I have a 2014 Dodge Ram 3500 w/out dual wheels. It has a 7 foot wide "Sno-Vac" snow blower married to a minute mount snow plow system. I have used it for 3 winters now in the Oxford Hills area of Maine. We are in the foothills of NH's White mountains where we get plenty of snow. I have a ministry of helping local widows maintain their homes. They give me donations of whatever they can. There are 7 of them including my own 300 foot driveway. The beauty of this machine for me is that I get to stay in my warm truck with all the controls in the cab with me, except that I have to get out to finish hand work on steps and the last 6 inches in front of the garage doors. The beauty for the customer is that using a blower means I clear all of the drive and nothing on the lawn like a plow has to do to make room for later storms. The blower has its own 38 hp gas engine located just behind the auger which adds lots of weight which requires a one ton truck to lift and carry the unit down the highway. People that I pass (meet) along the way stop and stare as they can't believe what they are seeing. I added a few of my own options since I purchased it. I installed 1 " plastic electrical conduit pipe shaped somewhat like an upside down "U" which sticks up a little higher than the auger barrel so I can see it over my truck hood when the blower is resting on the ground. It also tips forward enough so that it is the most forward piece of the blower which allows me to approach a garage door till the conduit touches the door with no damage. This allows me to get all of the snow except the last 6 inches. The fuel tank is a 6 gal plastic boat tank that I mounted on a piece of plywood which acts as a cargo cover for the back of my truck. It is right behind my back window and also right over my truck gas tank filler location for convenience if refueling both tanks. The fuel runs by gravity through a rubber fuel lign that is attached with twistees permanently under my truck and it has a quick disconnect at the grille and at the cargo headboard much like an air tool disconnect. This week, I replaced the boat squeeze bubble with an in long electric fuel pump. The bubble was to push gas manually to the engine should the fuel back up or have air in the king after disconnecting. In the winter the bulb squeezed really hard do to the cold and I have been afraid it might crack. The controls use the snow plow controls for (up is up....down is down...angle plow left spins the chute to the left...angle right is chute right...another box control comes with the blower which has an ignition key off-on-start-push in for choke. My new added fuel pump runs when the key is on, so I wait a few seconds after turning on the key and then I know the fuel is handy for the stary. That box also has 2 spring loaded toggle switches. One adjusts the flapper at the top of the chute and the other is the engine throttle setter. The whole unit weighs close to 1300 lbs plus any snow that is in it and on it. There are adjustment feet like a plow has if it is going to be used on gravel so some snow can be left behind to form an ice base for the next storm Maine has lots of narrow private driveways leading to lake properties with trees (thick forests) close by on both sides. The trees make it impossible for snowplow to remove snow wide enough to allow for snow plowing all winter long. The road will become narrower at each storm. I have one guy who plowed his own half mile road til it begins to get narrow. He calls me to finish out his plowing season because I blow the snow over his snowbanks and right through his woods.
