So, as I mentioned in another post, I "inherited" a 1995 Sportsman 400 from a relative. It has a wench and plow blade. I've never had a 4-wheeler before (closest thing is a Yamaha Venture Motorcycle), so I didn't really know what I was getting.

It seems to be in good shape for a 13+ year old ATV. It only has 1100 miles on it, which I would guess is not much for an ATV that old. I buzzed it around the yard, and it was impressively fast, but I soon figured out that the 4 wheel drive (AWD) didn't work. As some of you may have noticed from another thread, I figured that out and it now works.

Once I got finished fixing the AWD, I needed to take it out in the snow and verify that it worked. I drove the plow blade up against a huge snow bank at the end of my driveway and, to my delight, the AWD worked perfectly. Since I have a gravel driveway that is covered with about 3-4 inches of snow, I decided to try to plow a little and see how well it worked.

My expectation was that it would do okay. I tried it when I first got the ATV, before the AWD was working, and I was not impressed. I spent most of my time trying to get un-stuck in about 5 inches of snow. After also paying some guy $40 bucks to plow my driveway everytime it snows, and watching him struggle with his 4WD Toyota, I didn't think my little Polaris would push the snow around very well at all, AWD or no AWD.

Well, I was shocked to discover that this thing breezed through the snow now that the AWD is working. I mean, it was effortless. I had just planned to make one pass down a small section of my driveway to see how it did. I was having so much fun, and it was so easy, I wound up plowing my entire driveway! This AWD system rocks. I have heard some folks complain about how the steering gets hard when the front wheels engage... well, either I'm tough or they are spoiled... I didn't have any trouble at all. It got a little stiff, but not uncomfortable at all.

Bottom line, I am thrilled with this thing. I'm thinking might be able to handle up to about 8 inches before I might have to get somebody to come out with a "real" plow. I would be interested in hearing what other people think about the ability of these machines to plow. My driveway is about 300 feet long and about 15 feet wide. This is the first time I've ever plowed anything, and only about the third time I've every even ridden a 4-wheeler, and I probably spent a half hour out there to plow my whole driveway, including the time I spent "playing" and "learning" how to plow. I'm hooked... this thing is great. I can't wait to take the plow blade off this spring and see what other kinds of terrain it can handle.

 

Congratulations on your new "toy"!!
The Polaris AWD system is truely a morvel that is second to none!! I plow my driveway along with other driveways in the neighborhood because it is so much fun. Even with a 400, you will surely run out of traction before you run out of power while plowing. It seems that all the polaris sportsmans are brutes!!!

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]Once you get the hang of it and how your machine reacts, it's a blast! Here's me plowing last weekend at my deer cabin in northern MN. last weekend.th_DSCN0098.jpg

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Dearlh

[img][/img]Once you get the hang of it and how your machine reacts, it's a blast! Here's me plowing last weekend at my deer cabin in northern MN. last weekend.th_DSCN0098.jpg</end quote></div>

I see you have chains on your tires. A friend told me that the chains made a huge difference when plowing with his Honda... What do you think?

 

Welcome to the world of "fun" work....ATV snow plowing! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Hey Dearlh,

I like your roller setup on your brushguard. I assume you fabricated your self? If this is a device
you can add on could you share with us the details, pretty cool!

Cheers,

R'

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]If you have good grip tires, chains maybe not needed, but I'm still running my original rawhides with around 1,450 mi. They really bite in with the chains. Not a good idea though if your driveway is asphalt, will leave little "scratches" all over when spring comes, then your wife will give you the "look"LOL. I wonder if putting chains on the front would hurt the AWD system??? ROLLER; Ya I made that mod cause when I had cable, it really gouged up my new chrome brushguard when it ran down to the plow. Sectioned the middle tube support, added a $6.00 boat roller on a threaded rod with nuts/washers on either side of the roller. The rope just "rolls" over the roller now. Works good. thanks, BTW; that snow I'm plowing was plenty deep and hard!!!

 

You will be able to handle as much snow as mother nature can throw at it. I am not kidding. You should tell the guy that plows your driveway that you don't need him anymore. I have plowed 12"+ with a 500. Like mentioned traction is the limiting factor not power. Ice under snow can cause traction problems but that is not a fault of the machine.

 

Dearlh...
Thanks for the info. I have a gravel driveway, so no worries there. For 40-50 bucks, chains may be a good investment, especially since right now I have about a half inch of ice under the snow. As for your boat roller, that is an excellent mod. I may try a version of that myself. Right now, the way the winch is mounted on the 95 Sportsman (or at least MY 95 Sportsman), when I hook it to the plow, I have a very similar problem to yours... the cable rubs against the bottom lip of the winch mount, limiting the height I can raise the plow and causing wear on the cable and "catching" the hook connector at the end of the cable when it is all the way up.

psu...
I do have ice under the snow right now. With 2-3 inches of snow, it is not a problem, and I even ripped through a couple of 1.5 foot drifts with ease, which is why I was so impressed... BUT, I am looking forward to a chance to try it when I have 12 inches of snow over the entire driveway. I'm sure I'll get sick of plowing eventually, but I would like to put it to the test and see what the limitations are. As you and others have said, I doubt that power will be an issue, which is why I am considering chains to improve traction.

I would be interested in hearing the answer to Dearlh's question about chains on the front tires... I wouldn't think that would be a problem, but has anybody done it? What were the results? During the winter months in Wisconsin, I would probably leave them on for the entire winter once the first snow hits. Any reason not to? Also, do the chains cause any excessive wear on the tires? It seems like the chains would dig into the tires a little... no?

 

About 6 years ago I used chains front/rear for plowing. They did a superb job.

BUT, they wore out fast from all the excessive tire spin. One link at a time would break and I would zip-tie it out of the way so that I could finish my work. Very frustrating. They didn't last one season!

Unless the quality/strength has changed I will not buy another set.