# How are ATVs in heavy snow?



## RLLServices

I need an ATV to add to my snow fleet and I have no experience with them at all in the snow. How is their power in 12'' or more snow? Wet snow? Would 500cc be sufficient? or should I seach for more like 700cc? I was also think of maybe getting a UTV so I could fit a snow blower in the bed of it......They usally have around 700-1000cc or so. What do you guys think? I mean is it really hard to get in driveways in difficult conditions? Not so worried about getting stuck if I have a winch.....but I still need to get the job done! Thanks!


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## Plowin in VT

I know that I'll probably get blasted for saying this, but my personal experience w/ATVs in deep heavy snow is that they suck. I have a Kawasaki Brute Force 650 which works great in a couple of inches, but when there was a lot of heavy wet snow on the ground , it was not able to push it very far at all. If you raise the blade to try and get a 1st pass, you will wind up packing snow down with your undercarriage and you'll get hung up and stuck.

As long as you plow with the storm and don't let it get ahead of you, you'll be fine w/the atv. If you already have a lot on the ground, you'd be better off w/a snow blower.


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## bowhunter74

Like he said plow with the storm, but you can't always do that. So you just have to make due. 500cc will have enough power, try taking about 1/2 the blade width, it's not a power problem it's traction, run the stock tires or that type, mud tires are worthless in snow, you want a nice footprint on the ground below for max traction. We had a lot of snow here last winter and I logged a hell of a lot of hrs. with my 750 Brute with no pushing problems. I run a cutting edge from a truck(wore that down last season also wesport), no skids, and put the hammer down time is money, I sub for 2 major companies doing the walks for them then do my driveways average about 14 to 16 hrs each good snow and work the 2nd day on late calls and realtor work (most was 23hrs. with 10 hrs. about 4hrs later + the second day) + 2nd and 3rd pushes and resalts when plowing with the storms (I got so damn sick of snow last year we got hit about every 3 days). You will wand a 60" blade unless you are doing very narrow walks, if running a small blade you will be narrower then the tires when angled and will pack the snow. Get a good warn winch no cheapo's, and a good blade moose or cycle country. I'm geared up again let it snow *****es payup .


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## lawnmasters2006

i have a 06 Polaris'swesport sportsman 800efi....plows awesome..big piles too,just have to build a ramp style pile an u cant stack as high as s v-blade.have ran chains on it too,but is ruff on side walks..but i have to use them in icy walkswesportwesport an drives


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## bowhunter74

lawnmasters2006;574119 said:


> i have a 06 Polaris'swesport sportsman 800efi....plows awesome..big piles too,just have to build a ramp style pile an u cant stack as high as s v-blade.have ran chains on it too,but is ruff on side walks..but i have to use them in icy walkswesportwesport an drives


I don't want to have to repair drives and walks from damage with chains.


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## Matt L.

I use a yamaha rino. 72" cycle country blade. I put 3 sandbags in the box. never had a problem pushing snow. It will keep pushing even with snow coming over the top of the blade. as stated earlier heavy wet snow u should plow with the storm.


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## mercer_me

500cc is plenty big enough.


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## ATVGUY

*Not always the size that matters*

A 500 wil work just fine. One quick note when you look at ATV's (use yamaha as an example) they use the same frame size from the new 550 through the 700. Now granted you get more power but read the specs, not much different from there.

One key issue with ATV plowing is the width. You really only want the plow size to equal just over the width of the tires, in the angled position. If you have a 500 the width is going to be less than 50" wide (stock tires). If you use a Cycle Country plow, lets say 54", when you angle it the width goes from 54" to 51" a 52" will go to 49".

With a 500 don't go any bigger than a 54" blade and if you really want to throw snow look at a Cycle Country 52" State Plow, you can throw snow for yards, not just feet!

You may also want to look at a Cycle Country V plow.. They make the only v plow for an ATV and the rumor is they are comming out with two new sizes, 48" and 54". With a v plow you don't get the atv "side kick" issues.

IF you really want to be the king of snow get ATV tracks. You can push a lot more and if it gets deep you can drive on top of the snow and "wind row" it out of the way. It is unreal what you can do with tracks.


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## EaTmYtAiLpIpEs

ya 500cc is big enough. even a 400 is good.


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## otis

I have an 08 Polaris Ranger 500 EFI and power is no problem. But weight is when I get into heavy wet snow. If you can plow when ever there is 4" or less no problem but when you get more than that you will spend at least twice as long getting the job done.


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## res12cue

I see that y'all are talking about the 500CC range of ATV's. I have a 08 Sportsman 500 HO. Is that going to be enough to push the Moose 60" county blade? My boss at work told me his brother in law had a 50" for his 500 quad (not sure what brand/model) and it was worthless, just couldn't push anything more than 2 or 3" of snow.


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## ATVGUY

*?*

I am not sure why he has issues with the 500. My girlfriend lives the the country and her driveway is about 1/4 mile in total. She has a 350 Honda Rancher with a cycle country state plow and she keeps it clean all winter long. At times she is pushing over a foot of snow!


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## Makndust

I plowed snow in our home town for 5 years with a fleet of 4 Polaris 400 Xplorers (2 stroke). We had 60" blades for all of them. They did fine until you got 6" of snow or more. In our country you very seldom get over 2-3" at a time so they worked fine. When things were at their best we were doing about 60 accounts. I have never made so much money with so little imput cost. Now I have 3 pickup and am broke.


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## otis

res12cue;601538 said:


> I see that y'all are talking about the 500CC range of ATV's. I have a 08 Sportsman 500 HO. Is that going to be enough to push the Moose 60" county blade? My boss at work told me his brother in law had a 50" for his 500 quad (not sure what brand/model) and it was worthless, just couldn't push anything more than 2 or 3" of snow.


Power is not the problem imho, it's not having enough weight to push much snow, especially wet heavy snow. If you can get on it with every 3 to 4 inches it will be fine.


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## ATVGUY

*Weight?*

Weight can be an issue but it is easy to overcome with a front and rear basket with weight in it. Also depends on if you have a place to push the snow. If it is clear and the snow has a place to go it is a deminensioning load.


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## res12cue

Thanks for the replies. I top out close to 300lbs so I don't think I will have a problem...


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## IPLOWSNO

hey guys im new here but have been viewing for awhile, i live in upstate ny so i know snow , i have plowed for years and then i bought a snowmobile lol, id rather play in it .

I have a 03 rincon 650 that i plow my driveway with. that is fun to use, but cold hehe. we have storms that dump copius amounts of snow,the days that you spend all day plowin and sno blowin, and roof shovelin. to finally get done and wake up the next day, to another balls deep blanket of snow, just to look over in the barn to see the150 ftx 4ft wide driveway for the wheelr is no more lol, that really would have sucked if i didnt have a snowblower lol.

you definately want to plow with the storm? imo and biggers better for sure ?


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## pby98

i have a rancher 350 with a 48 inch plow and it plows great. i push mostly dirt and stone and it does good with that.


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## sport-trac

i have an '04 Sportsman 500 HO with the 60" plow / warn wench on it.. does great like everyone says.. until the wet heavy stuff.. plow with the storm..

I would get a different set of tires than the knob ones that come on it.. they suck on the driveways if it is the least bit slippery though...

James


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## natueboy

*Not the best overall*

I have ran ATV's since 97 commercialy in our business, and anything over 8-10 inches absolutley suck for snow, especially on sidewalks. Reason why, the plow are only so tell and can only send snow so far to the sides, and on top of that they tend to push the snow to the ends, and not windrowing it at all in deeper snow. They don't have the height of a holder, or a skid loader plow. On top of that, city sidewalks is all we used them for. I hope this will help.


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## Sidewalk King

*reply to original question*

ATVs are horrible for wet heavy snow! I take both my Gizzly 660 and my QT 17 bolens lawn tractor on a trailer to all my accounts. The grizzly makes me the most money simply because I can fly around the condo sites but I have the PTO driven snow blower just in case it's too heavy to push. Even in regular fluffy snow falls the sidewalks along city streets usually become heavy because the city also salts while they plow like most people. The difference is they're usually doing 40mph so when they come back around later they're now throwing salted snow all the way up on the light stuff on the sidewalk causing it to some what melt and making it heavy.

As for using a UTV, they are nice for residential drive ways but are too big / wide and cumbersome for most applications. Using an ATV is way better because you can go up tenant walk ways without touching the grass, behind dumpsters and all the other small places you might not originally think of. I do one hospital that has like 7' sidewalks but there are a bunch of concrete post, bus stop enclosures and benches that I have to maneuver around and it just wouldn't be possible or efficient with a UTV.


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## kah68

ATVGUY;601606 said:


> I am not sure why he has issues with the 500. My girlfriend lives the the country and her driveway is about 1/4 mile in total. She has a 350 Honda Rancher with a cycle country state plow and she keeps it clean all winter long. At times she is pushing over a foot of snow!


 Honda's are great work machines (I've owned 2) I think with real gears (not belt drive) and the lesser power it would be easier to control wheel slip therefor keeping forward momentum. Honda is also the simplest machine (mechanically) and are easy to fix and with proper maint. the last a very long time.


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## Humvee27

I use mine at most of my accounts with sidewalks....I have a 330 ATP Polaris w/60" blade, superwinch for lifting....I also have 100lbs on the back dump bed to help with pushing....I think I will never be without one for the amount of money I have in it compared to everything else I own....


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## Chris-R

It's all about the tires. Stock tires are not what you want. Mud tires are not what you want. I used to run a Polaris 330 Magnum with Dirt Devil tires and it easily pushed snow. I remember one storm with 14 inches. I was too busy to use the ATV until after the storm. I wasn't sure if I would have to use a snowblower but, to my surprise, the ATV did the job very well. I now have a Sportsman 500EFI with Carlisle tires and the traction is not as good. I definitely could push more with the 330 Magnum than the 500. At some point, I'll get different tires for the 500 so I can get better traction.


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## pby98

i get plenty of traction with my stocks


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## Premier

*honda forman 450 es*



RLLServices;573783 said:


> I need an ATV to add to my snow fleet and I have no experience with them at all in the snow. How is their power in 12'' or more snow? Wet snow? Would 500cc be sufficient? or should I seach for more like 700cc? I was also think of maybe getting a UTV so I could fit a snow blower in the bed of it......They usally have around 700-1000cc or so. What do you guys think? I mean is it really hard to get in driveways in difficult conditions? Not so worried about getting stuck if I have a winch.....but I still need to get the job done! Thanks!


we have 2 quads with plows a 450cc foreman and a 500 rubicon. For the most part i just let the guys use the 450 foreman, cheaper on fuel, weight is about the same as the rubicon, i take the rubicon out from time to time. iv run several quads, and the Honda's have performed the best for the longest, we have 4500 miles on our foreman with no problems.wesport


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## IPLOWSNO

i woke up to 8 '' of the heavy wet snow, im thinkin a truck is the tool for the job. the fun factor wears quickly when you get older lol


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## GMCjim

Tires do play a big role. As does driving finesse. I plow circles around my neighbor, who runs a Grizzly 660 with aggressive tires, with my 350 Rancher with stock tires. I once had to pull the grizzly up the neighbors steep, paved driveway with my Rancher. They had the Grizz all chained up and too much air in the tires. They couldn't drive up the snow packed asphalt. I not only drove up it with no chains, I had the grizz hooked up to a strap and pulled them up too. 

So, a properly setup machine will do well in most snow. Their grizz sure can push the banks back further than my rancher though.


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## buzz

I have a Polaris Sportsman X2 500 that I use to plow my driveway (1/4 mile ) long with a 50 foot tall winding hill and it works fine! I miss my dodge truck that I used to plow with.
but back to the atv, yeah it struggles in heavy deep snow but I push it out so I have room when I cant get it to fly over the bank. I can plow going up hill but not the heavy stuff - just light snow and cleanup.6"

We had 6's of heavy wet snow last night and it handled it fine

it's also got the power you want for other jobs
just make sure you don't use a Polaris winch--- it wont last
you need a warn if your constantly raising and lowering your blade


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## sublime68charge

ATV's in heavy wet snow are just as bad as a 
28" 2 stage 10 HP blower would be in a 1" snow fall.

yes they can due the job, but its like peeing uphill in the wind.

you need to ask your self how many snow fall events due you have a year and what is the amount your pushing?

if your doing 10 events at 15" then a 2 stage blower is better.
if your doing 20 events that range from 1-4" for 10 then 4-8" for 5 and 5 more from 8-15" 
well your still ahead with the ATV and plow. 

I have done 3 drives and 1 city block of sidewalks for 6 years now with my ATV and 60" blade and been able to manage every year so far. It hasn't always been pretty or fun. But it has gotten the job done.

sublime out.

its like anything else having the right tool for the job at hand. 
a pipe wrench can drive a nail A hammer can due it better but that hammer's not so great at putting pipes together.
though my ATV I can use 7 other months of the year for various things.


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## buzz

Well said sublime68charge

I am in the 20+ event group 
I had Dodge Rams for my plowing but I had to lemon law my last one
and I'm not certain enough about our future, so I'm avoiding a new plow truck for a little bit

Bottom line The truck is the best but an ATV works, it just takes more time.

Buzz


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