I plan on purchasing a 48 inch plow for my rancher es 4x4 and am looking for those of you who have experiences with cycle country vs. moose products in regards to price,durability and ease of removal. I also would appreciate your advice and experiences with the manual lift vs electric system. My dealer has discouraged me from purchasing a winch because of its drain on the battery and expense since I do only light trail riding and need to plow only 4 to 6 times per year. Thanks for all your help.

 

I just got in from 7 hours of plowing. Made a small fortune. I bought the Cycle County plow, $359. I have the manual lift. It's incredibly easy to lift, and fast. All I do is slide the plow under the quad, hook up a snap to a cable on the front, and line up 2 push pins for the floorboard bracket. The whole process takes maybe two minutes. I'm going back out tomorrow.

 

I opted for the 50" Moose plow, and wish I would have went with the 60". The Moose, in my opinion, is the most heavy duty blade on the market. I compared the Cycle Country, the Warn, and the Kimpex to the Moose, and the Moose won. Being heavier, it stays on the ground better, and that's where you want it. Like cheap underwear, the lighter blades tend to "ride up" in heavy, wet snow. As for the lift mechanism, consider whether or not you have other uses for a winch. They do come in handy for trail riding too. If you still don't see a need for one, you may want to consider the actuator lift. It's the same principle as a winch, but doesn't draw near the amps. One thing to consider with a manual lift, and that is that the blade is either all the way up, or all the way down. There isn't any "in between" like you can obtain with a winch or actuator lift. I use a Warn A2000 to raise and lower mine. Instead of putting the wear and tear on the stock cable, I remove it and replace it with an easily replacable 10' length of cable. The constant raising and lowering using the regular cable gets a lot of slack on the spooled cable, and causes pinching and binding, and shortened cable life.

 

Like the quadfather I to have the manual operated cycle country system. I to have the 48" on my rancher and have plowing almost daily with all the snow we've been getting in MN. The whole system works great, much quicker to use the manual system vs the winch. Both Moose and Cycle Country are fairly similar plows but the CC lift is far superior to the moose, I've owned both and there is no comparison. Good luck!

 

I have a 2001 Rancher 4x4 ES and the cycle country 48" manuel lift plow, it works great and is easy to install. The plow has almost paid for itself after only two snow falls, I've done driveways parking lots and sidewalks and have about $300 and even been compensated with a case of beer, not to bad for getting to have some fun on my new Rancher. Manuel lift works just fine.