Plowing with an ATV

[NS Gearhead]

BLEEP....what did those track additions cost and how long and complex is the conversion from tires to tracks?

They were about $5,500. Having said that I chose a cheaper atv, and financed them both together. It takes about an hour to go from tracks to tires or vise versa... so it's not something I'll be doing between seasonal changes. I got them to be able to go in the trails during the winter to keep from going shack whacky. They do that very well! Snow's about waste deep in spots and she goes along no prob. Helping plow is just an added bonus.

 

[Reg]

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No need to apologize my friend.


You are simply referring to what is called the
traction adhesion algebra problem.

You have a small vehicle with a plow and your vehicle has only so much weight to
provide you with traction and adhesion to push snow.

The point where the snow mass is greater in weight than the ATV has the ability to
overcome it with horsepower, torque, traction and adhesion to push the snow back is
the stalling point where the moving mass being your ATV and the plow can no longer
overcome the resistance of the snows weight which is why you cannot push the snow
banks back

SO:


Adding weight with windshield washer fluid in the tires will help along with adding
snow chains to the point where you can no longer push.

Putting a pair of pneumatic caster tires on the plow will also reduce the resistance and aid
in plowing too.

I have WWF and chains on my JDLA115 garden tractor and it was worthless with just
the chains and 2 suitcase weights without the windshield washer fluid.

IF your ATV is low horsepower or not 4WD I would just fill the rears and add chains to the rear wheels and perhaps a couple of bags of sand on the rear if you have a carry rack.

If you can afford chains buy them and add WWF to the tires as we still have lots of winter left.

The simple tire filling fill/air vent valves are not expensive from Gemplers. I used piece of garden hose and a funnel to fill my rear tires. I only wish I had 4 wheel drive.

Not so much lack of WEIGHT as lack of PRESSURE at wheel contact points.
I have heard that 6x4 Gators are hopeless in the snow and PART of the problem may be the WIDE tires - wide relative to the weight that they carry, IOW pressure of contact patch.

To the root post "largish rectangular area"
For any rectangle the amount of snow to be cleared is (obviously) area times depth.
Simple arithmetic; doubling the length of sides gives you twice as much length along which to shove it, but gives you four times as much area to clear.
This is PART of the reason that large shopping center lots are cleared as rows and mounds, otherwise they would run out of perimeter length.

 

[JDgreen227]

Reg...I used to plow snow here with my Deere 318 garden tractor and 54 inch front blade...even with WWF in the tires, 50 pounds of wheel weight on each rear wheel, chains, and 150 pounds of barbell weights hanging off the back it STILL lost traction frequently. No rear locker, with both rear wheels driving it would have been so much better and with 4WD it would have been unstoppable...but with only one driving wheel it was poor at pushing heavy snow.

With me aboard at 180 pounds I calculated the rig weighed close to 3/4 ton but it was really bad in deep and heavy snow.

 

[NS Gearhead]

Not so much lack of WEIGHT as lack of PRESSURE at wheel contact points.

Yup. My Jeep weighed 5,200lbs and wasn't the best because of the fat tires. I'd use momentum more then traction. It was great at stacking piles though because of flotation. It's a give and take.

 

[joeyd]

I have a Kawasaki 750 4x4 with a 5 foot blade and chains on all 4 wheels, this is a quick way to clean up 6-8 inches. I have a gravel drive and parking area so I slide a piece of 1.5" ABS over the cutting edge until the base freezes up. After that I can use my TYM 353 and back blade for most of the snow over 6-8". When it gets deeper or the berms build up I go to the 68" Meteor Snow Blower.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My opinion. No belt driven machine should be used to clear snow! I mean, nothing beyond a skiff! The cost is just too high! I suffered a clutch failure on my gently used Kawasaki Diesel Mule and the associated costs were in my opinion, mind blowing and totally disproportionate to the value of the equipment. I didn't use it for moving snow. Having said that, repairs to anything always are. I had a GF who destroyed her Kawasaki UTV by plowing snow. A friend that works for a dealer selling a large range of equipment is always telling me the horror stories (particularly the invoices and customers reactions) to individuals and contractors that think they can cheap out and use such ATVs for clearing snow! Yes, they will do it for a while, and then better open your wallet or get financing on the repairs!

 

[JJZ 109]

Yup. My Jeep weighed 5,200lbs and wasn't the best because of the fat tires. I'd use momentum more then traction. It was great at stacking piles though because of flotation. It's a give and take.

First 4x4 I ever owned back in the early 80's had (non radial) Goodyear Wrangler RTs on it. Pretty wide tire. I buried that truck a few times learning to plow with it. The tires would ride up on top of the snow, then spin and I'd be hung up. Next set of tires were narrower BF Goodrich Trailmaker II radials. Best traction of any tire I'd owned before or since.
As far as the original topic, I've been down the ATV/plow road. It didn't last long, as I don't find them very useful for much beyond a few inches of fluff.

 

[Cord]

I wouldn't recommend filling atv tires. The problem is rotating mass. Although this does't matter on a tractor, it makes a big difference on a atv. With a atv when you replace the factory light tires with some heavy duty mud tires you can really feel the performance fall off. The atv becomes sluggish. Been there, done it. Tires do make a difference. Don't get the deep lug mud ones, but go for a tire that puts more tread on the pavement. Additional weight does help big time. I plow with a Rubicon and like throw a couple of salt bags on the back rack. This makes a huge difference in the pusing power. For the banks, push the first snows back 5-10' so there is additonal room later in the season. The method that we've worked out is that I drive the atv and make piles/windrows of snow and then the mrs uses a snowblower to loft them away. The technique works great because the atv compresses the snow so the blower is more effective.

 

[JRL305]

Mine is a Honda Rincon 680 with a 60" Warn setup. Our concrete driveway is 1500 up the side of a ridge and pretty steep and curvy. I would never try to run my tractor down that driveway on the snow. The ATV handles 5 - 6" fine. I take a run down the middle and up and down both sides. I keep the plow angled all the way over to the right but can change it for cleanup. If it's more snow, you can take smaller bites or skim the top. I wore out the plastic wear bar in two seasons but my neighbor bought a stall mat and let me cut a slice off to finish up on the last episode.

 

[JRL305]

Here is the driveway before snow. It is scribed with grooves across it but it still needs plowed when it snowed. We got a light dusting a few weeks ago and I blew it off with the rider mower. It was 6 degrees so there was no slush.