Modern transportation in the Northern hemisphere owes much to the snowplow; without it, roads often would be impassable during the winter. The first snowplow was a horse-drawn tow plow constructed of wood. With the onset of the automobile, the front-facing snowplow was developed to hold a snowplow in the front of the vehicle to push snow off the roads; these plows were usually permanently attached to the vehicle. The modern car plow mount makes removing the plow much easier: a metal frame is securely attached to the frame of the vehicle and holds the weight of the plow. A built-in electrical system provides the operator with a system for controlling and easily removing the plow.
Originally, snowplows were either permanently affixed to the vehicle, or the operator endured the laborious task of disconnecting the various bolts to remove the entire plow from the vehicle. Every season, the truck bumper had to be removed to accommodate the plow on the front of the vehicle. The plow mount was developed to relieve the labor of connecting and disconnecting the plow hitch and snowplow twice a year. The plow mount is an inconspicuous metal mechanism bolted to the front underside of the vehicle. The plow mount serves as a brace for the snowplow, and it allows for easy removal of the snowplow when the snowplow season has ended.
To remove the snowplow from the plow mount, the operator unplugs a few pins from the plow hookup, disconnects electrical wiring to the lights and switches from the car plow hitch to the service board inside the vehicle. The snowplow is then easily removed from the plow hitch on the plow mount. Installation of the snowplow back onto the plow mount is just as easy, because some plow mounting systems allow the vehicle to drive into the plow mount for simple hookup. A hydraulic system built into the snowplow and plugged into the car plow mount raises, lowers and pivots the plow on the plow mount. Various types of plow mounts and plow mounting systems abound because of the extreme variety of makes and models of cars and trucks.
