# Atv plow lift improvement



## HARDWARE (Apr 10, 2009)

Check out youtube "plow lift modification" - cool


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## HARDWARE (Apr 10, 2009)

*Pix of plow lift mod*


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## Reb (Feb 8, 2008)

Looks like a good way to change from cable to a strap but half the load on the motor also means half the speed. Couldn't you just slip the strap loop over the pin you installed so the speed would be the same as it was originally.

Not to be critical but if you already have a winch on your ATV, why pay the extra bucks for the actuator when the primary winch will do the job just as good and probably faster?


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## HARDWARE (Apr 10, 2009)

Two good points, not too critical at all. 

I tried both suggestions in the following order. First, to your second comment, the winch does lift the plow adequately but, I fear, at the risk of its useful life. I also had problems with the cable wraping unevenly and jamming. The cable also showed definite signs of excessive wear after a disturbingly short time. And, a 2500 pound winch for a 100 pound plow seemed, well, wrong. So ...

I bought the "Electric Acutator". It, too, would wind the the cable over itself and strands began to fail within the first hour of operation. And the actuator motor is quite a bit smaller. It seemed to strain a little too much under the load.

About the speed of operation, I have a 1/4 mile gravel lane and use the plow to grade, also. Raising the plow slowly helps "feather" the gravel smoothly without adding bumps to the lane. Also, when plowing snow over gravel it is useful to leave an inch or two of snow so as to not displace any more gravel than necessary. The plow 'skids' just dig in the gravel and don't get it done. It was difficult to 'fine-tune' the height of the plow with the quick and coarse operation of the winch or the actuator. During actual snow plowing, there was plenty of time for the slower raising and lowering while shifting to forward and reverse.

Everything seemed to work better and the motor seem happier, too. Sorry for the long post.


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## Reb (Feb 8, 2008)

The following two links show and tell how to solve the problem of winch line fraying by using synethetic rope.

http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=attachingsyntheticropetgy2.pdf
http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=attachingsyntheticropetvs5.pdf

I understand your concern about wearing out a bigger winch though. I wore out a Superwinch 1000 lb. and a 1500 lb. winch over a several year period. Both ran about the same speed as some of the actuators I checked out. I finally went with a Warn 2500 lb., speed was good for my type of use. I used it for three years solid then late last winter I started using my other ATV which had a new Warn 2500 lb. So far I haven't had any problem with either of the Warns.

Early on I also tried using the snowplow for leveling gravel but didn't care for the effectiveness of it which is why I built my ag. system on the back. On it I two parted the line, similiar to what you are doing, which helped me feather better. You can see pictures of the ag. system in my profile pictures.


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## HARDWARE (Apr 10, 2009)

Checked your pix - nice work. 

Thought you might be interested in my profile pix of the rake I built to mount on the plow push tubes. It breaks up the ice pretty good and does a fine job of grading.

I agree, synthetic cable would work great on the plow but I use my atv & winch primarily to manage my woodlot. I pull down a lot of dangerous snags and hung-up harvest trees. Large rough granite rocks cover the entire site. I had considered it but thought all the rocks would be too hard on synthetics - any thoughts.

Also, any ideas on mods to the lynch pin attachment of the plow push tubes to the bottom of the atv? Ice and snow are ok but I don't enjoy, anymore, laying in the slush to 'hook-up'.


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## Reb (Feb 8, 2008)

Interesting rake, you might benefit from a down pressure system for it. Someone on here posted some pics showing how they adapted the Cycle Country down pressure system to work with a Moose plow. Might be of benefit to you.

The synethetic rope I use is only 10 to 15 ft. long and is only for running the snowplow. In the summber I change back to the wire cable due to wear concerns, same as you. That is on my P360. 

On my Traxtor I have a different down pressure system so when I take off the plow the winch comes off with it. I also have the Warn Multi Mount system on that one so once I take off the plow I just plug another winch into the receiver. And I can move the winch to the back of the Traxtor if needed. The Traxtor is setup to be the Swiss Army Knife of ATV's.

Can't help you on the lynch pins. I put the plow in the fall and take it off in late spring. Both are on a dry garage floor. If I do happen to take it off in the winter it is because the kids want to pull sleds with the ATV so I make them lay on the wet floor to take out and put back the pins.


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