I am looking to buy a plow for my 02 Kodiak and I am wondering which is the best to get. I want to do sidewalks also so I am looking at the Cycle Country V blade but I don't know the durability of this model. Or I can go with a straight 48" blade and just angle it to do the sidewalks. Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Keep in mind that when you angle a 48" blade, the cleared path is narrower than the width of your wheels.

My 60" blade will clear my sidewalk in a single pass.

That help?

 

mjb, I can't vouch for the "V" blade, but I can say good things about the 48" straight blade. I've been using one on a Polaris SP500 since 1999 without any problems. We just got 9" of snow here in northwest NC last weekend and I put this blade on my new 06 SP700EFI and cleared the road up to my house(app.1/2 mile). This blade actually will go back on the 500 which belongs to my son on his eighteenth birthday this Friday. I just ordered a new 54" Cycle Country blade and push tube to go back on my 700. I looked at the Polaris/Glacier system(very nice but a little pricey) and also the Moose system which appeared to be very similar to Cycle Country in both design and price. Since I already had the Cycle Country mount(thrown in when ibought 700) and the fact that I've got 7 years of troublefree service I decided to go with Cycle Country again, only in a wider width for the bigger machine. I do know that with the tapered blades you are somewhat limited to operating it tilted one way to make it work efficiently. It can be tilted to either side but it works better tilted one way due to it's design. I see a few people running the "V" plows on their trucks around here , but very few. Can't say if this is due to cost or difference in reliability issues. Straight blades outnumber the other designs 25 to 1. Again it may just boil down to which one costs the most initially. Maybe we'll get some comments from the fellows further North who have alot more snow to deal with.

 

My sidewalk is approx 46" so the v blade is about perfect and the straight 48" blade on an angle would fit also. I am just concerned about the strength of the v blade when it is used straight and if it will push as much as a conventional straight blade.

 

I think the v-blade is just to make it easier on your machine (wear and tear, gas, less work) because of the resistance on a flat blade being greater, and it eliminated having to pivot the blade from one side to the other when wanting to push snow left or right

 

You might want to take a look at the Swisher system for blades, buckets and forks. Put a Swisher on our quad a couple of years ago and have been very pleased with it. We have the blade and bucket. Not a lot of snow plowing but have used the blade a lot to backfill behind a trencher and backhoe while putting in water lines. No mechanical failures at all and very heavy use. Way more strain than pushing snow. Best delivered price I found was from Cabela's.

 

I put a 60" blade on my '03 Rubicon. Love it! It is a wee bit long when doing sidewalks, but it just dumps the snow a little further onto the road.
I use it mainly to maintain a 5 mile x25' skating trail and a couple of rinks here in (on) Cold Lake, Alberta and I have no trouble pushing it, even with 6-8" of snow.
THe v plow would be great for doing sidewalks though. And if you can go over center with the plow angle, you will have a great snow scoop, which would make it faster to remove "overflow" when doing multiple straight passes.
...My $.02 worth...

 

I had a 60" CC blade on a 98 AC400. Worked great.

I have heard a few negative comments about the durability of the V. Something about pins breaking.

I just bought a Warn 54" for $375 delivered. The 6" difference won't ever expose my tires, but will give me a little more room to park in the shed.

I liked the mount the best (for my machine). That's what mattered the most to me.

 

i have a 60" american eagle plow. it is very well built and i love the mount. i got mine from creeksidepowersports.com . it was 385 delivered to the house. they also sell WARN plows for about the same price. they have good service and fast shipping.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]I have the CC 60" straight blade, third year no problems! (except little use this year due to lack of snow!)