Hi all. I posted a while ago that I was going to be using my Kodiak for plowing and I finally got the chance to do so...a little. I went with EVERYTHING Warn including a XT2500 winch, 54" Cyclone plow, mounting parts, winch plate, roller fairlead, etc. Again, everything I purchased and used were Warn parts. I've used the plow once successfully, but have an issue.

When I first got it up and running, the "J" bolt that the winch line attached to broke, which I guess is what they're supposed to do to avoid hurting the ATV or something, and I hadn't even used the plow yet. When I had installed the "J" bolt, I tightened it from underneath, so I don't know how tight it was, but it was tight (maybe too tight?). I'm not sure if the "J" bolt broke or just unbent into an L shape, but I had to take it out and put in the second one they give you in the "bag o' bolts" (luckily they give you 2 "J" bolts). So I installed the second "J" bolt and tightened it enough that it was tight, but had a *little* give to it thinking I may have over tightened the first "J" bolt.

So then I plowed my driveway. Yeah, it works great! I was having a blast and was finishing up the plowing when "thunk", the blade falls to the ground again. Yep, the 2nd "J" bolt had turned into an L shape again. I finished plowing by just dragging the plow backwards, then pushing the snow forward, basically not being able to raise the blade.

Anyone else have this issue? I know everything is connected properly and I'm not raising the blade to high. They never give you torque specs for the "J" bolts (but they do for EVERYTHING else), so I don't know if it should be super tight, have a little give, etc. I can tell the "J" bolts are made out of a soft metal, but this is ridiculous. Should I try something else instead of the "J" bolt?

Other than that issue, the plow seems to work great, but I haven't even been able to plow my driveway once successfully because of this issue. Anyone have any thoughts on this dilemma? Should I just buy a whole bunch of extra "J" bolts and plan on replacing them regularly?

Thanks!

 

I am sorta new to all this, but can you post a pic of what bolt you are talking about. My guess(which means very little) is you are overtightening the bolt.

 

I might have over-tightened the first bolt as I was doing it one handed from the bottom (in the snow, of course), but the second one I put in, I left about ~1/8" play to make sure it wasn't over-tightened.

I'll try to post a pic later today showing which bolt I mean. I've been having issues connecting my camera to my computer, but I'll give it a shot.

Thanks!

 

I have the same setup that you do, I have never had that problem but I also quit using that J bolt after a while because to me it seemed like using the blade was to complicated with it. I made my own connection using quick links and chain. I just make sure the chain is long enough so my winch cable bottoms out before the push tubes hit the ATV frame.

 

Thanks for the info. I was thinking of doing something different like that.

In case anyone wants to see what I'm talking about, here's some pics. In the last to pics (the close up pics), I spun the bent "J" bolt. Oh, and in the top pic, you can see how the nylon winch cable has become a little frayed due to all the "J" bolt crap.

 

How do you like the Power Pivot? Is that a fairly easy install?

 

Yeah that whole "J" bolt deal by warn or anybody else who came up with that idea is crazy and a joke . Way too much nonsense and not made to be very functional for those of us who plow .

I just drilled my holes a little bigger in that angle iron the "J" bolt sits in and turned it sideways and run a pin through it and through the loop in the cable instead . I'm in my second season and its working out well and the pin works with the winch hook too once I take the plow off .

Another thought or tip for you too is to keep a short length of rope or strap with you too incase the cable breaks so you can tie the plow up to limp back to the garage to repair it . This also can come in handy as well if you ever need to winch while the plow is attached and your stuck . Mind you the cable will rub on the plow when it is up and your winching yourself free .

" J" bolt stands for JUNK

TD

 

try your local hardware store. get a hardened eye bolt and a clevis. will not fray your winch line and will not break. cost should be under 15. i would replace that winch line too. very dangerous when the cable starts fraying like that.

 

I have the same plow and had that problem. What i did was turn the bracket 1/4 turn that holds that J bolt and use a regular low grade bolt and nut. A bolt like they send with bed frames so it will break if you lift to high. It has worked good for me.

 

or try a "U" bolt so that it goes thru both of the holes and put nuts and washers on the top and bottom so it doesnt move
Set it with enough clearance so you can just clip your winch hook onto it.