I live in northern Ohio and am looking for an ATV to plow my 600 ft stone driveway. I was using a John Deere 317, but the engine needs to be overhauled, so I'm thinking of buying an ATV to do it.

I was looking at 500 cc and up to do it, but maybe that is overkill? I went to a dealer and by time I buy the ATV, plow and winch it was basically $6000. So I was thinking maybe I could be away with something smaller? If you use your ATV for plowing let me know what you think. $6000 is out of my price range. I haven't seen anything used around here. Also, I was thinking that I should get an automatic transmission, thinking that would be easier to operate for plowing. Any thoughts?

Also, I forgot to mention that I also have stone put down about once a year and need to use the blade to help spread the stones. I don't know if that changes any advice you might of given.

Thanks,

 

Hello... well I have plowed with my ATV for the past 5 years and I love it for plowing. The price that the dealer gave you sounds fair for a new one with a plow, a 500cc is the perfect size in my opinion but you could plow with a 400 with no problem!! For that mater any 4x4 ATV will work well, I would also stay with the auto it just makes things easer. When it comes to the plow I would go with a 60" so when you angle it you will clear a path wider than your machine you will have no problem pushing it with a 4x4 quad. Good Luck

 

As far as a good ATV for plowing, I think the Honda Rubicon would be my choice. It's a hydrostatic transmission, and has good high torque low speed charataristics and no belt. Probably going to be out of your price range.

 

I have plowed snow for about 10 years using an atv and a truck. Love the atv....I have used several different hondas such as the rancher and a yamaha grizzly. I have 2 units now that I am using a 700 polaris and another honda. I can say that all of the atv's have done really well. The polaris seems to have a better 4wheel drive system than the others that I have owned. I might also suggest to look for a unit with a lower gear, and pehaps a line lock or 4wheel lock.You will find hang ups about all that you may or may not like. As far as a blade size I would agree with the above that a 60 inch plow blade is better than anything smaller for larger areas.

Now some people may disagree with me on this point but, I prefer to use the electric lift designed for the plow instead of the winch. It is more cost effective, requires less installtion, and is easier to service if needed. I have tried several models/manufacturers and I am using a cycle country plow with electric lift. This is the 2nd year of use on it. I live by a college and use the atv's to plow sidewalks which are 48" wide and many of the student lots. I average about 5 hours of plowing per snowfall.

I have also used the manual lift and had no trouble with it either, just getting lazy in my old age.

As far as the atv goes,I have 3 local dealers who often buy out leftover stock from other dealers. I just purchased a 2006 honda for 4100.00. I added the plow setup on it from my other unit. I had to get a new atv mount but it was only 35.00. Keep an eye out locally for the plow.

Since you have plowed with a tractor you know all about the wet snow vs. dry snow. You will be able to plow more efficiently and have a ton of fun using an atv instead of the tractor mower.

The loose gravel surface can be a little trickier but with the electric lift I just bump it up a little bit. I do not use the plow shoes on any surface. My personal drive is much as yours. I have a 1/2 mile farm lane with a mix of various aggregate. It is 12 foot wide. Just take your time plowing don't get into a rush and save the machine. Make sure you stay ontop of the maintainence.

I almost forgot...If you have ANY kids get a 4-wheeler they can handle. You will NEVER have to plow again....lol My 7 year old uses the honda and has no trouble at all. I have to fight them off so dad can have a turn.

Good luck with your purchase. Happy New Year!

 

I love forums. You get to talk to people who actually use the equipment and not salesmen. Thanks for the advice.

I have some more questions.

So I gather that a 500cc is adequate for plowing. Definately get a 4x4 and may I could use a 400cc? I should stay away from belt driven transmissions and go with a Honda? Are there other manufactures that make a good transmission for plowing?

Electric lift design plow? Who makes them? Do you have a website. I seen how the winch is used (after a hydraulic snowplow, I wasn't impressed), but I haven't heard of an electric lift one? How does that operate?

Does anyone live close to Bowling Green Ohio that know of a dealer that sales leftover stock? That sounds like a great deal on the honda you purchased.

Thanks again for any input.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: jviola

I love forums. You get to talk to people who actually use the equipment and not salesmen. Thanks for the advice.



I have some more questions.



So I gather that a 500cc is adequate for plowing. Definately get a 4x4 and may I could use a 400cc? I should stay away from belt driven transmissions and go with a Honda? Are there other manufactures that make a good transmission for plowing?



Electric lift design plow? Who makes them? Do you have a website. I seen how the winch is used (after a hydraulic snowplow, I wasn't impressed), but I haven't heard of an electric lift one? How does that operate?



Does anyone live close to Bowling Green Ohio that know of a dealer that sales leftover stock? That sounds like a great deal on the honda you purchased.



Thanks again for any input.</end quote></div>

I don't have a preference as far as the transmission. I have both and have had no problems with either type. The Polaris brand is typically more expensive than the others. Is it worth it????? I don't have a definite answer. Hondas are tried and true and readily available. Try Ebay, you should find some dealers who have some. I would suggest using u-ship.com to find a carrier. You can submit for bids on anything you need to ship and have carriers bid for the shipping. I have used this service alot and have had very positive experiences. Most operateors are honest and hard working people like most of us. They care about your satisfaction. I always estimate shipping a little low and see what I can get.

Brands: I like the cycle country brand set up and currentl use it. I have had the glacier system and the moose brands. All seem to work out ok. If you go to cycle country's website look under electric lift. here is the link:
electric lift

I have also plowed with a kawasaki bayou, I believe it was around 300 cc's. It was my first and it was under powered as far as I was concerned.

I have also considered a Suzuki. There are several nice models to pick from. A family member has the king quad and plows his home with it. It seems to me that the heavier the atv is the better it has worked for me. I just came in from plowing, we have about 6 inches here. I watched the kids slide around some on the honda. The polaris, which seems to be a tank, does not slide around as much. Now having said that, the kids were racing down the drive about 25 mph. in wet heavy snow. I really don't suggest that...we have aslo put extra weight on different machines in the form of a sand tube. Place it on the rack and bugeee it down. gives some extra weight for footing.

Woo...did I miss anything?

 

My experience is consistent with a lot of what has been said. I have used an ATV to plow for somewhere around 8 to 10 years with different machines. The smallest was a 300cc Bayou which was a little small but the main problem was it didn't have much ground clearance. I used a Kawasaki P360 for a couple years, man that thing would push snow. The belt drive has the advantage of no shifting gears so no momentum loss. Also a lot of belt drives have an override for reverse so you can cut your back up time considerably. This is important in some cases but not all. As was stated also, it is important to have a low range, especially for belt drives. It will save wear and tear on the belt. Currently I am using a Traxter 500cc which will push through about anything. It is a gear drive machine that I run in low range, second gear. One thing I never liked about the Hondas are they are very slow in reverse.

For the snowplow I have used the CC and Warn. Both work well but at this time I think the CC has a little advantage in durability and construction. I also use a winch to operate the plow. I have a down pressure system on mine which requires I use a winch. I also use synethic rope instead of steel cable. This is the third winter on the rope I am using. I figured a way to connect the rope to the drum so I have multiple ropes coming off the drum. Originally I used steel cable, broke it about every hour. Then a single line of the synethic rope, broke it about every ½ hour. Now, no problems.

My pictures will give you an idea of how much snow I push. I also have a tractor but only use it for stacking the snow. The ATV will push faster and cleaner than the tractor does.

 

I purchased a Polaris 2007 700 4x4 with a plow package for just under $8K. I'm a first time ATV owner. I live in upstate NY and we have had about 2ft of snow the past two weeks and I have to say that this machine is Awesome. I have had no problems with snow removal and it's allot more fun then the snowblower I have.

The new latching system to put on / take off the plow is soooo easy. No pins needed. I simply drive the machine up to the plow and it clicks on the mounting bracket. The only reason I need to get off the machine is to hook the winch cable. To take off, I disconnect the winch, and pull on a cable on the plow and it detaches. Takes about 15 - 20 seconds to put on / take off the plow.

 

I wouldn't say that CVT Belt transmissions are bad for plowing, and lots of people do it. Just don't abuse it. Use low range when appropriate, inspect it according to the service schedule, and don't sit there on the throttle if the tires aren't moving (you could toast the clutch in a mechanical transmission setup that way, too).

If you do decide to go with Honda, the reason I suggested the Rubicon is because of it's continually variable hydrostat. It can be put in a mode where it simulates gears, but in auto mode it varies gear ratio smoothly with no dips in power. Also switching from forward to reverse is a bit more complicated in the geared transmission Hondas (Foreman, Rancher), so the Rubicon could be faster in tight spots.

As far as 400cc belt driven machines on a budget, I'd suggest you consider the Suzuki Eiger. A buddy had one, and although it's not a powerhouse it has a pretty low low range, was reliable and comfortable and overall a nice machine. From what he paid for his, I thought it was a lot of machine for the dollar. You see them advertised around $4200ish for the 4x4 auto version... (They also make foot shift and 2wd).

Play around with atvtraderonline, and see what's out there.

 

PS,

As far as lifting the plow goes, cyclecountry and warn both make electric lift gizmos. I think the Cyclecountry version runs like $140 or so.

Since it sounds like you will mainly be plowing a driveway, you might try manual lift if you don't have any physical limitations.

I'd consider a winch to lift a plow cost effective only if you were going to have a winch anyway, for other purposes.