RTV vs 73 Chev 3/4 ton 4x4 snow plow

logfarmer · Aug 11, 2008

Id like to know what is your experience with the RTV as a snow plow. I have a 73 Chev 3/4 ton 4x4 with an automatic trans Meyer 7 1/2' blade with manual angle, it is usable but no power angle. I want to get a power angle but the truck is so old and worn out I hate to put the money into a new plow for it. Ive thought about using the RTV but the guy who delivered the RTV said its not much more than a glorified 4 wheeler. I know they are not very heavy and I have had a blade for my 4 wheeler and while it could plow our road Id hate to have to use it instead of a truck. My drive is about 1/2 mile and a large courtyard between the barn garage house etc. the drive goes up from the house and has about 4 curves. In most places there is nowhere to push the snow after enough snow has come down so I must then use the snowblower on my garden tractor to keep the road from becoming too narrow to use. What Im afraid is the RTV is just not heavy or big enough for plowing given the 1/2 mile driveway,but I dont really know. The RTV is set up for a plow that lifts with the winch and has the switch for an electric angle on it from the previous owner. The pickup works pretty good but needs a new plow and Id have to give up 1 1/2 feet of width with the present plow and 2 feet of width if I buy a new one cause the 8 footer would probably be what Id go with if buying a new one. So has anyone used an RTV for plowing snow with this length of driveway? Im in NE Washington state.
Thanks,
Martin

TOMMYHPX4X4 · Aug 11, 2008

i think the rtv would be pretty good for the job. get some good tires and if you need more weight just throw some sand bags in the bed.

jcmseven · Aug 12, 2008

I have a JD 850D Gator with a six foot plow and in my opinion, on my roads, it plows BETTER than a truck. Where I live in WNC, we have had some pretty light winters the past three years, but we still get snow. I personally live at about 4000' and the top of our mountain is 6110'. I have seen it barely snow at the bottom of our mountain and have 14" at the top on a few occasions. I have a very steep drive which is about 300' long, and we live in a private neighborhood which is quite rural and does not have state-maintained roadways. The small service drive from my drive to the main road is about one mile long and I plow it whenever snow occurs. We have about 12 miles of paved road in our neighborhood and we hire a local guy with a Dodge 3500 dually and 7' Meyers plow to do most of it. He gives me a component of his earnings to plow "the dangerous parts" and the Gator has never let me down. It is similar to the Kubota and actually both the Gator and the Kubota are fairly heavy machines, with their diesel engines. In tight spaces or on long runs on narrow roads or drives the UTV's are great. All of them are heavy enough to plow even deep snow and they also are much easier to manuver than any larger truck. With a heated cab, they are also comfy. In short, my thoughts are: to compare an ATV to a UTV in plowing snow is unfair, the UTV with heavier weight is the hands-down winner; most UTV's are the equivalent of a larger truck (pickup) when plowing due to their manuverability and low COG and are better when things are steep or tight; the Kubota is definitely heavy enough to plow effectively and for very little fuel; and finally, the Kubota should get significant traction in most conditions. The only drawback is that it lacks true four wheel drive. Although some posters strongly deny that it is needed, I have several places near my home where this would be a liability. But, if one lives where it is FAIRLY flat and does not get a lot of icing under the snow, it should do fine (or get chains). I will tell you, having plowed snow with everything from a 12 hp garden tractor to a 53 hp 4520 JD and a pickup, the Gator is by far the most efficient and best plowing machine I have used, and I feel strongly this would be reproducible in other UTV's (such as the Kubota).

John M

logfarmer · Aug 12, 2008

Thanks John, I looked up the weight of the 850 Gator it is about 1500 lbs and the RTV is about 1900 lbs and as Tommy said you could put weight in the bed to get more traction. I live at about 1,800 ft elevation in snow country and my drive is fairly flat exept for the one hill that is about 400 ft of 4% to 5% grade around two curves. The driveway is somewhat rough so ice does build up under the snow after a while but that is ok. My truck dosent need chains, and the Kubota Bx22 tractor dosent need chains, just the John Deere 214 garden tractor when I put the snowblower on it . The RTV seems to do fine going up one logging road on our place that must be a 7% grade i can go up that in two wheel drive without the differential lock being applied but this is in the summer. I didnt get the RTV until about a month ago. Ive never had to use chains on the pickup yet but not sure how the worksite tires will do in the snow. The BX 22 has turf tires and it doesnt need chains so far, but I dont know if that has true 4 wheel drive or not but it has good traction in the snow.
It is also good to know that the UTV is in a different league than the ATV that eases my mind quite a bit. And you are right about the fuel consumption, the RTV uses about 1/4 to 1/3 of a gallon per hour just running around the place here. It would probably use more plowing snow but not near as much as the pickup does.
Martin

coobie · Aug 12, 2008

logfarmer said:
Id like to know what is your experience with the RTV as a snow plow. I have a 73 Chev 3/4 ton 4x4 with an automatic trans Meyer 7 1/2' blade with manual angle, it is usable but no power angle. I want to get a power angle but the truck is so old and worn out I hate to put the money into a new plow for it. Ive thought about using the RTV but the guy who delivered the RTV said its not much more than a glorified 4 wheeler. I know they are not very heavy and I have had a blade for my 4 wheeler and while it could plow our road Id hate to have to use it instead of a truck. My drive is about 1/2 mile and a large courtyard between the barn garage house etc. the drive goes up from the house and has about 4 curves. In most places there is nowhere to push the snow after enough snow has come down so I must then use the snowblower on my garden tractor to keep the road from becoming too narrow to use. What Im afraid is the RTV is just not heavy or big enough for plowing given the 1/2 mile driveway,but I dont really know. The RTV is set up for a plow that lifts with the winch and has the switch for an electric angle on it from the previous owner. The pickup works pretty good but needs a new plow and Id have to give up 1 1/2 feet of width with the present plow and 2 feet of width if I buy a new one cause the 8 footer would probably be what Id go with if buying a new one. So has anyone used an RTV for plowing snow with this length of driveway? Im in NE Washington state.
Thanks,
Martin

I have been useing my 2006 9000 RTV(full curtis cab)plowing snow here in Michigan and have no complaints.I have the curtis 6ft plow on mine.I like the blade itself but the mounting system was cheap IMHO.I had a local shop beef up the mounting sysyem and changed to full hydro.lift and angle.Some folks have the blizzard snow plow 680lt that they plow with also.The RTV is more than a glorified 4 wheeler,believe me I have owned both.coobie

logfarmer · Aug 12, 2008

Thanks Coobie,
The glorified 4 wheeler comment came from an old farmer who works for the local Kubota dealer delivering and as a salesman. He had just drove down our driveway to deliver the RTV when I asked him about the suitability of an RTV for a snow plow. Now he dosent have an RTV so his perspective is not from experience. I think he was saying for as long of a driveway as you have a pickup would be better but he has not plowed with an RTV cause he dosent own one.
The RTV has tuned out to be incredibly useful my wife loves it and uses it all the time. She is the one who suggested the snowplow for it not that I had not allready thought of it. I was hoping it would work for plowing snow but that is not why we bought it. So it is good to hear from you all who have experience with it as a snow plow.
Coobie how long is what you plow and is it uphill with curves?

What kind of set up did the previous owner have on this RTV with the blade being raised and lowered with the winch and an electric toggle switch for the angle? Does anyone know about this ?
Thanks,
Martin

TOMMYHPX4X4 · Aug 12, 2008

maybe that sales man is just jealouse that he don't have one.lol

coobie · Aug 12, 2008

logfarmer said:
Thanks Coobie,
The glorified 4 wheeler comment came from an old farmer who works for the local Kubota dealer delivering and as a salesman. He had just drove down our driveway to deliver the RTV when I asked him about the suitability of an RTV for a snow plow. Now he dosent have an RTV so his perspective is not from experience. I think he was saying for as long of a driveway as you have a pickup would be better but he has not plowed with an RTV cause he dosent own one.
The RTV has tuned out to be incredibly useful my wife loves it and uses it all the time. She is the one who suggested the snowplow for it not that I had not allready thought of it. I was hoping it would work for plowing snow but that is not why we bought it. So it is good to hear from you all who have experience with it as a snow plow.
Coobie how long is what you plow and is it uphill with curves?

What kind of set up did the previous owner have on this RTV with the blade being raised and lowered with the winch and an electric toggle switch for the angle? Does anyone know about this ?
Thanks,
Martin

I plow about 1/4 mile out to the main road with hills and curves.We have had snow drifts 1-3ft high and the RTV plows right threw them with no problem with stock tires.I had the same set up electric lift and manual angle.I assume you have a curtis plow which is a decent plow but I had concerns about the mounting system and how long it would hold up with years of service,that is the reason I beefed mine up.When I purchased my RTV in 2006 I bought the Full curtis cab, heater,windshield wiper & heavy duty front springs.The total weight of the RTV is pushing 2700 lbs.

LBrown59 · Aug 12, 2008

logfarmer said:
Id like to know what is your experience with the RTV as a snow plow. I have a 73 Chev 3/4 ton 4x4 with an automatic trans Meyer 7 1/2' blade with manual angle, it is usable but no power angle. I want to get a power angle but the truck is so old and worn out I hate to put the money into a new plow for it. Ive thought about using the RTV but the guy who delivered the RTV said its not much more than a glorified 4 wheeler. I know they are not very heavy and I have had a blade for my 4 wheeler and while it could plow our road Id hate to have to use it instead of a truck. My drive is about 1/2 mile and a large courtyard between the barn garage house etc. the drive goes up from the house and has about 4 curves. In most places there is nowhere to push the snow after enough snow has come down so I must then use the snowblower on my garden tractor to keep the road from becoming too narrow to use. What Im afraid is the RTV is just not heavy or big enough for plowing given the 1/2 mile driveway,but I dont really know. The RTV is set up for a plow that lifts with the winch and has the switch for an electric angle on it from the previous owner. The pickup works pretty good but needs a new plow and Id have to give up 1 1/2 feet of width with the present plow and 2 feet of width if I buy a new one cause the 8 footer would probably be what Id go with if buying a new one. So has anyone used an RTV for plowing snow with this length of driveway? Im in NE Washington state.
Thanks,
Martin

Which one has heat in it?

logfarmer · Aug 13, 2008

They both have heat and windshield wipers but that isnt the issue. I use the John Deere 214 to blow the snow it has no cab, no windshield, no heat, no nuthin, exept it does a good job of blowing snow.