Snow plows on 4 wheelers?????

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msinc

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I think this might have been discussed on here a long time ago, but not sure...anyways, my question is; have any of you folks out there had a 4 wheeler with a snow plow blade on it???? How did it work??? Was it a joke???? How deep of snow would it plow or clear, or did the depth matter????
I have a Yamaha Grizzly and I take it to my cabin. I was thinking of getting a snow plow blade for it so I don't have to worry about getting snowed in. Thanks in advance for any info.
 
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It is much better than a lawn and garden tractor. Of course if we are talking feet of snow, then you may have trouble.
 
There are many in use here. We normally have light snow which is rather dry. Now so sure if they have enough weight to punch wet snow or ice pack.
 
They Work great! It takes a little practice to learn to build ramps with the snow over the season so you don't end up with hard piles in the way for the next snowfall. I plow more than the average.....

Yes, it's a Grizzly....I can't speak for the other brands.



 
I have a 98 350 4wd Yamaha Wolverine that I have used to plow snow very winter since it was new. My son used it last year to plow 10 inches of snow off the road in our subdivision. It is the quickest way to plow short of using a truck. I wouldn't own a 4 wheeler unless it had a plow. You want to pick up a spare set or wear bars or runners for it. You will need them eventually and usually it is when you are using the plow or need to use it.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far fellas...you all know what the next question is...which blade, or who makes the best snow plows for 4 wheelers?????
 
I got mine from the Yamaha dealer when I bought the ATV. I don't know the brand though. It can be operated by hand (work) or powered by a winch mounted on the ATV.
 
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Its very common up here to use ATVs to plow in the area I live in. All sorts of different ATV and plows using them. From what I can see it depends on the amount of snow you have to move and how much time you have to do it.

My best fried up here has one and it does a great job, he also has chains on all 4 wheels.

I have a very long curvy hilly driveway with a large parking/turn around area and due to that move a lot of snow with a full sized pick up & fisher plow. I also have a medium tractor with bucket for special areas and back up if the truck gets stuck (it happens) or is otherwise not usable.

I live in northern NY and we get plenty of snow!
 
Always heard you can't push a blade of snow that weights more than the ATV and driver combined............our snows can be pretty wet and heavy ......

Morson's ramps are what my Dad does ( 20hp diesel John Deere Tractor W/ blade and blower) in the Alleghenies where the pile from January might still be there in late March........early snows may get pushed back 15-20 ft.
 
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From what I've seen through the years, any brand blade will do. I've always used Warn plows and they have worked well...a little bent up and a few wear bar replacements. My brother has used Cycle Country blades with good luck also. The new front mount systems are much easier to use than the old push tubes that go under the atv frame. Front mounts allow you to raise the blade much higher so you don't get hung up on your piles and they are much easier to install and remove the blade if you don't want to leave it on all the time. I prefer a shorter blade (54") so I don't overload the atv when the snow is deep. Longer blades push a wider path when angled, but are also heavy and make it harder to push a heavy load.
 
msinc said:
I think this might have been discussed on here a long time ago, but not sure...anyways, my question is; have any of you folks out there had a 4 wheeler with a snow plow blade on it???? How did it work??? Was it a joke???? How deep of snow would it plow or clear, or did the depth matter????
I have a Yamaha Grizzly and I take it to my cabin. I was thinking of getting a snow plow blade for it so I don't have to worry about getting snowed in. Thanks in advance for any info.
Click to expand...

How much snow do you get? When I lived there 25 years ago, just south of Baltimore, snow was rare. A couple inches was a major event that shut everything down.
 
I live NW of Baltimore in Carroll Co. and a few years ago we got 40 inches in one week from two storms back to back. It can surprise you.
 
I have one for my ATV, a '97 Polaris 425 Magnum, but it's just too much trouble to install and operate and doesn't do nearly as good a job as a snow blower. There's no place to put the snow with a plow and if the snow is deep or the ground is icy, it's just not up to the task, especially going uphill. So I quit using it and only use a snow blower now. It tosses the snow up and over the bank and I can keep my driveway and surrounding area completely clear of snow much better than I could with the plow.
 
I have a 2007 Polaris 500 Sportsman with a 5' Polaris plow that came together when I bought the ATV. The plow works great but have an extra winch cable handy as when they break, the plow is dead.

I bought the rig exclusively for plowing and as a plow it works great, unfortunately, Polaris had issues with the electronic modules in their early 2000 ATV's and issued a recall. The recall stopped with the 2006's and yet I have the same issue. The ATV has never been mudded or run through deep water but has problems starting. Sometimes the cluster lights up and it turns over and other times it is totally dead. I returned it to the shop where I purchased it hoping that Polaris would cover the repair since they had had issues with the earlier models. Unfortunately, the dealership had dropped the Polaris line and never mentioned it when I brought the unit back.

$100 later they told me that the ECM module was bad and the module cost is $400 plus labor. No possibility of a warranty claim since they no longer had the Polaris line. :(
 
speedyquad said:
It is much better than a lawn and garden tractor. Of course if we are talking feet of snow, then you may have trouble.
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I have a 2012 Can Am with a 48" plow and a Ford GT 85 lawn mower with a 44" plow. I'll take the Ford over the Can Am any day unless its 6 or more inch's of wet heavy snow.
With a four wheeler you do every thing with your hands, steer, brake, throttle, and lift and lower the plow.
With my Ford I steer with my left hand control the plow with my right hand and control speed and forward/reverse with my right foot.
For snow over 12" I have a 40" snowblower for my Ford and a 22" walk behind for my deck.
 
The OP has a Yamaha ATV, different clutching than other ATV's. Instant engagement, not RPM driven like a Polaris or other ATV's. They work great for plowing.
 
johngalt said:
How much snow do you get? When I lived there 25 years ago, just south of Baltimore, snow was rare. A couple inches was a major event that shut everything down.
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I am sorry, you are right...I should have clarified a little better...No, I don't want the plow for my house in southern Maryland. Here where I live I could care less how much snow I get, which as you say, might amount to a few inches every two or three years. I just stay inside.
I am interested in a snowplow to take to my cabin in the mountains of Virginia....at 3300 ft of elevation it tends to get snow when the bottom of the mountain is getting rain sometimes. The road up is a plowed county road to about 1500 feet or so...not too bad, they keep it plowed really well. But my private road, to the top is mine to reason with and I just don't want to have to blow out of there in the middle of the night to avoid getting trapped. My thoughts were that if I have a workable device to move snow then I can leave when I am ready. Been sent packing twice so far...didn't like it either time.
So yeah, as long as it will get enough snow off the road that it is passable I am happy. Don't care how long it takes or that it wont do it in one easy quick pass, I can work around all that...got no place else to be. Just don't like the idea of possibly being trapped. Wifey wont go and there are no other women on the mountain.
 
FWIW.............

My folks have a place in Somerset Co. Pa.....at about 2400ft on the Eastern Continental Divide........I've got a post above.......#13

Right after they moved up after Dad retired...... he had his 24-28 inch walk behind snow blower......from "The Burgh".......4 passes and he had his 200 ft packed gravel driveway open.


One thing to keep in mind..... along the road......snow plows can give you a high wall of wet packed snow....often after dark... not sure how well an 4-wheeler would deal with that...... the next morning.........

After he got the JD Tractor...... a neighbor bought the Snowblower.......used it for another 10-12 years.

Something to think about.................................
 
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MORSNO said:
The OP has a Yamaha ATV, different clutching than other ATV's. Instant engagement, not RPM driven like a Polaris or other ATV's. They work great for plowing.
Click to expand...

I was gonna say...how much up and down cranking on this plow blade is having to be done while plowing snow??? You must apparently not "set it and forget it"????
 
BAM-BAM said:
FWIW.............One thing to keep in mind..... along the road......snow plows can give you a high wall of wet packed snow....often after dark... not sure how well an 4-wheeler would deal with that...... the next morning.........
Something to think about.................................
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Yes sir, good point. But , if I can just get down to that point I can if necessary, clear the road entrance with a shove by hand...if it gets me home when needed. I think a walk behind blower is a nice tool but my road is like right at about a mile up to the top where the cabin is.
 
msinc said:
I was gonna say...how much up and down cranking on this plow blade is having to be done while plowing snow??? You must apparently not "set it and forget it"????
Click to expand...

I use my winch to raise and lower the blade. I remove my regular winch rope and replace it with a heavier short rope for the winter plow season. Manual plow lifts get old after the first snow!
 
If I had a flat level pretty well maintained road can the blade be set once and go ahead and plow snow off the entire road???? Or will I be changing the depth or height of the blade as I plow {constantly}???? I plan on getting a winch anyways and I see they have them now with a wireless remote control...seems like the way to go????
 
With a normal driveway you will just lower it all the way and go. There are skids on either side that can be adjusted according to the surface. I don't used the skids for my paved driveway, but I do lower them to slightly raise the blade for my back gravel driveway and also for plowing a path to my shed across the lawn. You can also change the blades aggresiveness by tilting the blade forward or backward which helps carry more or less snow and the spring tension for blade tripping. You will find yourself adjusting this until you find what works best for your situation.

The wireless remote will not be of help for plowing, but helps when stuck in a mud hole allowing you to get off the ATV and off to the side while winching. I've never needed a wireless remote, especially after getting better tires.
 
msinc said:
If I had a flat level pretty well maintained road can the blade be set once and go ahead and plow snow off the entire road???? Or will I be changing the depth or height of the blade as I plow {constantly}???? I plan on getting a winch anyways and I see they have them now with a wireless remote control...seems like the way to go????
Click to expand...

Depends on the road, the amount of snow and if its dry or wet and heavy.
Your going to want to lift the plow when you turn around to go back down the road, but its no big deal with a winch or a lift handle.
 
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