Do you actually plow snow with your UTV? for multiple seasons?

[ruffdog]

Yes, the hand throttle is a knob on the left side of the drivers seat that sits in front of the hydraulic dump bed control lever. It痴 raises the baseline engine speed independently of the foot pedal. I致e seen it on a couple of them that I致e looked at. And then some don稚 have it. It seems like it would be good option to have have full hydro pump speed available at low travel speed. That was my assumption of why they would add it. I was hoping someone on here could fill me in more about it.

I had the optional hand throttle on my RTV900 and would add RPMs at the base idle setting. It would help pushing deep snow at slow speed but normally would plow in mid range. I used a 7' snowsport HD plow on the RTV and it was fast plowing my open area between the buildings. I now run the snowsport plow on the front of my toolcat and a rear blade on the 3pt. Plowing in both directions is even faster.

 

[m7040]

I use the Kubota X1100 with a Boss Plow. Does a great job and is easy to mount and take off. For heavy snows use the Kubota M7040 with cab and plow. Also added lately a Kubota Excavator with a blade that can also be used although it is slow

 

[m7040]

The last couple of years all I needed to use was the RTV

 

[DIXIEDOG]

I've plowed with my Gator 825i since 2012....I have Boss V plow 6'8" on it and it's a beast. I do chain my rear tires and put around 450 lbs of ballast in the bed. I have over 100 hrs of flat out snow plowing with it and it works great. First thing you notice after using a tractor for snow removal and getting into the side by side is how fast you can move large amounts of snow. My Kubota 2501 is no match for my Gator

 

[ededic]

Here is plowing snow for over 10 years with a Gator UTV Edward Dedic - YouTube

 

[ProjectKing]

Ironically, I just sold my 2017 Honda Rancher. but I never tried plowing with it. I thought about a plow for it, but the used market is so good that I got $800 more than I paid for it a couple years ago. The viking is interesting to me as well. I can get a leftover one of those for about $5000 cheaper than the RTV. But I would really love some feedback from an owner that has plowed with one. It's good to hear that you think it would be capable of plowing snow. They offer a 10 year drive belt warranty, and the sales guy seemed to think that warranty still applies if you buy their plow package. I'm not 100% confident about that though. How long have you owned the viking? Is it as rock solid as they advertise?

Just a note. A lot of UTV do not have unlocking rear diffs. I think all UTVs should have unlocking diffs because without it they have a harder time turning, etc.

I have a Polaris 450 HO Ranger and bought is specifically because it diff unlocks.

 

[milkman636]

I had the optional hand throttle on my RTV900 and would add RPMs at the base idle setting. It would help pushing deep snow at slow speed but normally would plow in mid range. I used a 7' snowsport HD plow on the RTV and it was fast plowing my open area between the buildings. I now run the snowsport plow on the front of my toolcat and a rear blade on the 3pt. Plowing in both directions is even faster.

That's good to hear the feedback on the hand throttle working like that, and that the RTV pushes a 7' blade handily. I had to look up snowsports blades because I hadn't seen one of them before. Wow, that's a simple concept that could literally mount on multiple vehicles. The only drawback I foresee would be not being able to lift and lower it on the fly. I know the key to productivity is keeping the machine moving and minimizing dismounts. I definitely hear you on plowing in both directions, my tractor wears 7' blades on the front and back when I'm doing snow too.

 

[milkman636]

I use the Kubota X1100 with a Boss Plow. Does a great job and is easy to mount and take off. For heavy snows use the Kubota M7040 with cab and plow. Also added lately a Kubota Excavator with a blade that can also be used although it is slow

That sounds exactly what I'm aiming for, picking up a little speed and agility by utilizing the UTV for as much snow removal as it can handle. And, always having the tractor for the really tough stuff. Those Boss V-Plows look like an attractive option to me. Do you have the V-plow or straight configuration?

 

[milkman636]

I've plowed with my Gator 825i since 2012....I have Boss V plow 6'8" on it and it's a beast. I do chain my rear tires and put around 450 lbs of ballast in the bed. I have over 100 hrs of flat out snow plowing with it and it works great. First thing you notice after using a tractor for snow removal and getting into the side by side is how fast you can move large amounts of snow. My Kubota 2501 is no match for my Gator

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That's real encouraging to hear. I like your setup. Are those extra light's part of the boss plow package? or something you added?

 

[milkman636]

Here is plowing snow for over 10 years with a Gator UTV Edward Dedic - YouTube

I love the exhaust stacks on your Gator. That's one advantage I can see to looking for something older is the freedom to mod it up. Is there any chance you are related to a guy in his early 90's named Joe that i know? You share a last name with him and he moved back to western Michigan from the middle of the state a couple years ago. He still sends birthday cards to my kids.

 

[crazyal]

It's more money but have you thought about a snow blower for a UTV? The problem with a plow is that once the snow banks get built up higher than the plow the snow just goes over the top. If all you ever get is 8" snow falls and it's mostly gone before the next event than a plow is great. But, up north, where snow lasts for months banks can pose a real problem. Most plow trucks push the snow into a pile where the weight of the truck helps. With a long sidewalk pushing it into a pile may not be an option. With a blower once it blows it it's gone (unless the wind pushes it back).

I started off plowing my driveway with a 2 1/2" ton 4wd dump truck. It has a 10' blade and the weight and power to move lots of snow. But by mid January the limited spaces to put the snow were full and I was now dealing with trying to move it with my loader. It would also get more difficult to plow because, as I said earlier, the snow would go over the top of the blade. When pushing snow to the places where I could pile it I often had to make repeated passes. If the snow was wet heavy stuff it took even longer to deal with.

I have a front mounted blower that I us almost exclusively now. If you are looking for a long term solution and you get plenty of snow I would seriously look into a blower over a plow. It's not as fast for smaller storms but I just make a pass down one side of my driveway and back up the other. Unlike a plow where the vehicle's power, traction, and weight are all needed the blower does the work and all that's needed from the vehicle is to slowly move forward. The pictures I've seen of UTV snow blowers have wheels so they don't even weigh down the UTV's front suspension. A plow is hard on a vehicle but a snow slower shouldn't be.

 

[m7040]

Yes I have the Boss V plow it angles forward as needed to push up into piles. You can move each side blade separately. Absolutely love it. Very heavy duty. Installed it myself and saved a ton of money by buying at the end of season.

 

[m7040]

Actually the side blades move together into a V for plowing or moving them out for piling up in snow banks

 

[ArlyA]

We use a 6x6 but for snow, we have pods on it. On it we use a 6ft blade and couldn't be more happy with what it can push and we really do receive snow here in the big lake snow district. I can't comment on doing that job with rubber tire equipped machine. Why mess around? Get pods! I have a thread about using this plow somewhere here.

Hope that helps.

 

[ArlyA]

I've also used a UTV to push snow with. Both of these machines have CVT transmissions.

 

[Bocephous]

I had a 2007 Suzuki Vinson ATV for 13 years and plowed snow with it for many of them, no issue. Plowed a 1/2 mile track around our field, and sometimes even a couple of our logging roads. I traded that in on a 2020 Yamaha Wolverine X2 and will be purchasing a 66" KFI plow set-up for it soon. Be back at the end of the winter, God-willing, to report my findings.

 

[ededic]

I love the exhaust stacks on your Gator. That's one advantage I can see to looking for something older is the freedom to mod it up. Is there any chance you are related to a guy in his early 90's named Joe that i know? You share a last name with him and he moved back to western Michigan from the middle of the state a couple years ago. He still sends birthday cards to my kids.

Thanks. The video in the series “to make a grown man giggle” is the night my neighbor and I built those stacks. The stacks kept the exhaust out of the cab when backing up and also provided the heat in the cab.

Sorry, I don’t know Joe. He sounds like someone I would like to know.

 

[milkman636]

We use a 6x6 but for snow, we have pods on it. On it we use a 6ft blade and couldn't be more happy with what it can push and we really do receive snow here in the big lake snow district. I can't comment on doing that job with rubber tire equipped machine. Why mess around? Get pods! I have a thread about using this plow somewhere here.

Hope that helps.

That does help. You probably get double the amount of snow as I do. And I've previously looked at the x2 sportsman, which is the 4 wheeled version of your big boss, as a replacement or my Rancher. It offers a little more power and utility than my Rancher did, How many winters have you used the Polaris? How has it held up? And are those Polaris branded tracks? That Rhino pic is probably a good sign for my potential Viking path also. Have you experienced any issues with the rhino and plowing?

 

[grsthegreat]

My kawasaki 4010 mule came with a plow. I tried it....useless really. If i had sidewalks than maybe. But for long driveways. No. Took it off. The wife tried using it to move manure piles during summer in horse pens...worked ok for that..

My plow and front blower on tractor are too easy to move snow to bother with utv.

 

[milkman636]

My kawasaki 4010 mule came with a plow. I tried it....useless really. If i had sidewalks than maybe. But for long driveways. No. Took it off. The wife tried using it to move manure piles during summer in horse pens...worked ok for that..

My plow and front blower on tractor are too easy to move snow to bother with utv.

I'm a little gun shy on snow blowers. I had a bad experience about a dozen years ago with the only snowblower I've ever owned. It met a big rock that one of my kids left in my driveway. The rock was completely covered by a foot deep snow and I had no idea it was there. Basically it was the perfect sized "murphy" stone to trash my blower, light enough that the front auger could pick it up, but big enough that it trashed the impeller when it hit the throat of the chute. Multiple shear bolts sheared, but not before one the augers bent, and the spinning impeller bent backward and gouged into into the housing, and cracked the metal housing. So that blower went bye-bye during the second winter I had it. I sold it for for $350 for parts basically and I never tried another. The only problem I've ever had in 35 years of blading snow was a broken 3 pt. lift arm on an old Ford tractor in sub-zero weather. All that took was a quick trip to the farm store and a couple wrenches to fix.