ATV snow plowing abilities

[Doc]

I just finished reading an old topic here on using an ATV for snow plowing, and there seemed to be a lot of concern about the ability of an ATV to move heavy snow. I have been using an ATV to plow my 1000' driveway for in excess of 30 years. The first one I used was a 2 wheel drive Yamaha in the 228 cc range, and it did all right, but there were definitely limitations. Then I moved up to a 400 cc Yamaha in 2004, and there was only one storm that made me not even take it out of the barn. Pick-up trucks couldn't even handle that one. Now after 20 years of handling all kinds of snow with a Yamaha 400, I finally bought a new one ( a Yamaha 450), and yesterday I did the driveway, and the snow was dripping wet and heavier than I have ever seen. No problem......Didn't even spin a wheel. 

[First-light]

Hey Doc what is your plow? I use my tractor with the metal skis clamped to the bucket but would rather get a plow for my quad. 

[Doc]

13 hours ago, First-light said:

Hey Doc what is your plow? I use my tractor with the metal skis clamped to the bucket but would rather get a plow for my quad. 

I'm not sure what the name of it is, and I'm not sure that there is a name indicated on it. But make sure that you look it over pretty good before buying it. I would go to a dealer that sells and services the brand of ATV that you own. The attachment features and clearances are located differently from one to another. The other thing that has become necessary for me is a winch system that lifts and lowers the blade. My earlier plows were lever-lifted, and that worked fine back then. But on a long driveway like mine, that sucker gets mighty heavy.

[First-light]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

I'm not sure what the name of it is, and I'm not sure that there is a name indicated on it. But make sure that you look it over pretty good before buying it. I would go to a dealer that sells and services the brand of ATV that you own. The attachment features and clearances are located differently from one to another. The other thing that has become necessary for me is a winch system that lifts and lowers the blade. My earlier plows were lever-lifted, and that worked fine back then. But on a long driveway like mine, that sucker gets mighty heavy.

Good info. I'll stop by Arkport Cycle and see what they say. I'm running a 2010 Suzuki 400 4wd. Low hours in great shape. Thanks. 

[Doc]

17 hours ago, First-light said:

Good info. I'll stop by Arkport Cycle and see what they say. I'm running a 2010 Suzuki 400 4wd. Low hours in great shape. Thanks. 

That definitely will do the job.

[Robby]

Years ago my wife bought me a Kawasaki Prairie 700 for Christmas because she was afraid I'd have a heart attack dragging deer out of the woods. Well, it came with a snow plow as part of the deal. That March we had one of those storms that drops a heavy wet snow, probably 18" of it. I got my two wheel drive truck stuck, my wife Jeep Cherokee stuck as well, so I figure what the heck, dig out the plow attachment and hooked it up, pretty easily too. My driveway was about 350' long and that machine walked through it like a Dodge Ram on steroids! I couldn't believe it, and actually got to work on time. Our driveway now is about 400' long and I wouldn't be without it!

Robby

[Doc]

I am always amazed at the capabilities of these ATVs. I have pulled some pretty large logs with mine, and compared to the HP of some of the machines available today, mine is just a baby. One of those pictures above shows the ability to climb the snow piles to push snow over the top and make room for more snow piling. Don't try doing that with a 4WD pickup truck....lol. I have the ability to turn around right in the middle of the driveway, or push snow sideways anywhere in the driveway. It has maneuverability that no truck has. I do not know the capabilities of the bigger side-by-sides in the maneuverability category.

The only drawback is in wet snow depth. But I have found that a lot of trucks have limits too. One storm that I couldn't even begin to clear was a 36" dump in March back in the early 70's. Nobody with a truck would even discuss it. It took a payloader to clear a skinny one lane trail up the 1000' of driveway.

Everything has its limits, but there has only been a few times when I had to call in outside help for snow removal. I hope I have not jinxed myself now.