Hello.

ATV Newbie here.

Never owned an ATV but considering one for the main purpose of plowing snow. I have a 700 ft driveway in Colorado. Price range 5-6K

Is one make or model better at snow plowing than others? Why? Pros / Cons of each would be much appreciated....tks

John

 

Some makes are more reliable than others and they all have there own features on their atvs. First, we need to know your price range because you will want a 4x4 atv to snowplow a driveway of that size. So once we find your price range, then we can determine what atv would be good for you from there.

 

I am in Co Springs and use my Popo for plowing snow in big parking lots with large sidewalks. Just about any 400-700 machine will do the job (you don't need a big bore in some cases it actualy makes things worse. WHEEL SPIN), thoe I love the weight advantage that the Popos have. People like to blame the Popo for being to heavy and in ways they are but in this paticular case this is where the Popos shine The awd system is the perfect setup for this use as there is no locks to lock or levers to pull the HLNRP lever is nice for plowing no gated shifters or anything like that. I love mine for plowing and there one thing I would reccomend no matter what machine you buy do yourself a favor and buy one with EFI you won't regret it!

One other thing the Polaris Glacier plow system is also on of the easyiest use out there!

 

Welcome to the forum John. I used my Sportsman 500 to plow when the blizzard of '93 hit, and in '98 when it was "the storm of the century", and when Detroit streets were shut down for a whole week, etc. I plowed my driveway and even plowed the whole street, with no problems in 10 years. I like the Glacier plow too. You leave the mount on all year and it's not in the way. It takes a matter of seconds to put the plow on or take it off.

 

Regardless of what you get, make sure you get one with fuel injection. They start so much easier in the cold weather plus you don't have to wait forever for them to warm up before you can move the bike. Some makes and models to consider would be:

2008-9 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
2008-9 Yamaha Grizzly 550 or 700 (recommended choice as the power steering would be nice with a snow plow)
550 only available for 2009
2008-9 Arctic Cat with fuel injection
2008-9 Suzuki King Quad 450 or 700
2008-9 Kawasaki Brute Force (any) with fuel injection

Notice there are no Hondas on the list. While I own one and they make a perfectly good workhorse, the only 4x4 they have that's fuel injection is the Honda Rincon. The Rincon would probably do the trick for plowing as well but I don't like the fact that they don't have low range...especially for plowing. All the quads in the list above also have a low range. I plow snow with my Honda Rubicon. It does the job fine but starting it on really cold mornings can be a headache. Hondas seem very cold-blooded without the fuel injection option.

 

I use my polaris sportsman 700efi and it works great and if your using a winch to raise work the plow take the cable/rope off and use a plow strap for thewinter it will save the life of your cable/rope. You can get them from alot of atv accessories web site and/or magazine or any dealership

 

get a 400 Big Bear 4x4 IRS. you wont be disappointed. they run about 5700 bucks new.