Plow

[bondo478]

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. 

[airshot]

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?

[bondo478]

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!

[randyo]

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

[airshot]

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...

[pa-outdoorsman]

What the heck is winter air? How would replacing the air in the tires make a difference?

[randyo]

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

[airshot]

LOL....was hoping someone would get a chuckle from that one!!

[randyo]

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

[randyo]

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

[airshot]

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....

[randyo]

the cover tore right off, and got sucked into the spool

[randyo]

a cleaner pic

[airshot]

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!!!!

[randyo]

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