Snowblower or 4 wheeler plow?

Hello. We have been getting more snow than usual here. Usually we just deal with it and it melts in a week or two. For several years I have been thinking of getting one of the above. We have a gravel drive and supposedly you can adjust some snow blowers not to get low enough to pick up gravel. 4 wheeler is a Honda Rincon(4x4, 700 motor). What is your advice for snow removal? Brands? Thank you for your time.

Where I am we get quite a bit of snow.Lots use snowblowers and lots use truck or 4 wheeler plows.Those who use plows have to have a place to push the snow,as it accumulates all winter long.I don't think that would be an issue where you are.
With a snow blower you just blow it up over the banks all winter.

Yep..I'd get rid of the Honda from what I read on a thread here..Maybe a Cam-am seems like it had alot of good feed back..FWIW

Depends on snow depth, how much more snow is coming, how long will it last, and how far you have to move it. Our snow won't melt until late April and we're going to get a bunch more before then. I have a Bobcat with a bucket and a hiflow snow blower. Bucket gets almost all the work because the city comes by and hauls away the piles. I had a Polaris 500 6x6 previous to the Bobcat and given enough time, I could move the snow from a 70 foot driveway that was over four foot deep. Hours of work and very hard on equipment. Now it's a 10 minute job.

Plow,if there is any contour to your drive way what’s adjusted for one spot for the snowblower might catch gravel in another. The plow can set all year and will be ready when ever you want it. If the snowblower sets with out fuel being drained(completely tank and carburetor bowl)it won’t start when you need it. Plus you can grade your drive in the summer with the plow

If your driveway freezes solid either will work. If the driveway is loose gravel and you get a wet heavy snow the plow will pick up a lot of gravel and you will be raking a lot in the Spring.

I have the top of the line honda snowblower with tracks, It sucks. You really have to man handle it and even it can get stuck

If you don't mind the cold I had a very agile polaris 400 4 wheelers, 4wd it was very nimble and it could move snow as fast as you can move your hands

I have a backhoe, it's nice and warm, does a nice job.

Probably the most remarkable thing I have had, and this only works on fluffy snow, but when it does work its amazing, and that is a snow auger.
It will push snow as fast as you can walk, without any effort



I also have a skidsteer with just a bucket, they don't have the best traction in the snow, 4 wheeler clearly beats it with its speed.

Puts some chains on that skidsteer, then tell me which is faster.

There is no "best". The four wheeler is going to be faster if snow is under 6" Once you get into deeper snow, the blower is the easier option.
I can't decide if it's funny or rude that no matter what the question is, there's always someone here that finds away to tell a person that their brand of ATV is wrong and they should just junk it. No one asked!

I have all of the above and a IH 1086 with a 7 foot blower ,My Bobcat skid loader first and really deep heavy snow the 1086 and blower

Used to plow with a little Yanmar deisel and back blade. Worked well but took too long and hurt my back.
For the deep stuff I used/use a little front end loader on another deisel.
This year I'm using a 4x4 atv with a plow. It is much faster if the snow's not more than 6-8" and it's easier to start when the temps are in the single digits than the deisels.

I'm looking into buying a winch rope for the atv plow. The cable on mine has snapped twice. Anybody know anything about these?

If you already own the quad just get a blade for it. Anybody that says a Honda rincon isn't capable of pushing snow is uninformed. I've pushed snow for years with my old king quad 700. I also have a subcompact tractor with a loader if it gets really deep but I'd much rather push a 60" path 20+ mph than a 50" path at about 6 mph.

The winch cables take some abuse and the synthetic rope is sold as a fix for that. I have one but haven't ever installed it. Most of the time the thing that breaks the cable isn't wearing in the same spot over and over, it's when the plow frame bottoms out on the quad frame and the cable is weakest point. My wife has broken the cable about 75% of the time she runs the plow. She's getting better about it now and hasn't done it for a long time but that's something to think about before you go changing out your cable. Also if the cable breaks you can cut it off flush and crimp a new ferrule on it. You break that synthetic rope and you're done.

Not really, it can be spliced back together.

Have tractor with front assist, 7 ft blade and still pull out the snow blower to clear the driveway (gravel), still pick up some gravel but nothing like the blade would do. I bought a Honda with the hydrostatic drive. At the time I needed to clear out the pens and alley for calving. Been several years it wasn't used, but like this year it's been getting a work out.

I have a quarter mile long driveway, so both options are out of the question. I have an old Dodge W-350 with a Boss plow that I use on my driveway. Around the house on the walkways, I use a 10HP walk-behind snow blower.

I have a Honda with manuel plow and a snowblower. The plow is faster and a lot easier, but it is not heavy enough to push a lot of heavy snow, like a truck. The blower is good for cleaning up small areas and paths I use the Honda more. Mine doesnot use a winch, it is manuel, the ones that use the winch do break cables because they lift too high, you can then use cable clamps to fix it.

I have a plow for my ATV and a blower for my JD garden tractor. Most of the time I use the blower for the simple reason it throws the snow well off the driveway getting it out of the way for the next storm.


WS

I carry a ratchet, socket and cable cutter in the trunk of my atv so cutting it off and fixing the cable doesn't take long. But it's still a pain. How often do the ropes break?
I do think a manual lift would be quicker. The plow I use is a swisher and it's heavier than the plows my friends have on their's. I don't think they make a manual one for it.

I carry a ratchet, socket and cable cutter in the trunk of my atv so cutting it off and fixing the cable doesn't take long. But it's still a pain. How often do the ropes break?
I do think a manual lift would be quicker. The plow I use is a swisher and it's heavier than the plows my friends have on their's. I don't think they make a manual one for it.

I have a ATV plow. The guy I bought my house from had a nice self-propelled snowblower. I’ve used both.

Pros of ATV plow:
-Much faster to clear the driveway
-Cheaper since I already had the wheeler and got the plow for $50 from a yard sale.
-More enjoyable and the kids can ride with me, which makes it less of a chore.
-Adjustable shoes on the plow reduce gravel pickup (MAKE SURE YOU GET ONE WITH SHOES)
-Don’t have to store and service another machine.

Cons of plow:
-Can’t get in tight spaces so I end up shoveling the walk, in front of the garage, etc.
-Had to fab a mount for the plow (you could probably buy one)
-Have to to take it on and off seasonally to use the ATV for other activities (only takes 5 minutes though).
-Struggles with wet heavy snow but still doable (just take smaller “bites” when pushing).
-Potential to break winch cable or damage winch if you’re not careful.
-Hard on the wheeler if you work it too hard- pushing isn’t really what they’re made for.

Pros of blower:
-Tighter spaces = less shoveling
-Can handle more snow, but slow.
-Smaller to store IF you don’t already have an ATV.
-Cheaper up front IF you don’t already have an ATV.

I use my Honda ATV with plow. Instead of using the manual lift handle, I rigged it up using my electric power winch to lift and lower the plow blade. Its the cats (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman).

A couple things I forgot to mention about the snow blower I have. It blows snow in your face, it goes up in the air, then some comes down and hits my face.

Also.. you can damage some snow blowers pretty easy if you hit something. Snow blame on a 4wheeler usually is hindged if you hit something it bends over.

When I was a little younger... the polaris scramber with a manual blade, I could whip it around and go fast plowing and it was agile. No waiting for the blade to go up or down.

When I was poor, I would put 3 4X4's bolted together and strap it onto the hitch on the back of my jeep!

Now........ I have actually found.... the snow doesnt last to long anymore, I just wait till it melts! LOL I have summer treads on my car, and it goes fine, and is only 2WD

IF it gets real bad, the county usually puts us in a state of emergency so we can't drive. I actually had my jeep stuck on an iced over mud puddle pot hole once, and pulled it out with a Honda CRX