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Power 2000 Snowplow System
Painless
Plowing!
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By: Bob Davis
- February
8, 2001
 Cycle Country's corporate
credo must be the conviction that "no problem is
without a solution." Their devotion to high
thinking in making things simple for the ATVer is
evident in their successful lineup of accessories. ATV
agriculture implements, orchard sprayers, trailers, the Electrix Shift system, field mowers and snowplows to
name a few. Cycle Country was aware even way back in
1981 that accessories do more than recruit existing ATV
consumers. If the accessories are quality-made for years
of trouble-free service, they also offer an inducement
for the person who's straddling the fence on whether an
ATV will be worth the expense. If a work-related option
can be consciously placed into the minds of prospective
ATV buyers, it can justify the expense. A sort of
"means-justifies-the-ends" kind of thinking of
the male ego. Hey! It's my kind of thinking too.
Snowplows are one of the
most sought after accessories for an ATV. Why? Because
for all of the utilitarian uses of a 4x4 ATV,
snowplowing is one of its greatest abilities. This
project was especially gratifying because along with the
trick plow system, it was attached to Honda's new
Rubicon.
How'd the Plow System Work?
Of course it worked well! There's not a whole lot of
high technology in pushing snow. Under the unalterable
laws of physics, if you have the power behind you and a
metal blade in front of you--you're pretty much plowing
snow. However, it does take ingenuity to create an
easy-to-use ATV plow system that is not arm tiring,
taxing to the battery or a hassle to use. For this
article it was our determination to find nuisance areas
that we've seen on other plow systems or to ascertain
new problems that might occur with this system.
Specifically;
(1) Would the Rubicon's battery and charging system
hold up under two straight hours of plowing with the
electric plow lifting and the Rubicon's three headlights
on at night?
(2) Would there be transmission problems with the
constant back and forth maneuvering?
(3) Would the manual plow angling system become clogged
with snow and freeze up becoming a useless frozen
glaciate mass?
(4) Did the Rubicon's' limited-slip front end have
enough traction to push the 60" wide plow?
(5) Was the new Cycle Country electric lift system easy
to use? Install? Remove?
Did the Rubicon's
battery and charging system hold up under two straight
hours of plowing with the electric plow lifting and the
Rubicon's three headlights on at night?
Prior to Cycle Country's
new Work Power electric lift system, you had three
choices for lifting your plow during the plowing
process. (1)The not-so-bad long manual lift handle
that's mounted to the rider's left, (2) the overly hard
and cumbersome rack-mounted pull handle, (3) or an
electric winch system. We opted for the top of the line
electric lift kit. If you only plow long driveways,
manually lifting the blade is not that arm-grueling.
Should you have areas 20' and wider to clear (such as
parking areas) where a constant back and forth process
is required, the electric lift is the only way to go.
Another good reason for requesting the electric lift is
that I'm getting older, fatter and weaker and have a
propensity to bitterly complain at the slightest notion
of actual work. --Still, our lingering question
was if the lifts' electric motor would draw too much
current off the Rubicon's charging system over a long
period and slowly weaken the battery?
Electrical test results:
The lift motor worked well during the entire
night-plowing test, drawing very little power. The
headlights never dimmed and the battery was always fully
charged--checking the amperage several times through the
2.5 hour plowing period. A contributing factor was the
Rubicon's alternator--putting out a full 330-watts.
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Our
test unit.
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The
60" plow
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The
electric lift system
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Handlebar
mounted up/down switch
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Side
view
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The
V-bar chains
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Would there be transmission problems with the
constant back and forth maneuvering?
Automatic
transmissions tend to be easier to plow with, so with
the slick Rubicon tranny we weren't expecting any
problems. In fact, this turned out to be the best result
of all. No problems whatsoever. After voting the Rubicon
"ATV of the Year Award" status at the
Connection because of the auto-tranny, it was especially
gratifying to see it behaved extremely well. The
constant back and forth motion of the machine's
hydraulic transmission along with constant range lever
selection revealed no overheating or shift lever
problems.
Would the manual plow angling system become
clogged with snow and freeze up becoming a useless
frozen mass?
The three-way
blade angling system is manually operated and as is the
rest of the setup, deliberately designed for easy use. A
short lever sticks out from just behind the blade.
Simply push down with one hand and rotate the blade with
your other hand. It's very easy and it never became
inoperable due to ice/snow buildup. (An optional angle
pin release lever operated from the seat is available
for $50)
Did the Rubicon's' limited-slip front end have
enough traction to push the 60" wide plow?
We're Honda guys
almost to a fault. So we grudgingly admit limited-slips
aren't as good as a true locking-front-end for traction.
No surprise here. Limited-slips are insurmountable for
regular 4x4 trail riding steering ease, but the deeper
they are probed against locking front ends', the more
the traction fundamental weaknesses appear. We ran it
against the locking front end of a Polaris 500 Magnum
and the Polaris did push better. This isn't to say the
Rubicon's limited-slip didn't work well--we were still
capable of pushing 8" of snow with a 60" wide
blade. And, as with any quad, the more weight on the
machine, the better snow removal you'll experience. We
put sacks of sand on the racks and were able to push
just about anything out of the way. Including previously
plowed snow built up on the sides of your driveway. The
V-bar chains worked OK on the snow, but on ice is where
they prove their worth. Our optional top-of-blade snow
flap did a fine job of keeping the snow from flying
back onto your goggles.
Was the new Cycle Country Work Power electric lift
snowplow system easy to use? Install? Remove?
The supreme
virtue of the simple but brilliant Work Power 2000
snowplow system was that it was soooo easy to use,
install and remove. This was probably the best and
easy-to-use accessory we've yet tested. With Cycle
Country's latest Work Power 2000 system, the snowplowing
process is deliberately designed to interfere as little
as possible with the operation of the ATV while allowing
you easy operation of the plowing blade. The five-minute
to install electric lift switch system simply mounts
near the left handgrip where the up/down button is
within easy reach of your thumb. The switch comes
pre-wired and the wire is run under the plastic for a
direct battery hookup.
The knotty problem
of mounting the hardware underneath is reduced because
the skidplate does not have to be removed (in most
applications) for mounting of the plow arms. Four thick
bolts screwed perfectly into the Rubicon frame's
pre-drilled and threaded holes. (Cycle Country obviously
did their homework with the Rubicon.) The only item
removed from the Rubicon was the front plastic skid
plate. Cycle Country also dispensed with the cumbersome
and time-consuming front-of-quad mounting system. The
new design is simply a nylon strap holding up the weight
of the blade. We thought it appeared cheesy at first,
but soon found that infinite height adjustment for
different height quad front ends' is the reasoning. It's
super easy to install and takeoff, and best yet, it
didn't mar the front rack at all. --Again, high-thinking
for a simple solution.
The most compelling thing that Country Cycle did was the
enormous trouble in devising a plow system whereby anybody
could use it. Literally. If it can't be fixed with WD-40
or duct tape, I'm at a loss. Yet, I installed and wired
the entire plow system in 38-minutes. Record time for a
novice mechanic and much shorter than the two hours it
took me to install the Magnum's system. The freedom of
infinite blade height adjustment does wonders when
plowing through extra-deep snow or pushing mounds of
previous snowfalls. Besides the ease of use and saving
your arm from all the blade lifting, the infinite plow
height adjustment is one of the system's greatest
assets. The electric lift option is highly recommended.
Rubicon snow tube adapter $48.00
Electric Blade Lift Kit $153.00
(Manual lift $95)
Universal push tubes $159.00
60" Blade $180.00
60" Rubber Blade Flap $23
Cycle
Country
2188 Hwy.86
Milford, Iowa 51351
Phone: 712.338.2701
Toll-free Phone: 800.841.2222
E-mail: ccac@cyclecountry.com
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