I was wondering why most of you don't like the meyer plow? Ive owned two meyer's and a western and i like all three. I know from spending hours reading on this site that you all have years of time behind the wheel plowing so i respect your opnions in this. In my area I remember not to long ago most truck had only meyer plows on them, and you never saw blizzard, sno-way and not even fisher. I believe if you treat your $3,000 -$4,000 dollar plow like you treat your new truck, meaning wash it, put it away in a garage or at least cover it, it will last. I see guys with meyer's driving around all off season with the head gear on. I know i don't plow as much as some of you do but i do between 40-50 large res. driveways and am usually going for 8 to 10 hours without stopping.
snow problem
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I never had a problem with my old Meyer ST. I did not baby it, but I also did not beat it to death. I'd raise the blade at full angle, and shave the banks, with the plow against the bumper of the truck, and even in reverse, with the back of the leading edge. The key to troublefree operation with them is maint, maint, maint. They require more than most. Most don't do it, so they have a bad rep, and much of it is rightfully so. I have one coming in tomorrow for a once over, and I already know what I am going to find. I will upgrade some of the shortcomings before it leaves. Simple things... like every bolt that Meyer builds the plows with has the wrong shoulder length, so the threads start wearing immediately, which leads to play. I replace them with longer bolts, with a longer shoulder, then cut off the excess. Sometimes I have to add a washer or two so that I have enough thread for the stop nut to lock. Especially the king bolt. The threads wear on it, and you cannot tighten it. I also do what JimL posted here, with the solid steel bushing on the lift arm. That is for the old conventional mount, and the EZ mount. When I replace the trip pivot pins and sleeves, I add grease fittings.
The C series plow is much better than the ST series (what Rich called homeowner) plow. It too could use grease fittings on the pivot, and some reinforcement on the back of the pivot "beam". I plan to do my brother's before he has any problems with it.
The E-60 was a mistake from day one. The heavy motor mounted sideways... bad idea, but it got the hydraulics faster which is what users want, fast. The lack of a gound lug on the motor made for a lot of problems. Dealers who to this day still sell old stock of motors with a single ground lug perpetuates the problem. The fact that the motor mounting screws only go 3 threads into the mounting plate leads to motors falling off when stacking, and if they don't it is due to such heavy oxidation between the steel motor and the aluminum pump housing. This same oxidation is what causes bad ground on the single lug motors. The motor sitting horizontal allows moisture to collect inside the motor (because the end cap should be sealed with RTV and it is not) and to this day again, I find drain plugs in the motor that are supposed to be removed to allow moisture out, still in place.
Enter the E-57. Faster hydraulics, vertical motor. Low spill couplers (pin type as opposed to ball type). EZ Mount Plus, where you do not uncouple the plow (most don't) for any reason, which helps keep the hydraulic system sealed. Elimination of swivels on the pump and angle rams, which stops the leaks associated with them, which allow contaminants into the system.
Now, I had an E-57H on a EZ Classic mount come in. Wrong pump for that lift frame (I started a thread on it in the Meyer Forum). That same pump had a swelled C valve, which I will bet is from hitting things too hard, too fast, not allowing the crossover relief to do its job, so the excess pressure has no place to go but up into the C valve, and swell it. There was two tears in the moldboard, where the only two welds are on the back of the "pivot beam" (which is a piece of angle instead of channel). This is from excessive tripping, and the 4 trip springs returning the plow to the upright position after tripping. It hammers the angle until the welds tear.
If I did not know what they were doing with it, I sure would be wondering, but I do know. They plow grass with it. About 4 acres to be exact. They need additional parking at times, so they have to plow a field. IMO this is not a job for a plow, but it is what they do. They also do not pretreat, and this is a heavily used public site, and to quote "Oh the plow trips all the time" because hardpack is rampant. The ends of the moldboard are ground down a good 2" from running curblines.
Yes, other plows are built better, and require less maint. They also take abuse better. But the bottom line is if you beat the piss out of a plow, allow hydraulics to leak thinking you will just add fluid from time to time, just change the oil when you get around to it, maybe once a year, you will have problems, especially with Meyer plows. It is shocking to me that so many let the plow go, when they worry about the truck so much. Plows are not cheap. Everyone worries about changing the oil in the truck, and the trans fluid, and even the gear oil, but what about the plow? Hell some guys don't even wash it at the end of the season! Just changing the oil in a plow is like changing the oil in your truck, but not the filter, changing the trans fluid, but not dropping the pan. You'd never do that to your truck, but when it comes to the plow, it is ok to do for some reason. If you had a loose bolt on one of your leaf springs, you'd get it fixed, but a loose kingbolt on a plow is ok for a few years?
Again, Meyer builds far from the best IMO, but if you neglect them, they will seem even worse.
~Chuck
The C series plow is much better than the ST series (what Rich called homeowner) plow. It too could use grease fittings on the pivot, and some reinforcement on the back of the pivot "beam". I plan to do my brother's before he has any problems with it.
The E-60 was a mistake from day one. The heavy motor mounted sideways... bad idea, but it got the hydraulics faster which is what users want, fast. The lack of a gound lug on the motor made for a lot of problems. Dealers who to this day still sell old stock of motors with a single ground lug perpetuates the problem. The fact that the motor mounting screws only go 3 threads into the mounting plate leads to motors falling off when stacking, and if they don't it is due to such heavy oxidation between the steel motor and the aluminum pump housing. This same oxidation is what causes bad ground on the single lug motors. The motor sitting horizontal allows moisture to collect inside the motor (because the end cap should be sealed with RTV and it is not) and to this day again, I find drain plugs in the motor that are supposed to be removed to allow moisture out, still in place.
Enter the E-57. Faster hydraulics, vertical motor. Low spill couplers (pin type as opposed to ball type). EZ Mount Plus, where you do not uncouple the plow (most don't) for any reason, which helps keep the hydraulic system sealed. Elimination of swivels on the pump and angle rams, which stops the leaks associated with them, which allow contaminants into the system.
Now, I had an E-57H on a EZ Classic mount come in. Wrong pump for that lift frame (I started a thread on it in the Meyer Forum). That same pump had a swelled C valve, which I will bet is from hitting things too hard, too fast, not allowing the crossover relief to do its job, so the excess pressure has no place to go but up into the C valve, and swell it. There was two tears in the moldboard, where the only two welds are on the back of the "pivot beam" (which is a piece of angle instead of channel). This is from excessive tripping, and the 4 trip springs returning the plow to the upright position after tripping. It hammers the angle until the welds tear.
If I did not know what they were doing with it, I sure would be wondering, but I do know. They plow grass with it. About 4 acres to be exact. They need additional parking at times, so they have to plow a field. IMO this is not a job for a plow, but it is what they do. They also do not pretreat, and this is a heavily used public site, and to quote "Oh the plow trips all the time" because hardpack is rampant. The ends of the moldboard are ground down a good 2" from running curblines.
Yes, other plows are built better, and require less maint. They also take abuse better. But the bottom line is if you beat the piss out of a plow, allow hydraulics to leak thinking you will just add fluid from time to time, just change the oil when you get around to it, maybe once a year, you will have problems, especially with Meyer plows. It is shocking to me that so many let the plow go, when they worry about the truck so much. Plows are not cheap. Everyone worries about changing the oil in the truck, and the trans fluid, and even the gear oil, but what about the plow? Hell some guys don't even wash it at the end of the season! Just changing the oil in a plow is like changing the oil in your truck, but not the filter, changing the trans fluid, but not dropping the pan. You'd never do that to your truck, but when it comes to the plow, it is ok to do for some reason. If you had a loose bolt on one of your leaf springs, you'd get it fixed, but a loose kingbolt on a plow is ok for a few years?
Again, Meyer builds far from the best IMO, but if you neglect them, they will seem even worse.
~Chuck
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