Plowing snow....

[tjm73]

Lots of our fellow members probably don't worry about plowing snow (lucky bastards) but plenty of us do.

My wife and I bought a nice home in the country last year and we hired a local guy to plow. He happened to be the son of a a friend of my Fathers. I was not happy with his service or his plowing. He said he would come back to fix the yard he tore up then I had to call him a couple times before he acknowledged that he said he'd come fix it and then took nearly three weeks to actually fix it.

I thought about buying an old junker that was mechanically sound and just not registering it. Then I thought about buying an old farm tractor. Like a Ford 8N or 9N (they run forever and are easy to maintain) and putting a plow on it. Today I thought what about a 4x4 ATV with a plow? Used ATVs are all over Craigslist around here. Plows are a few hundred.

I like the ATV idea as it's small and won't take much storage space.

Anyone have any good (or bad) experience with any one these or other ideas?

My driveway is about 450', dead straight.

 

[weather man]

I used a ATV for 7-8 winters keeping a 240' driveway clear. I would suggest a Polaris 500 or bigger. The Polaris is heavier than the Jap stuff and weight matters for serious plowing. You will want chains for the back tires. The Polaris is also a true 4x4 when engaged without any levers or speed restrictions on 4x4. You want a 60" double sided county plow. You want heated handle grip and throttle.

When you get to the end of the driveway, flip the angle to come back. You want to flip it as far as posible. Plow the snow to the side that is away from the worst wind direction. I always plowed to the south side of my driveway. You do not want to plow snow to either side. The snow will be as deep as the piles on either side of the driveway. You need to push it off the driveway as far as posible. 5-6' if posible. After several storms and the snow is really banked up, you need to blow that out. Put in low and max the throttle. Momentum is your friend.

If your driveway is gravel, set the blade as high on the skids as posible. You will still throw gravel off the driveway, but not as much.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

What mower did you end up buying? I dont remember. Did you get a ZTR or Lawn tractor?

 

[tjm73]

I found a low hours Exmark commercial zero turn. 31hp V-twin.

Over the last decade our winters in my local area have been a little tame. Our annual snow fall is decent, but it comes in many waves of 2-5 or 6 inches at a time. We might get 1 or 2 12-18 inch drops. Occasionally a 24" drop but not even every year.

I hate paying someone to do what I can do myself. Especially when the work they do is not to my standards.

I've ridden a couple Polaris ATV's. That was my first thought. I like them. Easy to operate. my friend and his wife had two. Low maintenance too.