Snow plowing w/ ATV

[mainstation]

This is partly inspired by Sav's pics of his new ATV and shiny yellow plow. I have a new Polaris Sportsman 500 and am considering seriously mounting a plow. I usually do my laneway with a walk behind 30" 11hp Tecumseh snow blower but this winter I have a serious hip injury and walking is not possible for the next 8 weeks. I have a neighbour with a tractor who has been doing my driveway--I'm paying him. But other people never do it as well as you could yourself right ?
Anyway I am looking for advice , troubleshooting tips etc if you plow with a ATV. My laneway is about 45 yards long, has a three car parking area and a single car turnaround area.
Thanks in advance.

 

[quads]

I plowed for 10 years with a Sportsman 500 and 4 foot blade. My biggest tip for you: plow your driveway wider than you think you're going to need to. That's the only problem I ever had plowing with mine, is when I ran out of room to push the snow. You can't move those old frozen snowbanks to make more room.

 

[DanCorcoran]

I had a 650cc, two cylinder Arctic Cat ATV with a 4-foot blade. I used it in SW Colorado to plow our 1/3 mile driveway and 2/3 mile subdivision road. I second "quads" comment: once those initial banks of snow are placed on each side, all further snow is pushed up against them. As the winter progresses, your driveway gets narrower and narrower, until you have to pay someone with a heavy-duty plow or snow blower to clear them for you.

All things considered, though, I really enjoyed using the plow and looked forward to doing so. Once, I needed to get my wife to the local airport for scheduled surgery in Denver. It started snowing the night before, so I was out there at 4am in the pitch dark (thank goodness for the headlights) plowing. I plowed for two hours to keep the road open, until time to leave for the airport.

If you do go the ATV route, get as much lower end torque as you can afford. Also, be aware of the space it takes to turn around. ATVs have a wide turning radius, so you need to keep a cleared area at each end of your plow path for turning.

 

[davmor]

I plow lots of snow with my Honda. Been doing it for years. Takes awhile but I have the time. As a previous poster said you need to plow wide when the snow piles up. I kind of enjoy it gets me out of the house.
Dave.

 

[triptester]

I have been plowing my 200 foot plus driveway for my cottage for over ten years with a Polaris 335 sportsman. I get to the cottage about once a month during winter so the snow can get pretty deep. Plowing wide is important and going fast helps pushing snow to the side. The sportsman has an automatic trans so high rpms are needed for good clutch and belt lock-up.

I've been told there is between 21-24 inches waiting for me this Wednesday, that will be the most I have ever tried to plow at once.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

With our old blade and atv we got more snow than I could push a few times. Also, as quads states, that snow can get pretty hard after it has set there for a while; especially with some freezing and thawing cycles. I thought I'd have more problems than I did because our driveway just is not that wide but I was always able to keep it open. But the lane back in the woods got too much and a couple years I had to just quit plowing in back and just keep the driveway open.

I did notice that when say, 8" or more, then the plow had a more difficult time so I then just took small bites and got the job done. I actually ended up going up and down the driveway about twice as many passes as I would with 6" or less snow.

I am curious how this new blade will do in deeper snow but that has to wait, compliments of Mother Nature. This blade is a bit wider and higher and also heavier. I also definitely notice the extra power of the atv making things easier. I intentionally pushed snow into a big pile (wet and sticky snow) the first time I used it just to see how it would work. With this new plow it was extremely simple and easy. It would have been too much with the older one.

The older plow was on a Kodiak 450 and had a Cycle Country blade with hand operated lift. Blade was 48"

The new plow is a Warn with a Warn winch. Blade is a little wider but I'd have to measure to be exact. I'm thinking 54." Not that much but you really notice the difference immediately on how wide a path you plow with it.

Will I be able to plow some really deep snow this year? I'm betting I have to wait another year as I do not expect any big snows this year. Am I right or wrong? Time will tell.

 

[ROBERT F]

Edge wings or caps on the end of the plow work good for the lighter snow, but heavy snow that rolls up when plowed will stall forward movement. I plow a lot of cement drive and walkways, and forward traction can be an issue on that kind of surface. I use v chains on the rear when plowing the longer dirt lanes, but the chains tear up the concrete and people dont like that! make sure the blade you get is wide enough that when you angle it your still plowing wider than the quad, or you cant drive straight without running over snow. if plowing on hard pack then beef up the skid feet before they wear out. 1/4 inch thick plates welded to the bottom of my skid feet last about 2 seasons.

 

[JDC1]

Check out Cycle Country's State Plow. It is shaped like the DOT plows and is really able to throw snow up and away. I have 900' of driveway and plow w/ a sportsman 450. We had close to 20" in one night and it plowed no problems. The only thing I dislike about the setup is the under frame mounts are hard to get lined up and take up alot of ground clearance. The newer plows have a front mount that is easy to attach, plus it allows the plow to be raised alot more than before. I also agree with making sure that you allow enough space to put snow all winter.

 

[DanCorcoran]

...'nuf said.

 

[firefighterjake]

Other than the first year we moved into our house when I hired a guy with a pick-up . . . all I've ever used to plow my approximately 50-70 foot driveway is an ATV. Started out with a Honda 350 (forerunner to the Rancher) and a home made plow . . . progressed to my current Honda 450 Foreman and a Moose Plow.

Drawbacks: As Quads and others have said, you don't have the weight or power of a pick-up or tractor so you really need to push your banks way back since once they set up and freeze they're not moving until Spring . . . which is why my entire front lawn is actually plowed (plus it gives me a nice turning radius for moving my trailer when I load up the sleds to take them on a road trip.)

As Backwoods said, heavy, wet snow . . . and lots of it . . . can be a challenge. When I have a lot of snow I'll try to do a few clean-ups. For example, in this last storm I did a morning plow with about 6-8 inches of snow on the ground (fine powder) and then a second plowing in the evening with about the same amount of snow on the ground . . . since this was powder I probably could have handled it all . . . but it would have been a lot more challenging and harder to push all the way back.

Smaller plow than a truck with a plow also means it tends to take more time . . . but it still beats using a shovel or paying someone to plow . . . and it's a lot more fun than using a snowblower.

 

[46hemi]

As long as you dont have first hand experience with a real plow then this wont bother you. It does work and its easier than shoveling but dont plan on finishing quickly. I have a long driveway and a big bore quad but I am thinking of getting another plow for the jeep. It works....just a lot more effort than a big plow.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Check out Cycle Country's State Plow. It is shaped like the DOT plows and is really able to throw snow up and away. I have 900' of driveway and plow w/ a sportsman 450. We had close to 20" in one night and it plowed no problems. The only thing I dislike about the setup is the under frame mounts are hard to get lined up and take up alot of ground clearance. The newer plows have a front mount that is easy to attach, plus it allows the plow to be raised alot more than before. I also agree with making sure that you allow enough space to put snow all winter.

The mounts on the Cycle Country plow did always bug me with the low clearances. As for installing it never did pose a problem though. I usually hitched one side (underneath) then the front. Then I'd raise the blade (easy as it is a bit wobbly now) and finish with putting the pin in the opposite side on the bottom. It did not take very long at all but the low clearance was bad.

On the new one it is front mounted so ground clearance is no problem and you are right; you can raise the blade further.

 

[seige101]

I have a sportsman 700 i have plowed my 120' driveway with since i got my quad in 05. I am impressed with what i am able to plow with this thing. The 700 is a pretty beefy quad and with quad, plow and rider probably pushing 1000lbs. The 500 is 150-200 lbs lighter. I bought a 5' plow because thats what the dealer recommended. You want the plow at angle to be wider than the wheel base.

Mine is lifted by the warn winch on the quad, i couldn't imagine doing it with a simple lever raise/lower. You can push some heavy snow but it does have it's limits. I have done about 8-9" of heavy snow in full passes with no problems. If it's more i will take smaller bites. Usually because i love riding and it makes snow removal 'fun' i will do it twice during a big storm.

Since my st is barely plowed by the town i usually touch it up a couple passes, and clear the bank of mail boxes for the neighbors. I also will attack the pile o snow the plow leaves at an angle when it's pretty high and push it off to the side.

As others have said push the snow back a little further when you plow as it does tend to build up. Though you can hit it sideways instead of length wise if you start running out of room.

 

[JDC1]

Has anyone bypassed the reverse overide switch on their Polaris? I always forget to press it when I am on the concrete and end up spinning.

 

[quads]

Has anyone bypassed the reverse overide switch on their Polaris? I always forget to press it when I am on the concrete and end up spinning.

I did on my old Polaris (1998) and then used the button for a horn! Found the instructions to do it somewhere on the Net.

But the reverse override switch on my newer Polaris also controls some functions of the speedometer, the AWD in reverse, and who knows what else, so don't know how I could disable it. What I do is stick the end of a plastic wire tie in beside the button when I push it and that makes the button stick in. When I don't need to bypass it anymore, I just pull the plastic wire tie out and the switch pops back out.

 

[Adkjake]

I plow about 220 ft of driveway with my Yamaha Grizzly 500. One thing I'm glad I did was
let the ATV dealer from whom I bought the plow talk me in to going with the 5 ft blade rather
than the 4 ft blade I was thinking about. With the 5 ft blade, even when fully angled left or
right, it covers the front wheels. I've plowed over a foot of real wet heavy snow, uphill with
no problem.

The ATV also has aftermarket BigHorn tires on it which are great.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have a sportsman 700 i have plowed my 120' driveway with since i got my quad in 05. I am impressed with what i am able to plow with this thing. The 700 is a pretty beefy quad and with quad, plow and rider probably pushing 1000lbs. The 500 is 150-200 lbs lighter. I bought a 5' plow because thats what the dealer recommended. You want the plow at angle to be wider than the wheel base.

Mine is lifted by the warn winch on the quad, i couldn't imagine doing it with a simple lever raise/lower. You can push some heavy snow but it does have it's limits. I have done about 8-9" of heavy snow in full passes with no problems. If it's more i will take smaller bites. Usually because i love riding and it makes snow removal 'fun' i will do it twice during a big storm.

Since my st is barely plowed by the town i usually touch it up a couple passes, and clear the bank of mail boxes for the neighbors. I also will attack the pile o snow the plow leaves at an angle when it's pretty high and push it off to the side.

As others have said push the snow back a little further when you plow as it does tend to build up. Though you can hit it sideways instead of length wise if you start running out of room.

I couldn't imagine it either until I tried it. Used it for many years. However, the plow I have now would have been different because it is much heavier. The one from Cycle Country was not that heavy. That gave both good things and bad things. The best was that it floated better over uneven terrain. The big heavy one really bites in to do a bit of plowing! lol