Snow removal with an ATV or utility vehicle

[mygoatboy]

I have been thinking about possibilites for snow removal on my 650' long gravel driveway. I would like something faster than a snowblower and it would be nice if I could use it for firewood gathering and various grounds maintainence. I will eventually get a tractor but my budget is tight right now so how do the ATV's and utility vehicles work for snow removal in central MA?

 

[bczoom]

A 650' gravel driveway in MA is something to contend with...
Personally, (a RTV owner), I still don't think I could get by without a quad.
A quad can be purchased for about 1/2 the amount of a UTV (new) and for a place to begin, it's a great place to start. I'm the only one on the block (a country mile) with a UTV. All others do similar with a ATV.
Not really sure how much snow you get, but a good ATV with a 4 1/2' plow may be able to do it for you. I'd probably start in the 350-500cc range for an ATV.
Brian

 

[lloyd123]

I'm from central MA (Shrewsbury) as well and also have about 650 ft of driveway (asphalt) plus the in-laws and about 300 ft of sidewalk. For the last 20 or so years I've been using a snowblower (Simplicity 1032 is the latest) but it was taking me 3 hours to clean up after each storm.

I'm in my fifties now and decided if I wanted to make sixty I'd better find another way to handle all this. My solution was the RTV900 but it wasn't cheap. I can only pray that it does the job or my wife will make sure I don't make sixty.

An ATV should handle the job at least up to a foot or so. I like the RTV900 because of the cab and heater - not too sure if you could get those features in a ATV.

 

[mygoatboy]

We average about 120 inches of snow each year in my area. Have you any experience with the Polaris 6x6 ATV? That would give me a little bed but then the power of an ATV.

 

[lloyd123]

I didn't check out the Polaris as the dealer is located in Barre and not that convenient. If you're in the northern part of central MA then you should definitely check it out. The 2005's look real competitive.

 

[Nasty135]

mygoatboy, Interesting screen name? Anyhow here is my two cents worth of info ,not much advice just something else to think about.
I have a polaris 500 sportsman and bought the 48" glacier plow system which is the quick on quick off plow that actually works as advertised,very easy... It pushes snow quite good.

Now with that said it also has 4WD that is real 4WD all 4 wheels pull. Now since being on this site I have seen others not talk very highly about the polaris,I don't know whether its all polaris models or just a select few but mines been fine too this point..
If you have a need for hauling more than one person(yourself)the ranger model would do that,and yes it has 6WD and I'm sure it has an optional plow.
For the hauling end of things ,the bed on the ranger is fairly small ,if that is going to be big enough and the $10k price tag is ok looks like you have winner... What I have is a 4'x8' trailer that can be loaded full of wood 18-20" high and make one trip and unhook if you don't have time to unload it right away,and ended up a bunch cheaper than $10k... Plus a 4wheeler is much faster and better handling /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif, so I can ride with my boys on their 4 wheelers ... I guess it depends on your needs and wants and $$$.... Good Luck

 

[GregMVT]

I have a Polaris 700 Sportsman that I use to plow my 300' driveway. It has worked out well so far, though I didn't get the plow until halfway through last winter so it hasn't been tested with a heavy wet snowfall yet. It has plenty of power and the stock Goodyear tires work very well. You said you will be using it to collect firewood so I'm not sure if you mean just moving it from one place closer to the house or from a woodlot. I have 13 acres with a sugaring operation. I use mine to haul down logs that I've cut down to thin out the sugarbush. It works great for this, a little hard getting them up some of the hills in places.

 

[gav64]

mygoatboy,
I have a 2000 honda foreman es 450, set up with a 5 foot plow ( manual) circular drive with multiple parking areas and a nasty hill. Plow works great (now the wife does the snow) I sometimes have to cut back with the snowblower to make it easier for her, i live in a connecticut snow belt (hilltop) we get hammered worse that the neighboring towns. In summer i use it in the forest, small dump trailer, log arch, tow behind chipper and splitter, works flawlessly and with low impact, also it pulls a swisher trail mower, one flaw ti will tear up grass if not careful. It has 300 miles on it and has never been off my property. I highly recommend honda, I have a 1983 big red atc that starts on the first pull, and own or have owned their snow blowers and generators, never a problem except for wearables, you'll pay a litttle more but it's worth it. Going to buy the wife a new rancher 400 auto this week. good luck. glenn

 

[Birdman]

I also have a driveway that is 500' - 600' long (never measured it /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif) with a large parking area. Plus another 200' that goes to the barn with a large area for parking/turning. I have a 1997 Polaris Explorer 500 and a 4' snow plow. I don't get a whole lot of snow here but the first time I used it we had a 12"- 14" snow storm. I went out to plow the drives and about 45 minutes later I came back to the house and my wife was sitting there grinning and said "So did you break it already?" (you know how women are) I said NO I am finished. Of course she did not believe me and had to check, but I had everything cleared. It was a little slow at first to get moving but once I built up some momemtum it worked great

 

[mygoatboy]

I just have a few more questions... How long does it take most of you guys to do your plowing? What size ATV would you recomend? What size plow? And last but not least, is it better to buy new or used?