16+ yrs of plowing a LOT of snow with an atv and a 60 inch plow blade, some drive ways I plow are over a 1/2 mile long, I also plow a few walking trails that are 5+ miles long
I have moved about 200 ton of gravel and top soil over the past 3 summers as well, and thousands of other things a PLOW shouldn;'t be used for LOl
I have a old Honda Foreman 400, with a moose plow push tube set up
its been a TANK, only time I haven't been able to plow snow is when its super wet and over 15+ inches deep, and even then I bigger issue is I run out of weight for traction, if I add an extra 150+ lbs to it, its a small bull dozer
an ATV will plow your drive way and then some IF
if you stay on top before it gets that deep, and the atv is large enough in motor and g low enough in gearing!
your fine with about any 500 cc ATV these days, there on weight, BUt some machine will be geared higher than others
Honda Foremans are known to be SLOW and lower geared, the 500 manual shift gets my vote hands down on a work machine
push tube mounts are the strongest on the market by makers own word
they also split weight of plow and pushing thru out the atv, NOT just one the atv's front end!
MY 2 cents on plows is this
stay with a 60 inch blade, if you want the strongest set up, get a moose push tube set up, mine has been bullet proof and I beat the **** out of it on stone and gravel
they take just a few minutes to put on off once you get used to it
they will be the better price set up too, and get a GOOD quality winch, plowing is VERY hard on winches all the IN>OUT's you will do.
draw backs to push tube set ups are this, the mounts lower ground clearance(it can be taken off pretty fast if wanted, and when its on , its a heck of a HD skit plate)
they do NOT lift as high, with practice you can stack snow as high as you want!, I can stack 10+ ft piles!
there NOT as user friendly to put on or off as a front mount set up
Pro's to a front mount set up are, easier on/off, lift higher, NO loss of ground clearance
cons to them are they cost more, they put MORE weight on JUST the front end, MOST require HD front springs to work best, can cause faster wear and tear on front end parts??
there NOT as HD as a push tube set up, but MORE Than strong enough for most snow plowing you will ever do!
the game of plowing snow with an atv again is staying on top of snow, don't wait till its super deep, and ALWAYS push it as far back as you can, as winters warm up and thaws come and go plow piles will turn into un movable solid objects, so you have to plan ahead on where its all going to go!
here is a pile of broken drive way material I moved with my atv and plow, 46 ton, two tri axle loads, , only a little at a time, but it did the job!
so, snow?? NO problem for me and my atv in the 16+yrs I have it!
LOL
and then a plow pic of snow!