under the hood out of the salt and elements. Plus it simple rocker switch no thinking to operate it. Love it even if it is 25 years old.
I wouldn't buy a product with flaws and buying extra parts to get the job done, not worth the headache. Stan has it, buying quality is worth the price.
I watched the video to see the issues and to possibly give some suggestions on how to make some adjustments to get it to work. It is a good basic design but bad engineering and/or material quality is too low. I do understand the BOSS principles for engineering to keep weight down, but in key stress points the metal is too low of a work load value, and the cylinder mounting hole materials are too low of quality. Once the holes become elongated, the sheer pins will always fail at a lower load value than required, for a number of reasons. If BOSS wants to fix the problems, they can contact me and I will give suggestions for how to solve the problems. Engineers have argued with me thousands of times over the decades and failed to resolve problems in a wide variety of machinery, but once they swallowed their pride and listened to my advice, they were able to solve the problems.
I ran Western for the first half of my career. I loved their older stuff. I switched to Boss only because we lost our Western dealer. The Boss dealer is A+++, The Boss plow I do not like. I tried to like it but I cannot say anymore after about 7 years with Boss I have had lots of electrical issues. The biggest issue with Boss plows are their fully exposed relay packs. In my case i have to remove the headlight just to find them and they never been inspected to maintained. Not that it would matter. The salt will get into the contacts and everything goes to crap from there. I constantly trace down issues due to salt corrosion. I have had run away where i angle and then go to drop almost going through a garage door. I am on my second controller. I have had 2 relay failures due to salt. I have has 2 or 3 wires that have completely failed off the ends of the connectors on the relay packs. Changing bulbs on their standard lights is a nightmare. I have had the reflectors fall off inside the lights which blinds the on coming traffic.(had to silicone them ) i have a leak that i haven't even been able to find. Removing the stupid front cover just to access the pump is just stupid . They have these stupid little connector things you have to have inside the plugs or thery will not make a connection. The 11 pin plug design awful. Mine always fills with water and it freezes which leads to more corrosion problems and more failures. I only had this plow on my 2014 for 5 years and i will need a complete truck wiring harness this summer due to the number of splices and failures i have had. The plow side harness was replaces in 2015. I wont even consider their back plow nor do i need one. I have had mixed feelings about their spreaders. I dont spread a lot of salt but i have been using the 600 series and i had a motor housing that was full of water which caused the motor to fail. Boss replaced the motor for free but the problem of water filling the box was never fixed. the fix was to drill a big hole in the bottom of the box.(but why is the box getting water in it? ) Time will tell if it works or now. Having problem with the spreader not sure why at this time.Controller failure this time? I guess my point is i ran western stuff for at least 10 years and i never had issues. I plow more snow with the western stuff than i do now and it was more reliable. Salt spreaders are what they are due to what they are expected to do. I do expect certain failures related to salt but the boss failures are more design flaw related it seems. Boss needs to fix the electrical issues .
Just my 2 cents as a lifetime weldor and fabricator the amount of weight you are hitting with those wings when you catch the snow piles are unreal. There is no way to even guess how much stress is being applied due to different snow conditions and to beef it up enough the truck probably couldn't lift it.
The heavyier lift seems like there is a pilot operating check valve that is not releasing. Casual observation. I don’t know if that machine has one or not.
Chinesium! Damn shame, you guys work hard to get those jobs done. Around the Mid-Atlantic area they work on very thin margins. No time for breakdowns. 👍👍
Boss used all these contractors as test subjects. Ridiculous! Especially, when the drag pro is around 6k. They knowingly put a faulty product on the market.
@@BP-bb4vg I hear they have gobs of power due to the twin turbos but I personally like the sound of a healthy V8. Could always turbo one of those lol. The ford 5.0 coyote engine seems to get good reviews from owners. I have heard of ecoboost direct injection issues carboning up valves and the intercooler icing up in moist and cold enviroments causing LIMP mode.
T he product needs some engineering changes. One thing I'd do is make the levers (that the hydraulic cylinders operate) longer. I'd mount the cylinders inside the framework as opposed to on the backside and I'd make the frame of thicker/stronger material. The electronics connectors should be sprayed with contact cleaner and after it evaporates, covered with clear RTV silicone. From what I have seen, that rear plow brand would not be on my truck.
I have never had the opportunity to use a rear drag plow but I would never buy a Boss Drag Pro. We have used Fisher plows for over 40 years and very happy with them.
Install 4-way pressure relief valves on the cylinder controlling the wings, and go up to a grade 8 bolt. Set the pressure relief to 2000 PSI. As for the slow lift, IF it was the salt, and IF they wiring is conformally coated, then how is anything getting in? Again IF it was salt getting in, then change the conformal coating to something of higher resistance like epoxy. Changing the boards orientation wont do much as salt is pretty 'sticky'. Boss made an extremely low quality set up, its unfortunate this man has to pay the price of the manufacturers incompetence.
Boss should refund his back. Boss is like the Areins of snow plows just junk. My v plow flaps back same way when back dragging. I had plow mount put on my other truck, and when they installed the electrical adapter to the plow, was too low too short and too much tension broke my plow adapter pin. And they kept making excuses. And wouldn't warranty it for free. Wanted to charge for the service work. Even though I spin lots of money there. I'm never doing business them again. I know my next plow will be a western.
Well. We were in the market for 4 new back plows for our ranch vehicles. Some places I just can’t run my Case IH 620 in to. I guess Boss is off the table.
This is very telling: I live in Maine, and the #1 plow brand here is Fisher. Granted they're made right here in Rockland, Maine. The most common blades I see for contractors are the XV2 v-plow and the XLS wing plow. I wonder if Stanley might like to try them out?
Buckhorn Cortez Lol i have all GM for bush trucks. We have a 2013 with 220,000km with zero dollars put in it. No brakes, steering parts, nothing. And it gets beat daily in bush roads and winter roads. The 2nd largest forestry company in Canada dropped Ford for GM’s in 07 and say their fleet maintenances costs are in half. GM front end replacement -$2000, Ford $5,000 and no increase in life. We had a 6oh powerstroke. Biggest POS truck we ever had. Constant issues, its long dead now but the 2005 Dmax is still going strong at 480,000km.
Sheer pins are on the operator. They aren't suppose to be used to try and drag packed banks and move them. The snow power is a 180 capable plow so it dosent need sheer pins and can rely solely on a relief valve because before it would break it would have dumped the load. The boss, and even ebling use sheer bolts because it saves the hinge should you grab something to hard and potentially move the wing past the mechanical limits of the design. And why do you put so much pressure down on your back blade?
The arm where the cylinder is mounted to the wing should be longer with a longer stroke hydraulic so there is less stress on that joint, with bushings to keep the joints from wallering out. Then there should be an adjustable high pressure release valve to the low pressure side of the hydraulics that is set to activate before the sheer pin breaks.
Agree about the design, but the main point of a sheer bolt on the swing wing back blades it to prevent ripping the wing off should you catch something you are not ripping a wing off. Ebling uses sheer pins as well but they have the bushings and longer cylinder ect.
@@Paulman50 These comments about the poor quality of products that companies previously had good reputations for making is probably due to their being taken over by investment bankers. They strip the quality of everything before they dump the companies they put in hock to buy and put the "profit" in their pockets.
I love the sno power drag plow it will literally push my 1 ton truck sideways if I want haha. I had boss plows and they just seem to use cheap power systems like the cylinders just aren't meant for work use. They are more for a regular driveway and that's it.
Jerry Traveler right you can sit on your porch in your middle of nowhere town watching other people plow on RU-vid when you’ve never done it before. Like watching someone sew when you have no intention of learning to sew.
You are basing the review of this plow on a pin! Try a harder bolt. As far as the frame ripping, from someone who welded at Boss back in 2014, I can say that nothing is under-built. That could have happened to any plow, front or back. The control module issue sucks.I appreciate your unbiased reviews on most topics, however, I feel this one is weighted. That said, keep up the great work! I love seeing equipment put to the test in real world applications.
I can relate. I had few issues with Boss plow this season and decided to try different plows next winter. They never answered any of calls or emails regarding the issues.
Whats the difference in price? Would it be worth doing this. Get the picks of the wing that got ripped off. That will tell you the next weak link to fix there. Id recommend citting the hinge off and replace with the biggest dom pipe that will fit. Reinforced with flat bar if possible. Any thing to add contact area. Then drill the oblong holes oversized. Get some bushings/plug made. That will sit in the hole tight.but the top side be as big as possible. (Surface area) weld them in. you will need a longer bolt. But will have more surface area to wear down. Now the x fram. Cut the the ends of on the back or front. Get some 1/4 inch flat bar. That fits tight on the in side. Drill holes down through the x frame from the top and through the bottom. About 3/8 of an inch big Every 2 inches. Use the end you cut off as a template to shape one end of the flat bar so it set nicely to where the bolt goes through on the inside. It should be welded there on both ends. Slide the flat bar in vertically lined up with the holes. Start at the end you did nt cut off. Work your way back welding it into place. Fit the ends into place tack the 4 corners. Then cut a pice out so you can weld the center pice (flat bar) to the piece the bolt goes through. Then patch those holes and finish welding the ends on. The more 90 angles the better. All those blades should have a king pin set up like the late 70s ford truck frontend.
@@ClintonCountyDroneGuy sure they are, until they break and leave you looking for spare parts in the middle of a job. 90 sheer pins in 2 months = 1.5 pins PER DAY. so that's one and a half times a day he's stuck with a broken plow. sure is saving time, eh. Noone said backblades aint good, they just said this one isn't.
Sounds like you have a actuator valve hanging and not opening up correct as far as the lifting issue . Had same issue here in va. Looks like bolts he using from what I’m seeing have you tried using Clevis pins
I use a crew cab short box ram 3500 with a cummins. I push a Western Wide out and i have 2500 pounds in the back box. The thing is fast, unstoppable, moves an amazing amount of snow. I have never used one of those back drag blades but they seem like a complete waste of time.
@@flatbrimsickdope2050 Yeah, i really dont get it! They're too light, cant really push anything. gets stuck easily :S i can understand having one with a front plow doing smaller roads, but clearing parking lots with a rear plow as well? #facepalm
If I was this guy, I would do two things: 1. Buy a better plow -> No one in the right mind would be, in the right mind, be trying to make a living off a timebomb like this. 2. Run some experiments -> The story from the dealer seems like corporate crap to me -- I'd like to see it happen for myself. Also, bore out the pin hole locations, put bigger cylinders in, and add some load-reduction springs to the top of the unit. See if you can reduce failures.
3:00 my 20 year old boss v-plow makes the same noise and acts exactly the same way usually when i go to use it the first couple times and then it comes out of it. I haven't took it apart yet but im pretty sure i have a grounding issue but that might be unrelated to this issue.
@@cobburn I have lived in the high country of Colo for 60 yrs and worked as a fabricator for 40 years pickup trucks are not designed to handle this type of stress. If you want to push snow buy a tool not a toy (Stanley did just that in another vid)
Trucks have changed a lot in 40 years and plenty of guys run back plows with success. This video shows the plow failing, not the truck! so I don’t get your logic! I mean I have a half ton truck with a 11,300 lb tow rating. On a half ton truck! Trucks are certainly more capable than ever. Transmissions are starting to not include dipsticks as trans are becoming a non serviceable item. Why ? Because things are designed better now than 40 years ago. Better alloys and design tools, Experience, etc. If you can’t see that and easily watch a video and see a truck moving lots of snow with a front and rear plow combined with success, and have those guys rave about it, and still think it’s not possible or shouldn’t be, then I don’t know.
