First Plow With RTV1100

[ItBmine]

Finally got to try it out. Only got this pic, as I had to drive it when plowing, LOL Impressions:

Heater will melt you in cab.

Not a lot of snow yet, but it rained and froze first, so driveway is glare ice on the gravel. You couldn't walk on it. Then got a layer of wet snow that froze. Then it snowed last couple days, but 70 KPH winds have blown most of it away.
I did have to do some counter steering and pedal the throttle when I made a full width pass UP the driveway. It doesn't look like a hill, but when I had the laser doing my septic it made me realize my driveway drops 30 feet from house to road in just under 300 feet.
Plus my skid shoes are way down so it is leaving a couple inches. So it did start breaking traction, but once I have a frozen base I think it will be fine.
No problem with power. But really doesn't go fast enough to "throw" the snow off the plow like my atv would.

I like it, and still happy with my purchase. But I'm still not a plow guy. My tractor with loader and rear blower is still the king for me. I just don't have a cab on my tractor.
So the RTV will be my weapon for cleanups during the storms and then the tractor will do the final cleanups on the nicer days. Only because I have mental problems and like everything cleaned and scraped down to perfection, LOL

Also put my magnetic strobe lights on sides of cab since I didn't want a beacon on top of cab when I am trail riding.

 

[TechJunkie]

Great looking rig!

 

[ItBmine]

Thanks TechJunkie.

Still my favorite.....I took the B2620 out to cut and make a base. You can see what the RTV was dealing with.....it's a skating rink under the snow.

Now they are calling for rain by end of week. I hope not.....finally got it froze and level.

 

[ItBmine]

Well, met it's match again today. It RAINED snow again all night. So it was that nice stuff that turns to concrete the minute you drive on it. This is how it looked when I got up this morning. Rained through the night. Then by the time I had breakfast it was a complete white-out all afternoon.

You can see how the roof's started to slide when it rained.

 

[ItBmine]

Made the first couple pushes to get to the driveway. Couldn't steer. Then made a giant wall about a foot higher than the blade and hood. But it busted through with the plow in vee. Once I got a trail, then it did good and was able to carry enough speed to throw the snow off the blade.

But as far as my parking areas and around all my buildings.....not a chance. Just got the tractor and blower out. And other than a face full of snow for 4 hours on my open station, it did do the job as usual.

Starting to think it's time for a Grand L cab tractor. My poor pine plantations are just sagged right over from the weight of the wet snow.

 

[ItBmine]

Guess I'm still better off than some people that moved up here from the south. My daughter saw the guy today standing at the end of his driveway with a leaf rake with a confused look on his face, LOL

 

[Willb]

Guess I'm still better off than some people that moved up here from the south. My daughter saw the guy today standing at the end of his driveway with a leaf rake with a confused look on his face, LOL

lol

 

[ItBmine]

Fueling everything back up today. Now it's plus 5*C today and they are calling for plus 15 and rain rest of week.

 

[bordercollie]

Well you have my admiration !! We had a terrible cold spell last year with <10 degree F nights and literally ran out of cattle feed because our 18 wheeler loads were delayed 2 weeks before hand. Beautiful but deadly for some things during those 7 days straight well below freezing . So glad that ya'll are so prepared for such things. I can say though that that ice coming off of the roof did sound like a big gun. ( I never heard that before but now know what you mean when you mentioned your roof.

 

[ItBmine]

Well you have my admiration too, because look at your place.....you get to look out the window and see livestock!
We are thinking of getting some goats but I'm still doing research and making sure I have adequate shelter before I do anything, because it can get as cold as minus 40*C/F here just for short spells sometimes in January and Feb.. For the most part it stays around minus 13*F as our coldest part of winter.

While I don't enjoy the cold, it does make it easier to handle the snow removal. I really hate this rain/freezing rain/snow mix with thaw cycles.

I did learn a lesson with the plow though. I can't do like I do with the blower and just wait until the storm is over when it is this wet heavy snow.
I need to go out and plow before there is a foot on the ground.

 

[ItBmine]

Here was my cab before I bought the RTV. A full face helmet with a heated visor. This place is really weird with all the trees and the mountain in the back and the lake, because even though my driveway is pretty much straight the wind will change direction 3 times. So at some point you always get buried while snow blowing.

 

[ItBmine]

Well, I'm loving this RTV now. Think I was asking too much of it the first time in that heavy wet snow. Now that it is cold, this thing works great. And you can get done so fast.
But still needed the tractor to break trail up the hills to my bush roads. And despite all the reading I've done on forums saying R4 tires are no good in winter.......I made the first pass blowing up the hills with no issues in traction.

 

[PhiCab]

Well, I'm loving this RTV now. Think I was asking too much of it the first time in that heavy wet snow. Now that it is cold, this thing works great. And you can get done so fast.
But still needed the tractor to break trail up the hills to my bush roads. And despite all the reading I've done on forums saying R4 tires are no good in winter.......I made the first pass blowing up the hills with no issues in traction.

Looking good ItBmine! Glad to hear! I'm still waiting on one to come in. Happy new year

 

[ItBmine]

Thanks PhiCab. Hope you get yours soon with all these delays. They have their little "quirks" that you have to understand and get used to, but I wouldn't trade this RTV for ANY other UTV. It brings a smile to my face every time I use it.