i have a 2004 honda recon and im wondering if i can use it with a plow, i know that it will be front heavy but i plan on having a large sandbag on my rear rack to distrubute the weight i also have tire chains to help with traction...i dont have a paved driveway and it has a slight hill and it isnt kept up well so its bumpy.. any thoughts? im also thinking about some new tires and was wondering what kind might be ideal for a recon(i do trail riding and mud sometimes) i like the look of bear claws but im not sure. thanks

 

anybody, please?

 

my bro put one on his one time. as long as it easy- like spreading LIGHT stuff on pretty much level ground, it was ok. but it just dont have the power to do it correctly; it also will make the clutch start slipping b/c it really wasnt designed to do this, have to let it cool down frequently to prevent long term damage. a more powerful machine would be reccomended.

 

alright thanks, would it make a difference if i plowed downhill?

 

Hey there,
How long is your driveway? You said it has a slight hill...are we talking just a few degrees or fifteen?

I own a recon and have a 42" plow on it. You're right on with the sand bag and chains, they help tremendously. My driveway is dirt, and has a 5-8 degree pitch to it for about 85 feet....the remaining 150 feet is relatively flat. I gotta say that I was impressed at how well the recon did....yes we didn't have the worst winter last year, but a couple of times I had to really push some heavy snow. By the way, I was able to plow uphill....just be careful about burning out your clutch by going too slow or starting and stopping too often. Try to plan out your passes so you're making large sweeps and running in a higher RPM....don't dog the engine, so avoid every gear except first.

Hope this helps.
-sean

 

my driveway is about 200-250 ft and has an 8-10 degree pitch, if there is alota snow would it make any sense to do half at a time to lighten the load?

 

I had a nasty old home made blade on my 2000 Recon. it worked surprisingly well, but it does get hot fast, so take a break often. I had Maxxis surtraks on the back and they were great, dig well and last forever, I got 1 year out of the stockers and maxxis I used for 4 and still have about 25% left. the sand bag is a good idea. the worst part is trying to back out of the pile.

 

"That name again is Mr. Plow."

Sorry, I couldn't get Homer Simpson's little jingle out of my head.

Yeah, only using half the blade at a time (especially with dense snow) is a very good idea.

When you go to buy chains, get the v-bar type, they dig in much better than standard chains.

Funny story to share about plowing:

The one time when we really got nailed with a major storm this past winter, our plow guy never showed up at my place of employment. Now I should add some detail regarding the size of the parking lot.....it's not huge, maybe 120 feet by 85 feet. We had at least a foot of that soggy, dense, heavy friggin' slop they call snow. Me being the genius I am (I love a good challenge), volunteered to plow it. I drove home and hopped on the old recon and blasted back to work. Needless to say I got some strange looks when I first stopped at the gas station to fill up...of course I took up one whole pump to myself. If my town had a fast food joint, I wouldv'e hit the drivethru for some quick eats. So back to the story, I made it back to work and did manage to plow the parking lot...took over an hour though. I had to make many redundant passes because the snow just overflowed past the blade....but in the end I prevailed, our lot was free of snow and ready for patrons. Oh yeah, I remained on the clock at work while plowing, and also received a separate check that would've normally gone to the plow guy....nice bonus.

-sean