Glacier Pro plow problems

35314 Views 38 Replies 25 Participants Last post by Gino vato, Dec 7, 2021

RussB

Discussion Starter · Jan 6, 2015

Hi guys, just wondering if anyone has had issues with their plow falling off during operation... I've had it a couple winters now and haven't had a problem until this yr... It's all attached securely.. You can't pull it off on purpose.. But when in operation it seems to just fall off.. Getting really annoying !

1 - 20 of 39 Posts

rbarre

· #2 · Jan 6, 2015

Hi Russ, I thought I was the only one that had a problem with that. I have a Glacier Pro plow set up with hyd. lift and turn.

I have had it come off the attaching point on the frame, it seems to be if it has a heavy load on it and at an angle it will pop off or if pushing snow in to a frozen snow bank at an angle. Thankfully it is easy enough to put back on but who wants to do it if it is snowing hard and 10* F out.

I thought it was because I did not lock it in place but now I make sure it is locked in but it did it one more time. If I recall it is after putting the plow on for the 1st time for the season.

Bob

RussB

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 6, 2015

Ya mine come off 3-4 times every time I plow... Pain in the ass.. When I'm not home and the wife has to plow she has a hard time getting it back on every 15 mins.. $2000 plow up here in canada and it won't even stay on... Not to impressed that's for sure... I'm away quite a bit in the winter, that's why I bought a nice one that would work for her..

RussB

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 6, 2015

Seems to be getting more frequent as well... Not really anything to come out of adjustment though that I can see

kcoulouris

· #5 · Jan 23, 2015

I have a new 2014 Ranger 900 Browning Edition with the Glacier Pro system including hydraulic lift & angle that I bought in Sept 2014. I'm having the same issue that started the first time I plowed in November. The plow quick-attach upper mount disengages multiple times every time that I've plowed. One time I was plowing with it angled at 5-10mph and the plow jammed under my Ranger and almost punctured my front tire. Fortunately we haven't had too much plowable snow here in NH, since I'm concerned about damaging the plow or hydraulics when the plow falls off and gets caught under my Ranger.

When I brought it to my local dealer, they charged me $121 to replace the mid-mount - saying that it was damaged. My reply was that it makes sense something might bend when it falls off during operation repeatedly. The new mount has made no difference, as it still falls off quite easily. This mount design is so defective, that if I raise the plow an inch or 2 off the pavement, and give it a couple of kicks with my foot near the top of the plow, it falls right off. My original Glacier plow on my Sportsman (that I've been plowing with for 12 years) has never a single issue. However, it has a pin that locks the plow frame in firmly.

The dealer is contacting Polaris again to see if they'll acknowledge the design flaw, and will provide a decent fix. For now, I've used a bungee cord tightly wrapped around the quick connect latch to hold it in place. This seems to be working OK, since it isn't falling off when I kick it any more.

I'm certainly VERY dissappointed with my new $3,000 plow, and could not recommend it to anyone right now!

Although I do love my Ranger with the full cab and incredible heater! What an upgrade from being cold and wet while plowing on my Sportsman.

Hopefully if several of us report this issue to Polaris, they'll recognize that they have a problem and develop a fix for it.

Kevin

See less See more

Greg-P

· #6 · Jan 23, 2015

I purchased my Ranger in August and just had the Plow put on in October with issues. We haven't received much snow to require any plowing the Western PA either but after reading these posts I'll be a little nervous and extra cautious!

Greg-P

· #7 · Jan 23, 2015

Greg-P said:
I purchased my Ranger in August and just had the Plow put on in October with issues. We haven't received much snow to require any plowing the Western PA either but after reading these posts I'll be a little nervous and extra cautious!

Sorry meant to say "with NO issues"

kaama82

· #8 · Jan 23, 2015

A friend of mine has the same issues.... He developed a fix for this. Lemme see if I can get a photo of what he did...

Reactions: 1

Rock Ridge Ranger

· #9 · Jan 23, 2015

I purchased mine in Nov. 2012 and it worked great first 2 winters( I even bragged about it ) this year it won't stay latched up with a small load on it, luckily we have had very little snow. There has been no damage and I'm not very hard on my equipment as I paid good money and intend to keep in good condition. As a temporary fix I put a tie down strap to keep it latched seems to work but there is still a problem. Does anyone think this is a manufacture defect and possibly the dealership may have a fix. Waiting to see Todd's fix.

Grundo

· #10 · Jan 24, 2015

kcoulouris said:
I have a new 2014 Ranger 900 Browning Edition with the Glacier Pro system including hydraulic lift & angle that I bought in Sept 2014. I'm having the same issue that started the first time I plowed in November. The plow quick-attach upper mount disengages multiple times every time that I've plowed. One time I was plowing with it angled at 5-10mph and the plow jammed under my Ranger and almost punctured my front tire. Fortunately we haven't had too much plowable snow here in NH, since I'm concerned about damaging the plow or hydraulics when the plow falls off and gets caught under my Ranger.

When I brought it to my local dealer, they charged me $121 to replace the mid-mount - saying that it was damaged. My reply was that it makes sense something might bend when it falls off during operation repeatedly. The new mount has made no difference, as it still falls off quite easily. This mount design is so defective, that if I raise the plow an inch or 2 off the pavement, and give it a couple of kicks with my foot near the top of the plow, it falls right off. My original Glacier plow on my Sportsman (that I've been plowing with for 12 years) has never a single issue. However, it has a pin that locks the plow frame in firmly.

The dealer is contacting Polaris again to see if they'll acknowledge the design flaw, and will provide a decent fix. For now, I've used a bungee cord tightly wrapped around the quick connect latch to hold it in place. This seems to be working OK, since it isn't falling off when I kick it any more.

I'm certainly VERY dissappointed with my new $3,000 plow, and could not recommend it to anyone right now!

Although I do love my Ranger with the full cab and incredible heater! What an upgrade from being cold and wet while plowing on my Sportsman.

Hopefully if several of us report this issue to Polaris, they'll recognize that they have a problem and develop a fix for it.

Kevin

sorry for your troubles, but $3,000 for a pos Polaris plow!!! Why didn't you buy a Boss for less?

kcoulouris

· #11 · Jan 24, 2015

Grundo said:
sorry for your troubles, but $3,000 for a pos Polaris plow!!! Why didn't you buy a Boss for less?

My understanding is that a Boss setup similar to the Glacier Pro system is quite a bit more money. I feel that the Boss plow is too much for the Ranger frame, both in weight and thickness. The Ranger frame is pretty thin and fragile in my mind, and hooking up something that heavy and sturdy to the front of it could cause some serious damage if I hit something wrong and it doesn't release properly.

Now the Boss V-Plow on the front of my Kubota tractor was something I considered. The massive frame on the tractor could easily handle the weight, and the plow would bend before the 3/8" thick tractor frame. But I don't have a cab on my tractor, and I didn't feel that my R-4 tires provide as much traction as the Ranger has. Now that I've plowed a 14" heavy, wet snow with the Ranger - I feel that I was correct on the traction point. The Ranger pushes snow like a damn tank.

The Glacier Pro is a great plow system, well-matched to the Ranger in my opinion. The quick mount/dis-mount is really quick and easy. I just think that Polaris needs to add a locking pin to the setup to hold the latch in place firmly. I can't imagine how they can ignore this design flaw for very long.

Kevin

See less See more

Grundo

· #12 · Jan 24, 2015

kcoulouris said:
My understanding is that a Boss setup similar to the Glacier Pro system is quite a bit more money. I feel that the Boss plow is too much for the Ranger frame, both in weight and thickness. The Ranger frame is pretty thin and fragile in my mind, and hooking up something that heavy and sturdy to the front of it could cause some serious damage if I hit something wrong and it doesn't release properly.

Now the Boss V-Plow on the front of my Kubota tractor was something I considered. The massive frame on the tractor could easily handle the weight, and the plow would bend before the 3/8" thick tractor frame. But I don't have a cab on my tractor, and I didn't feel that my R-4 tires provide as much traction as the Ranger has. Now that I've plowed a 14" heavy, wet snow with the Ranger - I feel that I was correct on the traction point. The Ranger pushes snow like a damn tank.

The Glacier Pro is a great plow system, well-matched to the Ranger in my opinion. The quick mount/dis-mount is really quick and easy. I just think that Polaris needs to add a locking pin to the setup to hold the latch in place firmly. I can't imagine how they can ignore this design flaw for very long.

Kevin

I got my 6ft Boss poly for less than the $3,000 you paid for the Glacier...out the door with everything I need. The poly setup is much lighter than the v plow and in my opinion is a better setup for the Ranger. It doesn't come unhooked unless I unhook it. I know a lot of happy Boss plow owners and I know alot of unhappy Glacier plow owners...but to each their own...all I'm saying is the Boss poly setup is cheaper than your $3,000 Glacier with zero issues.

EdStef

· #13 · Jan 24, 2015 (Edited)

Thought I was the only one that may have had this problem. First season using the Glacier II Pro Plow Mount with a 66" Polaris SnoGlide Poly Blade. Fell off once a few weeks ago plowing 4" of powder snow, thought maybe I hooked it up wrong or possibly the release cable got snagged and chalked it up to "oh well, have to keep an eye on that". Just finished 3 hours of plowing 7" heavy wet snow, didn't fall off once.

DaleH

· #14 · Jan 24, 2015

EdStef said:
Thought I was the only one that may have had this problem. First season using the Glacier II Pro Plow Mount with a 66" Polaris SnoGlide Poly Blade. Fell off once a few weeks ago plowing 4" of powder snow, thought maybe I hooked it up wrong or possibly the release cable got snagged and chalked it up to "oh well, have to keep an eye on that". Just finished 3 hours of plowing 7" heavy wet snow, didn't fall off once.

Glad to hear you didn't have the problems the others above experienced. I just bought a Ranger ETX with all the accessories, including the Glacier Pro plow system with 66" Poly plow. I've only had about 3" of snow one time to use it, but really like it. Until I get more snow and use a few times, won't really be able to weight in. I just hope I don't experience these problems, after the money outlay for this unit.

DaleH

· #15 · Jan 25, 2015

After reading this thread and giving it some thought, I made my own "safety latch" to make sure my Polaris Glacier Pro plow stays in place. I bought a "U" bolt, taped it with electrical tape to keep from rubbing off the paint, and used wing nuts and rubber washers to fasten the plow connection to the frame. Don't know if I need it, but it will give me piece of mind that the plow isn't going to come off. Attached a picture hereto.

Bumper Automotive exterior Vehicle Auto part Trunk

See less See more

Reactions: 2

kcoulouris

· #16 · Jan 26, 2015

DaleH said:
After reading this thread and giving it some thought, I made my own "safety latch" to make sure my Polaris Glacier Pro plow stays in place. I bought a "U" bolt, taped it with electrical tape to keep from rubbing off the paint, and used wing nuts and rubber washers to fasten the plow connection to the frame. Don't know if I need it, but it will give me piece of mind that the plow isn't going to come off. Attached a picture hereto. View attachment 8810

Thank you for posting this - that is a great solution! Much better than the bungy cord that I'm currently using.

I picked up a couple of U-bolts at my hardware store this morning, and plan to rig that up tonight - just in time for 18-30" of snow that's arriving late tonight.

Hey - You don't happen to own a Parker boat, do you?

Kevin

DaleH

· #17 · Jan 26, 2015

I thought about using two u - bolts, one on each side, but think one will do the job. Trying to make on/off with the plow as fast as possible. I was worried about whether the winch would get in the way, but no problem with clearance. All set up yesterday expecting big snowfall today, but so far weather folks have been wrong - maybe it will happen later! No, I don't own a boat - have plenty of other toys that need the attention.

Groomer

· #18 · Jan 27, 2015

I guess I've been lucky so far - I've only had it off / on a few times, and only plowed 4 times or so, but so far no problems. Thank you for posting up a potential solution if I DO have a problem with it popping off though!

I will say I have had trouble getting it fully latched sometimes (I have the extension due to tracks), I have to pick up up and back toward the machine a bit to get it to fully latch on.

ebel

· #19 · Jan 27, 2015

I also use tracks with the extender. No problems so far. Is it possible the alignment and weight distribution are a little different, making it more secure?

With regard to attaching /removing the plow, I can do it easily if I drop the blade on a couple of blocks that are just a little higher then the stands.

dwl

· #20 · Jan 31, 2015

This is my 2nd winter with my plow, first time I used the plow, I shoved a pile accross the street, threw it in reverse and left the plow in the bank, luckily the quick disconnects poped apart and i just had to pull up to it again and hook it back up. since then I throw two Tie straps around handle and its fine. Ive used it a few times without securing the handle and sure enough itll come off, I too drove right up over it, kinda scarey backing off it wondering how much damage I just created, but Knock on wood, its been fine. Ive yet to call my Dealer becouse who knows if they will run it up the chain, but I do agree its a design flaw. I love everything about the setup eccept this, the controls on the sshift lever are awsome, no cable or rope issues, its a great light weight set up.

1 - 20 of 39 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.