i'm an owner of an older (2006) gator, and it is nothing like the new ones, but as far as i'm concerned, the size and weight make them better choices for work related tasks when compared to a rhino, mule, ranger, etc. i would put the rtv in the same class as the gator too.
since you're looking to do double duty - work and recreation - i'm not sure i can give a perfect answer, but i've always found the ranger, rhino & similar utvs to be superior to the gator and rtv in the recreation setting.
since you say you want to be able to do a little plowing commercially, and you are obviously looking at the utv because it is small enough to fit in tight areas, how would a jeep work? some of the utv plows run upwards of $5000, and you could buy a pretty fair condition jeep cj/tj/yj with a plow for that kind of money to do the plowing, and then buy a utv based more on recreation needs. a jeep is a little larger than a gator or rtv, but its not a lot larger, plus you are road legal, have a heated cab, radio, and all those nice extras.