I've got a 350ft driveway at a 40-50 degree slope. Is a diff-lock needed for getting up in in snow and ice?How will the rincon do?

 

Depends on a few factors.
Will you be pushing a plow up the hill? Going down the hill works alot easier.
Is the driveway gravel or paved? Paved has much less traction.
As long as youre moving and dont stop, you probably dont need diff lock, youll have 4wd. But if you come to a stop, then youll have 3wd, but theres a trick that works on the honda torque sensing diffs. If you find your self stuck or going over a log, and find the one tire is uslessly spinning,..slowly apply the front brake while the front tire is slowly spinning. The differential will then send power to the other tire. Some people will say this doesnt work, but its because they are either trying it on a speed sensing diff, or they havent praticed enough.
I know when the snow gets deep and slippery, my kodiak wont go thru, unless the diff lock is on, and then once im going, its unnecessary. When full lock is on, it doesnt turn very easy or controllably.
If you really like the rincon, but are concerned about the front diff...you can always add the detroit gearless locker to it later, if you find out it wont go good enough. It provides full locking, with out any of the negitives of full locked.

 

A 40-50 degree slope will be difficult to climb on a dry day without your ATV tumbling over backward.

 

Paved driveway, will oush down, go up on the clear area, then come back down...like:

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Or at least, I won't be plowing uphill. Lots of downhill. But I don't want to get stuck going uphill on a clear road.Like, the road surface after you plow.There's a slight llayer of snow.....

 

What I mean is you might want to re-evaluate the steepness of your driveway! The talus slope of the steep part of an overpass fill or a highway fill is less than 40 degrees, and that's pretty darn steep.

 

A 50 degree angle will "look" almost straight up and down to the average rider. See what the real angle is with a protractor.

 

It is indeed 50. We have done projects involving such measurements. It is 40 at the top and 50 from the bottom.

 

Well if it's that steep then I'd suggest you just stand at the top and jump up and down untill you start an avalanch. What's your daily driver, a CR 500 on alchy? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

Id suggest you make a rope tow and charge people 10 bucks to ski on it.

 

God, anything but the dreaded T-bar.