ATV Plows? Good or Bad?

[TravisCr]

A year or so back bought a used 2003 Polaris Sportsman 700 Twin with a plow for keeping the gravel road around the house snow free-
I've used it for the last year and it works well- have a bit of water in the oil I started a separate thread on.

Are there any "gotcha" on using these things with plows?
I took off the small polaris winch and added a Warn 2500, with synthentic rope so I wasn't getting poked by the wire-

Looking for folks thoughts on these.

[chubbz]

I don't have much experience with my plow yet, I've only used it a few times this past winter on our gravel driveway.

That said, here's what I did to make it work better on my 2011 Polaris Sportsman 550.

Tightened up the front shocks using the adjusters. This helped keep the plow on the ground when starting out or accelerating. Before I did that, when I would hit the throttle the plow blade would bounce up and miss the first few feet. I think my rear shocks are set fairly stiff too.

Angle the plow slightly to one side. If I angle it to the right, then I would start at the far left side of the driveway, working my way to the right side and keep pushing the snow berm farther right.

Nothing groundbreaking there but those two things definitely improved my thoughts on using the plow. I've had the plow for a few years and was initially disappointed in it. We ended up buying property with a gravel driveway and I decided to try it again and am really happy I did. It makes short work of an otherwise miserable shoveling job.

We were prepping our quads to go riding this past weekend and noticed the lower ball joints were shot.. I'm not sure if it's due to lack of maintenance or if using the plow accelerated it.

[WeeBee]

Having plowed snow for years with a Pickup, the Plow is hard on front End parts which weren't designed for such forces  Plus the weight of the plow ,packed snow, etc.

[mikeexplorer]

I have used my quad for plowing for years, When pushing snow I always use low range.

 

[ak74]

plows are very simple nothing should be worried about just use it

[jen]

I got grandpa's Gravely snow plow out of scrap pile and repainted and made skids for bottom of plow (with help from Mikeexplorer)  pictured is on Grandpa's old machime. Mine is in WVa.  don't know about fitting it on my SXS or the Foreman.  Two sets of skids one 2 inch clearance and the other 1/4 inch clearance. It is 48 inches wide , 3/16 inch steel...heavy!  but evenly balanced when on the Gravely.

[jen]

The plow  weighs 110lb  

[jen]

Steelyard...I knew it as 'Skilyard'  we  mispronounced a lot of things in Appalachia.

[mikeexplorer]

On 11/25/2025 at 3:30 PM, jen said:

The plow  weighs 110lb  

 

It looks like it will be mounted on the front. Have you tried a test fit yet to see if it makes the front of the machine squat down too much?

 

[jen]

The snow plow mounted has slight down pressure and plow can be easily lifted buy operator pushing down on handle bars.  Going up hill requires operator to lift handle bars to overcome drive torque and keep plow down.

[jen]

I may need tire chains.  maybe strap on chains. they are cheap

 

[mikeexplorer]

1 hour ago, jen said:

I may need tire chains.  maybe strap on chains. they are cheap

 

If the machine does not have 4WD you will want to get chains.

 

[jen]

maybe ebay

[WeeBee]

Try Dennis Kirk ,look at ATV Tire Chains they have a pretty good selection!

[jen]

OK.....!  I never liked a strap on.

[mikeexplorer]

First round of plowing with the 450 this year. I had an older quad that was used for plowing but was sold this year. Took off the front cargo box to see the plow better and the extra lights are helpful since when the plow is lifted, the headlights are partially blocked. 

 

[jen]

looks likw wet snow.  You don't have chains on your machine.  I like chains helps with pushing HARD in against the white.   

[mikeexplorer]

23 hours ago, jen said:

looks likw wet snow.  You don't have chains on your machine.  I like chains helps with pushing HARD in against the white.   

Wet snow, yes, typical for my area. Machine has 4WD so I don't need chains, wheels do not slip. The plow has springs on it so if it does hit something hard, the blade deflects down.

 

[Gwbarm]

Nice rig! Good looking cat.

[jen]

He is probably a popular guy on his street...especially with the ladies....LOL   I like the Scarlet machine...🥰

[mikeexplorer]

43 minutes ago, jen said:

He is probably a popular guy on his street...especially with the ladies....LOL   I like the Scarlet machine...🥰

A lot of people park on the sidewalk now so its hard to do other houses. Across the street an older couple lived (gone now) and next to them was a disabled veteran. I always plowed their sidewalks no charge. nowadays I just do my own area. 

 

2 hours ago, Gwbarm said:

Nice rig! Good looking cat.

Been a good machine. Bought a new one this year and kept this one. Has almost 16,000 miles on it, still runs well.

 

[jen]

Well he takes care of his toys  

[Gwbarm]

Thats an amazing amount of miles on an ATV. Even with regular maintanence you very rarely hear of one going that many miles. Not that familiar with the 450 engine who made that one.

[jen]

Yeah and using it to plow snow,,...Immpressive   That was arctic Cat before??? 

[mikeexplorer]

12 hours ago, Gwbarm said:

Thats an amazing amount of miles on an ATV. Even with regular maintanence you very rarely hear of one going that many miles. Not that familiar with the 450 engine who made that one.

The 450 did have engine work done, a year ago we were riding and the drain plug came loose and fell out. Lost all oil. I did quickly pull over and shut it down. Obviously I was towed back. Guy towing me back went too fast and not paying attention, I burned up my brakes then crashed into him snapping a tie rod. After getting it home and replacing the brakes and fluid. Lucky I had a spare tie rod. I replaced the oil plug and pan and the quad did fire back up. It ran fine except for a ticking sound. Had the top end done and the dealer also replaced the timing chain. (at 15,000 miles it was due) Since I shut it off quickly, there was no bottom end damage, otherwise it would not be worth it to repair the engine. 

The 366 I sold this year had 11,000 miles on it, Michelle's current machine has over 9,000 on it.

 

[jen]

Tha's a lot of riding.

[mikeexplorer]

3 hours ago, jen said:

Tha's a lot of riding.

Where I live riding is limited, most of our local places are closed off now. We travel a lot to Northcentral PA where there is a lot of riding. One place called Snow Shoe Rails to Trails allows free camping with membership ($30/year) so we tend to go there a lot because it is cost effective. You can take your quads right into towns to get gas, or food, and you can even visit a state park.  Out there, they use township roads and segments of state roads to connect one place to another so I equipped our machines with mirrors, turn signals, reverse light, and horn. 

[jen]

Whoa!  That is Awesome!   I bet he has a coffee pot and wet bar in his garage!  🫦

[WeeBee]

2 hours ago, mikeexplorer said:

Where I live riding is limited, most of our local places are closed off now. We travel a lot to Northcentral PA where there is a lot of riding. One place called Snow Shoe Rails to Trails allows free camping with membership ($30/year) so we tend to go there a lot because it is cost effective. You can take your quads right into towns to get gas, or food, and you can even visit a state park.  Out there, they use township roads and segments of state roads to connect one place to another so I equipped our machines with mirrors, turn signals, reverse light, and horn. 

Set up really nice for Anything you may get into! VERY Nice !

[jen]

How many states have ATV lic.?