# Help choosing plow for Kubota RTV500



## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

I'm looking at the OEM Kubota V4308a hydraulic lift manual angle straight plow $1760. Advantage from what I've read is the factory mount attaches over a wider portion of the frame so not as likely to bend frame as some others. But I'm plowing, among other things, a 1/4 mile straight gravel drive and want to do it quickly and easily. I think a vplow will help start that first run. I looked at Eagle plows 66" v plow about $1914 and may be a bit tougher to install. Or I can go all in for a Boss V Plow 5'6" but $3500 plus $300 to install. Has anyone had experience with more than one of these setups to be able to compare value and cost-effectiveness? I'd rather not spend that much money but if the cheaper options will break or not work well then I'd rather spend more money up front and have everything go smoothly. Right now, as much as I want the vblade funciton, I'm leaning OEM as the cheapest and least liekly to bend my frame.


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

The quickest will Not be the cheapest.
A manual angle doesn’t sound like very much fun.
We run a boss atv plow but it’s on a quad and it’s a straight blade.


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## T70 (Sep 5, 2021)

I plow a 500 foot gravel driveway with a Kubota RTV-X1100C running a V5291 Kubota - V blade. Go with as heavy a mounting system as you can find it's worth the extra money. If you have a lot of drifts on the road go for a V plow. RTV's are not heavy enough to really break through a good sized drift with a straight blade.


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## SilverPine (Dec 7, 2018)

Get a V. And maybe look into the 1100.
Manual straights are unreliable, in my experience anyway.


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## sublime68charge (Dec 28, 2007)

My Dad has a 1100 with a SnowDogg V and has had no major problems in the last 3 years with that setup.


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## jonniesmooth (Dec 5, 2008)

It's better to cry once, and get the better one, than cry every time you have to use the cheaper one.


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## m_ice (Aug 12, 2012)

jonniesmooth said:


> It's better to cry once, and get the better one, than cry every time you have to use the cheaper one.


Well said...stick with Western, Boss, etc.


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

I'm just trying to figure out which one is better. Boss VPlow is clearly the better plow. But if the OEM mount spreads the force over a greater area of the frame reducing the chance of bending/breaking then that might be the better choice. Still looking for anybody with experience with these plows on the RTV 500


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

Still looking for anyone with experience with any of these plows on the RTV 500


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## DeVries (Nov 27, 2007)

We have the Kubota brand vee on ours. It's connected via the Kubota k connect system. 
It works well, has down pressure. I would say that the mold board could be a bit taller but other than that it's been reliable. 
We have a rotary broom as well for it. I'm not impressed at all, it spins for to slow to make it effective.


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

Very frustrating. Decided to pay up for the best and after waiting 2 months my appointment was this week, but just got notified by Storks Plows they won't get the plow for at least 8-10 weeks, pretty much outside any chance of snow this year. So now I'm looking for anyone who has a used plow option for the RTV 500 in eastern PA?


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## DeVries (Nov 27, 2007)

I've got that and a broom for sale. But I'm 7 hours north of you and cannot meet half way.


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

How far are you from Killington, Vermont?


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## sublime68charge (Dec 28, 2007)

craigslist or facebook might be your best bet. Good luck


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

Still looking for anyone who has tried plows on a Kubota RTV 500. Right now I'm using an inexpensive plow that mounts to the front 2" receiver with no hydraulics. It's very light and has a thick rubber skirt at the bottom that pivots when you back up so it doesn't need to be raised - you literally just push forward, back up, and push forward again. It's fine for now but it's not going to handle a big storm.


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## sublime68charge (Dec 28, 2007)

Have you found a message board for Kubota's and asked there at all? 

I have used my dad's Kubota 1100 with Snowdogg V plow and it works pretty good but I have only used it 5 times or so for 30-40 min each time.

I have never even had to hook it up just hope in an go. Did have to replace a blow Hydro line last month for him when he was sick but that is all.


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## SilverPine (Dec 7, 2018)

1100 is a much different beast than the 500. 
No harm in puting a plow on it. But I still say it will be underpowered and the plow will be too small for most applications.


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## sublime68charge (Dec 28, 2007)

Im sure the 500 can plow just fine. My Honda 450cc ATV plows with a 60" blade and I can get the job done. 

Kubota are workhorse machines. If the guy had a sports minded UTV that would be different but Kubota's are work machine made to haul and push and pull.


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

Just because this has been such a saga I'll give more info. I already have the RTV 500, so this isn't a thread about which machine I need. I've actually plowed with an old hitch mounted plow that I have, probably 6 to 7 feet wide, and it can handle my job of a quarter mile driveway and some substantial parking lots. But I'm looking for something more substantial that I won't have to baby as much and most of all I definitely need to be able to angle the blade. I don't care about getting cold, I can dress warm, so I'm not afraid of a manual angle adjustment, but what I would really love to hear about is people who have experience with a certain plow on this machine, the OEM Kubota, the Boss 5'6" UTV v Plow, or the Eagle v plow, or anything else that works really well for someone. Most useful would be someone who has used more than one of those plows on this machine.


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## Mountain Bob (Nov 12, 2017)

You probably do better researching the UTV forums. Would not even have to be for a Kubota, just comparable size machines. There really seems to be few homeowner plowers here, and even less people that use or would use such a unit for plowing.


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

Thanks Silverpine


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## EWSplow (Dec 4, 2012)

I have no experience with the kubota rtv, but according to the boss plow selector, it works. 
The 6'-6" UTV plow only weighs about 380#. I can't remember the specs on the 5'-6", but it has to be lighter. 
I looked up your machine, only 15HP.
Have you asked any boss dealers if they've installed one on an RTV500?
I've seen bigger kubota RTVs with a 6'-6" & they seemed to handle it okay.


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## SilverPine (Dec 7, 2018)

My snow ex V plow is about 350#, on the 1100 it's definitely noticeable. Problem is the plow is so light that is bounces alot depending on the surface. I wouldn't recommend a lighter plow


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## YachtRocker (11 mo ago)

RTV500owner said:


> Still looking for anyone with experience with any of these plows on the RTV 500


Don't have those plows but do plow with my RTV500. Am in Western PA

I have:

WARN 83650 ProVantage ATV Plow Mount Kit
WARN 92100 ATV Plow Base
Warn 84600 ProVantage Plow Lift
WARN 78954 ProVantage 54" Straight Plow Blade
WARN 67862 ATV Plow Plastic Wear Bar

Which gives me electric lift but need to adjust angle manually.. I do not plow professionally but have a VERY large driveway.

It all just bolted on with no modifications.. (had to run lift cable to battery & mount up/down switch) Have used this same setup 10 years now. I'm happy but would say it's too light duty to plow non-stop all winter commercially. (as would be the RTV500, IMO) But to go out and plow for upwards of an hour every 2-3 days it's just fine & I like it..

Am definitely not bending the frame. Mount would bend first. For the snows we have here it's adequate for "estate" use (for lack of a better term) & the whole shebang is ±$1000-1100 delivered via Amazon.

fwiw.. cheers!


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## Mountain Bob (Nov 12, 2017)

YachtRocker said:


> Don't have those plows but do plow with my RTV500. Am in Western PA
> 
> I have:
> 
> ...


Nice feedback.


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

YachtRocker said:


> Don't have those plows but do plow with my RTV500. Am in Western PA
> 
> I have:
> 
> ...


Great info, thanks. I have a winch. Do you suggest just using that and maybe get a fairlead or buying the lift?


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

RTV500owner said:


> Great info, thanks. I have a winch. Do you suggest just using that and maybe get a fairlead or buying the lift?


Also does it pivot manually? Do you find much snow still rolls off both sides and you need another pass to clean up the tall side anyhow, or it all rolls off the short side?


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## YachtRocker (11 mo ago)

RTV500owner said:


> Great info, thanks. I have a winch. Do you suggest just using that and maybe get a fairlead or buying the lift?


The lift is pretty slick & lifts it pretty quick. Can't compare it to a winch, but my gut feeling is a winch would be a lot slower & a lot less controllable at the speed you would want the blade to be lifting & lowering when plowing. And, it seems you could always try the winch before getting the lifter, but, my inclination would be to just get it if going with that set up.



RTV500owner said:


> Also does it pivot manually? Do you find much snow still rolls off both sides and you need another pass to clean up the tall side anyhow, or it all rolls off the short side?


Yes it is a manual pivot. If I were plowing all day, every day, it would definitely get tiring, but for how I use it it is just fine. In the course of a plowing session I might move it somewhere between one & three times.. I typically would make one pass with the plow pivoted to the right slightly, with the kind of snow we typically get here (2-4-6" kind of thing) you don't get any snow coming off the front edge & you make one or two passes up and down depending on the width, or if you're plowing a larger area you are maybe plowing the same way & backing up.. etc.. I make it work just fine. And that would be all with the exact same pivot setting.

When you're getting into what I consider more deep snow, which, if being real, around here we only get maybe 1-3x a year, if even that, then you might take smaller bites (vs full width) using the sharper angle pivot, or be coming back to clean up some rows - but it still works fine for me.

If we have over 6 inches, & in my case a lot of garage frontage to shovel in front of the doors, it's nice to have a snowblower just to get the deeper stuff away from the building as you can't plow obviously right up to the garage doors - as most of the time those are set-in 6-12 inches. So for that - and for those once every 10 year 18-24" kind of snows, having a nice snowblower is good as part of the mix. My total driveway is around 20,000 ft.² & I might break out the snowblower once or twice in a year. Last year didn't use it once. It's been out once so far this season.

Hope that's helpful & gives you an idea how it has worked for me.


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## RTV500owner (Oct 24, 2021)

YachtRocker said:


> The lift is pretty slick & lifts it pretty quick. Can't compare it to a winch, but my gut feeling is a winch would be a lot slower & a lot less controllable at the speed you would want the blade to be lifting & lowering when plowing. And, it seems you could always try the winch before getting the lifter, but, my inclination would be to just get it if going with that set up.
> 
> Yes it is a manual pivot. If I were plowing all day, every day, it would definitely get tiring, but for how I use it it is just fine. In the course of a plowing session I might move it somewhere between one & three times.. I typically would make one pass with the plow pivoted to the right slightly, with the kind of snow we typically get here (2-4-6" kind of thing) you don't get any snow coming off the front edge & you make one or two passes up and down depending on the width, or if you're plowing a larger area you are maybe plowing the same way & backing up.. etc.. I make it work just fine. And that would be all with the exact same pivot setting.
> 
> ...


Very helpful, thanks! I still have the Boss on order, but since it's rated as heavy for the RTV 500 and might even require heavier springs to support it, I'm thinking of trying this instead. At this point I pretty much have all year to think about it as I should be able to get by the rest of this year with the Snowsport 180 I have, which actually works surprisingly well. It just doesn't angle so in deeper snows you have to clean up both sides of every push.


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## YachtRocker (11 mo ago)

RTV500owner said:


> Very helpful, thanks! I still have the Boss on order, but since it's rated as heavy for the RTV 500 and might even require heavier springs to support it, I'm thinking of trying this instead. At this point I pretty much have all year to think about it as I should be able to get by the rest of this year with the Snowsport 180 I have, which actually works surprisingly well. It just doesn't angle so in deeper snows you have to clean up both sides of every push.


There's no doubt this is a relatively lighter duty set up.. But as I've described it works for me - even after 10+ years.. So that's heavy duty enough for my purposes. Also, for me there's some comfort in knowing that if I bend _something_, it's probably going to be the push tubes on the plow base & not the frame on the RTV 500.. The WARN blade is definitely NOT bending anytime soon, that's for sure! lol.

Good luck with it!


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