UTV Snowplow choice?

[gstrom99]

I just bought an older Polaris Ranger 800 UTV and since it has a cab, winch and heater - I'm thinking of getting a snow plow for it. I have a tractor (open), rear blade and rear blower.

I'm asking for advice on brands, online vs dealer, "V" vs straight blade, etc...

 

[jfsawatzky]

I have a moose home plow that connects to the front trailer hitch on my kubota rtv. It uses an electric actuator for lift that I still need to connect but my use case is for light snow where I can clean my lane in 5 or 10 minutes instead of one hour using the rear mounted blower that I save for deeper or heavier snow.

 

[JJT]

I'm very happy with my Boss V plow. At close to 400 #'s it's probably overkill for the Ranger.

 

[John_Mc]

I went with a 66" KFI brand plow for my Honda Pioneer 520. (I might have gotten away with the 60" if my UTV was stock, but I have spacer on the wheels which bring the width just about out to the width of an angled 60" blade.) I chose their Pro-Poly blade over the steel one: the Pro-Poly is taller, and reports were that it sheds snow better than steel blades. I did not go with their optional hydraulic angle adjustment.

You might want to go with the 72" blade with your Ranger 800 to make sure you covered your tracks with the blade angled. but someone with more knowledge of that UTV would probably have a more informed recommendation than I. (I believe a stock Ranger 800 is 60" wide. A 66" blade would cover 59.8" when angled 25˚.)

I plow about 1/4 mile of driveway, mostly gravel, but the loop up near the house is paved. There is a section of steep grade that tends to ice up. I generally throw a couple of sandbags in the bed to counter the weight of the plow. I run diamond pattern square link chains on the rear tires. (not as aggressive as studded diamond pattern chain, but easier on the paced portion of our driveway up near the house.) I found I could get away without the chains as long as the steep section has not iced up, but once I got the chains, I left them on for the rest of the plowing season.

I've been very happy with the setup.

 

[shooterdon]

I had a Polaris blade on my Ranger 800XP and it is OK if you are not dealing with more than about 6" of snow at a time.

A lot depends on how much snow you get, how much area you need to clear and how much space you need to push the piles.

I gave up on it after the first year. It could not keep up with my needs.

 

[John_Mc]

I had a Polaris blade on my Ranger 800XP and it is OK if you are not dealing with more than about 6" of snow at a time.

A lot depends on how much snow you get, how much area you need to clear and how much space you need to push the piles.

I gave up on it after the first year. It could not keep up with my needs.

What size blade did you use, and did you have chains and extra weight for traction?

In my smaller and lighter Honda Pioneer 520, I've handled 6" snowfalls without a problem, even going up hill, but I'll admit that I have no expectation of it handling the really heavy snows. I use the tractor for the heavy stuff. I got the plow for the UTV since it is MUCH faster than my tractor with the snow-blower, as long as the storm isn't too heavy. (Plus, turning around to look backwards for the rear-mounted snow-blower on my tractor to plow a 1/4 mile driveway gets old after a while.)

 

[gstrom99]

Thanks all. The Ranger track width is about 60", so 72" is probably about right. I don't think I need the powered angle option. I like the sandbag suggestion, I forgot about that. The drive is 300', straight and level and I have a tractor for extra heavy work (no cab though)...

 

[John_Mc]

You are in the same situation as I am as far as equipment goes: open station tractor for the heavy work (not as bad as it sounds, if you have the right clothing outdoor winter work).

FYI: a 72" plow angled at 25˚ will cover a track just a hair over 65" wide. (an angle around 25˚ seems pretty common on ATV/UTV plows. That's what the KFI plows do.)

 

[ArlyA]

Nice plow be we wore out our KFI angle pin lock out in 2 years. That pin needs to be more than 1/2. Ours is now 5/8. Seen here is the original 1/2 one.

 

[gstrom99]

Nice plow be we wore out our KFI angle pin lock out in 2 years. That pin needs to be more than 1/2. Ours is now 5/8. Seen here is the original 1/2 one.
View attachment 919469

Yeah, 1/2" seems too small for sure. I'm debating between Poly and steel blade. Leaning toward Poly. Interesting that the Poly is 87 lbs and the steel is 85 lbs. Seemed weird until I saw that the steel blade is like 5" shorter...

 

[shooterdon]

What size blade did you use, and did you have chains and extra weight for traction?

In my smaller and lighter Honda Pioneer 520, I've handled 6" snowfalls without a problem, even going up hill, but I'll admit that I have no expectation of it handling the really heavy snows. I use the tractor for the heavy stuff. I got the plow for the UTV since it is MUCH faster than my tractor with the snow-blower, as long as the storm isn't too heavy. (Plus, turning around to look backwards for the rear-mounted snow-blower on my tractor to plow a 1/4 mile driveway gets old after a while.)

I had chains on all four wheels and normally a load of firewood in the bed


Blade size was whatever the factory supplied.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

I had a Polaris blade on my Ranger 800XP and it is OK if you are not dealing with more than about 6" of snow at a time.

A lot depends on how much snow you get, how much area you need to clear and how much space you need to push the piles.

I gave up on it after the first year. It could not keep up with my needs.

I have plowed a foot of snow with my canam defender. I live in Minnesota, have plowed with an atv or utv since about 2000

 

[Quaffer]

I gave up on it after the first year. It could not keep up with my needs.

I tried a snowplow blade on a Polaris RZR800. Not enough weight to maintain traction, had to switch to a bigger machine.

 

[ArlyA]

I should add that our 6x6 with pods has so much pushing power, the 72" blade we have could be wider.

 

[ArlyA]

Pods are your freind for pushing real volumes.

 

[John_Mc]

Yeah, 1/2" seems too small for sure. I'm debating between Poly and steel blade. Leaning toward Poly. Interesting that the Poly is 87 lbs and the steel is 85 lbs. Seemed weird until I saw that the steel blade is like 5" shorter...

The poly blade also has more steel reinforcement behind it than the steel blade. That and the taller blade make up the weight savings you'd expect from a poly blade.

KFI did do a redesign of what they call the "push tube" a few years ago. That is the assembly that includes the pivot mechanism. I have no idea if the redesign included changes to the pivot mechanism or not. The newer design is built around square push tubes. The older one used round tubes. I've only used mine for one winter season so far, but I just went out and checked: there is zero sign of wear on the locking pin or the holes the pin locks in to. It was not a particularly heavy winter, but neither was it a light one.

We probably don't get the kind of snow that @ArlyA regularly sees in his area. On the other hand, I'd figure 1/4 mile of mostly gravel, uneven driveway would give it enough of a workout to show at least some wear on a system that might give out after 2 years, as ArlyA's did. (I definitely scalped the gravel from time-to-time.) However, I'm running on a much smaller ATV than he has as well.

I researched the options on a Honda-specific ATV/UTV forum. The KFI and the Denali brands both got good reviews (the Pro series Denali seemed more highly thought of than their "standard" series).

 

[John_Mc]

I should add that our 6x6 with pods has so much pushing power, the 72" blade we have could be wider.

Which may be why you wore out that 1/2" pin so quickly. For heavy, wet snow, I'd be using my tractor, not an ATV, and I can guarantee you this UTV snow plow would not hold up with the kind of pushing my tractor can do.

 

[ArlyA]

We have the Denali UTV version.

 

[John_Mc]

We have the Denali UTV version.

OK. Your earlier post said KFI. Your picture of the pin/locking mechanism looks different than the current Denali offerings.

 

[ArlyA]

Ours looks like this (as far as I can tell anyway)