Snow Removal With an ATV

I am building a house on land and it is looking like our gravel driveway is going to be about 600-700 ft long. I need to figure out a plan for snow removal. I don't want to put a plow on my tundra for many reasons. I am planning on buying an ATV anyway so I was thinking about getting a plow for it as well but I am not sure it will be enough. Currently looking at a Polaris Sportsman 570. What are everyone thoughts and experiences with plowing using an ATV?

 

If you have a gravel driveway, the proper way to plow is with a semi raised blade, or to reverse and drag so you can see the gravel. A snow thrower attachment would be better as you can pre set the height of the thrower to not grab the stones. They make these attachments for the Polaris and most 4x4 ATVs.

 

If you can spring for it, get a side by side with a windshield. Makes cold days a little bit easier. I use a sportsman 500 right now and one storm last year I used my neighbors Mule. Very very jealous of how much nicer it was to plow with. In respects to actually plowing, both plowed the same

 

My driveway is about 500 feet long and I plow it with a 2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 with aggressive tires. No issues or problems plowing and I wait till it stops or plow it with no more than 6" high.

 

Do you have experience with the snow thrower attachment? I have heard they aren't great in wet snow but have never used one. I know my two stage snowblower is pretty much useless in wet snow.

 

I considered that. Good to know. The only downside with that is extra cost and I would need to buy a trailer for it. I can get a quad in the back of my truck.

 

Buy a small tractor and get a blower attachment. The tractor with a loader will be extremely handy in the other 3 seasons.

 

Get an old 4x4 beater. No registration required, just use it on your property for things like plowing, and moving stuff around. Save the Tundra!

 

That's my plan B. Just don't want to miss out on an opportunity to get the wife to sign off on an ATV

 

I would love to do that just don't have an extra $30k laying around. I could really use a tractor.

 

I hear you.. Maybe start with the ATV and complain about how COLD it is plowing in the open air.. Then move to a beater, and have a nice ATV.

good luck

 

Perfect!

 

@T-Rex266

 

Do you think the 850 is worth the extra $$ over a 570?

 

They don't love you anymore? Fake bastards.

 

Neighbor has a thrower on his JD tractor and it seems to work great. I'm in somewhat of this debate myself. I have the same 2 stage as you and I agree, wet snow sucks. I'm looking at the same options as you, but my driveway is paved so a plow and ATV/Polaris is where I'm leaning towards but I would need the full tilt and raise from the cab option which is big$$$. In talking to my neighbor, he has no complaints about the thrower attachment to his tractor. ...and it really throws snow!

 

It depends on how much snow you get each time you clear the driveway. Son-in-law used to plow with a Honda Rincon. It worked well as long as the snow was not much more than 6 inches deep. It did the job most of the time, but once in a while he had to get out and clear it a couple of times during a long heavy snow storm. He now uses a compact tractor, which can handle any amount of snow. A new Rincon is in the neighborhood of 10 grand. A good compact tractor is about twice that.

 

Wet snow sucks worse with a plow. You need weight and momentum for wet snow. For 700 feet a truck plow or tractor mounted blower would be better. 6" of wet snow can be enough to push a truck off track. Depending on your soil also if you can't start plowing wide your driveway will get narrower as the winter progresses.

A 2 stage tractor mount blower isn't the same as a walk behind. The faster impeller speed helps keep them clear.

 

I had a John deere 318 with a full cover and two stage blower.

700 foot driveway and would knock birds out of trees with snow.

Now I have a check book.

 

I use a 2018 Suzuki King quad 500 with a plow for my 600ft gravel driveway. To deal with the gravel I attached a strip of horse stall mat along the edge.

Btw I picked ups the Suzuki as a leftover and saved a couple of grand. Maybe look for a leftover

 

My dad has a Kodiak 450 that we both use to plow our driveways. We've never had any issues with it being able to push the snow and his driveway has a hill on it. We got about 13-14 inches one time and it plowed it just fine. Took a number of passes to get it done as the snow was coming over the blade, but it worked just fine.