I know I know this question has probably been thrown out here hundreds of times but after doin a search I still cant find the answers.

Ive been researching for about a month on what plow I want to buy and still havent come up with a decision. Can someone PLEASE correct me if Im wrong here.

I noticed that the Cycle Country, Moose & Warn plows ALL come with a mid-chassis mount that permanently stays put (atleast during the winter months) where the push tubes attach to.......so my question is:
1- will I have a problem installing one of these mount kits w/ a skid plate in place?
2- how much clearance will I lose? ( I checked their sites and nada) and have you noticed if it effects ur riding? ie. bottoming out.
3- is it a PITA to attach/detach the plow/pushtubes beneath the quad?

As my username says, I own a Polaris 700SP so input from same wld be more helpful BUT I wld still love to hear from anyone who owns any of the above snow plows.

LASTLY, unless Im missing somethng Im thinking the Polaris brand snow plow has the best thought out attachment set up. It uses NO mid-mount, the pushtubes runs all the way to the hitch where it attaches which equates to NO squating beneath the quad for attachment/detachment= no wet knees....

Any input wld be great!!!!!!

 

I have no personal experience with plows, but from what I heard, the Polaris set-up you talked about is the best for your Sportsman...easy attatchment, no lost ground clearance, etc.

 

I have the 60" Standard Moose Plow for my '03 SP 700. It kind of is a PITA to attach but it comes off real easy. It takes awhile to get the holes lined up to push the pins through the push tube and the bottom mount. As far as the skid plate goes I am not real sure. All I have is what is stock on the bottom of the SP 700. The attachment point of the plow does hang about 1 inch lower so it will decrease the ground clearance. I am not real worried about it for during the winter but I am already planning on removing come spring time.

 

I put the 56" one way with the deluxe plow frame on my 700 and think it is the one to have easy hookup and in the front the hing take all the side torque so you only have about one foot of leverage of the plow frame instead of three or four feet with the midmount of side leverage when angeled to the side. I have the midmount one on a nether wheeler and it move side to side and likes to brake the mounting tabs off. just what I think

 

Let me tell what NOT to buy...

I have a scrambler 400 4x4. Polaris didn't make one for scrambler, so I bought Cycle Country. I'm very unimpressed.

I do find the under frame mount is very convenvient for mounting and dismounting, but other then that I don't think much of it.

1) A consequence of under frame mounts is limited ability to raise the blade. After all, the push tubes can't go higher then the bottom of the frame et?

2) The quick connect tabs under the frame aren't so much a clearance issue as they are something that will be bent up quickly.

3) The plow blade is thin and flimsy. I bent it easily simply pushing down a tiny incline in the drive and out into the street. I've done this many times with a Deere blade on my tractor and never had any issue. Great. Sure glad I gave the JD blade away [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

4) The blade won't roll, or furrow snow. To be clearer, when one angles the blade you expect to do more then just push snow, you expect it to begin rolling, or turning and kinda throwing itself to the side. So far I've not seen this blade to that at all. I suspect its both too short and has so much curvature that it can't roll.

5) The angle settings aren't steep enough. I suppose they were afraid of folks putting on big tires and so left a fair bit of space, but see #4 above.

6) The upper arm mount to the lower arm is weak and allows the arm to twist. NBD, but....

In short. No, I can't say anything good about the unit. I'm pretty confident the blade is a generic unit and the mount is all that was specific to my machine, so I'm prepared to damn the design and quality in general. From a customer service persective I will say that they at least did sent the missing parts from my kit right away, but then parts where missing from my kit, so....

I'm confident they face conflicts of weight against lift force required, but then that's why some unit's, at least JD, have spring assists.

I'd strongly consider how far out it sits (this affects angle available), gauge and height of the blade, raised height of the blade, and methods used to assist in raising the blade.

I'd not been made aware of Moose, so have no idea of its price point. Perhaps Cycle Country caters to the cheap seats and I just got what I paid for. As your machine will more options I encourage you to shop elsewhere and to consider the points above.

BTW, wanta buy a 1 year old barely used snowblade?

Luck.

dan

 

02Polaris700
i don't think the Moose mid-mount frame will fit with a skid plate in the way. the U- bolts may not be long enough or the skid plate may cover where the bolts are supposed to go.
i owned a Moose 60" blade and i agree with patjaysam that it's a pain in the back to line-up those holes for the pins to go through. i have a floor jack that made the hook-up much easier. the Moose is STRONG and rolls the snow with ease. i did 70 miles of heavy duty plowing with my Moose and it was very reliable. with the plow off, it is very easy to damage the mid-mount hooks...than you are really skrewed. good luck bending them back just the right way! LOL

i have since sold the sp500 and plow. i am now concidering the highway blade for my new sp700. i do a lot of windrowing and i've read that it will really throw the snow high.

BTW, the 60" straight blade performs much better if you add the upper rubber blade extender. less snow will roll over the top of the blade.

i'm thinking about trying Polaris's set-up. i wonder how well the rear hook-up will survive the beating i will give it. i just hope it's as strong and reliable as the Moose set-up was...........................

-MT[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thnx for the replies gentlemen!

I think Im 90% sure Ill go with the Polaris Sportsman Deluxe set-up....

MT: Ive been told the hitch point is the strongest attachment point on the quad (????) so Im thinking that it will make for an even stronger plow.

 

what size blade is the "Deluxe"??
60"??

 

"deluxe" is actually what they call there plow 'frame'......so you can use whichever plow you want. 48". 54" V blade or the 60". Im goin with the 60" Im gonna see what prices my local dealer gives me before committting tho.

Almost forgot, check out this link HERE

 

thanks for the link.

Question? the 56" one way blade: does 'one-way' mean that it only angles right? or can you push straight or left if you wish? i know the intended flair of the blade is right, but sometimes i wanna make a straight pass or two. does this blade angle?