Installing a new KFI Snow Plow

[Nevadablue]

This winter has been rough here, LOTS of snow. I didn't want to put a plow on the RTV, but it became a necessity. Not needing the expense of the beautiful Boss plow, I found and ordered a 66" KFI plow. It has arrived, very quickly due to an excellent ebay seller and business owner. He managed to find a plow for me and get it here quickly.

I thought I would document the installation since info on these is kind of scarce.

Here is the RTV and my work area.

The plow cost $688 delivered. I also ordered an adapter to raise the front lift point and a winch bracket. I had a winch already, new in the box from some years ago. Wiring and winch mount are in route.

 

[Nevadablue]

Here is the plow, spread out and mostly assembled in my 'clean room'.

The plow came in a nice floor for the room. grin... The push tube assembly came in the other box leaning on the snow bank. Everything is VERY well made, excellent quality. I bet they raise prices next winter and up production. Very little stock is available right now, surprise!

The plow came with everything shown, including the rubber flap and skid shoes and the mounting bracket for the RTV. The bracket isn't in the picture, it came in a separate box just after I took the pictures. I will post more pics tomorrow when I install the plow.

I will be lifting the plow with a ratchet strap (I hope) for a couple of days, until the wiring parts and winch mount arrive. A friend has a shop that we can get in, and he will let me put the RTV inside and help with the wiring.

 

[MFL]

Please update this post with your opinions on this plow. I would also like to add a plow setup to my 1100C. A $3600 Boss V-Plow would be great but cannot justify the cost for the small amount of plowing I need to do. My biggest concerns are the durability of the cheaper setups and would like to hear some real word feedback.

 

[Nevadablue]

I will do that. I felt the same way that you do. This plow is very nicely made, good finish and appears to be plenty strong. I hope to get it on the RTV today and run some tests. The lift device will be a ratchet strap, so it will be limited testing until I get the winch installed.
KFI should raise their price, IMO, after looking at the equipment.
I will need to dust off the snow so I can work on the installation, a couple of inches of fresh snow cover the works this morning and more falling.

 

[Nevadablue]

Snow Plow Success!

I got the plow installed and tested. It works great. I did discover that following instructions is a good thing sometimes. I installed the stop bolts that set the blade tilt angle before installing the springs. The instructions say otherwise. I did it because it was 'easier' to access the bolts. BUT, there is no reasonable way to stretch the springs into place if you do it that way.
So, I removed the stop bolts and installed the springs. Then I stood the blade assembly up, on the blade, with the push tube assembly sticking straight up. Then, with a foot on the blade, you can pull the push tube assembly back and put in something to hold it there while you install the stop bolts. I used one of the 5/8" blade mount pins to wedge the thing in place while doing this.
Oh, tools are nice too. Most of my hand tools are in my service truck which is buried under a glacier. So, with a 10" adjustable wrench, a pair of pliers and a FOUR INCH pipe wrench, I got the job done. I needed the pipe wrench to hold the allen head stop bolts while installing the lock nuts. Of course, no large allen wrenches in sight.

I plowed about a half mile of road first, then went up to the last house in the canyon, nearly a mile, and all worked well. The last part had deeper snow since it had not been graded since the last snow. I am happy. The RTV had grumbled in deep snow before, but with the blade on it sailed right through with no issues. I am running about 5 to 8 MPH, depending on how rough the ice under the snow is.

Here is the inspector helping me look at the plow after the first workout.

And a couple of closeups showing the sophisticated blade lift system. You can also see the blade stop bolts.

Also, note the angle of the 'pull' on the strap. With a winch, it will be worse. There is a bracket on the plow, but I didn't use it because of the strap. The bracket fits in several places, but KFI makes this part, which is in shipping now, to make the angle of pull for the winch better. It bolts onto the angle circle on the plow.

This bracket will allow me to bolt my winch on the RTV. It too is in shipping.

 

[bczoom]

For the winch and pull angle, what size winch are you getting?

Looking at that setup, the winch pull point is too far out. I'd have it grab on that cross brace that's closer to the RTV (the area where on the side it has the 2 larger holes on the top sides.

On my ATV, instead of going from the winch directly to the plow, I have a pulley that the winch cable goes through that attaches somewhere (can't mentally picture it now) but it changes the angle and acts as a block-and-tackle which slows the lift speed but doubles the lifting strength.

 

[Nevadablue]

It is a 2500 pound winch. The pulling bracket supplied is the 3 hole thing between the two front holes on the side plates, in front of those two big holes you mentioned. The bracket can be turned over or mounted farther up front. I am thinking about a pulley like you said.

This is how the bracket that they sell (and that I have coming) looks installed. It gives proper leverage for the RTV configuration.

 

[Alaskanassasin]

Man that thing is way out there!

 

[MFL]

That pulling bracket looks as though it would keep the winch cable nice and straight. Cant seem to find a part number on that.

 

[bczoom]

On my ATV and talking about the pulley, on that pulling bracket, instead of connecting the hook there, that's where I connected a pulley and doubled it back.

Not a good picture but you get the idea.

 

[Nevadablue]

That pulling bracket looks as though it would keep the winch cable nice and straight. Cant seem to find a part number on that.

The part number is 105570, I think it is shown under snow plow accessories.

 

[Nevadablue]

Thanks for the pulley pic!

OMG, this thing is a snow pusher! I have never had a snow plow before this one. I moved my pickup that was in about 2 feet of snow and carefully attacked the snow. Wow, this thing just ate it up, and pushed it up into a pile, even without any lift capability on the plow yet. Very happy with it so far. I went up and down the road in front of the house to remove the few inches of snow we got overnight, cleared a couple of neighbors drive entries and just had fun!

 

[shinnery]

How can a person use the words fun and snow in the same sentence? Just askin'.

 

[Nevadablue]

This combination of equipment and sunshine and success made that possible.

My poor BX24 on the other hand... I gave it water and dirt in the fuel and it is NOT happy. Sigh...

 

[DEK]

Looks like a nice plow and easy assembly and install.

I think I would get the 72" to get better cleanup when the plow is angled. I have the Kubota Warn winch attached to receiver plate and it would probably work well with lifting. Receiver plate allows winch to be used on the front or back of RTV. It may not have the long angle pull to lift the blade.

I can't seem to see the stop bolts you mention. I'm assuming they prevent the plow from going to high.

It is a very affordable plow. Too bad they don't make a 72" county style blade, tapered.

Good photos and information. Thanks.

 

[Nevadablue]

They do make a 72" tapered blade. I have circled the stop bolts. They limit the tilt angle of the blade.

 

[DEK]

Thanks for the photo pointing out the stop bolts. I should have been more observant.

I have searched for the KFI 72" tapered, and all I can find is a 60". I think they sell a 72", but it is a standard blade only. I'll keep looking.

 

[Nevadablue]

The link I found for the tapered plow shows it but then says 'straight'. Sure wish vendors would actually look at what the kids they hire to make web sites actually do...

 

[Nevadablue]

Sunshine today, temps in the 20s, so I decided to start the wiring. I routed the main 12 volt feed from the battery to up under the hood. I also covered the hot wire with the black cable protector stuff. I followed the water lines from the radiator back to the battery and tie-wrapped the cables securely out of the way of moving parts like the front suspension. I found an existing channel on the left side of the radiator and brought the cables up through that.

The cables follow the battery cables down and then turn toward the front of the vehicle, following the water lines.

They emerge from under the cab, still following the water lines. The long tailed tie-wrap is around the cable.

Behind the suspension, tied to the water line and frame, then straight up to the hood area.

Out of that channel next to the radiator, tied to an existing hole in the radiator frame and over to where the relay will be. The relay will sit on the flat spot between the overflow tank and the washer tank. It has to be far enough back to clear the headlight housing when the hood is closed.

 

[bczoom]

I don't know exactly where this picture is but I'd hit those exposed connections for the orange wire with some dielectric grease.