Is a custom chassis mount not an option?
I don't believe in "can't be done".
Is a custom chassis mount not an option?
I don't believe in "can't be done".
I'm back on the snowplowing track again. Can anyone comment on the usability of an ATV for plowing?
I see multiple ATVs with plows on CL near me.
https://newhaven.craigslist.org/snw/d/bethel-2004-suzuki-500-atv-with-plow/6817501191.html
https://newhaven.craigslist.org/snw/d/orange-2004-honda-rincon-650-4x4-with/6817607390.html
In addition to not knowing how effective this solution is, I also have no idea whether these are good deals or not.
An ATV with a plow will move snow, it's just limited in how much snow you can move. Trying to plow 18 inches with one won't go so well as it just can't exert enough pushing force to go anywhere with that much snow on the blade.
My neighbour does his driveway with an ATV. We're in SE Michigan , so we can get significant snowfalls occasionally.
The people I’ve talked to say they work great as long as you have a big one. 400 and up. When the snow is deep, what you loose in weight you gain in speed.
I finally got an opportunity to use the two-stage snowthrower on the front of my 2186 Cub Cadet. It blew through 8" of somewhat wet snow like it wasn't there. It chewed through a mountain of snow that was a little taller than the snow intake, I just went real slow. If we'd get more proper snowfalls here, I'd be excited to use it more.
In reply to Harvey :
If your driveway is paved there are self contained snow thrower units that will mount to ATVs to help with deeper snow.
I'm also looking for a ATV to replace the rusted out plow truck.
I'm in SE Michigan as well, out in the country. Both my neighbors use atvs with plows. It takes them longer to go back and fourth a billion times and end up with a less clean driveway than it takes me using a 24 inch Husqvarna 2 stage. Just tonight I threw 5 inches of heavy, wet icy snow a good 20 foot in the air. At one point I had to downshift to 5th gear to let it chew a bit slower, but otherwise its unstoppable.
My neighbor struggled with this heavy stuff on his quad. Problem is with a quad you need to plow a huge additional area to allow for piling of snow for future plowing since it isn't capable of pushing large piles.
Lawn tractor blowers are pretty impressive, (assuming your tractor has some power) but expensive, and make your tractor very long and a pain to maneuver and store. Traction is also a consideration. Chains and weights do only so much.
Harvey said:I'm back on the snowplowing track again. Can anyone comment on the usability of an ATV for plowing?
The reason that they make plows for ATVs is so that guys can convince their wives to let them buy ATVs.
In reply to Harvey :
If you still want to explore the option of a front mounted hitch, I have a brand new Curt hitch for a Tacoma that I'm never going to use. I'm getting tired of moving it around my barn. You're welcome to take it and cut it up to see if you can make something that will work for you.
NickD said:Not the only truck you can't put a plow on. If you put a plow on a '17+ Duramax and then drive over 45mph, it will throw a P106A Charge Air Cooler Efficiency - Low. Continuing to drive above that speed will blow the engine up. And GM has said that there is no fix for it, just deal with it. Customers are livid that their new $75k truck can't do what their old truck could do or what the other diesel trucks can do.
I'm commenting on this before reading the whole thread, so my apologies if this has already been discussed. Who the heck buys a brand new truck and puts a plow on it? To me that says, "I hate money" more than just about anything else in the car world.
bigeyedfish said:I'm commenting on this before reading the whole thread, so my apologies if this has already been discussed. Who the heck buys a brand new truck and puts a plow on it? To me that says, "I hate money" more than just about anything else in the car world.
Usually someone who is plowing as a business, especially if they've got a business that's more than 1 guy with 1 truck. In those situations, buying new equipment starts to make more sense for a variety of reasons (available equipment vs condition, financing options, etc.)
I agree with that principle, but $75k for a plow truck? Not a chance that makes sense financially versus buying used or just a way lower spec. You'd have a hard time convincing me that a simple payback of more than two years makes any sense on a plow truck. And I'd really want it to pay for itself in less than a year. They just get hammered way too hard. Do warranties cover a truck if it's used for snow removal? That could change my mind.
We salt the E36 M3 out of our roads around here, so my perspective might be a little skewed compared to a place that doesn't salt as heavily.
I've noticed quite a few vehicles that seem to have a short blade (height). Maybe that helps cooling.
bigeyedfish said:I agree with that principle, but $75k for a plow truck? Not a chance that makes sense financially versus buying used or just a way lower spec. You'd have a hard time convincing me that a simple payback of more than two years makes any sense on a plow truck. And I'd really want it to pay for itself in less than a year. They just get hammered way too hard. Do warranties cover a truck if it's used for snow removal? That could change my mind.
We salt the E36 M3 out of our roads around here, so my perspective might be a little skewed compared to a place that doesn't salt as heavily.
Around here, most of the plow trucks are primarily landscape trucks fitted with plows so they can earn some cash during the off-season. but plowing usually isn't their main purpose.
Harvey - how much driveway do you need to clear?
We can build anything, it just costs money.
Get your truck up to our shop and I'll send you home with a front-mount hitch.
I made the mistake of not snowblowing last night when there was 4" of snow on the ground and it was raining (freezing rain). For my penance, I had to snowblow the driveway this morning, which was about 2" of solid ice (4" at the road). This is the first time my snowblower really struggled to get down to the surface, I had to break the snow/ice up with a shovel first, and then go over it with my snowblower. After 2 hours of manhandling my 28" snowblower, I'm pretty beat.
I'm convinced there has to be a better way, I'm going to look into the ATV with a plow method. We have a 275'X10' driveway (slight incline), and then a 25'X60' area on the bottom. On a day like today, I'm convinced the ATV would have saved me a ton of time/effort. I'm happy to use my snowblower if we get significant snow, but snow in the 2-5" range takes almost as much time to clear as the larger storms. Being able to pull an ATV out of the shed and make a couple passes seems like a win. Am I crazy or unrealistic? Yes, I know the real answer is to move where there isn't snow ;-)
How well a plow will work vs a snowblower depends a lot on the driveway. For me, a plow is of limited effectiveness (unless it's a box blade on a tractor with a loader where I can pick snow up) because there's very limited space to put the snow relative to the driveway. So you have to push snow a long distance and you'll quickly run out of space to put the snow unless you can start stacking the piles pretty tall. Even with a snowblower I have to move a good bit of snow twice (as in, blow it down the driveway and then blow it off the driveway) because there's a good stretch where there's nowhere to blow the snow to (houses, fence, etc. in the way).
In reply to dj06482 :
In that situation I don't think a plow would have helped you and especially one mounted on something as light as an ATV. To break up the ice, you need something with some weight behind it. Chances are an ATV would have just spun the tires. When clearing ice from my ex's driveway (100' x 12' and about 30' at the garage), I would usually end up breaking it up with a steel shovel as her snowblower (the same John Deere someone posted a picture of last year) was useless against ice. I don't miss any of that...
My own driveway and sidewalk is short enough I just clear it with a coal shovel.
Y'all make me glad I live south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
On the plus side for the ATV, I can push the snow past the bottom of the driveway and into the back yard for 100+ ft, so I think I've got room to put the snow. On the negative side, it sounds like the ATV wouldn't have been the miracle cure I was hoping it would be on a day like today.
Moving is still looking like the best option!
what I don't understand is why nobody has come out with a simple cheap kit that mounts to a standard hitch and isn't made for a farm and doesn't require a 1 ton truck. I have a 5 car driveway and I just want to be able to hook up something light to my car, back it up and down my driveway 50 times and be done with it. I have heard various stupid arguments from its really hard on your vehicle, to why don't you just quit being lazy and shovel, that's what 2 stage blowers are for...yadda yadda yadda. If designed properly it would work.
My neighbor had a plow on a 400 ATV. It was nice for an average snow, but once it got deep, heavy or drifted it just wasn't enough. My people [3 sons] and I could almost have ours shoveled out as quickly as he could have his pushed out. He wasn't as beat though
twowheeled said:what I don't understand is why nobody has come out with a simple cheap kit that mounts to a standard hitch and isn't made for a farm and doesn't require a 1 ton truck. I have a 5 car driveway and I just want to be able to hook up something light to my car, back it up and down my driveway 50 times and be done with it. I have heard various stupid arguments from its really hard on your vehicle, to why don't you just quit being lazy and shovel, that's what 2 stage blowers are for...yadda yadda yadda. If designed properly it would work.
So, at one time Sno-Way actually made plows for cars; I owned this version made for a MKI Rabbit:
It was made for three years from 78-80 but the owner of Sno-Way thought they sold 25 or so of them. I looked for YEARS to find this one but got out of rabbits about that time. I bought it from the owner of Ferguson VW In Findlay, OH who had bought it to put on a caddy to plow his lot. He said it did a great job without chains and was unstoppable with chains.
I don’t understand why this wasn’t and isn’t more popular
edit: I sold it to that guy with the yellow caddy and it’s in the back, he uses it (maybe just for looks, cool period accessories) slammed just like that.
twowheeled said:what I don't understand is why nobody has come out with a simple cheap kit that mounts to a standard hitch and isn't made for a farm and doesn't require a 1 ton truck. I have a 5 car driveway and I just want to be able to hook up something light to my car, back it up and down my driveway 50 times and be done with it. I have heard various stupid arguments from its really hard on your vehicle, to why don't you just quit being lazy and shovel, that's what 2 stage blowers are for...yadda yadda yadda. If designed properly it would work.
You mean, one of these? The price varies depending on the vehicle you have, but they are considerably less than a more commercial-grade plow.
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