Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's 4-wheeler For Snowplowing

I'm a horse guy, not a burn gas and make noise guy, so some questions will likely seem dumb.


I'm getting tired of running a snowblower into the wind - both ways dammit!

Minimum engine size?
4x4 seems like a necessity
Brand choice?
Maximum mileage on a used machine?
Winch operation of plow lift?

Any other pertinent info to use while looking?

How much snow do you need to plow? If you need to do more than a driveway, I'd suggest an old pickup or something. We have a an '85 full sized Blazer at work that will move a BUNCH of snow. We threw some old tractor weights in the back for extra traction. The only problem with it is that it's a 4 spd and you'll wear out your clutch leg shifting between forward & reverse.

Fine for a foot or so of snow,but not for serious stuff. Problem with plowing around here is you run of out place sto put the snow.Once you get that 2 ft or so berm on the side of the drive way, you are done.
I blow with big Yardman that will go thru 3 ft and blow 30 " wide. When it gets deeper,I have to use the tractor with the bucket.

I have seen after market hoods you can buy to attach to bigge blowers

I've plowed 2-3 foot of snow from my driveway with my 04 Honda Foreman so yes, it can be done and done easily. Did it last year and you know how much snow we got then and I have been doing it for 9 years now.

Mike, I wouldn't consider anything under a 400 and preferably, a 500 or 550 would be ideal. I like Honda's but Yamaha's are a good rig too. I use my Warn 2500i winch for lifting and lowering the plow, using a short piece of synthetic rope. 4x4 is a must and diff lock would be even better but Honda doesn't offer it on their machines.

I see lots of wheelers on Craigslist that would work and some already have snowplows. Be wary of wheelers with snorkels and mods that are used for riding in water.

Here's one that's ready for plowing.

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/rvs/3595889179.html

Pickup or similar won't work because of space constraints. A wheeler would be perfect if properly equipped. I have enough room to push the first well out of the way.

If we get 6" at one time it's a lot, and it's usually pretty light stuff. It gets heavy when the snow is followed by rain when the low tracks to the west of us.

I don't want to put a lot of money into it for maybe 10 plowings per season. I saw one at the park'n'sell for $7500. 190 miles, 350 Grizzly (IIRC). That's 3X what I paid for my little Tacoma! For that much money, I'd rather step up to a JD tractor.

I'd look at something a bit bigger than a 350 Mike. My 450 does a good job of moving snow. I think i've plowed maybe twice this year, compared to about 20 times last year.

Gotcha. $7500 is too much for maybe 10X per year. maybe if I had one I'd see riding it more.

I'd echo all that AKMH has said. I've never plowed with less than the grizzly 660, so can't speak to a minimum engine. I wouldn't have hesitated to put a plow on my little 300 fourtrax, just happened into the grizzly first.

4X4 is a necessity. You will not push much of anything on frozen ground in 2wd.

I like the grizz. Diff lock is nice to have, but I've only used it a couple times plowing. It isn't something you want to have on most of the time, but it is nice when you get stuck in mud.

Couple things:
Plowing a lot is tough on front wheel bearings. You end up putting a lot of weight and side load on the front wheels, unless you are running the blade at 90 degrees and just pushing.

Lots of up/down on the winch is tough on a winch. But everything is tough on a winch...

You'll be doing a lot of forward/reverse/rinse/repeat. Look at the different transmission styles. One thing about the hand shifter on the grizz is that you are shifting into reverse at the same time you are lifting the plow. My winch controls are on the left, same side as the shifter, so that's a little dumb. Fastest would be an all foot shift that would let you run the winch with the hands and shift with the feet. I don't know if anyone has that.

Also, I know "some" honda's with the automatic transmission had a really high first gear that I wouldn't think would be ideal for plowing. Never owned one, but I have a buddy that constantly complains about it, even for just playing in the mud.

I think Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki all build pretty good utility machines. Every Polaris I've ever seen has broken quickly and expensively, so I generally avoid those, but others seem to like them....

Mileage is a crap shoot, as it all depends on how it was used. Plowing is tough on a couple areas mentioned above, and probably others that I just haven't seen failures on yet. I try to avoid hopped up big-wheeled, snorkeled stuff as mentioned. Also try to avoid machines where every piece of plastic has been busted. I'd look at them pretty much like buying a used 4wd truck. If it looks like it was abused, it was. If it doesn't, look closer.

Simple, Cheap machine with a plow...

Oh yeah, $7500 is way too much for that atv, their MSRP is a lot less than that from what i've seen. You should be able to find a 660 or 700 Grizzly on CL, I see them there all the time.

I need to get a newer wheeler myself and I keep telling myself that once the Foreman dies I'll get a Grizzly but there's only 1 problem. The Foreman won't die.

There was more to the package. It was the machine (with 190 miles), winch, blade, and a little tilt trailer.


What can you tell from the pics in that link, Chris?

You can't imagine how much snow I have shoveled/blowed/plowed and made money doing it coming from McCall Idaho that gets snow up to there roof on a regular basis. Shoveling out windows for light was a yearly thing just like 20-45 below zero where diesals had to run #1 hearing oil not to gel up.

Shoveling roofs was big time money.I had the manual plow on my polaris afc back then and it worked great. Used to plow my yard to be the first snow free yard there with it. Anyone who says it doesn't work has never done it or tried it in a place they have a winter carnival and a ton of snow.

I can pile snow atleast 10 feet high with my rhino and a winch operated plow. If you get
allot of snow you need a big plow and allot of traction.



I use this to plow many people out around here including church parking lots but it only got about 2 feet deep this year.

Jayco

It looks like a clean rig Mike, but I would want to know miles, use, etc before looking at it. I've never owned a Kodiak, and only run them a little bit.

Looks like they lack a low range, which might be a concern for plowing.

Don't think they had the diff lock either if I remember correctly? That wouldn't concern me much - 4wd and chains for plowing is tough to beat.

Had a couple of buddies that owned the Kodiaks and they both busted a-arms on them. I don't know if it was just there machines or if there was an on going problem with them. My 1 buddy had his go out 3 times, once while we were out bear hunting.

For $6500, this one sounds like a decent deal.

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/rvs/3522656969.html

Another. http://anchorage.craigslist.org/rvs/3546445262.html

Finding one with power steering would be a huge bonus.

My neighbor plowed with both a honda rubicon (10k miles) and now a yamaha grizley. both have worked pretty good as he is hard on all equipment. The honda with the hydrostatic transmission and solid axles lasted the best- he sold it for a nicer ride and wished he still had it. I have a 500 rubicon if you want to test drive one. Good luck

Hell yeah, Dan. Lets go wheelin'!
lol...


Seriously, I need to try one.

Come on out next week - I'll let you try some real beer that does not come in cans..

Shhh.

I got a 400 artic cat 2003 with a manual clutch.. I have never had a problem moving any snow... Plenty of power.... I will say going from drive to reverse is a hassle.. On my next wheeler i will make sure its easier switch gears.....

I would say for the plow part dont buy a cheap one.. Get one that angles, saves time i think....

If you already have a blower then just rewind the motor. Wind should be no issue.

Snow Blower link