Honda Pioneer Forums banner

plowing snow with a Big red

17K views 24 replies 9 participants last post by  pigryder 
#1 ·
I am looking into a 2013 , and was wondering if anyone could offer any feedback on how the Big Red works for you. I only have experience plowing with a quad, I imagine it is similar but figured no better person to ask than an owner. Thanks for your time
 
#2 ·
I have a 2012 that I put a plow on last fall. I won't get into specifics about the install. You can do a search and find it all. Another member and I did the install at the same time, which was helpful to both of us. As far as plowing, there is no comparison between an ATV and a BR. I used to have a Polaris Sportsman 500, and after a few winters, I was done. Not enough weight (800 lbs. dry) to move the snow effectively (I live in the snow belt, near the great lakes). I admit, part of my problem was the Polaris blade. The Moose blade my dad uses was much more effective in deep snow. Anyway, after switching to the BR, overall, I am pleased. The extra weight moves snow without issue. It just works. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same.
 
#3 ·
I have a 6 foot Cycle Country plow on my BR and it pushes snow like a Sherman Tank. I have pushed thru piles as high as the hood without a problem. Excellent machine for plowing snow!!! When the ice builds up or when I plowing on the lake I put on tire chains and the machine is un-stoppable!!
 
#5 ·
I bought a 2013 back in the spring and am now looking to buy a plow. I am looking at the WARN PROVANTAGE plow. It seems like a nice setup for a reasonable price however, when I went to order one Monday I noticed the mounting kit only lists the years of 08-11 for the Big Red. I called Warn and the guy told me the part # for the 2013 is listed as TBA. What the heck?! It's almost September and they don't have a part # for the 13 yet? Now I'm not sure what to do. Wait until they list a mount? Buy it anyway and make it fit if it doesn't fit or find another plow I like which I'm not having much luck doing.
 
#6 ·
I went with the MotoAlliance. Wasn't the smoothest install, but in the end, it works well. I don't see much (any) design change in the 08-13 BR's. Maybe you can have WARN send you a mounting kit, so you can eyeball all the pieces, maybe dry-fit everything. If it looks good, have them ship the rest. If not, send it back. Just a thought. Good luck.
 
#7 ·
So, I sent an email to Warn to inquire about the ProVantage plow mount and this is the response I received yesterday.

"Thank you for your interest in Warn products! The 12-13 models are different than the 08-11 models that we have listed, we do have it on our list to make a mount for it. Our goal is to have one before the end of the year, but we do not have an official lead time for it.

Regards,
Kyle Pfenning| Customer Service Representative
WARN Industries| Toll Free 800.543.9276| F: 503.722.3000"

I'll see if I can find some information on the MotoAlliance plow.
 
#9 ·
I went with a plow found on Hunterworks and a Viper winch...no unexpected problems with instillation or performance with three seasons under my belt in the mountains outside of Park City UT. I also bought the v-bar tire chains in the site below now on sale. I find with the chains I rarely put the Western plow on the pick-up to do my share of plowing roads on the mountain I live. Extreme Max Atv V - Bar Tire Chains - 368396, Tires Wheels
 
#10 ·
I ended up going with the MotoAlliance plow. It was $799 for the 72" with free shipping. I thought it was a really easy and straight forward install with no surprises. Now I'm just wishing for some snow in my area, which we don't get very often, to try this bad boy out.
 
#11 ·
I just put a Cycle Country setup (72" blade) on mine. Very happy with the quality, and the installation was pretty straight forward. The only issue I had was that the two mounting bolts that attach the mounting bracket to the BR frame were the wrong thread pattern. Fortunately, I had the correct bolts on hand, so it didn't stop my progress. I got the whole setup for $635.00, with free shipping, via Amazon/Powersport Superstore. I really like the Cycle Country X-force Power Blade.

Did my first "real" plowing with it last week when we had about 14" on the ground. No issues at all, even when plowing up my fairly steep driveway.
 
#13 ·
No problem. Here's the plow setup:



I opted to install the electric plow lift, since my winch was such a pain to install, and I didn't want to mess with swapping out the cable for a shorter one for plowing each winter. The electric winch works well for me. Some people feel that it is too slow, but it's fine for me.



My lovely wife felt sorry for me when I was plowing in sub-zero temps a few weeks ago, so she volunteered to make me a cab enclosure. She got the UV resistant material and the auto grade clear plastic from a huge fabric store in Denver. She used to be a seamstress, so she's pretty handy in the sewing dept.



Here's the finished enclosure. The materials only came to around $150, and I know a full soft enclosure would have cost me over $500 if I bought one.

 

Attachments

#18 ·
Yep, but the foam earplugs handle the noise nicely. I'm used to wearing them every time I ride my motorcycle anyway, so NBD. It's also nice not to have to mess with taking a tarp off when there is a foot of snow, or more, on BR, or worse yet, trying to get all the snow out of the cab. No room to build a shed for the BR, so the soft enclosure helps a lot.
 
#23 ·
Good thread, first time I've been on here in a couple years lol and just wanted to chime in here because BR has impressed me so much with plowing this year as we got a ton of snow in the past couple weeks. I have the oe warn winch, 72" moose blade on the RM4 mount. Stupid easy to take the blade on and off, BR pushes snow like a freight train, it's as simple as that. I'm thoroughly impressed to say the least.

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top