I just bought a polaris sportsman 500 1999 and I am interested in using it for moving dirt and snow how much more wear and tear will I see? If it's going to cause me alot of problems then I will not buy a blade. Only want answers from those who use or have used a blade. Thanx....

 

I dunno about dirt but I know a quad will do snow with out much problem at all. Im sure dirt WOULD pose a little bit more of a problem but never tried it.

 

My brother-in-law and I have used his 94 Polaris 300 to plow snow for years. It does a fine job as long as you are smart about how you plow. The only problem we have had is if the snow is very wet and you try to push too much as one time. We have found that the machine has plenty of power but it just does not weigh enough so the tires will slip. The 500 will have plenty of snort to plow though. I would suggest a set of tire chains for snow. They make a world of difference on snow and ice.

 

I have a 48" cycle country plow on my King Quad. Pushing snow is no problem as long as you have the traction. Pushing dirt is a little more difficult due to the springs that allow the blade to tip (saftey issue). With a little practice and not taking too large of a bite it can be done. Another option I am considering for plowing dirt is to rig up a way to over ride the springs, ie a couple of turnbuckles that I can remove when plowing snow. Of course most blades for garden tractors don't have the springs so their loss would not be that great. However I do more snow plowing then dirt and I like the ability to have the blade give when necessary, but it would be nice to do both.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

I don't have a plow yet, so you might want to ignore this (ha-ha).

If you are looking at moving dirt you may want to consider a 3-point hitch with a scraping blade that mounts on the rear.

I've seen them in Polaris' atv accessory catalog.