# Gator 825i w/Boss Plow



## NitroX5

Been lurking on here for awhile, but need some thoughts from the pros now. Looking at ordering a new Gator 825i with deluxe glass cab kit and heater kit and have the Boss v plow soon. I own a business that has a fairly large lot with some tricky obstacles on it. If I were to order the Gator, I would like to do some residental also. Looking for some imput from those that use the Gator now such as:

1. What blade are you running now and do you have problems with how high you can pile it?

2. Does the Gator have the power, ability, and manuervibility to push snow and at what point is to much snow (dry or wet in inches)?

3. Do any of you have the deluxe glass cab with heater kit on your Gator and what are your opinions on it. Looking for imput on visibility, fogging, noise?

I have been using a truck for the last three years which has been just fine, but seen a Gator with the Boss plow on it this year and think that it is the cat's meow. Haven't done any "commercial" plowing, but would like to get into to help pay for the new toy. Any thoughts or comments are more than welcome.

Ty


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## [email protected]

I dont know alot about the Gators...but I can tell you the Boss V blade is awesome...the lift angle is very high, so stacking should be great with it


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## plowfever

Well this post is a little late probably but I am a new member and I had a Gator with a plow on it as well as the the cab and heater option. I had the powertach plow. I found it did really well. I plowed around 80 HOA and sidewalks at a large factory that I do here. The Gator I had was a 620i so your new 825 will have tons more power. Mine was plenty of powerful enough to plow as much snow as a truck. Heater in cab works awesome. Can plow in tshirt and jeans is you perfer. Slight problem with fogging as the heater doesnt really have any duct work that blows on the huge glass doors or windows. I would go with the blizzard plow they make a plow for the gator. My powertach work good just had some problems being reliable and when i would get warm it wouldnt work.


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## ND-Blackhawk

*I am on my third John Deere gator, all Diesels. The last one was a 2009 850D XUV with a PowerTach blade that I traded for a 2011 855D with a PowerTach blade. The old blade lift did not work well at all, while the curve/roll to the blade was perfect there were so many issues with the lift. They have changed the new blades by increasing the motor size, they increased the size of the solenoid for better stability which was the main problem and they also decreased the size of the orifice for better blade control, I have hopes that these changes will solve some of the previous problems encountered. I live out in the country 15 miles from the nearest village and have half a mile of private road to clear. With my old Gator snow fog inside and outside the cab was a major problem mostly because snow goes through the radiator and heavy moist air is the result sticking to the windshield, you almost certainly have to block off the radiator to prevent snow from passing through, I expect the same problem with the new Gator. Noise is a major issue in the Deluxe cabs with no improvement from the 850's to the 855's. The cab is totally not, I said not, sealed and is always dirty from the dust and dirt and other debris coming across the front of the dash etc. I am in the process of ordering 4 season tracks for the Gator but if I had to do it all over again I would probably be driving a Kubota 1100 with a Curtis blade and tracks, the Kubotas don't have real good traction but they also don't have a belt drive. The belt is okay for about 200 hours than you get a lot of vibration going on which adds to the noise and annoyance. I also don't like the John Deere heater because it takes what little storage room you have. Kubota cabs are warm and air conditioned and sealed and deserve a close look in my opinion.*


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## csx5197

I would agree that the Kubota cabs are pretty nice and yes the belt issue kind of scares me too. But have you ever driven the Kubota? The hydrostatic transmission makes you eat the dash everytime you let off the gas pedal. They also don't handle nearly as well as the Gator, but thats just my opinion

I will have to look into the boss v-plow on a gator, I haven't seen that yet.


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## inspiron23

If you have a Kubota RTV....and don't like the way the hydro system stops. You can put on a coast valve. Just type "kubota coast valve" in ebay. I have one on mine it works awesome...it coasts just like a belt driven does. I have over over 1000 hours on it and it still works good.


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## shooterm

I've been looking into the gator as my little "district" driveway machine. Anyways I found a bunch of links to belt problems when they get wet. Have they ever addressed it or have you guys found this to be unfounded?


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## plowfever

I plowed with my 620i gator for three years and never had one single belt issue. I would recommend a gator to anyone that is looking. even if you do replace a belt every couple years it is still cheaper than replacing the hydro on the kubota machine.


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## shooterm

I read a few problem with the cab and heating. Did you have the cab mounted or cabless?


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## gottaloveOT

I work for a government agency and we have 2 620i XUV gators with the deluxe cab and heaters as well as the Powertach plows.

We absolutely HATE the plows. We have had nothing but problems with them ever since we bought them so stay away from those. We just had a salesman stop by with a Gator HPX with the Boss V blade and it is absolutely awesome. Litterally takes 10 seconds to hook up and drop. These plows are identical to the truck version just smaller. Same controller too. The dealers recommend getting the power steering if you run this plow though. I recommend power steering period! It makes everything so much easier.

The Gators work great in the snow. They push really well and pile high since you can drive right up the pile. The heater works well but they lack a floor duct so your feet get cold. The inside does fog up but you can direct one of the ducts to blow on the windshield. It is very noisy too but out of the 4 Gators we have total, they are all loud.

I would like a couple of the new 825's to replace the 620's we have but they seem to work just fine.


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## shooterm

Thanks for the info. I plow at night for another company and come home for a few driveways for myself in the morning. There all close right within six city blocks. Basically looking at this to carry the snowblower/salter and bust open driveways. I'm going back and forth on the gator and the 1100 kubota for next year. My personal truck wont touch a plow.


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## gottaloveOT

We also have AccuSpread drop spreaders on the back of the Gators. They work well for sidewalks as they don't overcast the concrete like the broadcast spreaders.


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## NitroX5

Shooterm-

I would suggest going with the Kubota 1100 when you are ready to buy. When I started looking at this setup, I had my heart set on the Gator, but thought I should look at the Kubota. Kubota won hands down. Absolute night and day difference. The cab on the Gator absolutely sucks. Plus the Kubota has a hydro tranny versus a belt drive that may slip in it gets wet. Alot more standard features on the Kubota versus the Gator you have to add them (that way they can nickel and dime you to death). I have had only two plow events so far with the Kubota, one being 13 inches of the heaviest snow one would care to see, I really don't forsee anything that it wouldn't go through.


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## csx5197

I'm still hoping to find a good picture of the Gator with the Boss V-Plow


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## dougieb

boss simply the best. reliabilty


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## gottaloveOT

csx5197;1138033 said:


> I'm still hoping to find a good picture of the Gator with the Boss V-Plow


How good a picture do you want?

We should be getting one of our Gators back today with a brand new shiny Boss-V.


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## gottaloveOT

All I have for now. I will get better ones when I can get it outside.

Haven't used it yet but I noticed the outside edges of the plow, when in VEE mode, don't touch the ground. They are up 3/4"-1". This unit also squats pretty good and it has the upgraded struts. The machine is a 625i. The new XUV units sit higher so that might not be such a big problem.


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## gottaloveOT

Better pictures


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## gottaloveOT




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## mikemyers13

*This is my baby!*



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## mikemyers13

*and she is street legal!*



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## gravelyguy

UTV are street legal in MI? I have taken mine on the road here in Indiana and the police haven't stopped me, but it's not legal.


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## hghgrad

Yes, you can legalize some utv's in mi 

We also don't have any sort of smog testing or vehicle inspection process.


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## gravelyguy

hghgrad;1188791 said:


> Yes, you can legalize some utv's in mi
> 
> We also don't have any sort of smog testing or vehicle inspection process.


You're lucky! I would take mine everywhere if they were legal here. What I don't understand is around here mopeds are street legal, no drivers license or insurance even required. My gator with seatbelts, roll cage, and functioning lights is not legal.


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## rjlucas4th

If you want to see a Gator with a V-Plow in actoin, Boss added some vids on youtube of their Gator plowing and stacking snow. Pretty impressive!


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## gottaloveOT

Hey Mike, nice rig. I would love to trade our '08 Gators in for a couple of those new ones but we have 8 more years left on the leases. (yeah, I know. 10 year lease. Not our decision.)


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## gravelyguy

rjlucas4th;1188999 said:


> If you want to see a Gator with a V-Plow in actoin, Boss added some vids on youtube of their Gator plowing and stacking snow. Pretty impressive!


I saw them. The Boss plow looks promising.


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## gottaloveOT

If the weather station is correct, I will have some feedback for ya Wednesday morning.


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## gottaloveOT

Angle


Scoop


V


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## gravelyguy

How did the plow do backdragging compared to the Powertach? Did it scrape packed down stuff pretty well?


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## gottaloveOT

gravelyguy;1193953 said:


> How did the plow do backdragging compared to the Powertach? Did it scrape packed down stuff pretty well?


The guys told me they worked really well. Didn't leave much snow. The Boss plows are a lot heavier than the Powertach so I'm sure that helped.


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