# ATV for on road use during snowstorm



## Steve G. (Jan 18, 2009)

Hey guys, Is it possible to get a license plate for my quad to drive on the road during a snow storm and a few days after... in NYC?


Thanks,
Steve


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## Pristine PM ltd (Oct 15, 2005)

nope! When I was younger I drove around a bit, a cop pulled me over once and gave me a warning. Get a flashing yellow light and pretend you are clearing sidewalks as a city vehicle... normally cops will not care, but only during the right times. Don't go out a few days later, that is asking for problems.


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## Steve G. (Jan 18, 2009)

Pristine PM ltd;818206 said:


> nope! When I was younger I drove around a bit, a cop pulled me over once and gave me a warning. Get a flashing yellow light and pretend you are clearing sidewalks as a city vehicle... normally cops will not care, but only during the right times. Don't go out a few days later, that is asking for problems.


Thanks, but was that in NYC or in Canada?


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

I don't know of anywhere that its legal.


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## Pristine PM ltd (Oct 15, 2005)

It was in Toronto, but like rm25x said, they are never allowed in large cities. My cottage town does allow them for on road use due to tourism, like ski-doo's in the winter are allowed to cross roadways in this town.


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

Actually, I need to re-phrase my post. Its legal in northern michigan, you can drive along the shoulder of any 2 lane road, at no more then 25mph. Also must have an orv sticker. Not sure if its allowed in the winter time though with all the snowmobiles. 
That was just passed this summer to help boost tourism.


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

rm25x;818413 said:


> Actually, I need to re-phrase my post. Its legal in northern michigan, you can drive along the shoulder of any 2 lane road, at no more then 25mph. Also must have an orv sticker. Not sure if its allowed in the winter time though with all the snowmobiles.
> That was just passed this summer to help boost tourism.


Every road in my town is open to ATVs and there are alot more towns opening the roads up to ATVs.


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

must be nice


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## SQuad (Mar 18, 2008)

tymusic Here in Montreal, if the vehicle is designated for snow removal purposes, you are allowed to drive it on the road. My second year with a plate. I have been stopped a few times but they run the plate and let me go. I save 30% of the time I spend out there working cause I don't have to load and unload my machine onto a trailer. It's also a great advertising as new customers have said they had seen my machine on the road.


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## SuperdutyShane (Mar 6, 2009)

SQuad;818682 said:


> tymusic Here in Montreal, if the vehicle is designated for snow removal purposes, you are allowed to drive it on the road. My second year with a plate. I have been stopped a few times but they run the plate and let me go. I save 30% of the time I spend out there working cause I don't have to load and unload my machine onto a trailer. It's also a great advertising as new customers have said they had seen my machine on the road.


Obviously you need to have a license, but do you need to put any special blinkers or such on the atv?


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## rm25x (Sep 5, 2009)

SQuad;818682 said:


> tymusic Here in Montreal, if the vehicle is designated for snow removal purposes, you are allowed to drive it on the road. My second year with a plate. I have been stopped a few times but they run the plate and let me go. I save 30% of the time I spend out there working cause I don't have to load and unload my machine onto a trailer. It's also a great advertising as new customers have said they had seen my machine on the road.


wow that would be nice


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## born2farm (Dec 24, 2007)

I have my quad on the road every storm here, and it is illegal. Granted I live in a small farm town, but when I talked to the local cops they said as long as I had some work of flashing light, obeyed all traffic laws and wasnt horesing around and doing strictly work, I wouldnt be bothered.


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## SQuad (Mar 18, 2008)

My machine is a designated snow removal vehicle. It is plated like a front end loader. My machine had to be weighed for licencing taxes. It has to meet safety requirements as other specialty vehicles , flashing lights, turn signals, horn, etc. It is a commercial snow removal vehicle and cannot be used on the road between April till November. You cannot travel on roads who's speed limit exceeds 50 Km/hr ( 30 mph.). My route takes me on an overpass to get to my customers on the other side of the Trans Canada ( Interstate ). I can use the service road as it has a 50 Km/hr speed limit. My average run time with 17 places to do is 4.5 hrs ( the hotels only want service after 10 am. so I go for breakfast. The cab is open so I can quickly jump on and off for shoveling the small stuff.


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## SuperdutyShane (Mar 6, 2009)

SQuad;819093 said:
 

> My machine is a designated snow removal vehicle. It is plated like a front end loader. My machine had to be weighed for licencing taxes. It has to meet safety requirements as other specialty vehicles , flashing lights, turn signals, horn, etc. It is a commercial snow removal vehicle and cannot be used on the road between April till November. You cannot travel on roads who's speed limit exceeds 50 Km/hr ( 30 mph.). My route takes me on an overpass to get to my customers on the other side of the Trans Canada ( Interstate ). I can use the service road as it has a 50 Km/hr speed limit. My average run time with 17 places to do is 4.5 hrs ( the hotels only want service after 10 am. so I go for breakfast. The cab is open so I can quickly jump on and off for shoveling the small stuff.


Hey that sounds pretty good. I guess Ill stick with a truck though, just seems like a lot to do just to be able to plow with an atv, legally.


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## SQuad (Mar 18, 2008)

SuperdutyShane;823163 said:


> Hey that sounds pretty good. I guess Ill stick with a truck though, just seems like a lot to do just to be able to plow with an atv, legally.


All I do are sidewalks so a truck wouldn't work. The deal I've made with the guys is I just have to push the snow off the sidewalks into the parking lots or drives and they take it away. Unlike shoveling where you build up snowbanks thus creating snowdrifts, taking away the snow you deal only with the accumulation of each storm.


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## SuperdutyShane (Mar 6, 2009)

SQuad;823446 said:


> All I do are sidewalks so a truck wouldn't work. The deal I've made with the guys is I just have to push the snow off the sidewalks into the parking lots or drives and they take it away. Unlike shoveling where you build up snowbanks thus creating snowdrifts, taking away the snow you deal only with the accumulation of each storm.


Oh I was confused, I was thinking you did drives too. Thats a pretty cool loader setup you have on the front. Do you have a thread on it so I could see how you built that ?


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## SQuad (Mar 18, 2008)

It's fabricated to be removable off the ATV. The front receiver mount takes most of the load. The pivot points near the handlebars are clamped to the rack. The loader arms allow us to lift the blade as high as we can to be able to drive up a staircase. Thank's to this website we added the gas strut to the front blade for down force, this perfected the scraping capabilities.


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## SuperdutyShane (Mar 6, 2009)

SQuad;825239 said:


> It's fabricated to be removable off the ATV. The front receiver mount takes most of the load. The pivot points near the handlebars are clamped to the rack. The loader arms allow us to lift the blade as high as we can to be able to drive up a staircase. Thank's to this website we added the gas strut to the front blade for down force, this perfected the scraping capabilities.


That thing is sweet! I would love to have something like that. Did that take a lot of hours thinking/designing/creating? It really looks like you put a lot of effort into it. Very good job. :salute: The fact that you can drive up staircases is pretty good too huh lol. I really love the idea of have loader arms. Do you have a bucket that you can attach to that thing?


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## SQuad (Mar 18, 2008)

No bucket for the front. We installed a leaf spring from a small trailer inverted under the frame at the front and attached the two ends of the leaf spring to the A arms,because of the extra weight of the loader arms the ATV was nosediving.The intention was never to pile the snow just place it so the loaders could get rid of it.
The loader arm concept was the simplest way to get the blade out of the way so we could climb the steps to be able to plow at the different elevations of walkways we have to do. The rear scraper blade is farm tractor proven technology though were working on getting some downforce for pulling snow out of corners. 
The train of thought for the future is a 48" single stage blower driven by a hydraulic motor, powered up by a 20HP Honda engine. This way it lightens up the assembly to the front of the ATV and gives weight to the back of the ATV where the hydraulic powerpack will be. They have heavy models for skidsteers. I'd like to build a light model for my ATV.


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## SuperdutyShane (Mar 6, 2009)

SQuad;825723 said:


> No bucket for the front. We installed a leaf spring from a small trailer inverted under the frame at the front and attached the two ends of the leaf spring to the A arms,because of the extra weight of the loader arms the ATV was nosediving.The intention was never to pile the snow just place it so the loaders could get rid of it.
> The loader arm concept was the simplest way to get the blade out of the way so we could climb the steps to be able to plow at the different elevations of walkways we have to do. The rear scraper blade is farm tractor proven technology though were working on getting some downforce for pulling snow out of corners.
> The train of thought for the future is a 48" single stage blower driven by a hydraulic motor, powered up by a 20HP Honda engine. This way it lightens up the assembly to the front of the ATV and gives weight to the back of the ATV where the hydraulic powerpack will be. They have heavy models for skidsteers. I'd like to build a light model for my ATV.


Hmm sounds like a pretty good idea with the blower. I like the idea of the rear scraper blade, I really want to put one on my atv. You did like a 3pt type of setup for the backblade right? If you do go ahead and create the snowblower, please get some pics of it! :salute:


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## SQuad (Mar 18, 2008)

The rear blade in the storage position sits right up against the rear carrier. It looks like a wing on the back of the ATV.This allows us to back up a staircase to plow afterwards. The tires are agriculture grade tire, the deeper the snow the better they go. They create a lot of vibration at 30mph. They do better than the ATV tires though. The ATV tires floated on the snow packed walkways, the agriculture tires cut through to the concrete better, but I would like to try a winter rated radial like General Altimax Arctic. 205/85R14 would be the same diameter of the Ag tire at 26" and would be not to wide. Once the snow is out of the way you don't need the Ag tires deep traction capabilities. I'll keep you posted when I mount the blower.


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## bhemp5 (Oct 19, 2008)

Hey SQuad, 
I am looking to get an ATV for snow plowing. What type would you recommend? I like everything Honda and want something that is Honda. What size engine (cc?) and which model would you recommend? Also, what is considered high hours or miles on an ATV and is there a Kelly Blue Book type website to figure out how much an ATV is worth?
Thanks..


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