or maybe it's tow strap

 

Good morning all dearkiller how did you attachthe tow strap to your winch thanks

 

I attached the tow strap with about a 2" length of electrical tape. I never unreel it farther then the plow needs. It might be wrapped around 10 or 12 times.
If I ever need to I'll drive two sheet metal screws into the reel. Haven't needed to so far.

 

I concur with Polaris500Sportsman on the use of the Swisher Bucket. It moves loose material and you can backscrape it very nicely.

I don't like the about 3inches of Ground clearance under the front end. The way the system is slung on 1/2 leaf springs attached to your outboard A-Arms I am not sure there is much you could do to change that portion. I did remove one of the spacers in the rear leaving the shortest one and gained about 4" of ground clearance in the rear.

The bucket works very well and is fairly quick to go on and come back off. The mount assy, takes a few minutes more and a set of wrenches but still under 15 minutes it is on or off.

I did some minor digging with mine. it won't dig like a normal bucket that has ground pressure but I was able to level off a bottom point on a hill where it was transitioning to flat. I took the dirt I scraped from there and filled some rough spots on that back field drive. It took a bit, but I was able to make a small road/trail wide enough for an ATV and its trailer between the hill and my Burn Pit so I could drive around and unload Barn matter into my Compost pile and then drive back for more while in forward gear.

Like I say took a while but probably not any longer than driving in to rent a tractor, using it and then returning it. So that equates to time and money well spent in my book.

Deerkiller, I like your rear blade setup, was looking to do something like that with some of my stuff, Got a 40+ inch snow blade that is heavy steel and 3 way function. gotta find a small winch and then build a mount on the back of my ATV for that to work. Maybe when I get into planning/building I can talk you out of some better picks of your mount there. Might be able to modify that for my 800.

 

I'd be happy to take and share some better shots of that setup.
There is very little modification to the frame. I have it mounted to the A-arm mounting bolts. The main part of it started out as a sleeve hitch from a garden tractor welded to a 3/8" steel plate. Most of the pulling load is supported by the tow hitch on the quad. It hasn't hurt the suspension and when I'm ready to get rid of the machine there will be only two 1/4" holes in the sheet metal frame.
My back blade is probably 150# and a $49.00 harbor freight winch has held up for 4 years, original cable too.
Deerkiller

 

I will try and get pictures of the way i setup the mounting bracket on the draw bar. The way i have it setup is so you can still pull a trailer and have full usage of the hitch.

 

Anybody tried plowing any amount of snow with Dump Bucket??

 

nah got mine too late, and besides I was moving 30" of snow when I got my ATV, needed a 60" blade to cut enough road width to clear for melt off.

On Mine, I didn't buy the extension for the universal mount kit. So instead I wound up buying a 3way Hitch adapter, has Ring, Ball and Trailer pin and that is mounted in my standard hitch ball mount.

Love to see your mount. I needed extra 2" height for my Hay trailer so the 3way worked great.

 

Polaris500

I have about 5 to 6 inches of ground clearance up front, but AC's due have outrageous clearence to begin with, as far as pushing snow with the bucket, it can be done but it tends to stress the machine a bit, because ounce you fill the bucket, your pushing a couple of hundred pounds plus the snow your trying to move infront of it! Best Bet! invest in the Plow! I use the plow to push all the snow and when the banks start to get to high I switch to the bucket and crawl up on top, and remove the snow from the top down, It's a little tricky but it is also a good way to practise your tech riding!
My father is a recently retired Mech. Engineer and he tells me that his first winter project is to figure a way to give me down pressure and a more secure/ automated way to catch and release the bucket!

Deerkiller,
I actually live in lewiston, But I hunt the southerntier ( where my property is) and I also hunt in Avon Allot.

Also guys if you check the swisher websight. They just released a rear mount add on hitch, wich I beleive would accomodate deerkiller's set up as well as many other's, I have been considering buying the receiver and converting my york rake! still in the consideration stage/ preplanning stage!

 

I bought one of those bucket from the local Sears store. Don't try to haul more than about a wheel barrow full of gravel. I spread small (1/4 to 1/2 inch) and some larger (1/2 to 3/4 inch) gravel in several spots and it is okay for small jobs. In the past I've always rented a small tractor with front end loader and box blade. I thought the investment in the Swisher system would be better but in the long run I'm not sure it was. Though it may be a good investment for someone who is just moving an occasional pile of dirt or 1 or 2 loads of small gravel.

Here's a couple issues that may help some in making a decision on this unit. First, the clearance as mentioned is nowhere near high enough for what I wanted. Lifting the bucket raised the bottom (with gravel in it) to about 4 inches above the ground. So, if you need to pile gravel or dirt then this unit will not do it.

Second, the bucket and mounting system put all the weight on the center of the bucket. What this means is that you need to be very careful not to overload one side or the other (right vs. left) of the bucket or the torque will twist the mounting system. This is not a heavy duty unit, so be careful how much weight you put into the bucket. As noted, I had a lot of gravel to put down (about 200 square feet of drive that I wanted to put 2 to 3 inches of gravel on). It's tempting to overload the bucket when you have so much to spread, but don't.

Last, you will put a LOT of strain on your winch and cable. I was amazed at how fast my cable started to wear. I also found the lifting the bucket to the full height meant that the top of the system contacted my fairleads, which in turn caused them to get bent on the mounting bracket. No big deal, the mounting bracket for the fairleads is fairly inexpensive, but it's just the idea that it caused the damage that has me complaining.

Now, please don't take this that the product is not what Swisher says it is ... just don't expect it to be any more than what they say. It's a good unit for small loads (dirt, grass, etc.) but is pushing the limits if you've got a big job with heavier items such as rock, sand, gravel. In my case, I reverted to renting the local tractor for 1/2 day. The bucket/front load allows me to spread far more gravel in one trip and the boxblade makes for easier spreading when compared to the swisher bucket.