I have a 1999 Suzuki QuadRunner 500 4x4 ATV.

I am looking into purchasing a 60" Snow plow for my driveway. I have one problem, our driveway is gravel! I am looking for experience, has anyone used a front plow on a gravel drive way.

I talked to the farmer up the street, he recommends a rear pull plow. He states it will allow you to backup and push the snow while pushing down the gravel. Of course this is the plow he has on his John Deere farm tractor. And it does seem to push just the snow and leave most of the gravel in place.

Can not find such a beast for my ATV! I want to explore the plow option, before purchasing a 2 stage snow thrower! I do not want to waist my money on a plow that does not work on gravel, and I will not be paving the driveway anytime soon!

James King

 

Jking, I plowed my gravel drive way for the last 3 years. The only tips I can give ya is the following. First snow, you should go backward with the plow down so this way you will put the driveway to level and should be fine all winter. As it will go it will be hard pack and shouldn't have any problem.

 

Thanks MTD

That sounds like the Farmers thought on using his pull plow in reverse. Another question, with pulling the plow in reverse, does this not cause the snow to buildup between the quad and the plow (Does not look like a lot of space between them). Or does it push it out the side with the plows tilted. I know, its a stupid question!

Will the 60" snow plow with manual lift kit, allow for multiply height setting. So I would be able to adjust the height of the plow, and not to be slammed on the driveway. Or is the electric motor kit better option for this type of use?

Thanks

 

I Plow over a 1 km of gravel driveway yes some gravel goes to the side but if you want to you can rake it back in the spring... No biggie. I just keep pour a little more gravel each year and I get a wider driveway this way. The other thing you can do is lift your blade and leave a little snow down. I found sometimes that worked but after a while you have a skating rink for a driveway. Now I just leave it down and don't worry about it.

 

Most plows that I have seen have those skids under them so can make them ride up a bit. I leave a decent amount of snow in my drive because of the sled, skis do not like gravel.

 

I let the snow pack down at the first part of the winter as a base for my sleds. then I plow like normal, no problems and i dont push gravel, I am sure i will in the spring, but you can just rake it back after everything melts.

 

I plow a few driveways w/ my plow and I use my winch to keep the blade up a tad. You won't get all the snow off, but you'll get enough off w/o plowing too much gravel off the driveway.

 

Thanks for all the Input. I ended up researching on the web and fould the best price to be on Ebay for the complete setup. I called my dealer, and asked him if he could beat the price. He said NO PROBLEM! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

So will be swinging by on the way from work to pickup a new Cycle Country 60" Plow Kit for my Suzuki QuadRunner 500 4x4.

I will let you know how well it work when I get it home. Yep, I have 5 inches of snow waiting to be plowed! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

James King

 

I currently use the Yamaha accessory plow with my Grizzly. It’s primarily used to plow a 6/10 mile long farm lane that is rocky (some rocks / gravel is loose, some larger rocks are embedded in the ground plus the middle is higher than either side). The plow has a breakaway feature so that if you hit a rock the blade will tilt forward so it can pass over the rock then it’s snapped back in place by a spring. Even so the plate which allows the plow to pivot (after manually lifting a keeper pin) started to bend from the rock hits so I eventually had to drill a hole through the plates and use a large bolt to secure the plow at a fixed position (angled) which also straightened the bending plate out.

To avoid hitting too many rocks I have to use the plow slightly raised which leaves a few inches of snow on the ground. I always plow with the blade angled so the snow will push off to the side as I drive forward. It is handy to clear small areas with the blade straight, but because of the bolt I have in place now it’s a little more inconvenient than just pulling a pin and swiveling the blade so I generally just manage with the blade still angled.

I did find though that the plow is not wide enough (especially after switching to ITP C-Series wheels) as my tires slightly exceed the area covered by the angled blade, so I’m eventually going to move up to a 60” model most likely (probably from Cycle Country)…

 

i live on a road that is one km long, first snow i pack it down with sled or quad. we usually try to get a layer about 2" thick and then we dont have to worry about big rocks, and pushing gravel off the road. when i pack it down i pack it out as far as i can toward the ditch and allways plow snow over as far as i can . this gives you lots of room to plow snow without cutting down on usable road width. downfall is, when spring comes it is a week of rough driving through the breaking up hardpack.