Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's ATV Snow Plows

Now that I pulled the trigger on an ATV, I'm considering adding a snow plow, and looking for some insight.

I've done a little research and the BOSS 5' straight blade snow plow looks interesting, especially in that it is completely hydraulic. Priced at ~$2500 with installation makes it not so interesting.

The other options are all pretty much the same, with the blade being raised and lowered with a winch. I did come across one unit that had the option of using an 'electric screw' to raise an lower the plow in lieu of a winch. That 'electric screw' option ran about the same price as a winch.

Any thoughts from those that have plows on an ATV?

I have had two types, first one was made of thick plastic, with the taper plow. Was nice and light easy to move around. That was on a 400cc artic cat..

The one i have now is a steel taper Moose country plow. On a 750 kingquad.. Works great but is a pig.. Can go thru way more snow compared to the plastic plow i had..

We had a storm here last winter got 15 inches. Took a long time to clear the driveway. In the future 10-12 inches is probably the max i will go with one pass...

Both plows have the pin you manually lift up to switch angles. Nice feature, but after awhile the pin gets sloppy and comes out of angle. Had to jerry rig both of them to stay in the angle that i plow in...

As one Wisconsinite to another, save your plow money and buy the biggest walk behind snow blower that will fit in your garage? Are you remembering that April snow storm that pasted Green Bay with 24" of heavy wet stuff? You need to weigh more than what you are pushing and even if you can push it, you need to push it far enough back to allow for all the rest of the snow for the rest of the winter. I think that a lot of guys buy a wheeler and help justify it with the wife with the snow plow option. I had a hydraulic blade on my Blazer and reality set in when I went to hit a pile of snow the plow put in front of the driveway up north and the back end of the truck came up and the pile never moved. Nope, I've owned a 4 hp Toro, 8 hp Toro and now have an 8 hp Simplicity at one house, 8 hp John Deere at another and 9 hp Honda here. That Honda will throw snow an honest 50' and up and over and far away from the pile of snow that a blade puts down. Frank, a neighbor, has a wheeler and a blade and I see him out there horsing around with the snow long after the guys with the blowers are all done.

If you use the quad to plow.....I'd stay with 48-50"...machine width

I've pushed a lot of snow with a 60" blade & Yamaha Rhino

Never used a snowblower.......but Honda on tracks they say is boss

RMATV in Utah for your ATV parts..free ship

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/t/3880/Snow-Plows

I have a moose 60" plow on my Yamaha Rhino. Moves lots of snow, no complaints.

Windfall,

I do recall the April snow storm that belted the northern part of the state with 24 plus inches of heavy, wet snow. Fortunately, I was spared, in that I only got about 8". Still, moving it was no fun. Took me about twice as long as normal with an older Simplicity Sovereign and a 42" blade. Since then the Simplicity has gone down the road and an ATv has taken it's place. Moved a lot of snow over the years with that machine, and see no reason that I shouldn't be able to do the same with the ATV. One thing I've learned over the years is that lots of heavy snow is no fun, nor an easy chore for any snow removal equipment. That said, knowing that wet, heavy snow is coming, I prepare myself to 'plow with the storm' so that I don't end up with more snow than any of my equipment can move.

FWIW, I've tried the snow-blower route - lawn tractor mounted and walk-behind - For my circumstances it just doesn't work, nor is it as efficient.

i have a cycle country 48" with the mid mount. it has the handle that you lift and lower. easy on, easy off and plows anything we get here in PA with my yamaha big bear 400. it was about 500 bucks.

you will need 4wd and preferably locking diffs.

Same as Rem141r I have a little arctic cat 250 4x4 pushes a lot of snow for its size. I bought at rusty palmers in Honesdale Pa.

I went cheaper with a Cabelas universal plow on my Razor. I had to jury rig the mounting as it wasn't as universal as they said. I've only used it once and that was only 4" of snow so I can't comment on how well it works. We had a very dry winter.
What's the OP objection to using a winch for a lift? Mine works fine. I did put on a pulley fairlead and a short plow rope to reduce the wear on my expensive winch rope.

None really. I simply like the idea of hydraulic lift and blade swivel. Couple of folks I talked to that have the BOSS hydraulic plow love it, albeit a tad heavier than a conventional ATV setup. One fella has the straight blade system, another the V-Plow. He said the V-Plow is the cats azz - but that happening in this household @ $3K plus. One guy said he'd never go back to the winch operated lift system. He made some analogy to old tractors with loaders. Back in the day, the bucket was tripped, and then reset when set back down. Modern loaders have hydraulically operated buckets, with much better position control. Not sure how the analogy fits, other than maybe to underline progress.

If you want to move snow with an ATV get a front mounted snowblower. I have a 48" Berco with a 15 hp motor. It moves a lot of snow in a short amount of time and throws it a long piece.