Front snow blade for Kubota RTV 900

   / Front snow blade for Kubota RTV 900 #1  

Franko

Bronze Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
71
Location
Schuylkill County, PA
Tractor
Kubota B7800/RTV900
I was looking into snow removal on our 900 foot blacktopped driveway using our 2005 RTV 900 here in East Central PA. I found a couple of websites that look like they have front blades/winches that would fit and do the job. Has anyone out there tried out the Denali plows from MotoAlliance or the Eagle Plows from NorthStarATV?

http://motoalliance.com
http://northstaratv.com

Also, I am not sure how convenient the winches are for lifting the blade. Does it go up reasonably fast so you can lift it and back up and then drop it and drive forward to plow?

I used to use our B7800 CUT to plow snow with a 6 foot rear blade (and loader as necessary). We have some pretty decent inclines that gave me some scary winter moments until I started using chains with that tractor (tires not loaded). Before putting on the chains, it was important to scrape down to bare pavement on the first pass down the inclines. If I left even a thin skin of snow, it would get compressed down to ice on the return trip up and there would be no return trip up. The chains make that somewhat better but I still aim for a good clean path going down. The RTV with worksite tires seems to have a good amount of traction and I am counting on that to get me up and down the inclines while plowing. I have chains for the RTV that were purchased way back when for emergency use but were never actually used so they are there if I have to use them. I hate the bumpy ride that you get with chains though.

I would greatly appreciate hearing from any who use this kind of gear on their steep driveways, and as always, thanks in advance for your comments!
Franko
 
   / Front snow blade for Kubota RTV 900 #2  
Can't speak to the plow brands but ATV plows use the winch lift and see to do OK as long as they aren't cycled too many times. On a 900' driveway that shouldn't be an issue...The lift time is most certainly faster than an electric actuator.

I would suggest placing rubber below your cutting bar for a nice clean sweep. I use that on some paved driveways around here and it works really well, plus the asphalt seems to help the snow melt off and dry rather quickly...I use a piece of machine belt with a home made bar bolted to the cutting bar to pinch the belt.
 
   / Front snow blade for Kubota RTV 900 #3  
Winches work well for lifting the blade the only thing I would recommend is swapping your winch cable with a strap...a steel cable will not last very long lifting your plow....it will break when you need it right in middle of a storm. I removed my cable and used duct tape wrapped on my Warn winch drum to secure the first couple feet of a winch strap (like you would use on a boat trailer winch) and then put around 6-9 feet of strap on the drum. (put on what fits because you'll only use about 4 feet of it anyway.


The winch is fast and at least in the case of my Warn winch it held up great on my RTV 500 and later my Gator 825i along with my Eagle straight and V plow. You will have to remember to back off the banks a hair before you lift up or you'll be putting a lot of unnecessary strain on your winch and electrical system. I used the Eagle plows for a number of years and they worked pretty well, I recently switched to Boss to get a fully hydraulic plow with a taller blade and a bit heavier frame system but comparing the cost of each the Eagle is a good value.
 
   / Front snow blade for Kubota RTV 900 #4  
My brother in law recently bought a RTV900 which I found out about today when I saw him. He asked me if I knew anyone that would be interested in buying the snow plow (front blade) off of it since he has no use for it due to such little snow here. There is a winch on the front of his tractor which I guess lifts the blade. Any recommendations of what he should do to get it gone?
 
   / Front snow blade for Kubota RTV 900
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I will message you. I would like to know more about it.
 
   / Front snow blade for Kubota RTV 900
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Update on my RTV-snow plow. I went ahead and purchased a 72 inch Denali Pro country blade package from MotoAlliance. This included everything I needed - plow, custom mount tube for the RTV900, plow markers, rubber top flap, skids, winch snow strap, and all the hardware. I couldn't resist the HydroTurn option (electric-hydraulic right-left control), so I added that, as well as the dash switch. I also got one of their winch packages, the Viper Elite snow winch and mount plate for the RTV and dash switch.

I am not the most experienced mechanic, but I am happy to report that the installation of the blade and winch and mounts went very well. I was not aware that I had to drill a few holes in the bottom of the bumper support for the mount tube, but it turned out to be pretty easy and it was nice to see the blade mount so well-attached to the RTV.

The electrical was a little more stressful for me, but the instructions were good and I got it all done. I was pleased to see that the optional illuminated dash switches fit perfectly into holes in the RTV dash. I used the 'horizontal' turn signal blank for the right/left control and the 'vertical' hole for the winch up/down. The plugs just popped out and the switches fit right in.

The quality of the gear and the fit and finish are excellent, IMO. Service was great too - the first plow became lost at a UPS facility and Motoalliance got a new one on its way within a day. Impressive.

I have a 2005 Worksite RTV900 and am trying the blade without the optional RTV heavy duty front springs. I don't see any problem so far, although I do feel the front settle down a little when the winch lifts the blade.

Operation: I had a chance to plow some snow today. To sum it up - what a dream! I am used to a little 'excitement' with my B7800 on the inclines that I have to deal with, and I was really wondering what the RTV would be like out there. Well, I never even bothered with 4WD and it went down and UP the hills with plow down with no slipping. Now this was a test run with only a couple of inches of dry snow, so it is not a real serious test. But my B7800 tires always tended to ice up the driveway by compressing a thin layer of snow, and this makes it nasty getting up and down the inclines. The RTV does not seem to do this, so far. I went up and down multiple times and there was no icing up. What was really nice was the speed and maneuverability of the RTV compared to the B7800. And the cab! And being able to adjust the blade side-to-side with a dash switch! And having the blade in front so I could watch my direction and plow at the same time without hitting any curbs. With that rear blade on the B7800, I would tend to go off the road at the front (if I was watching the blade and curb way back there) or the hit the curbing with the plow if I was facing forward and watching where I was going. So I had to go pretty slow to keep on track. With the RTV, I can plow darn fast. I think I can even use the country blade to throw the snow pretty good, but I need a little more of it to find out.

The only downside so far is my desire to really scrape that snow down to the pavement. I have to look at the blade angle to see if I can tilt it forward a little to get the best contact between the blade and asphalt. It is not bad, but I feel that the drive is not quite as clean as it would be with the rear blade on the B7800. I am not using the skids, so the blade is resting on the pavement when I plow.

Overall, I am very happy right now, so bring on more snow!

Frank
 

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