I'm STILL waiting for my Sportsman 500 to arrive. Several folks on the forum have suggested I operate my plow with a winch rather than the manual lift lever, a suggestion that appeals to me cause it gives me an excuse to get a winch. My dealer has never done a deluxe plow/winch combo and doesn't really know what is required. They tend to prefer the manual lift. I have a couple more questions.

1. Are ANY of the components from the manual lift kit needed or can I get credit for that kit and apply it to the winch cost.

2. Will both the manual lift deluxe plow kit and the winch fit at the same time(I don't see why I would want to do this, but I'm curious). The deluxe plow is the one that attaches at the back and front of the Sportsman with a couple of quick connects.

3. Could anyone provide a rough description or picture of how the winch attaches to the deluxe plow system.

Thanks for all your help on this.

 

Hillcat1
You only need 3 parts to make the deluxe plow work
1- Deluxe plow frame
2- Lift, you can use manual, elecric, or a winch
3- Blade, 48", 60", 54"V, or 56" one way
You can buy any of these in any combination you want

The deluxe frame is as long as the Sportsman and has a pin in the back that hooks into the rear drawbar hole, the front has bracket to hold it in line left to right,

If you use the winch to lift the plow this is simple, The cable goes down to the plow frame and hooks onto a bracket

If you go to a Polaris dealer and pick up a copy of there 2002 atv catalog the plows are in the back of the book and this shows some good photos of the plows, mounts and lifts

 

Has anyone put the deluxe plow frame on a sportsman with double tube front bumpers? Also, is the remote angle blade control worth $50.00?

 

I wouldn't recommend using a winch if you're doing a lot of short distance plowing, like cleaning up a yard. The winch is very hard on the battery and will drain it if you use it a lot at slow speeds (from experience). The alternator will not recharge the battery sufficiently at slow speeds. If you do use a winch, charge your battery after every use.
Also, plowing is hard on the winch cable. It is almost impossible to keep tension on the cable at all times and, as a result, the cable becomes loose and kinked (again from experience). I went back to the manual lift because of these two things. The new manual lifts are quite easy to use. The only bad thing is they won't lift the blade as high as a winch.
As for the plow itself, the deluxe plow is great. It can be attached and detached in a few seconds and you don't lose any clearance because of the mounts.
The remote angle control works ok if you rig up a rope going from one end of the blade to the other and around the steering column. Then you can adjust the blade angle from the seat. Otherwise, you have to get off anyway to adjust the blade. Make sure you leave enough slack in the rope so the blade can break forward if you hit something solid.
Just my thots from 3 years of snowplowing in waaaaay northern Minnesota.

 

Bigdawg

Yes we have put the blade and double tube bumper on they don't use the same mount holes so they work togather fine

Is it worth $50.00 to you, to not get off and angle the blade?

Rickor is correct about the winch, Polaris has a new electric lift that uses less power and linkage (no cable)

 

rickcor,
Have you tried hooking up a car or marine /rv battery to your winch for plowing in the winter? And if so, does it still drain down the battery as quick being that your not using your alternator? I got my plow last year, a few days after the last snow storm so I never had a chance to use it.I also have a warn 2000 winch.

Thanks for the input.
FULLTHROTTLE

 

I have the plow with a V blade. I bought the manual lift and HATE it! In fairness, I need the HD springs, BUT, I think the travel allowed is too little. Now I'm not a "city boy" and not on pavement or smooth terrain, but I still think it needs to lift higher. I also bent the "sally" v blade in the little use I got from it.

I think the winch lift is a good idea, and with the limited force necessary, shouldn't draw too bad. The deep cycle battery thing is a good idea. I have the 2500# winch, and plan to add a fixed toggle switch to operate, 'cause it sucks when you leave the remote home and have to jump the pins!

I'll do my plowing with my 8'2" Boss Power V in my heated cab...

GET THE HD FRONT SPRINGS!

 

Thanks for discussion. Can you mount the manual lift with the deluxe plow and still have room for the winch.

 

I've thought about putting a car battery on the rack and hooking the solenoid to that. I'm sure it would have more power but I'd still have to keep it charged. That seems to be the key. Polaris has a charger that has a number of ways to hook up. You can even charge through the front dc outlet. I did read somewhere that AC Delco had a heavy duty battery that was supposed to handle the accessories better than the std battery.
I really would like to try the electric actuator that Polaris has but it's a little too spendy for me. I do think they would work great. Has anyone tried it ???
I would recommend the 60" straight blade instead of the v-plow. I bought the V last year, thinking I could invert it to plow the leftovers. It didn't work any better than my straight blade with the side panel deflectors. I also lost 6" in blade width. I ended up putting the 60" straight blade back on.

 

Battery Tender...

Add a quick connect harness and your off like a prom dress!