buy a winch and snow plow for my ATV or buy a hydraulic front blade for my BX?

[Otto Syracuse]

I plowed a 100' driveway with an ATV for several years. I really didn't change the angle of the blade as often as I thought I would. Angled left or right, I start in the middle of the driveway, turn around at the end and go back down the middle again, clearing it wider with each pass. Unless there was more than 6" of snow or really heavy stuff it worked fine.
I have a bigger driveway now and love the hydraulic angle blade, but for my smaller driveway, the ATV worked fine.

 

[gsmaneeley]

For a grand buy a nice walk behind blower and not have to worry about your driveway surface and better yet your lawn from dragging or pushing a plow across it 2400 sq ft isn't that big

 

[wawajake]

I started with a Honda ATV 420 cc with 60 inch plow (and still have it for quick 2 inch snow cleaning) then I graduated and put that same plow on the back of my Kubota tractor..........so I could still use the FEL of the tractor...then I bit the bullet and spent $2400 and bought a rear mounted snow blower. That is what I should of bought at the very start! (and made cab for tractor)
Now the snow goes far away and very few snow banks to deal with . That being said the ATV is very fast at doing small amounts of snow..........you do need to switch the steel winch line and change it to the teflon coated fabric type(I forget the name) the steel winch cable will last maybe two seasons , it is wearing only along the first twelve inches when you lift and lower, whereas the fabric kind (with new rollers too) will last 5 or more seasons easily.

 

[wawajake]

double post

 

[94BULLITT]

I started with a Honda ATV 420 cc with 60 inch plow (and still have it for quick 2 inch snow cleaning) then I graduated and put that same plow on the back of my Kubota tractor..........so I could still use the FEL of the tractor...then I bit the bullet and spent $2400 and bought a rear mounted snow blower. That is what I should of bought at the very start! (and made cab for tractor)
Now the snow goes far away and very few snow banks to deal with . That being said the ATV is very fast at doing small amounts of snow..........you do need to switch the steel winch line and change it to the teflon coated fabric type(I forget the name) the steel winch cable will last maybe two seasons , it is wearing only along the first twelve inches when you lift and lower, whereas the fabric kind (with new rollers too) will last 5 or more seasons easily.

Amsteel blue is the synthetic rope/winch cable.

 

[2fast916]

I am planning to put a blade on either my Honda Foreman 450 or my Kubota BX25D before next winter. I felt a little foolish this year in the driveway with a shovel when I have both sitting in my garage. I was planning originally to buy the set up for the ATV, but then the more I thought about it, I am now considering a blade for the tractor instead. I see pros and cons to both. The only real pro I can think of ATV is the fact that it will be just over half as expensive. The con is having to manually adjust the angle of the blade and lack of weight in both the blade and the ATV in general. The pro of the blade on the Kubota is having the hydraulic lift and angle. Also, it can be effectively used to spread material such as fill dirt or gravel. Also the weight of the blade is about 300 pounds (according to my dealer) and the weight of the tractor would make that set up more effective pushing snow. The only con I think of is the initial purchase cost.

I can get the whole setup on my ATV for about 7-800 dollars. The setup for the tractor will be about $2000.

I'm looking for real world experience and some good advice.

Let's hear it.....

I haven't read thru all the respones to your post but, I have experience with both and will try and list my pros / cons. Before purchasing my BX25, I plowed with an old Bombardier ATV and then a new Yamaha Grizzly 550 EPS. I no longer own either, as I sold the ATV after getting the BX25 and just traded in my BX25 for a new B2650. That being said the BX25 trade was completely unrelted to it's abiltiy to clear snow.

To frame the work I did with both, my driveway is about 300' long and opens up to a circle at the end....and I also clear some field areas between my house and a shed / barn. Guess what I'm trying to describe is that my snow clearing job isn't small. Also, I live in northern CT and plowed with the ATV thru a very long and brutal winter a few years back.....and plowed all of this long and brutal winter with the BX25 so, I defintiely have equal comparison points. My BX25 was set up with the frame mounted quick hitch / plow vs. the loader mounted plow.

The quick answer: The BX25 is hands down the better tool for snow clearing!!!

BX25 Pro's:- The BX is a tank in comparison to my ATV...I could hardly stop it's travel thru deep uncleared snow!
- The BX plow is fully hydraulic - left, right, up, and down
- The BX gives you the option to mount a front or rear snow blower, if you ever do decide to go down that road
- Hydrostatic transmission - no shifting forward to reverse or reverse to forward
- Back blading is easy and efficient

BX25 Con's:- Honestly these are very minor....
- If you use the frame mounted quick hitch set-up, you can't put your loader on, unless you remove the plow & quick hitch - not that big of deal but a slight pain especially when it's cold outside
- The BX travel speed is much less than the ATV so, don't expect you ca drive fast and "throw" the snow from the plow - again not much a big deal as, you just need to adpat to how you plow with a slower speed
- When the blade is fully angled left or right and you hare pushing a lot of snow, it can tend to loose front tire traction and push the frount around - this is completely eliminated by either raising the plow a little (reducing the load) or changing the plow angle to more straight
- The quick hitch plow set up doesn't let you raise the plow very high off the ground to pile snow - this is the same as the ATV plow set up but, be aware that if you go with the loader mounted plow, you can stack piles of snow 6-8' high
- If you do go with the loader mounted plow, Kubota does not offer hydraulic left and right angle - not a big deal as you can source a hydraulic cylinder from eBay that is plug and play (if you are interested, I acutally have one that is brand new and I will sell to you at a discount...just let me know).


ATV Pro's:
- Honestly the only one I can come up with is that you can plow at a faster speed, which can be helpful sometimes

ATV Con's:
- The plow I had was a Moose plow set-up - the plow is very lighty contrsructed and does not have much weight to it - I also broke a bracket on the frame that I fixed by welding in place
- The plow does not come with hydraulic left / right angle - there is a hydraulic angle kit but, it is ~$800 just for the kit alone
- The plow goes up and down by using your ATV winch, which works but is not nearly as easy to use and efficient than the hydraulic BX25 set-up
- Back blading is horible at best, since the plow does not weigh much and you can't add downforce since there is no hydraulics to do so
- I can almost gararuntee you will wind up birds nesting the cable on your ATV winch - I have so many stories about doing this on my ATV and have tried every known set up to aleviate the issue (changing from wire rope to synthetic rope was the only thing that helped but did not eliminate the issue.......you also have to really calibrate your thumb to not let too much rope out when the plow hits the deck)
- ATV is not nearly the same weight as your BX25 - this is the main reason why I stated that my BX was like a tank in comparison to the ATV
- Even if your ATV is automatic, you will still need to manually shift between forward and reverse - I can tell you this becomes a royal pain in the arss (even though you might not think so at first)
- If too much snow accumulates behind the plow blade, after pushing into at bank, you won't have enough weight / torque / traction to pull yourself out - I've had to dig my ATV out countless times and have never had to do the same with the BX25

If I sit here and keep thinking, I will likely come up with more resons why the BX25 is your better option but, I think you get my point.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about either option, regardless of your final decision. I am more than happy to tranfer any knowledge I have!!!!

 

[94BULLITT]

I haven't read thru all the respones to your post but, I have experience with both and will try and list my pros / cons. Before purchasing my BX25, I plowed with an old Bombardier ATV and then a new Yamaha Grizzly 550 EPS. I no longer own either, as I sold the ATV after getting the BX25 and just traded in my BX25 for a new B2650. That being said the BX25 trade was completely unrelted to it's abiltiy to clear snow.

To frame the work I did with both, my driveway is about 300' long and opens up to a circle at the end....and I also clear some field areas between my house and a shed / barn. Guess what I'm trying to describe is that my snow clearing job isn't small. Also, I live in northern CT and plowed with the ATV thru a very long and brutal winter a few years back.....and plowed all of this long and brutal winter with the BX25 so, I defintiely have equal comparison points. My BX25 was set up with the frame mounted quick hitch / plow vs. the loader mounted plow.

The quick answer: The BX25 is hands down the better tool for snow clearing!!!

BX25 Pro's:- The BX is a tank in comparison to my ATV...I could hardly stop it's travel thru deep uncleared snow!
- The BX plow is fully hydraulic - left, right, up, and down
- The BX gives you the option to mount a front or rear snow blower, if you ever do decide to go down that road
- Hydrostatic transmission - no shifting forward to reverse or reverse to forward
- Back blading is easy and efficient

BX25 Con's:- Honestly these are very minor....
- If you use the frame mounted quick hitch set-up, you can't put your loader on, unless you remove the plow & quick hitch - not that big of deal but a slight pain especially when it's cold outside
- The BX travel speed is much less than the ATV so, don't expect you ca drive fast and "throw" the snow from the plow - again not much a big deal as, you just need to adpat to how you plow with a slower speed
- When the blade is fully angled left or right and you hare pushing a lot of snow, it can tend to loose front tire traction and push the frount around - this is completely eliminated by either raising the plow a little (reducing the load) or changing the plow angle to more straight
- The quick hitch plow set up doesn't let you raise the plow very high off the ground to pile snow - this is the same as the ATV plow set up but, be aware that if you go with the loader mounted plow, you can stack piles of snow 6-8' high
- If you do go with the loader mounted plow, Kubota does not offer hydraulic left and right angle - not a big deal as you can source a hydraulic cylinder from eBay that is plug and play (if you are interested, I acutally have one that is brand new and I will sell to you at a discount...just let me know).


ATV Pro's:
- Honestly the only one I can come up with is that you can plow at a faster speed, which can be helpful sometimes

ATV Con's:
- The plow I had was a Moose plow set-up - the plow is very lighty contrsructed and does not have much weight to it - I also broke a bracket on the frame that I fixed by welding in place
- The plow does not come with hydraulic left / right angle - there is a hydraulic angle kit but, it is ~$800 just for the kit alone
- The plow goes up and down by using your ATV winch, which works but is not nearly as easy to use and efficient than the hydraulic BX25 set-up
- Back blading is horible at best, since the plow does not weigh much and you can't add downforce since there is no hydraulics to do so
- I can almost gararuntee you will wind up birds nesting the cable on your ATV winch - I have so many stories about doing this on my ATV and have tried every known set up to aleviate the issue (changing from wire rope to synthetic rope was the only thing that helped but did not eliminate the issue.......you also have to really calibrate your thumb to not let too much rope out when the plow hits the deck)
- ATV is not nearly the same weight as your BX25 - this is the main reason why I stated that my BX was like a tank in comparison to the ATV
- Even if your ATV is automatic, you will still need to manually shift between forward and reverse - I can tell you this becomes a royal pain in the arss (even though you might not think so at first)
- If too much snow accumulates behind the plow blade, after pushing into at bank, you won't have enough weight / torque / traction to pull yourself out - I've had to dig my ATV out countless times and have never had to do the same with the BX25

If I sit here and keep thinking, I will likely come up with more resons why the BX25 is your better option but, I think you get my point.

Please do let me know if you have any questions about either option, regardless of your final decision. I am more than happy to tranfer any knowledge I have!!!!

Nice comparison:thumbsup:

 

[My Hoe]

Guys, his drive is 60 x 40! Front blower?? Overkill, IMO.
Jim

Perhaps you missed him mentioning his desire to help his neighbors out with their driveways?

And, just a few years ago, there was a little town outside of Syracuse, NY, that got TEN FEET of snow--and it was NOT over a long period of time. (I'm not saying the OP lives near Syracuse--I am saying, I would not want to shovel TEN FEET off of a 60' x 40' driveway).

I would get the repurposed, 6' plow, as was suggested, at a minimum, and use it (CAREFULLY, so as not to bend the loader arms). But a Kubota snow blower would be a nice upgrade. But if he's got the FEL as a backup, the plow would be good, as it would greatly outperform the ATV with a plow/manual angle, clunky reverse process, etc.... Not to mention the ability to "stack" the snow (as discussed by 2fast916), which a non-FEL-mounted plow cannot do effectively.