Should I add weight to the bed when snow plowing with my RTV 900?

[Franko]

I just installed a Motoalliance plow, winch, and hydroturn on my RTV 900. It looks great and I can't wait to push some snow around. I was thinking about putting a few concrete blocks in the back of the bed, held in place with a 2x4 frame, to counterbalance some of the weight of the plow on the front and provide more weight/traction on the rear. Our driveway has some steep sections and I am hoping the fairly aggressive industrial treads will let me get up and down without any undue excitement. Anyone out there using an RTV on a hilly driveway in the winter?

Thanks much,

Frank

 

[CarrotRentals]

Hi Franko: I plowed both ways last year with my RTV 900 and didn't notice a difference whether the blocks were in the bed or not. RTV did fine. The blocks were a PIA to remove anytime I took the plow off and used the RTV for other chores. I would say try it without first then decide.

 

[Franko]

Carrot - thanks for the info. I like to be ready but it is no biggie to wait and see. I don't have any blocks available right now anyway, but I can get some if I want to give them a try. I was hoping to hear from someone that they work some kind of magic for traction with the RTV.

I have some chains for the RTV for both front and rear that I bought a few years ago as insurance if we got some bad snow and ice. Luckily I have never actually had to use them but I never really did much with the RTV in the snow anyway. My current snow remover - a B7800 - really needs chains on if I want to be sure to get back up the steep sections when using the rear blade for snow plowing. The chains are a pain to put on the tractor and they make it ride bumpy enough to shake my fillings out, so each season I try to make it without them, but that usually leads to the tractor spending a night down at the bottom end of the driveway, followed by chain installation the next day.

I will shortly find out whether the traction of the RTV is better than the B7800 under snowy conditions. Then I will have to decide on whether to try 'bed weight' vs just putting on the chains. Another possibility is that the front plow on the RTV will scrape the pavement down clean, more so than the rear blade on the tractor, and it is helped by the fact that I don't have to drive over the snow before I plow it like I do with that rear blade. I am at the highest point at my garage and my goal is to really clean the pavement in the initial plow downhill. If I get a clean sweep, I then have a path to get back up with no trouble. If I leave a skin of snow I may lose traction going back up. In those cases, all I can do is make it up as far as I can and then backdrag to try to clean off the snow better. Trouble is, going back up a couple of times generally turns whatever snow there is into a slippery layer that gives no traction at all. That is when the machine spends the night at the bottom.

Well, it is almost time to let the snow games begin. Just writing about it gets my adrenaline going!

Frank

 

[timswi]

I haven't had a need to counterbalance my RTV500 or RTV1100, the motor/tranny combo does a good job of that. The diff-lock also is an incredible help...I wouldn't want to load/unload the bed all the time anyway.

I use RTV tires so the industrials may have less bite without chains.

 

[AStanton]

In lieu of cement blocks, I like tube sand for ballast. This way if you are ever stuck, you can break open the tube and use the sand for transaction.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

If your bed dumps and you have a tractor, just get a load of sand or gravel and use the tractor to load it, the RTV has a lot of power in low range and all the weight helps.

David Kb7uns

 

[Pete SkyViewFarm]

I am in the Monadnock region of SWNH and we see lots of snow. 60"-80" is not unusual for a winter. I don't plow with my RTV 900 but have used it almost daily for 7 yrs operating a 50 ewe sheep farm. Prior to having a full set of chains I got it stuck and had to pull it out with a tractor several times. The Worksite model has a aggressive tread but it's not enough. I purchased the 4 link chains with v bars on the x chains and put them on prior to (but usually during, LOL) the first snow. They come off mid May after mud season. It is rare to get stuck now unless I do something dumb like break trail after 12" of snow to go out back to fill the game feeder. I do like to keep the bed empty for the tools or chore at hand but I do carry some fireplace wood to the house often. I plan to see if that weight helps with traction (any time soon)!

 

[CobyRupert]

In lieu of cement blocks, I like tube sand for ballast. This way if you are ever stuck, you can break open the tube and use the sand for transaction.

I've seen the pick'em up truck snow plow drivers here put sand in (covered) pails in the back of their truck. Easy to load and unload as needed, not only handy for adding weight/traction, but handy to throw under the tire if stuck, tidy too.

 

[marks146]

Been plowing for 3 years now with a Snowdogg plow setup on my 1100. Never had to add weight. Works just fine. Give it some time you'll have to decide for yourself.

 

[Franko]

Guys,
Thanks for the info! It is great to hear from others in this forum. This is kinda long but I hope it might help others who want to take the time to read it! I did stick a cat-litter pail full of sand in the back, and the still-unused tire chains (just in case) but that was only about 40 lbs back there in the bed. Based on what I experienced, I am not going to bother putting any more weight back there.

We finally got a perfect test snow - about 6 inches drifting to 12 or more in places - not too much but more than a little for around here in East PA. I got the plow down and went at it. There is no 'level' in my drive (none!) but I am at the top and can usually clean off the wide driveway near the garage fairly easily since it has the least slope of the whole drive. It was effortless with the RTV - much nicer and WAY quicker than my B7800 with rear blade. I still had to do a lot of shifting to get back and forth but the rig is shorter than the tractor so it was that much easier. I then put the plow down and went down the first big slope. Traction was incredible - the B7800 usually shows some steering from the rear blade with that much snow but the RTV was planted just fine. The blade quickly loaded up with a wall of snow that scared the crap out of me, but I gradually increased speed and it blew to the side with the country blade, just as advertised. I chugged uphill out of the ravine with the plow full and the RTV kept going just fine. What a thrill! I went both ways to clean up that ravine area and then held my breath and went down the big hill to the road. Without chains, the tractor is touch and go with getting back up that hill unless I get an absolutely clean sweep down to pavement, so you only get one shot at it. I was a little dismayed to see that the RTV was not giving me a totally clean sweep (as much as you can tell with each snowfall being so different). But it was not bad considering that the snow there was at least 10-12 inches deep and I was pushing an avalanche of snow that extended 6 or 8 feet in front of the blade down that steep slope. Maybe the blade is held a little too rigidly and needs to float more. However, the good news is that it left only a little snow here and there and in any case, there was no traction problems steaming back up the hill, even with the plow down. The RTV slows way down up that steep slope (in M anyway where I keep it) but it just kept going and did not slip back. We received another two inches almost immediately after I cleaned up, so I had a chance to see how the blade would work where I already had pretty high walls of snow to the sides. It did seem to push the snow up and over most of the walls, especially when I gave it a little speed. That said, you still have to prevent those walls from building and hardening up when the snow keeps coming. I played around with the blade held up to see if I could 'plow' down the walls and it worked to a degree, except that a lot of snow ended up back on the cleared driveway. I think I will have to experiment with this a little, but I still do have the loader on the tractor if it becomes necessary.

In summary, I really feel that my snow handling capabilities have taken a jump up with the RTV compared to the landscape blade on the tractor.

- The RTV has better traction than the tractor for my steep driveway.
- It is really nice to face forward and see exactly where you are plowing, compared to the tractor with rear blade.
- The RTV blade from MotoAlliance is much taller than my tractor landscape blade and the curved design pushes snow to the side much better.
- The electric/hydraulic blade turner is so nice and even the winch up/down is nicer than that 3 point lifter on the B7800
- The RTV has more of a cab than the tractor, although wind comes in from the open sides (I put a piece of rigid plastic on the back behind the screen to keep air from blowing back at me.
- The RTV cuts the plow time to a third or more what I am used to with the tractor. If I need to touch up the drive, I can run the RTV down to the road and back in no time at all, with more precise control of the plow lane.

Frank