# What is the absolute the most snow you can plow with a atv?



## flyingdutch16

Hey guys,

Im thinking about buying an atv and put a plow it for this upcoming winter.
Thing is I had a plow for my craftsman tractor and the most it could plow was 3inches tops. Pretty much useless. 

So I would like to know how many inches you plow with an atv. Dont know what kind of blade ill be getting any tips on that maybe to? Im completely new to this so bare with me.

Thanks guys!


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## cold_and_tired

Mine will handle 6" of fluffy stuff or 4" of wet stuff before it has problems. When I load up the racks with sand tubes, it will push just about anything.

A lot of it will depend on the weight of the machine, traction and power. Mine isn't the best in any of those departments.


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## vegaman04

Add some good weight to the rear and you would be amazed at how much an atv can push. Ive pushed more than 14" of heavy stuff in 4 low.


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## fordtruck661

I have a Polaris 450 and i have never had any problems pushing snow. The most i have had to plow was 2 feet and around 3 feet at the end of driveway. Yes it will take much longer when there is lost of snow but it will get done. The worst was when it would only snow 1 or 2 inches and then ice over top then you have a big problem getting the plow to get under it. The next worst part is have to be out in the cold (the reason I am selling my quad and buying a truck)


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## flyingdutch16

Thanks guys this really helped with the dam craftsman i could only push 3-4 inches max. This will definitely help with buying an atv.

And as for being out in the cold, ive got a good ski jacket and some good pants. Plus im still young(16) so wont be no problem for me!


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## OCPW

My 2WD honda foreman has pushed 15 inches.


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## Plow man Foster

OCPW;1296469 said:


> My 2WD honda foreman has pushed 15 inches.


:laughing::laughing: funny.


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## mercer_me

With my 2004 Arctic Cat 500 4x4 with a 60" regular blade I can push 4" wet and 6" fluffy. If the blade was taller I think I push more when the snow is fluffy. When the snow is wet you can't get enough traction eaven with chains.


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## sublime68charge

lots of varibles to this, Type of snow wet vs fluff,
size of ATV 400cc to 800cc weight of ATV also. How big a blade 48" to 60" what type of surface you plowing on Grass/Gravel/Cement/Pavment? Tire chains help alot for traction as well as extra weight.

chains can be hard on Cement/Pavment and leave marks if you due alot of spinning.

upper limits of the setup's I run is around 12" that amount of snow is not fun fast or easy to move but I have got it done. though once I get past 8" these day's I go and get the blower out. till that break's down and I'm back to the ATV and Plow.


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## wizardsr

They can move a surprising amount of snow. Ours has been great in all but the drifts. The drifts in some areas can get packed so hard they're tough to move even with a blower. An ATV is a giant step above a garden tractor in the snow.


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## Yooper75

You can plow as much as the machine can push(I know that sounds sarcastic but it's not), and you will find out what your machine/blade combo can move at any given time. Quite a bit of it is also technique and throttle control depending on what conditions you have at the moment as well as what kind of surface you are on. The only way to know is get on the machine and do it. I am changing how I move snow constantly and learning what works and does not work with what ever machine I am running whether it's our loader with a 12ft pusher at work, my John Deere 312 with a blower or blade, or my four wheeler with a 48in blade.


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## jim331656

I'm right across the river in south jersey and didn't have a single problem with any of the snow we got last year. I have a 420 4wd honda rancher with swamp lite tires and a 50" moose plow. The biggest storm I had some traction issues making the first pass down the driveway but once I had that clear it was cake.


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## hghgrad

I've got a 350 4x4 Honda. I was pushing 12" on a regular basis this past winter. It was mostly on cement, but it did outstanding on the gravel also. I'm only pushing a 52" blade though.


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## My07Brute

On my Brute with 26" Big horns aired down (4.5 psi in the front, 3-3.5psi in the rear) on pavement in 4WD its almost unstoppable as long as you control the throttle.

Heavy wet stuff sucks (have done 6" of it and had to fight a little), fluffy stuff is easy as can be, 12+ is a joke and tends to run over the top of the blade (have the rubber flap now because of it).

The hardest part is getting the first path when there is heavy stuff of a layer of ice on top, after that its cake.

I'm about 230lbs, the quad is prolly 700lbs so that close to 1000lbs of traction (i do put some weight on the back rack and it help a bit.


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## Yooper75

I also have my tires set a 6-7psi and there is a Kolpin mini pick up bed on the back and it's a tank pushing snow. If you are going to be backing out into a road or working around one I would suggest putting a LED beacon or stobe on it. I have had people almost hit me a couple times working on my neighbors drive way and waiting to back into traffic.


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## SNOWBEARLTD

Our SnowBear ATV plow can handle quite a bit..It's rear hitch mounted to reduce stress on the ATV frame.. We use it to dig ourselves out here in Canada.. check out the video















Happy Plowing!


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## wizardsr

SNOWBEARLTD;1300950 said:


> Our SnowBear ATV plow can handle quite a bit..It's rear hitch mounted to reduce stress on the ATV frame.. We use it to dig ourselves out here in Canada.. check out the video
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> Happy Plowing!


Looks like it works pretty good, but why on earth is he pushing all the snow towards the building! 

BTW, your website is down...


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## Cyber36

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsee pop???


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## RugerRedhawk

I can push a lot with my Foreman 450. Just be sure it's a 4x4 obviously. Really I can even push uphill with this thing. You'll want decent tires. For me the only limiting factor is really the height of the plow. I could probably plow a foot if I needed to, but it would be a huge mess since it would be falling over the top of the plow and would take forever. I try to get out and hit it a couple times during a storm, but definitely not every 3". More like every 4-6" if you want to make it easy on yourself.


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## trqjnky

I was thinking about getting a quad but for the 7-8 k they go for new, a small skidloader seems a better way to go. of course you dont have a fun toy the rest of the year like a quad.


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## RugerRedhawk

trqjnky;1302267 said:


> I was thinking about getting a quad but for the 7-8 k they go for new, a small skidloader seems a better way to go. of course you dont have a fun toy the rest of the year like a quad.


Yeah I do ride it a bit in the summer and use it during dear season so it's definitely dual purpose. A tractor would really be best.


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## outdoorfan

The last several years I've plowed with my 1990 Honda fourtrax 300 and Moose 50" plow. Tires are Outlaw MST's. I have 100 lbs of salt bags on the back. No chains. A few winters ago we had two storms back-to-back that were 18" and 15" of very wet snow. It took a while to get through it, but it got through it.


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## outdoorfan

trqjnky;1302267 said:


> I was thinking about getting a quad but for the 7-8 k they go for new, a small skidloader seems a better way to go. of course you dont have a fun toy the rest of the year like a quad.


Nonsense! Nobody HAS to have a new quad. I got mine used. Works just fine. I have no more than $3500-4000 into my quad, including the price I paid for it, all repairs since I've had it (bought it in 2003), and tires/plow for it.

Nothing wrong with buying a new piece of equipment, but nobody has to.


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## IPLOWSNO

i have plowed the absolute most snow with a wheeler hahahahahahaahhaha


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## irv

you can get a cab for less than 200.00 if you dont want snow and wind on you.
once you have one you wont do without.--irv


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## Arly

*why no photos??*

I think some photos in the thread would be helpful, so here is one. Bear in mind I was heading downhill.


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## IPLOWSNO

yea pics of atvs pushing snow would be better huh


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## silverstreek

During one storm we had 30" of snow dumped on us. Being I was trying to watch out for one of our neighbors who was 7 months pregnant, and while her husband was called out to plow snow for the Government Facility where he's employeed (he had no choice in the matter). I fired the Foreman up and plowed their uphill driveway of 200'.

As I was just pushing the last bit of snow out of the way the neighbors husband called. He told her knowing how much trouble they were having with the equipment plowing snow where he was, he knew my ATV wouldn't be able to handle this snow. She was told she'd have to wait until he got home, and he would shovel them out to the road.

He about died when she told her husband I had just finished plowing their driveway with my little ATV.

Depending on the size, and how it's equiped is how much snow an ATV will plow.

Here is a photo of me and the Honda in 3rd gear running around the neighborhood plowing our road so we could get to the main road. The County Plows were unable to get to us because they were trying to keep the main roads clear. Oh, there is a Plow under all of this snow. You just have to trust me on that one!


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## outdoorfan

That's an impressive amount of snow. My Honda 300 Fourtrax (with bigger tires) doesn't have the power past 2nd gear to push anything of substance. When the snow is wet and heavy the weight of the quad is the limiting factor. It gets thrown off kilter in deep heavy snow when the plow is fully angled. Light snow isn't a problem. It'll blow through that.


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## silverstreek

outdoorfan;1344837 said:


> That's an impressive amount of snow. My Honda 300 Fourtrax (with bigger tires) doesn't have the power past 2nd gear to push anything of substance. When the snow is wet and heavy the weight of the quad is the limiting factor. It gets thrown off kilter in deep heavy snow when the plow is fully angled. Light snow isn't a problem. It'll blow through that.


It's kind of hard to describe the type of snow. It wasn't real wet, nor was it powder. It was the type of snow that one could make perfect snowballs out of if that helps?

And trust me. I'm not a crazy person who laughs at danger (anymore! A bunch of back surgeries took the fire right out of me for doing that crazy stuff) The reason I was in 3rd gear was because I wanted to try and throw the snow as far to the side as I could. If I went slow, the snow would stick together and just accumulate in front of the plow even when I had it angled.

Once I got going with the 26" Mudlites, the machine was able to run just fast enough to throw the snow to the side. Once I finally got going and getting the snow off to the side, the snow actually made the machine more stable feeling. I didn't need any weight on the back either. I guess it was enough to have my 265 lbs on the seat so the rear was getting enough traction.


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## dbb62

I have used my Yamaha 450 for two winters - never had a problem, even when we had a blizzard on Christmas eve of about 14 inches. Make sure you get a 4 wheel drive. I prefer the CVT transmission to a button shift, but not looking to start an argument over which brand to buy. I picked up my 05 with less then 500 miles for $3500, and spent another $1000 to put a 48" warn plow and electric lift on it. I went small on purpose so I could clear walkways - no complaints. It works great and can get into lots of places a truck can't. Had to put on some new tires this year, but never needed any extra weight to maintain traction (I'm about 250 already). Looked at the bigger bikes, but figured I didn't need it, and I am glad I stayed small to save $'s and room in the garage.


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## RLM

We have a Artic cat 500. When we used it we could plow anything we needed to. Put two extra bags of melt on it for extra weight, power was never a problem, it has a 50"'(I think) Artic cat plow on it, it was the smaller of the 2 plows they sold, I remember that, I bought it to do sidewalks. We no longer use because I lost the contracts that had all the smaller sidewalks, now we just use our trucks. 
Only issues I had was finding a person capable of towing & the road salt/corrosion (they dont do anything to protect them). If I were to need it again I would fab something so we could use it with our box truck (didn't have at the time).


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## outdoorfan

silverstreek;1344945 said:


> It's kind of hard to describe the type of snow. It wasn't real wet, nor was it powder. It was the type of snow that one could make perfect snowballs out of if that helps?
> 
> And trust me. I'm not a crazy person who laughs at danger (anymore! A bunch of back surgeries took the fire right out of me for doing that crazy stuff) The reason I was in 3rd gear was because I wanted to try and throw the snow as far to the side as I could. If I went slow, the snow would stick together and just accumulate in front of the plow even when I had it angled.
> 
> Once I got going with the 26" Mudlites, the machine was able to run just fast enough to throw the snow to the side. Once I finally got going and getting the snow off to the side, the snow actually made the machine more stable feeling. I didn't need any weight on the back either. I guess it was enough to have my 265 lbs on the seat so the rear was getting enough traction.


We got 9.5 inches of snow last Saturday, and I got a chance to rip across a field that I was trying to keep open. Anyhow, 3rd gear wasn't a problem with this lighter more fluffy (snowball type) snow. What held me back was the stuff that was getting blown over the blade and into my face not allowing me to see (I was plowing at night). But, the quad handled that 9.5 inches just fine.


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## SNOWBEARLTD

Here you will find a video of how easy it is to install a SnowBear Universal ATV plow.


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