ATV for plowing snow?

[Idaho45guy]

I have always had a house in town with a smaller driveway and walks. I have always shoveled snow by hand.

My current house has a 60' driveway, a 20' walk out front, and parking spots along the street in front that I typically use. It's about 70' of space that the city plow throws snow onto so I have to either shovel the giant berm away, or only park my 4x4 there and engage it every time I pull in or out.

Well, my dad passed in May and I inherited his 2006 Arctic Cat ATV with a plow. I had used it once before at his 10 acres to clear his drive for him, which was about 100yds.

Last week, we got about 3" of snow at my house, and I just got the ATV back from the shop (with only 450 miles on it and mint, it needed serviced and repaired), so I decided to forego the shoveling (except for the walk) and use the ATV.

Wow! What would have taken me a couple of hours with stopping every 10 minutes to prevent cardiac arrest, I was able to do in 15 minutes. I had so much fun that I then when and did the neighbor's drives and parking spots.

When the Arctic Cat again started having issues a couple of days later, I decided that I HAD to have a reliable ATV for plowing snow, exploring the woods, and hunting. So I did some research and ordered a 2024 Yamaha Kodiak 450 from the nearest Yamaha dealer.

I bought my first ATV 23 years ago in 2001. It was a Yamaha Kodiak 400. Base model 4x4. Cost $5100 brand new. Not a single issue with it until my ex-wife took it in the divorce in 2012.

This new machine is amazing. My brother bought one in 2022, and my mine will be identical except for the color. Both are the Kodiak 450 EPS SE models. They come with power steering, independent suspension, locking front differentials, and Warn winches. His was $7900 two years ago, and mine is $8300.

I'm having the dealer install a plow, since I will never not have an ATV with a plow again.

The ATV repair shop said I could sell the Arctic Cat for $5k, so not too much money out of pocket for a brand new and reliable machine.

I can't believe that I haven't owned an ATV with a snow plow until I was 54 years old!

Who else has one and can't imagine not having one?

[JRLesan]

I use my 955...

[dverna]

I had a plow on a SxS and it was not enough to deal with the amount of snow we can get. Two days ago I had to move 8-10" of snow and another 8-18" forecast in the next couple of days.

Machines to deal with snow are like gun calibers. One size does not fit all. Been down the road of a Snow Sport, SxS with plow, beater 1/2 ton pickup with cheap plow, tractor with back blade, tractor with front blade, tractor with inverted blower, and now the 3/4 ton with contractor grade blade. Of course, once I made the investment in the blower, we had the lowest snow falls four years in a row...but that may be changing.

I have an inverted blower for the tractor and have used it 12 times in 4 years. This year I got a decent deal on a pickup with dump bed and Western MVP 3 plow. The MVP handled the first snow event (8-10") and I was planning to sell the blower as it is an expensive attachment for the limited use over the last four years. The MVP will get a real test during this coming event. I am going to put a face cord of firewood in the bed of the truck this morning for ballast. Will see if God is sending me a message...LOL.

I have a 250 yard drive and large parking and turn around area to clear. It is nice being in the cabbed tractor, or pickup truck when it is cold and blowing.

An ATV with plow would work for snow I can drive through with our pickups. But it is a decent solution for a lot of folks with less snow and less surface to clear. It would be daunting for what we will see in next 36 hours....8-18" and winds gusting 45-60 mph.

[dverna]

I45G,

When I tried the SxS, chains helped in deeper snow, but they are not perfect. Something to think about if you start having traction issues. I still have them, and you can have them for the cost of shipping if they fit. I will get the size to see if they will work on your ATV if you are interested.

[compass will]

I had a 2005 polaris ATP 500HO I used for snow plowing in PA. I had 500' of wide driveway and a parking area. Plus I used to keep my neighbors 1200 foot stone driveway open. I would even work on the street to try to push back snow to stop the snow plow from pushing the driveway closed.
Snow plowing can be hard on anything, even an ATV. I bet a plow cutting edge would last around 2 years. The plow frame broke around the 10 year mark, luckily the dealer had one as they were discontinued. I recommend you have the tools on hand to cut and crimp your winch wire as its going to fray and break often. I switched to rope which broke more often, but I could tie it out in the field instead of dragging the plow home in down position to use the crimp tools for the steel wire.
I built my own chains out of old car chains. I had double the cross links on them. Once factory tires wore out I switched to Carlisle all trail tires (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O5MW6Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1).they worked ok in light snow but they were great because as long as I would keep the rear electric posi turned off they would not tear up my grass doing chores.

The thing about ATV's and snow is you got to get after the snow before it gets over 6" deep or so. The plow is only so tall and it can't lift a lot of snow, if you wait to long you will end up not being able to roll the snow off the blade and instead need to keep pushing it to the side. Plus since the plow don't live too far, if your snow banks get to high you run out of places to push the snow. If its a big storm, you have to get out there every couple hours.

When your on the ATV you need to have the proper snow gear on.(I used to use a snowmobile suite, with my heated motorcycle jacket that ran off 12v on the ATV (same dongle I used for battery tender). Problem is with all the headlights on, winch use and the 4 amps for the jacket the battery would go low some times when using ATV so you had to plug it into charger. Wear a helmet. I have been thrown off the ATV hitting stuff with the plow.

When I left PA I sold the ATV with the house. I don't miss snow plowing one bit. but yes at ATV was better then shoveling. I never had snow blowers but I bet the ATV was better than a big blower if you have a stone driveway.

[georgerkahn]

I wonder if an ATV could make snow-piles of any height? Years back I used a Wheel Horse garden tractor equipped with a plow, and -- with tire chains -- I could PUSH a ton of the white stuff, but -- maybe my lack of technique? -- it wasn't too good at making piles of it -- 'specially the wet, heavy stuff. Then came the Kubota BX25d....322019322020

[rockrat]

When I got my first ATV back in '88, it was a Suzuki quad runner and I got a plow with it. Dealer laughed that I had gotten a plow as where I lived, I could only remember one 12" snow in the past 20 years. Guess what, we had a 14" snow 10 days later!! Had a short driveway at the time, so plowed it and about a block of our street.
Moved to CO and I still use that Suzuki and blade, a couple times a year.

[HBAR2989]

I still use our old 96 Honda 300 FW 4x4.lt does great on the driveway, and has been paid for for along time.

[Rapier]

The Kubota XRV has a PTO hookup, front and rear, 1,100# hydrolic dump bed, mower and snow blower attachments with 3 point hitch kit front and rear, and standard frame box slide in trailer ball mounts front and rear, is a 4x4 diesel, with an enclosed cab with AC / heat, plus a radio and CD player, is very easy to make road usable, as it comes full equipped to do so out of the shute, all you need do is just get an inspection and tag. The Kubota comes with a stout price tag and fairly long wait time. However, the re-sale is about what you pay for them and never had a problem with mine.
This is my Kubota XRV, I mounted a rifle rack in the back window. They do require a larger trailer due to the larger foot print, got a 6x12 with a reinforced gate to haul this and the Scag.

[G W Wade]

I45G,

When I tried the SxS, chains helped in deeper snow, but they are not perfect. Something to think about if you start having traction issues. I still have them, and you can have them for the cost of shipping if they fit. I will get the size to see if they will work on your ATV if you are interested.

Might be interested in chains if they would work on my 4 wheeler. GW

[MostlyLeverGuns]

We have a Kawasaki 4010 Mule SxS with a plow, it is very limited in how much snow it can push. Mostly, we can drive through the snow with a 4-wheel drive pickup that it can't move. We might get 5" of snow, bare ground with 3 foot wind packed drifts. The SxS just won't handle it. A chained up four wheel drive pick-up handles most of it, but we do have an 85hp New Holland with a front loader for the really ugly stuff. The SxS with plow mostly sits. It is 209 yards to the county road from the house with another 300-400 yards of driving/walking paths, with snow varying completely based on wind.

[Minerat]

Mine is a Honda Rincon 650. But I only use it when we get more than 8" with wind, otherwise I use a snowblower as I'm in town. This is about 3 times a year. But I park it in the garage facing out just as a warning to the weather gods against getting too frisky . That worked pretty good last year as I only needed it once.:)

[Tripplebeards]

I have an O2 Arctic cat 400 I bought with a plow for $1800 that was two years old at the time. One of my employees was going to get it repo’d. I used it yesterday and the day before for the first time because we finally got snow. It works awesome but it doesn’t do as good as a snowblower or a shovel which I don’t care because it saves an hour and a half shoveling versus two minutes. lol. I’ll have to go through the brakes again. I did it when I first got it. The brake lever has always had no resistance, and then I pump it up every year to plow. It’s about the only time I use it. I went to pump it up and it wouldn’t pump up this year because there was no fluid in that master cylinder. I added fluid and figured it would vertical bleed by itself. No luck after sitting for a couple of months so the other day I took the master cylinder, cover off and pumped it for about 20 minutes until the air bubbled up out of the master cylinder and got my brakes back. I see we got snow again this morning. I’ll have to get my butt out there and plow. The only time I ever use that four wheeler is for plowing since I’ve had it. I think I took it out and drove it two or three times through the years other than that o my land. I don’t have enough acreage and it’s steep to drive it around so I just walk around to get exercise on my land and hunt, but it sure comes in handy for plowing.


I was at the Salvation Army the other day looking for pewter. One of the employees donated his four-year-old Troy built bronco 42 lawn tractor! It looks like brand new. He said he paid $2200 for it and I got it for 300 bucks. Just needs a battery. I jumped it and ran it around in my yard. It runs and drives like brand new so that will be my new trail cutter.

[MrWolf]

I have a Polaris Ranger 550 Crew and tried plowing with it here on shale mountain roads. Wasn't that good due to the rocks and such. Got my Kubota BX23 with a manual plow (manually adjust angles) and it was a huge difference. I also have the cab enclosure with zippers and velcro. Keeps me mostly OK, can get cold but I am doing 3/4 mile of shale mountain roads so...

[.45Cole]

Case 222 and a pushblade or if things get really western it has a 48" snowcaster. If things are REALLY bad I'd like to try my Case 646 with the loader. Sure beats breaking your back and wasting time. The little Case 222 and snowcaster could clear my ~300' blacktop driveway faster than my big Case 320 skip loader with blade!

[Winger Ed.]

Humans aren't designed for that kind of weather.

I figure if it snows more than about 3 inches or lasts more than 3-4 days in one year--
It's time to buy a for sale sign to put in the yard and move farther South.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yamahas are the way to go at least in my experience.

[Outer Rondacker]

I have had a atv with a plow most of my life. A few years back I built this new house and although the driveway is not long its still 1300+ feet to the road. I would be lost without the atv and plow. The old king-quad 750 has earned its keep plowing that is for sure.

[panhed65]

I have been plowing my driveway with an atv for about 25 years now. have 2 Honda foremans, both have plows. driveway is close to 3/4 a mile, dirt going up hill where it connects with the blacktop road. I also use a tractor with a bucket loader, mostly if it is too deep or real slushy, but a bucket is a pain to plow with, used to do that for a living in winter. beats shoveling like I did when younger and living on the farm, where the driveway was only about 100 yards.
Barry

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've had a couple Polaris ATV's with snow plows, then I bought a new 2004 Honda Foreman 450.
For my uses, The Honda is a BIG step up over the polaris, mostly due to having a real transmission, instead of a belt and centrifugal clutch like the Polaris and your Kodiak 450 eps se. The Honda acts more like a tractor than a trail machine, so there is pros and cons. All I know is I'm glad to no longer have to swap out $50 belts every other season.

I am in town, plowing paved driveways and sidewalks, the Honda 4x4 (without chains) does everything needed, if there was chains on it, they'd rip or scratch everything up. I've done some gravel farm driveway type plowing, and chains on the rear wheels really helped a lot in that situation.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I wonder if an ATV could make snow-piles of any height? Years back I used a Wheel Horse garden tractor equipped with a plow, and -- with tire chains -- I could PUSH a ton of the white stuff, but -- maybe my lack of technique? -- it wasn't too good at making piles of it -- 'specially the wet, heavy stuff. Then came the Kubota BX25d....322019322020

I use a technique as I have limited snow storage space. Early in the season, I pack the snow with the ATV and kind of build a ramp with that packed snow going toward where I want the pile to grow to. So, like a bulldozer pushing gravel/soil up a hill, my Honda is able to push snow up the hard pack snow ramp. One year, I built a pile as high as 12 feet, sadly I don't have a photo of that one. The photo below the pile is about 8 feet.

322034

[Outer Rondacker]

I use a technique as I have limited snow storage space. Early in the season, I pack the snow with the ATV and kind of build a ramp with that packed snow going toward where I want the pile to grow to. So, like a bulldozer pushing gravel/soil up a hill, my Honda is able to push snow up the hard pack snow ramp. One year, I built a pile as high as 12 feet, sadly I don't have a photo of that one. The photo below the pile is about 8 feet.

322034

yup mine look like that. Just need to start a ramp. But to save time I cheat with the backhoe when the piles get to big to push back.

[pmer]

I'm a little north of the twin cities and missed that big snow storm that hit southern Minnesota and went east past Wisconsin. I have a 6 foot snow blower that connects by 3 piont to a Farmall but it's slow compared to the ATV with a snow blade. I found the ATV is great up to 5-6 inches depending how wet the snow is or if there's ice on top. It's a fuel injected 450 Suzuki.

[10x]

-35C to -40C here the past few days. Not interested in blowing, shoveling, or plowing snow.