Author Topic: Electric or Mechanical Plow (Read 1012 times)

Turtle · « **on:** July 28, 2005, 11:20:50 AM »

Some day I hope to have an ATV for the many tasks around the place. Looking to get one (kinda settled on the Polaris Sportsman 500) with a plow and originally thought electric was the way to go. But...is it worth the extra money over just a hand operated plow? (no not a shovel).

- Turtle -

jgalar · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2005, 04:36:00 PM »

My father has a hand adjustable on his atv and it serves him fine. He is in his 70's and gets plenty of snow in Leadville Co.

Two Bears · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2005, 08:46:32 PM »

The winch is the only way to go! and worth every penny spent
I have the 500 HO polaris and use a 60" plow on it and it pushes snow and scrapes down to the gravel / cement like you wouldn't believe.
The machine has plowed 15" deep of wet snow with no problem. And I would not want to try and lift the blade with a mechanical lever in deep snow as I am sure it would be VERY difficult to do.

And I am sure that you could use the winch for other uses as well....

Old Syko · « **Reply #3 on:** July 31, 2005, 10:18:15 AM »

That's right! The winch is the only way to go. With the 60 and 72 inch blades you'll save the cost of a hernia operation at least, by using the winch. When you delete the cost of the manual lift, $100 to $150, the cost of the winch ends up about half price.

Bear Rider · « **Reply #4 on:** August 16, 2005, 07:08:37 PM »

I also think that the winch is the way to go. I use my rig for landscaping in sandy terrain. It's not like plowing snow -- drop the blade and go. Often, you want to just skim the surface for a finish cut, with the front wheels supporting part or all of the blade's weight. It's relatively easy to do with a winch, but I doubt that you could be consistent when trying to hold the blade in place with one hand and steer with the other.