I did a site search on plows and came across a few plow threads. None of them really covered a few of the questions I have.

Are you basing plow size on bike CC and weight? Using a 4x4 weighing in at 600 pounds minus rider with a 400 CC bike. What size plow would be recommended? If weight is the case wouldn't adding weight to the bike help? I'm sure there is a fine line where weight will overcome power. As there is a point where to much power (if there is such a thing!) will over power the wheels.

I have a semi flat 3500 sq ft paved driveway to clear. What would be the "average" depth of snow that could be moved?

There are several brands of plows out there with the blade thickness (gauge) varying. Reading through the archives some have had great luck with the inexpensive stuff and some have not. It seems like application and usage play a huge role.

Has anyone sprung for a V-plow? It was a few dollars more than the standard blades but I wasn't sure if it would be worth the extra money.

So what do you all think?

 

I had a 60" plow on my AC400. Never had a problem plowing up to 14" of snow (not slush) with that. I think the only time you will have any trouble is when slush freezes.

The 54" I use now is just a little easier to get inside a 60" door in the back of my garage.

At just over $300, I am happy with the Warn, but there are better (and more expensive plows out there). I do like it better than the CCountry I had.

 

I have a Prairie 360 that I run a Warn 60" plow on, the P360 handles it fine for most storms. I also have a Traxter that I can use for the really deep snow or the wet heavy snow like last night. The Traxter will cut through about anything due to the extra weight it has. Adding weight to the ATV helps but there is a limit. The more weight added, the more awkward and hard to steer the ATV becomes.

I suppose too much power could become a problem but I haven?t used anything bigger than my 500CC Traxter so I can?t help you from personal experience on that one. I have a neighbor with a 700 and he seems to do just fine. The big thing is to learn to work a combination of throttle and blade height when plowing wet and/or deep snow. Picture your ATV as a small dozer.

I usually try to plow when there is 6" to 1 foot of snow. There have been times when I couldn?t get to it until there was close to 2 feet which can present challenges. Again you just have to learn to work a combination of throttle and blade height to break a hole through that much snow. I have a system I developed which helps me control the blade height a little better. Without it I doubt I could get through that much snow due to the blade riding up. I also use a winch to raise a lower the blade which helps.

I have personal experience with the CC and Warn plows, of those I strongly prefer the Warn. On the CC plow I had to straighten it at least once per year and sometimes twice and it was only a 48" blade. I have never needed to straighten the Warn blade which is a 60" blade. I have bent the push tubes on the Warn plow but it was because I hit something I shouldn?t have. Eventually I made some splints for the push tubes and haven?t bent them since. I have looked at the Moose and American Mfg. plows but have no personal experience with them. My concern with them is they are so heavy. Once the blade is on the ground the extra weight is working against the ATV. You can overcome some of the weight by lifting the blade slightly while pushing so it transfers some of the weight to the front of the ATV.

I haven?t used a V plow but my brother has one of the CC 48" blades. It isn?t impressive.

One thing that really helps is to coat the blade with a pickup bed liner. This will reduce the amount of snow sticking to the blade. This makes it so a smaller ATV can push much more snow than it normally would by reducing the friction of the snow rolling against the blade. The coating should start at the top of the wear blade. Do not coat the wear blade or the snow will work under the coating and peel it off.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the information guys.

After some more reading and comparing I purchased a Moose 60" plow. I went with the Moose strictly on the gauge thickness of the blade. With the discount I receive at the dealership it put me at $325.XX for the complete kit using a winch lift. Competitively priced with the lesser expensive plows. Now all I need is some snow!

 

Too bad you aren't going to get the chance to use it (as least I haven't gotten any snow yet)! I based my decision on the mount. I wanted a mount that I could just leave on all year and not worry about it banging on every rock and tree I crossed (the Warn mount actually beefs up my protection).

 

I considered the mounting systems also. For me I didn't want anything that hung down any farther than it had to. I trimmed the mounting plate to make it smaller so I didn't have all of the excess material adding weight. Here is the link to the pictures. http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthre...hreadid=273582

 

I think you made the right choice, I have a 52" Moose plow on my bruin 4wd and have not had any problems and the heavy weight of the plow give you about the perfect amount of down pressure. I have never run out of power yet while plowing but I dont think my quad would handle any bigger of plow though. ....DSG

 

I also think you made a good choice. I have a 60" Moose "country plow" on my Grizzly 700, and am very satisfied with it. The "country plow" is taller than their other models, so I haven't ever had a problem with snow coming over the top of the blade, even when plowing 18" of snow. The tall blade is real heavy though, and seriously compresses the front suspension when it is lifted. The power steering of the Grizzly easily overpowers the weight of the larger plow though.

One thing to consider when deciding on the width of the plow is whether or not you plan on plowing with the blade angled to one side or the other. With a 60" plow you can angle the blade all the way, and the edge of the plow is then perfectly in line with the outside edge of your tires, even with the extra inch of offset from ITP Type 7 wheels. With a 54" wide plow my track width would be wider than the plow if the plow were angled all the way to either side. So you chose wisely, grasshopper.

 

Good Choice. I have a Moose 60" County plow for my quad, and it works great. I used to lift it with my warn winch, but now I use a manual handlift which saves wear and tear on my winch and the roller fairlead. Haven't had to use it this winter so far!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]