Plow for wheeler

[bassNspear]

i have a polaris 850 and im thinking of putting a plow on it.

like to hear your opinions on using the winch or no winch and why?

Looking at getting a county plow to use for plowing driveway in the future and banking my house.

[rundrave]

I used a manual lift plow for years and it worked just fine.

with that said last year I upgraded to a winch and I absolutely love it.

[bassNspear]

is the winch fast enough?

why do you like it better?

[otterman91105]

Yes the winch is plenty fast. Easy to lift up and put down. They are also very easy to drop off the four wheeler.

[luckydog25]

Yep, you want a winch. You will have an up down switch on your left handle bar. Once you get used to it you will be lifting the blade as you are backing up without even looking. Just be careful not to keep your thumb on the up button to long when backing up or you can bind up the cable inside the winch, or worse break the cable at the clamp that goes to your plow. The county plow comes off fairly easy also.

[bassNspear]

ya i was thinking that is best that i get the winch that way it will work alot better

[rundrave]

I liked the manual lift but the only real down fall of it is that it really only has an up an down setting and nothing in between.

with a winch I can keep it right on the ground or slightly raised. to most that wouldnt be an issue but I have a gravel driveway and its nice to just take the top layer of snow off and not end up with a bunch of gravel in my grass/yard.

The winch has also come in handy with grading dirt or gravel for the same reason. Its much easier to spread out when the blade isnt right on the ground.

Plus it never hurts to have a winch on your quad for trail riding when you have to pull out yourself or other quads.

[titelines]

I've got a Polaris 500 and put the Polaris Glacier II plow system on it. Plow a 1.2 mile stretch of road and a couple long driveways. Works fantastic for me. I have a winch and love it...you get used to it and it's really fast...much more efficient.

Can't speak for the county plow personally, but have heard good things.

[BoxMN]

Yep, you want a winch. You will have an up down switch on your left handle bar. Once you get used to it you will be lifting the blade as you are backing up without even looking. .

Don't have plow now, but wondering, since I have Honda with ES (buttons on left grip area already) where do Honda users mount the winch buttons? Inside of the shift buttons? Just wondering, thanks for info.

[Surface Tension]

I have a manual lift and it works OK.

Benefits are I don't drain down the battery and the repeated short up and down cycles don't wear the brushes in the winch.

As said the downside to a manual lift are, its either up or its down with no in between.

The biggest - is a winch will raise the plow higher then a manual lift will.

I leave the plow on all winter and will bottom out the plow on uneven terrain.

Worse yet in areas with deep snow or slush that I'm just trying to get out of, that lower lift height is plowing when your not wanting to do that.

[leechlake]

I've always had a winch with mine. With the winch you can push the snow and when you get to the "end" you can lift the plow and push the snow over the pile. With the winch you'll do a neater job since you aren't dragging it backward pulling snow with you. If there's too much snow to push you can lower it a ways and push part of the snow and then lower it all the way and push the rest.

A few times over the years I've had issues with the winch and plowed with the plow down and it was a pain. I guess it depends on what type of area you are plowing. I have a long curved sidewalk and without the winch it would be hard to do without making a mess, getting stuck, or plowing bushes over.

[Dave S]

If you opt for a winch, synthetic rope is a must.

[WalleyeVision]

I added a country plow and winch to my wheeler last winter and loved it. Luckydog I had to laugh when I saw your comment on not keeping your finger on the up button, I thought I was the only one that messed that up. It took a while to get used to which way to hit the switch and I frayed the cable right away, but no problem now. I hadn't heard of the synthetic rope - I'll have to look into that.

[Dave S]

Frayed wires and fingers don't get along. You'll avoid wires in the fingers if you go synthetic.

[WalleyeVision]

Frayed wires in fingers - also found that out the hard way

I will definitely be looking into the synthetic - thanks for the tip.

[BriGuy88]

Synthetic rope is the only thing I will use now. If you do upgrade, be sure to get a new hawse fairlead and install that too. Synthetic can pinch easier in a roller fairlead causing damage and burrs on an older fairlead will cause your new synthetic rope to wear prematurely.

Another option if you only intend to use the winch for plowing is to get a plow strap for your winch. There is a local place in Rogers MN that can get you set up with anything you need.

[WalleyeVision]

Thanks, I'll look into that - appreciate the help!

[LindellProStaf]

I have a 700 and have plowed with it for years. I used to break my cable every year until I realized you just have to lift plow off the ground a few inches not all of the way. Haven't broke it since.

[Moonshine]

Or buy a winch saver from Cabelas. They are like $15 and since I put one on, I haven't broke a cable.

[bassNspear]

do y'all use front mounts?