KymcoForum.com
Offroad => Side By Side => Topic started by: bondo478 on October 30, 2020, 01:44:16 PM
-
Hi all! New guy here waiting on my new 450i UXV Prime to arrive in the next few days. I've seen a couple topics on it, but I was wondering what plows will actually fit this machine. It seems no one really makes a specific mount to fit them that I've seen. I saw some mention of the Cabela's universal, but can't seen to find one. The Kolpin universal adjustable width looks promising but I'm concerned about the strength of the blade. I also wasn't sure if mounts for the Prowler 500 would work since I believe they're basically the same? Can anyone point me to a unit that definitely fits and works well? Any direction would be much appreciated. I look forward to learning all I can about these really cool machines!
-
Welcome to the Kymco family! I have a 2015 model 450i, and when I bought my machine there were no mounts made for this machine. I found the plow I wanted but the so called universal mount was worthless. I wanted a mid mount rather than a dront mount after reading some horror stories about frame damage from front mounted snow plows. So I ended up making my own mount attach point by connecting the 3 cross members into a common point of attachment. This way the load is spread over the 3 crossmembers. I ended up using a Quad Boss Pile Driver quick attach and release plow. Extremely heavy duty, in fact heavier than needed. However the quick on and off is the real advantage. Also how much snow will you be pushing in reality. I live in north west Ohio where snow is little to moderate so I went overboard in my build and quality of plow, but no regrets as I know I will never wear it out ad I can attac in less than 5 mins and off in 2 mins. I have looked at the Cabelas unit and they seem a good buy unless you have extreme plowing conditions expected. Good luck and keep us posted.
I also bouht a soft side enclosure from Eagle Pacific that is really great with a small propane heater so I can plow snow in comfort when snow plowing time is here.
-
Thank you! I am not opposed to making something. I live in upstate NY, so we can get a good amount of snow at times. I do have a tractor with loader of we get really dumped on. I was hoping they were starting to make stuff to fit these, but it seems like not much aftermarket available. My dealer said they have had luck with a universal KFI on them so that could be an option. I'm definitely going to check out the soft cab, that would be great in the winter!
-
Try American Manufacturing, Eagle Plows. I see they make a mount for the 450. I'vee had mine on my uxv500se for 5 years now. Very well made!
-
Just did a little browsing and found a few companies that make plows and mounts for the 450i, most are front mounts, but they are popular as they get the blade higher. I prefer the midmount, that is why I made my own. Kymco has become popular enough that more folks are making afternarket stuff for them, just gotta do some searchin!!!
-
I'm having a Moose plow, put on mine, not sure what model, I just told dealer I wanted a suitable plow and synthetic rope on the winch. With all the parts & accessory inavailability going on in this covid pandemic, they verified supply & delivery before ordering, Moose plow with Warn 3500 synthetic rope winch is what they came up with. hoping it's ready today, or tomorrow.
They've had my 450i all summer waiting for parts from Kymco, they finally said screw Kymco, and source some aftermarket ball joints, Kymco did deliver on the axle fairly quickly, but bearings, as well as ball joints were not available, due to covid mfg & warehouse shutdown in China
-
Ouch, that is a long wait! For what it may be worth, I have found a number of Ebay posts for Kymco 450i parts, such as brake pads, ball joints, and wheel bearings. Also posted about another dealer "Leesons" that uses Ebay and is a Kymco dealer that has gotten parts for me. You might contact them and see if parts are availiable for your machine.
I see a number of companies now make plow kits for the Kymco 450i machine, moose has made good stuff in the past, can only assume they still do.
-
I got a complete plow kit for my machine last year. It's a KFI, and I bought the kit on ebay. Mount fit perfectly. Push tube is great and plow blade very sturdy. Last winter was very mild, so I only ended up using it once, but it worked great. No complaints at all. I am not sure what the concerns are regarding front-mount plows, but I am not sure how this particular setup could result in much damage to the machine.
You can attach the plow to the machine in literally one minute using two hitch pins. Then just hook your winch up to the unit and you are ready to go.
Here's a link. Can't go wrong for the price for a complete plow package. Steel blade is very heavy duty, and mount allows you to run the blade straight or angles left or right to varying degrees. There is a simple spring-loaded adjustments to pivot the blade and very easy to do by yourself. Just use the winch to lift the blade off the ground, pull the pin, pivot where you want it and let go. Done.
http://tiny.cc/0cb5tz (http://tiny.cc/0cb5tz)
-
Well, I'm glad I stopped in at the dealer before they delivered my UTV with plow mounted, walked back to the back storage lot with the service manager, I didn't even have to say anything, he says I'll see if we got a wider plow in house (meaning they will take one off another machine)
Why would anyone mount a 48" plow on a 54" wide machine ?
-
They probably never noticed!!! And we wonder why companies have help wanted signs all over.....
-
They probably never noticed!!! And we wonder why companies have help wanted signs all over.....
my dealer is currently looking for 3 service technicians, they are finally getting mine out of the back lot after being in there all summer waiting for parts, they have close to 100 units waiting for parts, all brands, Kymco is not the only manufacturer that is slow on the parts train right now.
-
The company I retired from has a large supplier od auto parts next door. Being a fairly large company they pay well and have great benefits. However they have difficulty keeping people as no one wants to show up for work every day! The average new hire leaves within 30 days, many are gone in less than 2 weeks. The average new hire calls off work twice in the first week. About half just fail to show up for work within first two weeks, no call, no show...automatic firing!! They even offer a 500 bonus after 90 days if you dont miss any work....rarely do they ever pay that out!! In my area there are help wanted signs all over the place, yet they cant find any good help. Instead of handing out bags of food, mabey they should schedule job intervues!!!
-
I don't see a high turnover, the Service Manager has been there for 18 years, most of the technicians nearly as long, they are just experiencing an increase in volume, the sales staff is going balls out, lots of new service customers, I have been dealing with the same people since I have been a customer, 21 years now, the owner has been a client of mine for nearly as long.
-
Thank you all for the info! The machine took a bit longer to come in then I expected, but I was finally able to pick it up yesterday. I'm really loving it! Looking at it, being a prime, it has the front grill guard and I'm concerned that would interfere with a front mount. Do any of you that have plows on them have the grill guard? Does anyone have any pics of their mid or front mount with or without the grill guard? Hoping that could help me figure out what might work. Thank you again!
-
My machine came from the factory with the winch mount installed...the front gard is an aftermarket so I would assume that it fits right over the winch mount. Check with your dealer as I cant imagine that being an issue. You will have to take some things apart to get into that winch mount plate.
-
Mine came with the Prime package, so it has the roof, windshield, elka shocks, winch, rear bumper, and front grill guard all shipped from Kymco and installed by the dealer. The guard does connect to the winch mount with a plate that angles under like some of the plow mounts I've seen, but the tube look like they may be in the way of the pins for the plow.
-
Now I understand.....read your post to quickly. The only front gard I have seen is the one made by Body Armor, so I have no idea, sorry. Can the dealer point you in the right direction?
-
I had asked the dealer parts guy when I picked it up and he wasn't sure as most of the units they sell aren't the Primes, but he did some calling and talked directly to KFI who claims theirs will fit, so he ordered one and we'll see what happens. Hopefully it will work!
-
my 450i was delivered today with winch & plow, been waiting for ball joints for 7 months, when they finally came in a couple weeks ago, I asked em to put a winch & plow on as well
just in time, turned from rain to snow about a half hour before they arrived, I've swapped my wheels to my wheels with chains, put new winter air in the tires, ready to go, suppose to get 10-18" now, every time I go to my weather site, the forcast is increasing a couple inches
-
Lucky guy....we only got a couple inches, not enough to play in !!
Putting that winter air in the tires makes a big difference, change mine out every year when the cab enclosure goes on...
-
What the heck is winter air? How would replacing the air in the tires make a difference?
-
What the heck is winter air? How would replacing the air in the tires make a difference?
means no matter how well yer tires hold their pressure, check for seasonal changes
-
LOL....was hoping someone would get a chuckle from that one!!
-
LOL....was hoping someone would get a chuckle from that one!!
and next spring, I will take the winter air out, and put summer air in
-
I suppose, I can report on my plowing experience with the 450i
plenty of power, I was clearing about 12" snowfall, beginning of storm was wet & heavy, becoming fluffier toward the end, so the bottom 6" was like wet cement, or in my case frozen, cause I waited a day for my electricity to come back on, before I went out and plowed. I found, if I crept, it would peel the frozen stuff right up, if I went faster the blade would trip (I have a Moose plow) and ride on top of the frozen layer. All my previous plowing was with a Fisher 4 way 6½ blade on a Dodge Ram 50. So the little 5ft blade requires more passes. No problem clearing the windrow the town leaves at the bottom of the drive, Not a fan of having to get off to change plow angle, nor the winch, already broke my rope once,
I have no problem with traction, I have a set of Trygg chains
I understand there are hydraulic lifts available, I will be doing some research on that, Kolpin also makes a hydraulic angle mechanism
(http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/attachments/f13/54049d1607455588-kymco-uxv450i-plow1-jpg)
(http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/attachments/f13/54050d1607455612-kymco-uxv450i-plow2-jpg)
-
Like myself you will probably end up creating a pattern for plowing where you will have to make minium angle changes on your blade. When I first started I was in and out a lot, but as time went on and my pattern developed the angle changes became less. Now I only change the angle a couple times for my 300 ft long drive. If you have a synthetic winch rope there is a protector that covers the first 6 ft to prevent wear, or some just use a plow cable that is only about 8-10 ft long at best. You remove the winch rope and just use the short one for plowing. I have the cover on mine, slips over syn rope on last 6 ft, been on for 3 yrs with no issues....
-
the cover tore right off, and got sucked into the spool
-
a cleaner pic
(https://i.imgur.com/lFXOygQl.jpg)
-
I assume from your comment about the cover comming off means you have a synthetic rope on your winch....if you are using the recomended polished alum fairlead with no rollers, I have heard of this being an issue from other posts. I kept my roller fairlead against all recomendations and have had NO issues with the cover comming off. With that said, I did have issues with the rope getting buried within itself, until I shortened the length of my rope on the winch drum. I cut my length down to 30 ft from the original 50 ft and it works much better. I also give the rope a good dose of silicone spray a couple times oer year, seems to allow the rope to pull out with less effort, did the same for the steel cable but the twisting of the steel cable made me get rid of it. I still carry the old 50 ft cable plus another 50 ft cable plus the extra 20 ft I took off the original syn rope. I find it quicker on a long pull to just use one of my spare cables than take the time to pull all the cable off the winch. Been over 3 yrs and no issues with the syn rope on the rollers but a couple of friends have had issues using the polished alum fairlead....just some food for thought.....thanks for the snow pics, I am jealous as I cant play in it!!!!
-
the biggest problem I see, is that the winch is mounted in an optimal position to get you unstuck, not to lift a plow, it would be a lot less stress on the rope, if the winch was mounted higher. I have this winch https://www.warn.com/warn-industries-101030 (https://www.warn.com/warn-industries-101030)
-
When I went to the syn rope I wrapped my rope to come off the top of the drum, then moved the plow lift point further forward to creat a better angle, so far no issues. I have a KFI winch
-
getting ready to plow storm # 2, the last one, was wet heavy snow, this one is light & fluffy, temps in teens, 15-20° colder, we got about 30" so far, suppose to start tapering off soon, the drift my 450i is parked in, looks to be 4ft deep or more, without a roof, windshield, or cover of any kind, I'll be shoveling a bit, just to sit in the utv
-
getting ready to plow storm # 2, the last one, was wet heavy snow, this one is light & fluffy, temps in teens, 15-20° colder, we got about 30" so far, suppose to start tapering off soon, the drift my 450i is parked in, looks to be 4ft deep or more, without a roof, windshield, or cover of any kind, I'll be shoveling a bit, just to sit in the utv
Do you keep your machine outdoors regularly? Can't imagine storing my machine outside, though I understand there is not another option for some. Ever think about getting one of those inexpensive, put-together carports sold by Harbor Freight? Has a metal frame and some kind of soft fabric roof, I believe. Available in multiple sizes at very reasonable prices. Seems to me having some kind of cover to keep your machine out of the elements would more than pay for the cost of the shelter over the course of years in reduced weathering to the vehicle.
-
Gotta agree there, could never keep my machine outside!! Would even park the wifes car outside....just to keep my machine inside ... just dont tell her that!!
-
I have considered a fabric garage, but no real practical place to put it, I have a deck that I could park it under, I used to, when I parked it for extended periods, but again, not a practical location, for taking it out to plow, so I just park where I want to start plowing
I am not concerned what it looks like, I've beat my 450i up quite a bit, the plastic, in many places is held on with gorilla tape, I didn't but it 5 years ago, to be a showpiece, it is a workhorse
I do have a plan, to build a woodshed, that would be big enuf to park the utv, but, I am also thinking beyond the plow I just got, plows don't work well for my drive, no place to put snow after 1 big storm like this, light & fluffy, not even that windy, but hard to measure depth, anywhere from 28-48" depending where you measure
plow is working mostly, it's taking several passes, as snow falls back into the plowed path, only place I had to get out and shovel a bit, was busting thru the towns 5ft high x 10 across windrow, at bottom of drive, once I made my way thru once, I was able to push partial blade slices