Tractor or Truck for plowing?

LD1 · Jan 19, 2011

jcmseven said:
LD-I have a unique situation where being smaller and maneuverable helps. Contrary to belief Utvs like mine are not that light. My gator ballasted, with spreader, blade, etc. Weighs 2500 pounds. That is more than enough weight with aggressive tires and true four wheel drive and low gearing to plow well. Not only that but weight I have found does not always have direct impact on plowing success. I have plowed extensively with my previous john Deere 4520 with a 7' boom blade and six foot box blade on back for ballast. Though a fantastic machine it would not hold a candle to my current gator plowing snow. I do see your point. In large areas with open turns and long runs a truck would be faster--by a little bit. On my drive and service road no way, no how.

John M

On a small drive, where manuveribility and visibility means everything, I can see the gator being faster.

But when I am in plow "trim", ballasted and plow up front, I am weighing ~7500lbs. And allthough I dont have TRUE 4wd, I do have 3wd with the limited slip. And their have been times when I have had a full blade of wet/heavy snow that I had trouble moving it. There is NO WAY a gator, with a 7.5' blade and wings like my truck could move it.

But for how small they are, no doubt they are impressive.

Cat_Driver · Jan 19, 2011

Years ago when I asked my parents to sign for a new vehicle for me it was for a new puck up with a plow. Back then the whole set up was 5K , about the same price as a new corvette.

As a kid I promised to pay them back. Man I can't believe they signed for that truck for a kid.

It was almost Christmas and not a snow flake on the ground. Payments rolling in and my parents wondering if they made a huge mistake.

Then it snowed and snowed and snowed. I didn't sleep for three days except for nodding off with my head on the wheel and the engine running in the middle of the shopping center I was plowing.

After 3 days I had cash in every pocket i had. I remember they were having coffee on the third day and I unloaded all that cash on the breakfast table.

More money than my Dad made in a year as a welder at $2.35 and hour working for GM.

Yep for a lot of plowing a truck is the only way to go.

I miss that old Dodge Power Wagon. That thing was a beast, she never let me down once and I beat her up pretty good.

jcmseven · Jan 19, 2011

Regardless of size, they are impressive. I might not be so convinced about that snow pile. Mine pulled out a UPS truck when my neighbor's 2008 F150 could not.

John M

Piston · Jan 19, 2011

Weight is definitely a factor. I think the argument about the rtv and plow truck is valid both ways. It's certainly true that there is no way you could plow as good with an rtv up north with the heavy wet snow amounts we get. But in NC I'm sure your not dealing with 1-2 foot storms every other week and the snow probably melts much quicker, so a lighter weight vehicle I can see working fine. You won't see one pushing the amount of snow a heavy 1ton diesel could push though.
With my f350 and 9' blade on the front I couldn't be happier. That thing is a beast in the snow.

I've never plowed with an rtv though so this is just my opinion and worth all you paid for it :laughing: I would LOVE to try one of those out though, they look like a lot of fun and for just driveways and a little snow I think the fun factor would outweigh the loss of productivity. I drool over those things

That's a cool story about buying the new truck and dumping the money on the table :thumbsup: You can make some serious cash in a hurry on one good storm, this winter has been great so far for us.....too bad my father uses my truck for plowing and reeps all the profit benefits hahah

KubotainNH · Jan 19, 2011

Here's the list of snow moving equipment shared between my FIL and myself. Our houses are right next to each other. In the order of most used.

1)Jeep with 6.5' fisher: great maneuverability, tunes, warm, dry and fast plus I can have the plow on when I go to work and plow as soon as I get home. This is my daily driver and only I drive it.
2)Snowblower on Craftsman ride-on mower: used mainly in my FIL's yard and does a great job but not great for my tree lined gravel drive. Kinda slow and cold.
3)2 walk behind blowers: same as #2 except for my walkways
4)B6100 with FEL and snowpusher that attaches to front: great for moving/pushing back snow banks and for fooling around...cold seat & a bit slow.
5)Honda Fourtrax with blade: kids fool with this when it's running, I need to work on that one

Everything has it's place and it's good to have backups.

tulenutn2o · Jan 19, 2011

KubotainNH said:
Here's the list of snow moving equipment shared between my FIL and myself. Our houses are right next to each other. In the order of most used.

1)Jeep with 6.5' fisher: great maneuverability, tunes, warm, dry and fast plus I can have the plow on when I go to work and plow as soon as I get home. This is my daily driver and only I drive it.
2)Snowblower on Craftsman ride-on mower: used mainly in my FIL's yard and does a great job but not great for my tree lined gravel drive. Kinda slow and cold.
3)2 walk behind blowers: same as #2 except for my walkways
4)B6100 with FEL and snowpusher that attaches to front: great for moving/pushing back snow banks and for fooling around...cold seat & a bit slow.
5)Honda Fourtrax with blade: kids fool with this when it's running, I need to work on that one

Everything has it's place and it's good to have backups.

Iagree on having multiple back-ups for everything.

RoyJackson · Jan 19, 2011

I love plowing snow!!!!!!

That said, I do not do it commercially. If I did, or had a very long drive, I'd have a truck mounted plow.
So, for my drive, I use a tractor and loader combination. It's not the quickest, but does a fine job doing something I enjoy.

jcmseven · Jan 19, 2011

Piston, thanks for your reply. I agree, our snow melts here most times fairly fast, but between three snows we have had at my place over the past two weeks we received 26" of snow, and I had about 20" on my driveway the other day before plowing. No matter where you live, that is a lot of snow but the UTV did just fine. At the top of our mountain (I live about halfway up the road to the top at 4000 feet) at 6100 feet, there was 34" of snow. Two feet of that are still left, and it is wet and plenty heavy. I mention to folks there are areas of NC that receive similar snow amounts to New England, and I live in one of them.

John M

Piston · Jan 19, 2011

John, I have to admit I'm jealous of that setup, I would really love to own one of those someday as well. I had a hard time not buying a side by side for a while just out of the sheer fun factor. I believe the RTV has a cab and heat as well and that would be the ultimate. I hope I didn't sound like I was 'putting down' the ole rtv, that wasn't my intention. :thumbsup: