I have a Honda rancher. Thought it would be all I needed to plow the driveway. Along comes the worst winter in years, and all my family wanting their driveways plowed. I can't tell mom no. The Rancher is struggling with all this snow. I get dealer price on Honda from a friend so if I go bigger its got to be a Honda. How much better will the Forman plow than the Rancher?

 

I'd have a hard time believing the Foreman is going to be that much better than a Rancher. Keep in mind the Rancher is called a 350, but is actually a 329cc engine in its stock form.

Identify your problem: if the blade is staying in the snow, is your problem traction, or pure power? If you're spinning the wheels, you may need more traction from better tires, or additional weight. From the snowfall amounts I've seen on today's news, you may be asking for miracles to plow in one pass!

 

I agree with Ranch Rider. Your 350 should have lots of power to plow. There are a few guy that plow all winter around here with big bear's and they're 350's as well. Unless the snow is extremely heavy it shouldn't be to bad. Like ranch riders said are you having traction problems or power.

Myself I plow with my 400 Kodiak and will have traction problems b4 power. Even if the snow is 2 1/2 ft deep I don't have problems. You just have to make more passes to clean the drive way.

 

If the snow is deep just run through it with the blade up, or not all the way down, then pass through it again with the plow down, this should work. (this is how we plow our driveways)

The 450 would be better, but i wouldn't go buy a new quad, it just wouldn't make that much of a difference!

 

I do the exact same thing with my 450..raise the blade and plow from the top down. One thing I find makes a big difference is pushing the banks back before they get frozen. A winch helps to this, as the handle doesn't give you enough adjustments height wise. Damn I love Snow...


Cayman