UTV Snowplow choice?

[shooterdon]

What size blade did you use, and did you have chains and extra weight for traction?

In my smaller and lighter Honda Pioneer 520, I've handled 6" snowfalls without a problem, even going up hill, but I'll admit that I have no expectation of it handling the really heavy snows. I use the tractor for the heavy stuff. I got the plow for the UTV since it is MUCH faster than my tractor with the snow-blower, as long as the storm isn't too heavy. (Plus, turning around to look backwards for the rear-mounted snow-blower on my tractor to plow a 1/4 mile driveway gets old after a while.)

I had chains on all four wheels and normally a load of firewood in the bed


Blade size was whatever the factory supplied.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

I had a Polaris blade on my Ranger 800XP and it is OK if you are not dealing with more than about 6" of snow at a time.

A lot depends on how much snow you get, how much area you need to clear and how much space you need to push the piles.

I gave up on it after the first year. It could not keep up with my needs.

I have plowed a foot of snow with my canam defender. I live in Minnesota, have plowed with an atv or utv since about 2000

 

[Quaffer]

I gave up on it after the first year. It could not keep up with my needs.

I tried a snowplow blade on a Polaris RZR800. Not enough weight to maintain traction, had to switch to a bigger machine.

 

[ArlyA]

I should add that our 6x6 with pods has so much pushing power, the 72" blade we have could be wider.

 

[ArlyA]

Pods are your freind for pushing real volumes.

 

[John_Mc]

Yeah, 1/2" seems too small for sure. I'm debating between Poly and steel blade. Leaning toward Poly. Interesting that the Poly is 87 lbs and the steel is 85 lbs. Seemed weird until I saw that the steel blade is like 5" shorter...

The poly blade also has more steel reinforcement behind it than the steel blade. That and the taller blade make up the weight savings you'd expect from a poly blade.

KFI did do a redesign of what they call the "push tube" a few years ago. That is the assembly that includes the pivot mechanism. I have no idea if the redesign included changes to the pivot mechanism or not. The newer design is built around square push tubes. The older one used round tubes. I've only used mine for one winter season so far, but I just went out and checked: there is zero sign of wear on the locking pin or the holes the pin locks in to. It was not a particularly heavy winter, but neither was it a light one.

We probably don't get the kind of snow that @ArlyA regularly sees in his area. On the other hand, I'd figure 1/4 mile of mostly gravel, uneven driveway would give it enough of a workout to show at least some wear on a system that might give out after 2 years, as ArlyA's did. (I definitely scalped the gravel from time-to-time.) However, I'm running on a much smaller ATV than he has as well.

I researched the options on a Honda-specific ATV/UTV forum. The KFI and the Denali brands both got good reviews (the Pro series Denali seemed more highly thought of than their "standard" series).

 

[John_Mc]

I should add that our 6x6 with pods has so much pushing power, the 72" blade we have could be wider.

Which may be why you wore out that 1/2" pin so quickly. For heavy, wet snow, I'd be using my tractor, not an ATV, and I can guarantee you this UTV snow plow would not hold up with the kind of pushing my tractor can do.

 

[ArlyA]

We have the Denali UTV version.

 

[John_Mc]

We have the Denali UTV version.

OK. Your earlier post said KFI. Your picture of the pin/locking mechanism looks different than the current Denali offerings.

 

[ArlyA]

Ours looks like this (as far as I can tell anyway)