Winter riding with a 2 wheel drive

[motoman8652003]

Hey guys just woundering what you do to get ready for the snow with your quad. I know our 2 wheel drive,s don,t get through the snow like a 4x4 but i,m not into utility quads. I have seen people say that skid plates help and i have seen people use snowmobile studs in there tires and just tube them after. I have a guy at work who is a jeep mud bogger he says to use a very narrow tire because it will cut through the snow better to get you down to the ground and use a tire that has taller profile to give you a little more groung clearance. Anybody have other idea,s that work ?

 

[missouritrailrider]

my strategy is to leave it stored all winter lol

 

[Deuce]

Depends on how deep of snow we're talking about. My warrior did fine in anything through 4 inches. Anything more than that and I just take my snowmobile out. I don't bother studding anything (although my friend who takes his 450 out on a lake will put some machine screws in his knobbies for the ice). I just have razr's up front and bear claws in the rear.

 

[yamarider]

Tall narrow tires definitely help, and it actually helps a lot to remove the rear skid plate if you can safely do it where you ride, the sprocket and rotor will cut right through the snow but the skid will just push it and lift the tires off the ground. The best combination I ever saw work on a 2wd in snow was a little over the top, but he had an old ute with 22" 9 paddle sand tires and skis on the front, it would go damn near anywhere a snowmobile would up til the point that the frame was pushing the snow like a plow then it would be stuck. http://diamondjcustoms.com/atskis-kit.htm

An aggressive knobby tire and taking the rear skid off can actually work pretty good by itself, I run the 21" GNCC's on my rappy which are like the Razr 2's with bigger, deeper lugs, and I can go in 10 inches or more no problem as long as it's a light, fluffy snow. I'm done if I get into heavier, packed down snow though, it just won't push the front tires through it.

 

[baddawg]

We have groomed trails here,don't have to do anything but buy a trail pass($75 per year)
I 've never tried them but they tell me they are hard packed,just like driving on the road.

 

[bombizzy]

i have a pair of gator tires on my warrior and went out few weeks ago when jersey got over 2ft in snow. I didnt get stuck once. Romped through everything.

 

[yamaharaptor350]

stud it out and throw her on the ice for sum fun

 

[jon1owens]

i wouldn't stud the tire unless your gonna be on ice alot. i've never had it help in the snow. i would defiantly take off the swingarm skid like they said if your won't risk damaging the rotor. i did ok with mine in about 5-6 inches with the skid as long as i didn't come to a complete stop.just need a good set of tires.

 

[yamarider]

i have a pair of gator tires on my warrior and went out few weeks ago when jersey got over 2ft in snow. I didnt get stuck once. Romped through everything.

i have a real hard time believing this unless you forgot to mention that you were being pulled by a 4x4 with oversized mud tires on it, there's no way a 2wd is going ANYWHERE in 2 feet of snow under it's own power. I had a Kawi Prairie 400 4x4 which is a beast of a quad with a ton of ground clearance and with the stock tires it wouldn't get very far in 18" of snow. If you have some secret other than mud tires let us know, but right now I'm calling bullshit!

 

[missouritrailrider]

ya lol i rode my dads arctic cat 700 in snoiw and it has 27" mudlites and was gettin stuck in 2-4 ft snow banks lol

 

[bombizzy]

i have a pair of gator tires on my warrior and went out few weeks ago when jersey got over 2ft in snow. I didnt get stuck once. Romped through everything.

i have a real hard time believing this unless you forgot to mention that you were being pulled by a 4x4 with oversized mud tires on it, there's no way a 2wd is going ANYWHERE in 2 feet of snow under it's own power. I had a Kawi Prairie 400 4x4 which is a beast of a quad with a ton of ground clearance and with the stock tires it wouldn't get very far in 18" of snow. If you have some secret other than mud tires let us know, but right now I'm calling bullshit!

i'm not bullshitting, no joke. Wish i had pictures. Went out right here in Bayville, NJ . I mean the bike was shifting a little bit side to side in the snow. I was dropping into ice puddles and everything, No problems. I did spend alot of time digging out my buddies ( Blaster, 400ex, and another warrior). But other than that i didnt get stuck once.

 

[yamarider]

Still not buying it. I had 22" mud tires on my Warrior, Interco Swamplites which have deeper tread than gators, and once the snow got to about 8 inches, forget it, 2 feet of snow and i would be lucky to get 20 feet in it if I hit it going 60! That's higher than the tires and the bumper!

 

[bombizzy]

Hmmm not sure what to tell ya lol. It did rlly happen though

 

[juggaloclownz187]

I bet it was possible if it was cold out and the snow was hard..... I could take my 85 big red with 25" itp's anywhere i wanted to go in the winter, been all over fields and trails where sleds go with my big red so it is possible, got some vids somewhere......

 

[fishx65]

Here in Michigan they let snowmobiles use the ATV trail system in the winter as part of their trail system. Snowmobilers don't like it but it's perfectly legal to ride the ATV trails in the winter. If the trails are hardpacked and groomed you can have a lot of fun on an ATV with no modifications. I have Bear claws in back and Trekkers up front and have great steering control if conditions are right. I also have a set of 4 studded tires on rims but have yet to try them. That said, NOTHING MORE FUN THEN A Snowmobile!!!!!

 

[jarheadoo7]

i tried last winter.. i wanst dressed for it so when i got stuck after a minute of being in the snow i gave up .. hahah

maybe this year ill try hardder i have some beark klaw on teh rear and some grippy bandits up front.. who knows maybe ill change the sprockets out for some more punch in the low end to get moving..

 

[DeadLastRacing]

I ride on the lake, in the winter. Its quite surreal. Flying around on 12" of ice under you and cruzin from bar to bar in a pack of quads. Look forward to it each year. All you Ohio guys, Portage lakes each year when it freezes over enough is the spot!

 

[jarheadoo7]

hey dead let me know when you go this year THAT is something i would like to try!

 

[juggaloclownz187]

Its a blast, they do that here in NY too its fun! Gonna get some paddles for the snow this winter on my warrior.... Have some vids of it when the snow comes, weve done some crazy stuff in the winter, but hardly ever had the camera with us, think i might get a helmet cam this christmas..... My old 85 big red was the best in the winter it was a tank ;-)