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Using an ATV to plow snow
ATVs are great for a lot of things, but moving snow isn't one of them. They are too light and therefore don't have enought traction. As said by others, get a 4x4 truck and plow.
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Using an ATV to plow snow
I'd definitely go with a compact tractor. Then buy a 2 wheel drive ATV to play with. I plow snow with the compact tractor and then with the time left over play on a Honda 200 2 wheel drive. 2 wheel drive ATV's are less expensive to buy and the smaller ones are easier to handle when playing.
Have fun
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Using an ATV to plow snow
Several people around here have them but I don't think anybody depends on them for clearing drives. They don't carry much snow on the short blades. Even if the blade angles so snow comes off only one end nothing very wide can be done. You end up plowing snow that was already plowed and it gets too deep pretty fast. The main use for them seems to be clearing walkways and paths to ice fishing huts.
A friend who had a hotel got a new 4wd ATV and got a blade for it a couple weeks later. We saw her racing back and forth across the hotel parking lot with the blade bouncing around and throwing up birms either side of the blade. It also was putting very little snow off the lot. She was playing and she only did it once and then it was back to the guy with the plow truck.
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Using an ATV to plow snow
We used to use ATV's with blades for clearing sidewalks and they worked very well for that purpose, but all they had to do was basically roll 4' of snow off the sidewalk and over the curb into the parking lot where the plow truck could get to it.
Later we experimented with a subframe which held a small gas engine behind the ATV, and a snowblower intended for a garden tractor in the front. While it worked well it din't work any better than a good walk-behind model that cost half as much. Besides, you could only put one of them in the back of a truck, you can put 4 walk-behinds in the same pickup box.
Best of luck.
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Using an ATV to plow snow
I remember when I was in college, they used to use John Deere gators with plows and salt spreaders on the back to clear and salt the side walks. They worked pretty well until the snow got too deep. I like the compact tractor as I can push snow with the FEL or pull with the blade on the back. We don't really get enough snow where I live (maybe 70 or 80 inches a year) to justify a blower. We did get a nice snow last year (about 30" but the little B-7200 I had pushed it out of the way, although the going was slow.
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Using an ATV to plow snow
Hi
I live in rural ohio and used an atv and 36" plow with chains to plow for several years. I now use a Kaw Mule 3000 with a 60" blade. It used to be ahrd work, now it is fun. Also alot more uses for that mule than the atv around the orchard.
thanks - Ken
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Using an ATV to plow snow
We were in Valley Forge in Jan (very cold and snowing)and the guy in charge of keeping the sidewalks and entrances clear liked his ATV plow. I do not remember the make but it look about the size of a Mule near me. It had the bench seat I beleive.
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Using an ATV to plow snow
ATV might be good for sidewalks, but when you have to push a lot of snow, an ATV just hasn' got enough weight to supply good traction, even a 4x4 w/chains.
In my neck of the woods, you need a tractor to plow (or a snowblower if ya' don't have a long driveway).
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Using an ATV to plow snow
Hi
How about a Ranger 6x6 with weight in the box?
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Using an ATV to plow snow
Up der in northern Minnesota where I used to live, ATVs were used quite a bit to move snow. But then, we all worked for a manufacturer. My Sportsman 500 did a nice job pushing a 5 ft blade. But you had to be ready to turn and shove the snow pile off to the side. Wet snow especially as the weight of the snow would overcome the weight of the ATV. You make many short passes. In dry snow, you can plow like you were in a regular county snowplow (blade angled). But the wet stuff is real trouble.
I use a utility tractor now. It's nicer since where I'm at in Iowa, I often get bad drifts between the garage and shop. ATV wouldn't be able to handle the 3-5 ft drifts I get. The tractor with loader and blade works better for me. Plus I use it to mow 3 acres in summer. Loader works great for moving stuff like dirt for the wife's flower beds. Or for clearing the garden, etc.
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Gas Generator Weather Protecti
10-17-2003, 17:27 
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