Me and a friend just picked up a pair of Rubicon's yesterday. My buddy gor red and I picked up a yellow. Not much seat time yet, but first impressions are great. Paid $6,100 out the door, Good Deal?? I need someone to recommend a snow-plow and a winch for this ATV. What does everyone recommend??? The Warn plow looks like a great unit as does the Moose. Should I go with a winch or should I purchase a manual lift.
Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Congrats on the new Rubi. You'll love it! I know I love mine. I put a Warn A2000 on mine, and it has been flawless. Any on the winches on the market will work fine. Even a 1500 lb. winch with a ****** block will pull you out of just about anything you can get into. The best rule of thumb is buy as much winch as you can afford...within reason. The most winch anyone could ever need on an ATV would be 2500 lbs. Most folks will never come close to needing that much.

As for what type of lift to use with a plow blade, I like the winch. People say it causes extra wear and tear on it, but I haven't had any trouble yet. If you are going to be plowing lots of wide open spaces, the manual lift will work fine, and you can save your winch for other duties. If you will be raising and lowering the blade quite a bit, your muscles will appreciate you using the winch. There are several options that allow "E-Z" lifting of a blade.

Plow blades...you can't go wrong with a Moose blade. They are the heaviest and sturdiest blades on the market from what I've seen. Warn had a problem a while back with their blades bending or buckling. I'm sure they have resolved that problem by now. I have a 50" Moose blade for mine, but wish I would have gone with the 60". The Rubicon can easily handle either one. Again, you need to go by the area you will be plowing. Large areas - go with the 60". For smaller, tighter areas or sidewalks, go with the 50".

 

Thanks for your input. I will use it in making my final decision.

 

I don't have a plow yet, but I've had Warn 2000lbs. winches on my last three machines and all have worked great. As someone stated before, get yourself a good snatchblock and you'll be good to go. Add a tree strap, a few shackles, and about a 30 foot tow strap (with loops on the ends, not hooks) and you'll be set for just about anything you'll ever encounter.

I have about 350 miles on my Rubicon and It's been pretty good so far. Lately It's been acting a little strange trying to start it, it acts like the battery is dead the first couple of times I try to fire it up, and then it will start and acts fine. I called the dealer and it's just a matter of arranging to have them pick it up (they're 250 miles away. I don't think it's anything serious, probably a bad battery?

The transmission on the Rubicon is absolutely amazing. The yellow Rubicon is the best looking machine made in my opinion. Good luck, stay safe, and have fun!

 

I don't have a plow yet, but I've had Warn 2000lbs. winches on my last three machines and all have worked great. As someone stated before, get yourself a good snatchblock and you'll be good to go. Add a tree strap, a few shackles, and about a 30 foot tow strap (with loops on the ends, not hooks) and you'll be set for just about anything you'll ever encounter.

I have about 350 miles on my Rubicon and It's been pretty good so far. Lately It's been acting a little strange trying to start it, it acts like the battery is dead the first couple of times I try to fire it up, and then it will start and acts fine. I called the dealer and it's just a matter of arranging to have them pick it up (they're 250 miles away). I don't think it's anything serious, probably a bad battery?

The transmission on the Rubicon is absolutely amazing. The yellow Rubicon is the best looking machine made in my opinion. Good luck, stay safe, and have fun!

 

You have got the best advice you can get, get the most winch you can afford. Nothing worse than not having enough, then you waisted all the money you spent instead of the small amount you may have over spent.

The most important thing is to winch responsibly, use a tree saver, a ****** block, attatch the hooks pointing up, or loop the cable from the bottom up and over (so if it comes undone or breaks it flings down-ward) and lay a coat or blanket over the cable to stop the recoil. Remote controles are nice too.

Enjoy that new ATV

Specta
2001 Red Rubicon[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Buy the manual lift it is more money but is easy to lift the blade and is a lot fast than using the winch! Everyone I know loves the manual and people who have the winch style don't like it to much.

 

I have the manual lift. No problems to speak of. I thought of a winch but that would just be one more thing for me to tear up. To me it is just a personal preference, but I wouldn't change.

 

I have a 48" Cycle Country manual lift on my Rubi - tighter areas to plow and easier to park in the garage space I have. I don't mind the manual, it's very easy to lift and I have had no problems with a tired arm after doing 3 driveways. Construction seems to be very good, happy with the performance and ease of use. Quick removal of the blade and push tubes is nice with the locking pins, but hooking it back up can be a pain since you have to crawl under, lift and support the tubes as you try to push the pins back in. Still much better than a shovel and more fun.

Good luck with the new toys.

 

The main consideration here is...do you have a need for a winch other than for lifting and lowering a blade? If not, go with a manual or electric actuator lift. If, on the other hand, you have other uses for a winch (i.e. mud riding, logging, moving other heavy objects), you can kill two birds with one stone.